Little Creatures

[WJT]

A few shots from Sunday morning just after sunrise at Fog Dam. C&C Welcome.

[Dave Humphries]

Pretty good Wayne,

What is the secret of the backgrounds though?

They don't look like natural outdoors ones - did you manage to get it inside to shoot?

[Geoff F]

F 3.2 to F4 is very shallow for insect shots, Wayne. I would ideally be looking at F14 or at the very least F11 to give greater focus depth. You have sufficient Iso capacity to go up to 400 without any problems. Even Iso 800 usually still works OK; subject to camera and conditions.

Personally, I start thinking about insect photography by considering the aperture, then adjust everything else to suit.

Using a bit of flash often overcomes a lot of settings balance problems. In fact I use flash on virtually all my macro shots and getting the flash setting correct comes next to the aperture decision.

Normally, I use manual camera settings and allow the flash to automatically find it's own level.

And, if possible, try to get square on to these long insects in order to reduce the depth of field requirement. Or shoot from an angle where the main element in the foreground is sharply focused (eg head) and the body gradually fades into the distance.

[WJT]

Pretty good Wayne,

What is the secret of the backgrounds though?

They don't look like natural outdoors ones - did you manage to get it inside to shoot?

Hi Dave, they are taken about a foot above a billabong on first light with water as the back ground. I was on a dam wall looking down, these have not been edited at all exept for cropping. The soft morning light has addedto the colours.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Dave, they are taken about a foot above a billabong on first light with water as the back ground. I was on a dam wall looking down, these have not been edited at all exept for cropping. The soft morning light has addedto the colours.

Ah-hah!
So that's the secret - if you don't mind me saying, that's very lucky, but hats off to your skill in seeing and using it.

Well done,

[FrankMi]

Ah-hah!
So that's the secret - if you don't mind me saying, that's very lucky, but hats off to your skill in seeing and using it.

Well done,

I'd add a double 'VERY' to that! Great shots!

[WJT]

Thanks guys, I love the first light and I love the way the water changes colour at dawn. It has some very rich textures at times.

[botspur]

A good effort Wayne and great advice from Geoff.