Macro Bees in Garden

[Cantab]

I took these bee photos several days ago - one bumble bee and three honey bees. They were all taken with a Canon 100mm macro lens, IS on, 1/250, f3.5, flash, ISO 200.

Unfortunately I took these before reading the recent bee threads started by Rita and Mark, and hence did not remember that I should have increased the ISO and reduced the aperture to f11 or 14 for better DOF. I went back out in the garden yesterday to redo some bee photos but discovered that most of the blossom on the escallonia was gone and hence very few bees. So I'll have to go hunting for another good location.

Any comments, particularly in relation to post-processing would be much appreciated.



The honey bees:
#2


#3


#4

[Shadowman]

I would've expected more detail with flash, did you have to tone these down a bit in post-processing?

[Cantab]

John, thanks for your response. No, I didn't make any major alterations in post-processing, primarily just minor tweaking. I have a pair of the newish Canon 600 flashes but used a smaller and (lighter) flash for these photos. Next time I'll put up with the extra weight of a larger flash and see if that makes a difference.

[Rita]

Bruce, when I did my bees some of the feedback I got was to use larger f number, somewhere around f11. This helped me greatly.

[Cantab]

Rita, thank you for your comment. I'll definitely go for a much smaller aperture next time!

[deetheturk]

Nice images Bruce, they do look a tad soft though but that has been down to your F stop, looking forward to more of your images!

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi Bruce,

Nice attempt composition no 2 works best for me, i dont think the softness has much to do with your flash and is mainly your aperture. The last bee shot i posted was at F14 and i was advised to try smaller which i will do. it was shot with 2 x sb200 mounted on lens, they are really tiny but at these sorts of focus distance are just fine.

I found it all a little daunting trying to compose focus and get the settings all correct so i stopped shooting moving things a photographed stationary objects until i got used to the flash power and other camera settings and their probable results. Try and suss out how to use your flash to get rid of as much ambient light as possible. Its a tricky combination small f stop, small flash but try it on something not moving first.

[Stagecoach]

Bruce, what I notice most about these is the noise considering the ISO, especially the first of the series. Have you cropped them significantly?

I suspect the lack of detail that John has mentioned is due very much to the very limited DoF because there are parts of the bee in all shots that are clearly sharp. I have found that using a flash straight on also flattens the detail especially with very fine hair/fur.

One trick I occasionally do if there's a bit of noise on plain areas such as the OOF green is to go over lightly with a blur brush in PP.

Look forward to seeing the next series (around f/11 to f/16)

Grahame

[Cantab]

Thank you all for your comments.

Grahame, the noise was a bit of a surprise. On most of the photos I simply used a small amount of global noise reduction in LR -- but I may have missed doing so in the bumble bee photo. I'll give your suggestion of using a blur brush a go. You commented:
"I have found that using a flash straight on also flattens the detail especially with very fine hair/fur."
I have a stroboframe flash bracket that raises the flash a bit above the camera, so I'll test that out and compare the results to mounting the flash directly on the camera.

And I hope that I've learned the lesson: small aperture.

[Mark von Kanel]

At iso 200 you shouldnt be getting much noise how much are you cropping? not much i assume given the lens your using

[IzzieK]

I am cranning my head around trying to look at a better view of these bees. I think #2 get my vote. #1 and #3 needs to be turned around for a better view? Otherwise I will pass up saying anything more because the macro experts are here on hand to help you.

[Cantab]

At iso 200 you shouldnt be getting much noise how much are you cropping? not much i assume given the lens your using

Mark, I went back and compared the posted bumble bee with the original; it represents the centre 1/9 of the original image -- I didn't want to get too close to the critters. So I did crop a fair amount but I'm still a bit surprised at the amount of noise. I have a 1.4 tele-extender as well as extension tubes so I may play around with those to see if I can get a good image but still not be on top of the bee.

[Cantab]

I am cranning my head around trying to look at a better view of these bees. I think #2 get my vote. #1 and #3 needs to be turned around for a better view? Otherwise I will pass up saying anything more because the macro experts are here on hand to help you.

Izzie, thank you for your comments. I'll play around with the images and see what re-orienting them looks like. In my defence, the photos reflect what the bees were doing - hanging on vertically.

[DanK]

If you are using flash, you should be able to close down the aperture a great deal without boosting the ISO. My standard bug-hunting starting point with a flash is 1/125 (no reason to go faster with a flash), ISO 200, f/13, although I sometimes go a little more open, say, f/10.

At ISO 200, even my old Canon 50D, which is not known to be a low-noise camera, has very little noise when images are properly exposed. I think it is probably the extreme cropping that is making this seem worse.

Re getting close: if I am not mistaken, the canon 100mm macro lenses will not accept the Canon telextenders. I believe they might accept the Kenko 1.4x, but I am not sure. You can put a thin extension tube between the lens and a canon extender. I sometimes put a 12mm tube between my 100mm lens and my 1.4x, but you have to get very close with that setup. Unlike telextenders, extension tubes do not provide a greater reach. They allow you to get a higher degree of magnification, but at the cost of getting closer, not being farther away. That's why I rarely hunt bugs with more than a 36mm tube--the longer the tube, the harder it is to get close enough.

One option is a longer macro lens, but I have never used one because they are bulky. The alternative is to practice getting closer--and learning to accept the large number of failed images that come with trying to get closer. That is the hardest part of macro for me.

One general suggestion that was made to me repeatedly when I started bugs: worry about the eyes above all else. Clearly visible, in-focus eyes are often what makes a picture. If you manage to get the bug close to parallel to the sensor, you may be able to get the whole thing in focus, but if not, if the rest of the bug goes out of focus, that matters less. For example, here is a deer fly getting ready to try to bite my knee--50D, 100mm macro, 36mm extension tube, and flash:



Keep it up! you are off to a good start.

[Cantab]

Dan, many thanks for your helpful comments. I'm sure you're right about the Canon tele-extender; I bought it to use with the Canon 100-400.

Looking at the data in LR an hour ago, I realized that I'd shot the bees at ISO 400, not 200 as I wrote in my original post (failing memory) so that may have contributed a small amount to the noise.

Anyway, next time I'll move in closer with a small aperture and zap them with flash.

[IzzieK]

Izzie, thank you for your comments. I'll play around with the images and see what re-orienting them looks like. In my defence, the photos reflect what the bees were doing - hanging on vertically.

You do not have to defend yourself from the likes of me Bruce. I am no one here. You are right of course ... just that sometimes re-orienting works, not always though...I understand...OK?

[Brownbear]

Hi Bruce,

Nice efforts. I tried this the other day and learned how hard it is to do. The bees like to keep their heads stuck in the flowers, so I have lots of Bee Butt shots in blurry purple flowers.

My favourite is #3 for the background and the flower, and because the head and eyes are visible. Beautiful background and flower for your bees... just a little more DOF and it'll be a beauty.