I`ve not commented on any of your shots lately john but trust me it goes without saying that I think you rock son, just though i'd put that on the record . Btw i can't wait to see what next year brings........
Excellent images as usual!! Can you tell me about how close you were to the subjects in the last shot and about what magnification did you use? I finally ordered this lens and images like your last shot are what I hope for
@ JP: I use a Canon MT-24EX macro twin flash, and over the course of this year I've tried a lot of different things to diffuse it. I'm currently using a light diffusion material and a 1/8 CTO gel right against the flash heads with a set of Sto-Fen diffusers over them (I wrapped Gaffers tape around the Sto-Fens). This is what it looks like (I'm also elevating the head that I use as the fill).
@ Rachel: For the Hoverflies I'm at about 1.5x and I'm about 3" from them. It was windy that day so when I grabbed onto the leaf the critters couldn't tell the difference between the vibration induced by the wind and the vibration induced by me. Tutorial here -I use that method for almost all of my insect macro.
Thanks for the info and the link. I do something similar, when I can, either with a plamp on my tripod or by hand if I am not carrying the pod. I really enjoy your posts!
M Vers wrote:
...Just out of curiosity, are any of the above images stacked? If not, what apertures were they shot at?
Due to the scenes that I like the shoot, and the activity level of most of my subjects, stacking isn't practical -I'd miss more shots than I'd take. Most of the time I have the camera set to F11, sometimes dropping down to F8 at 4x and 5x if I'm shooting a scene that doesn't need the extra depth but I want to pull out more fine detail. Even though the area of sharp focus is thin, the area of acceptable focus is usually enough for the size of the critters I photograph. The trick is to place that area of acceptable focus where it will do the most good, and to re-focus the scene for every shot since very minor changes can have a big impact on the composition of a frame.
. Btw i can't wait to see what next year brings........