Macro, Tricky It Is!

[Paul Lange]

I have a 85mm 1:1 Macro Lens which means that what you photograph is projected life size on to the cameras sensor. There has been some really excellent macro images posted lately and I wanted to show people that it is not as easy as you might think. Just having a macro lens is not enough.

These were taken 1:1 and even at f10 the DOF is tiny (millimeters or less) and hand help focus is tricky, really tricky. I have lots of complete failures, lots. Some of the images posted recently buy Ali and Rense I guess were taken at 2:1 to 5:1 (I guess) and at that sort of focal length DOF is often fractions of a millimeter. In order to get any usable DOF you have to take multiple images at different focal points by either cranking the focus on the lens or having a rail that allows you to incrementally move the camera a tiny bit for each shot. You then combine the images using PS or some other software.

It all sounds easy but really it's not, especially when you are photographing something tiny. Not having the set up to photograph greater than 1:1 I can only guess that you need a lot of patience when photographing live critters. I imagine some of them bolt on the 1 shot.

I can only say hats off to some of the recent macro images taken at almost microscopic focal lengths.

 

[Paul Lange]

Latched On.jpg by Paul R Lange, on Flickr

 

[Rense Haveman]

Very nice, I like it!

The only critique I would have is on the harsh light on the snails houses. The reflection is somewhat distracting, but I guess it could be corrected in pp?

 

[Paul Lange]

Missing Leg.jpg by Paul R Lange, on Flickr

 

[Hamish Gill]

Also, inspired by Ali and Rense I am some way into experiments and i would fully agree about how hard it is!

Have you fashioned any kind of flash diffuser yet Paul?

 

[Paul Lange]

Funny you should say that! Just made one. At first I was using my bounce deflector and it worked OK but the light was still a bit to harsh, as Rense pointed out on the first snail shot. The new one is a Tesco Value small sandwich cool bag, a whole heady £1 and some poly frosted sheet I had left over from my beauty dish project. I cut the bottom out of the coll bag and inserted a rectangle of the poly sheet that had tabs bent on each edge. The tabs went in between the lining and outer shell. I then inserted another sheet of poly inside. I know that doesn't make much sense yet but it will when I post the pic later on.

I took some test shots and it all looks promising.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Good news!
Looking forward to seeing the pix!
I've been playing with my Gary Fong and some brackets and things ... It's just too wobbly and loose at the mo!

 

[Gavin Robert]

Nice images Paul. Another diffuser you might want to try are babies white socks. They're cheap in packs of 5 pairs and are compact as well as being 10 welcome reserve wipes. I've used them for a few years now and find stretching the fabric over the flash head to increase light rather than adjusting the flash head manual intensity far easier and faster.

 

[Paul Lange]

Thanks for that Gavin, good idea. Hamish, I bought a flash bracket but it kept moving and the bolts kept coming loose. Also after a while my flashgun started to play up in Slave mode and wouldn't receive the correct signal from the camera. Also sometimes it fired on its own. I don't know if that is a fault or just a problem with the system.

 

[Allan Batchelor]

If you can get a copy Paul of current issue of Outdoor Photographer ( i get the online version thru zinio) theres a big spread about macro stuff and shows some setups etc

 

[Chris Dodkin]

impressive stuff - hate bugs though - interested in the flash ideas for other 'non bug' work

I get Outdoor Pornographer, so will take a look at the article

 

[Hamish Gill]

I'm really stumped by this flash bracket problem ...
Same deal as you Paul everything keeps coming loose!
I was tempted last night to just wrap tape around the whole thing ... But I get the heeby jeebys when I think about the sticky residue that gets left behind so had to talk my self out of the idea in the end!