Hi Gents,
Here is a photo sequence taken on New Years Day of a Housefly.
Image 1: Housefly Portrait
Canon 40D, 100mm Macro Lens.
1/250s, f/11, ISO 100
Image 2: Housefly having a drink.
Canon 40D, 100mm Macro Lens.
1/180s, f/13, ISO 160
Image 3: Housefly not wanting its portrait taken anymore.
Canon 40D, 100mm Macro Lens.
1/180s, f/11, ISO 100
Image 4: Housefly trying to hide under the leaf.
Canon 40D, 100mm Macro Lens.
1/180s, f/13, ISO 160
Be sure to view the 100% images.
I like the reflection in the water droplet in the flys mouth in image 2.
Cheers
Craig.
Maybe consider this sequence a short study in insect behaviour :)
ReplyDeleteHi Craig,
ReplyDeleteI like these images, especially the first two with my favourite being the top one. The way his head looks cocked back like he's looking at the camera is cool. The bubble's great in the second one, but I'd crop it a lot tighter, to emphasize the bubble. In fact, I'd probably crop the bottom 3 all a bit tighter to emphasize the different activities in each of them.
Initially, I didn't really like the way the flies are upside down in the bottom pictures, but when I cropped them down, to just the head, I didn't notice it as much, and realized that you need to have them upside down because of how the legs hold onto the leaf.
Geoff.
Craig,
ReplyDeleteThis style of publishing photos reminds me of the spray and pray approach, in that if I show a lot of photos then someone might like something. However I usually find that with so many shots together, it's easy to get bored before I get to the end. As was my case with this sequence.
The first one is all right. It sets the scene for what's going to follow. It's a good literal shot of the subject. The shots that follow are all so similar that by the time I get to the last one, I'm kind of bored and off to find something else that's interesting to look at.
If one does take the time to look closely to these shots, there are some interesting differences between them. However those details are so small relative to the rest of the image that those details are easily over looked.
For the second, third and forth shot, I would do some extreme cropping to show just a small part of the fly, the thing that's interesting to you and what you want others to see. Seeing the same out of focus green gets boring fast.
I would also keep the framing device the same for each shot. In this case the square frame is ok. Perhaps even consider a triptych, where you have three images on one canvas.
Another point is that in all these photos the main subject looks a little dark and lacking detail relative to the bright green background. I find that my eye wanders more into the background rather than exploring the fly in more detail. However the background lacks detail and contrast so I move on to the next image and skip the fly all together.
Perhaps use a little fill flash from the side. It probably means you need to get your flash off camera to do this. Since it's macro, you could use a sync cable or pony up for a wireless transmitter option.
Brutal Enough?
steve
Hi Guys,
ReplyDeleteYou've both come up with good suggestions.
I should have limited the series to be 3 images only, and I think the tighter cropping on the last couple would have been the way to go. I didn't really know how to crop them though so this is when the other phpBB approach would be better, because then you could upload a cropped version to discuss.
Steve, can you change the settings so that Geoff can edit my post and put his crops on here please?
I've noticed that the middle 2 images (only after you've pointed it out) have large dark areas behind the fly. They don't look that dark on my monitor at home, but on other monitors they look at lot darker. I'll have to sort out some calibration there I think.
I've considered trying to get my flash off the camera but I'm not a big fan of prices of the options open to me at the moment. I'm not confident a cable will get me very far, and I'd prefer a radio transmitter I think because most of the things I'm taking photos off get a bit upset when I'm taking flash shots anyway and they tend to be disturbed by it. So I'm worried that if my main camera flash has to flash a few times before taking a shot then the bugs just won't stick around for me.
Regards
Craig.
Hi Craig,
ReplyDeleteI don't think there are any settings I can change to allow Geoff to edit your post. Either he already has access or he can't get access.
I currently use the camera's build in wireless transmission system which flashes visible light a few times before the main flash. Because of this I would like to get a sync cord which would be long enough for macro work. However it can only control one flash unit, where as I often use two.
Since you only have one flash unit, a cable is the cheapest way to get your flash off the camera for macro shots. Another option is to get a second or third flash (430EX II) and use your 580EX II's infra-red wireless transmission system to trigger those flashes.
Radio transmitters are quite expensive and I haven't reached the limits of my current equipment yet. They are probably overkill for macro anyway.
steve