Trying macro

[Dave A]

While getting back into photography I've discovered I'm also interested in macro. I've only tried it a couple times and quickly discovered it's very challenging. I started with mostly flowers since they don't move or run away These were taken in strong late afternoon light which was probably a bit much. I did however shoot some of the images with a dark shadow in the background to get the effect I was looking for. Not great images but it's a start. I received a ring flash today in the mail so now I can chase some bugs in less than ideal lighting.









Dave

[bnnrcn]

Welcome Dave I like #1 and #2. IMO If you reduce the highlights in #1 it might look better. I like the soft light in #2. I would clone orange and green spots next to the left and bottom frame.

[selig1656]

Pic two is done very well , I like the composition the best out of the other two . in pic three you could probably do a little more PP on the exposure and color adjustments.On the first pic I am not sure , but the composition doesn't sit right in my perspective. I am sure you will recieve better advice from the many members that have much more experience than I . Keep on shoot'n .

[Dave A]

Welcome Dave I like #1 and #2. IMO If you reduce the highlights in #1 it might look better. I like the soft light in #2. I would clone orange and green spots next to the left and bottom frame.

I will give that a try. I'm using Corel AfterShot 2 Pro.

Thanks,

Dave

[Ziggy]

Nice start and welcome to the forum.

[James G]

Dave these are good images, with plenty of vibrance and good DoF.
I think that #2 is the best of the three for me. But like Raymond I think composition/framing needs attention.
The soft green backdrop is a very nice foil for the reds in the Hips. But the stray shadowed leaf(s) to the right and the out of focus red spot to the left distract and actually unbalance the image for me.
If it were my shot I would try a tighter crop removing the distracting elements.
I can see two seperate crop options..
1) maintain the existing landscape look by cropping from the right about a sixth of the width, from the left enough to remove the red ditraction and from the bottom up to remove most of the stalks below the leaves.
2) alternately there is a portrait crop with a centre line somewhere on or near the singleton hip in the middle of the spray.

As regards the other captures, I think #3 would benefit from centering the blossom horizontally without changing it's vertical orientation (probaly cropping from the left to the tip of the blurred leaf). I might also try a slight reduction in highlights to bring out a bit more texture in the white areas.

Good luck with your ringflash, if you have the option, make sure you apply a ratio to the amount of light from each side of the flash so as to model some direction for the light.

I tend to set mine for a 1:4 or 4:1 ratio to avoid washing out detail and texture.

[IzzieK]

I am with the fan of #2 shot...it is a very nice image...Now you reminded me that I have a ring flash I had not used for a while but travel with me everytime I go out...

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[JBW]

There is an ongoing thread you may have noticed dealing with bug shots. Some excellent macroists post there and they have always been willing to help me learn.

[DanK]

Welcome to CiC, and glad to see an additional person posting macro work.

I agree that #2 is best, although I would crop from the left so that the berry isn't centered and so that you have less empty space.

I suggest you try a narrower aperture. Shallow depth of field is one of the banes of macro work. When I am not going to focus-stack, I usually shoot in the range of f/11-f/13 for a little extra DOF. Some people will say that you will get diffraction by f/13, but it is not noticeable, and the extra DOF more than compensate.

[Dave A]

There is an ongoing thread you may have noticed dealing with bug shots. Some excellent macroists post there and they have always been willing to help me learn.

Thanks Brian, any chance you could point me to that thread.

Dave

[JBW]

Thanks Brian, any chance you could point me to that thread.

Dave

Here is the thread for September. I don't know if the october one has started up yet. For what it is worth I figure it took me about 10,000 shots to get reasonable at macro. Thankfully with a digital camera. I found that the trick for me was NOT to compare my work to others but to compare this months shooting to last months. If there was improvement I was happy.

[DanK]

Thanks Brian, any chance you could point me to that thread.

Dave

There are also a modest number of macros of both bugs and flowers posted separately in this forum. You just have to look for them.

A few years ago, I suggested a separate macro forum. At the time, there wasn't enough interest. At this point, there is so much macro being posted and discussed on the forum that I think it would be worth reconsidering. A number of other photo sites have separate macro forums.