davidearls Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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OK, this is long.
First off, "morphos" are blue morpho butterflies from Costa Rica. Tripod is an industrial strength hoary Gitzo with a geared platform you crank up and down.
I'll be taking two cameras to the shoot. One will be my Canon 70D with a non-focusing Leica 100mm macro lens. Focusing and magnification result from distance from the subject and correct extension of the bellows. You do your setup and then you wait for the shot to come to you.
Then for the butterflies, I thought I would take an AF lens. Problem: the only two AF lenses in my kit are the 400 f5.6 and an ancient 600 f4. I love the 400 for its snappy and accurate AF, and it's the shorter of my choices.
Problem: minimum focusing distance is 3.5 meters and intrinsic magnification is .11. Not nearly enough to get any of the detail you crave from a butterfly. Ergo the tube, which extends magnification to .23 and decreases MFD by about a quarter. Now the problem shifts, because you no longer know either the minimum or maximum focusing distances.
So you practice. Practicing outdoors with this setup is uncomfortable in single-digit temps, so you practice in your basement. And you practice with something that can't move. Like a flower.
You're taking photographs and you want something you feel good about after taking shots of the laundry detergent boxes and paper towels. If you're me, that means low-light long exposures. I've done them with the shutter open as long as 2 minutes. There's nothing to teach patience better than sitting in a nearly dark room with a camera shutter open. You put your foot down, you get some shake. Stillness is king. I'm convinced you can see the stillness in the shot.
Long answer short, yes, I could have gotten something sort of similar with a shorter lens, a less ungainly setup, higher ISO, a faster f-stop and higher shutter speed. But the setup is part of the process for me, and i enjoy it. I won't be doing 2-second shots of butterflies, but the rusty skills I sharpen from this process should serve me well. Better over-prepared than under-prepared.
There's madness behind the method behind the madness...
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