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Archive 2021 · Critter Mix Part Four

Dalantech
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Critter Mix Part Four

I went out to my sister in law's place in the mountains above Itri, Italy at 5:30AM to photograph the Bumblebees in her Lavender. There were several that were already awake and foraging in the 17C (62F) temperature.

Bombus hortorum

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/100, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to over 3x) + a diffused MT26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order. I used an artificial flower to keep the background from being black.

Bumblebee Portrait by John Kimbler, on Flickr

Second shot, same species and settings.

Bumblebee in Lavender by John Kimbler, on Flickr

It is pretty common for solitary bees, like this Sweat Bee, to feel the heat coming off of my skin and climb onto my hand to get warm. A split second after I took that shot the critter got airborne.

Possibly Halictus sexcinctus.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to under 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -2/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order. When photographing subjects with black glossy eyes it is best to under expose the scene by 2/3 to a full stop. Those eyes are like firing a flash into a piece of curved glazed tile, and although the histogram might look good it is easy to overexpose those peepers.

Sweat Bee on my Finger by John Kimbler, on Flickr

I am not sure what damaged this Sweat Bee's eye, but it is not unusual to see that kind of damage. The bee was acting normally, and flew off after it got tired of me sticking the camera into its face. Sweat Bees (Halictidae) are known to bed down together in groups, and there are over a dozen that are using one of my Geranium flowers as a hostel.

Possibly Halictus sexcinctus.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to over 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.

Dented Sweat Bee by John Kimbler, on Flickr

I normally do not like to let the background go dark due to flash fall off, but this Sweat Bee was in a tricky spot and I did not want to spook the critter into taking off.

Possibly Halictus sexcinctus.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to under 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.

Sweat Bee in a Geranium Flower by John Kimbler, on Flickr

For this frame I used my hand to keep the background from going black. Same species, shot at about 2x:

Sweat Bee in a Geranium Flower by John Kimbler, on Flickr

It is pretty common for mildew (a fungus) to grow on Sunflower leaves but when it does nature sends in her cleaning crew, the 22 Spot Ladybug. They have been grazing like cows in my yard for about a week now.

Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to about 2.5x) + a diffused MT-26EX RT (E-TTL metering with -2/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.

22 Spot Ladybug by John Kimbler, on Flickr

I really did not expect to get a shot of this feeding butterfly. Bright, sunny, and hot so I expected it to take off when I got close but it was more hungry than afraid. I could not grab onto the flower without spooking it, so I braced the camera by putting my elbow on my leg and rocked back and forth to get the focus where I wanted. Probably took a dozen frames and this is the only one that did not become one with the universe and the delete key on my keyboard.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/125, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to 1x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order. ISO and shutter speed set to expose for the natural light in the background.

Feeding Butterfly by John Kimbler, on Flickr

Aug 09, 2021 at 02:31 PM

CW100
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Critter Mix Part Four

MP-E 65 can get real close

Aug 10, 2021 at 11:21 AM

birdied
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Critter Mix Part Four

Amazing set !!

Birdie

Aug 10, 2021 at 12:44 PM

Dalantech
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Critter Mix Part Four

CW100 wrote:
MP-E 65 can get real close

No auto focus, no infinity focus, and the magnification changes from 1x to 5x with the turn of a ring. The focus indicators in the camera's view finder do not work with the MP-E. The only thing that the camera can control is the aperture. The working distance (from the front of the lens to the subject) starts out at 4" and drops to 1.6" at 5x. It can get very close

Aug 11, 2021 at 09:16 AM

Dalantech
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Critter Mix Part Four

birdied wrote:
Amazing set !!

Birdie

Thanks Birdie!

Aug 11, 2021 at 09:16 AM

ElvisD
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Critter Mix Part Four

Excellent shots, especially as they single-frame and handheld.

Your deffusion device does a better job than the variety of methods I have tried. I haven't found a way to avoid the reflection of the flash in the critter's eye, no matter how much I dial back flash EC.

TFS.

Aug 11, 2021 at 10:22 AM

Dalantech
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Critter Mix Part Four

ElvisD wrote:
Excellent shots, especially as they single-frame and handheld.

Thanks! I am typically holding on to whatever the critter is perched on with my non camera hand, and then resting the lens on that same hand to help keep the scene steady. Also gives me a lot of control over the area of acceptable focus.

ElvisD wrote:
Your deffusion device does a better job than the variety of methods I have tried. I haven't found a way to avoid the reflection of the flash in the critter's eye, no matter how much I dial back flash EC.

TFS.

That specular highlight is really unavoidable, and under exposing will not make much difference. I am going to cut and past a pretty long post that I made over at Reddit concerning light quality. I was evaluating a photo that someone had posted:

"If the light is not diffused very well specular surfaces will act like true mirrors and return the color of the light and not the color of the underlying surface. The end result is a loss in detail, and it has nothing to do with exposure. Even if the image is under exposed it will still happen. To me the light looks a little on the harsh side, and I think that is where your detail loss is coming from. <-- My C&C on the image that was posted.

Although I have gotten a lot of crap for this light has two basic properties. It is either hard or soft, specular or diffused. Soft/hard light depends on the size of the light source relative to the subject. The larger the light relative to the subject the softer it will look, and you can see it in the shadows because they will not look really dark and the transition area between what is lit and what is in shadow will be kind of fuzzy. If the light is hard the shadows will be dark and the transition areas between the shadow and the light will be very well defined (like a line).

If the light is diffused then the specular areas in the scene will have color and texture in them, and the more diffused the light is the smoother the transition between non specular and specular areas. If the light is specular (not diffused well) then the specular surfaces will return the color of the light source and you will lose detail. Also the transition area between non specular and specular areas will be very short and well defined (easy to see).

In a studio, using studio softboxes, soft light will equal diffused light most of the time. Most studio light modifiers are designed to allow the light from the flash to spread out before it hits the diffusion surface, so the light that the subject sees is even. The only thing you have to worry about is the size of the light source relative to the subject -the closer you get it to what you are shooting the softer and more diffused it will be.

As a macro shooter I see a lot of people using a light source that can best be described as soft/specular. Soft because it is large relative to the subject so the shadows will be soft. But since their diffuser is short there is not enough room for the light from the flash to spread out before it hits the diffusion surface that the subject sees. There will be a hot spot in the middle of it, that hot spot is acting like a point source, and they are losing detail in the specular areas of the scene. The light is erasing detail in the specular surfaces."

Sorry for the long post. I frequently see people losing more detail to poor light quality than I lose to diffraction. What I said about flash photography applies to natural light as well.

Aug 11, 2021 at 03:44 PM

ElvisD
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Critter Mix Part Four

Thanks for the response. I found it helpful.

Aug 11, 2021 at 07:42 PM

Dalantech
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Critter Mix Part Four

ElvisD wrote:
Thanks for the response. I found it helpful.

Happy to help!

Aug 13, 2021 at 05:41 PM


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