Author Topic: Bugs (Read 136055 times)

Salvatore · « **Reply #25 on:** 25 September, 2009, 05:39:18 pm »

A little chap I found going for the last of the blackberries.

I think it's a shield bug.

[Edit: It isn't. I am reliably informed it's a Dock Bug Coreus marginatus]

Salvatore · « **Reply #26 on:** 09 October, 2009, 09:05:41 pm »

Yesterday there was perfect weather here - bright sun, no wind, and enough of a hint of a chill to stop the critters from being too energetic. This is probably the pick of the bunch

Salvatore · « **Reply #27 on:** 12 June, 2010, 11:34:20 am »

Some more from a recent trip to Scotland

What struck me about this one was the amount of pollen caked on his hind legs

and a couple of feet away:

David Martin · « **Reply #28 on:** 23 June, 2010, 10:24:48 pm »

It is that time of year again

And with the wings

Kathy · « **Reply #29 on:** 25 April, 2011, 11:47:40 pm »

I spent the last two days playing with a macro lens, but none of my shots are remotely as good as Salvatore's or David's.

Though admittedly I'm not yet halfway through the camera manual, and I've not had a chance to look at the instructions which came with the lens.

Hints and tips for shooting erratic fast-moving teeny-tiny things gratefully appreciated.*

*Though I haven't got as far as "aperture" or "depth of field" in the manual yet.

David Martin · « **Reply #30 on:** 25 April, 2011, 11:57:32 pm »

Manual focus and exposure.
Off camera flash
Set up and wait for the action to come to you. (ie you see a bee moving aroudn the flowers, pick a flower and prefocus so you are ready and waiting.

Throw 99.9% of the shots away.
Then throw the other 0.1% away and practise some more.

..d

Kathy · « **Reply #31 on:** 26 April, 2011, 12:03:33 am »

Ta.

Don't have an off-camera flash.

How do I make the whole insect be in focus? I was finding that I was getting the head in focus and the body blurry, or vice-versa, and I don't know what words to look up in the instructions.

David Martin · « **Reply #32 on:** 26 April, 2011, 12:08:38 am »

aperture. set it to the smallest (biggest number) and you will have more in focus.

You will however lose shutter speed so wil need a flash.

If you have a sheet of greaeproof paper (and some sticky tape) you can approximate a small softbox in front of your flash which will improve the lighting. Just make a loop from an A4 sized piece. Another bit of white card the other side of the lens will help bounce some light into the shadows. And with your 3rd pair of hands...

rogerzilla · « **Reply #33 on:** 26 April, 2011, 09:06:16 pm »

At these distances depth of field is almost non-existent, even at f/22. This means focus has to be spot on. Bumblebees ought to be easy though - they are very placid and you can even stroke them while they're crawling on flowers.

The old trick is not to actually focus at all; pre-focus closely on manual and just move the camera until the insect is sharp. Much easier.

Kathy · « **Reply #34 on:** 28 April, 2011, 10:12:01 pm »

Well, here are my very first attempts (the ones I didn't delete outright!

). None of them are great. They were all taken outside without flash ('cos I don't have a flash yet

), and I'm a bit annoyed that I forgot to set my ISO setting back to normal after I had been experimenting with forcing it to be too high. I'm no-where near the standard of the rest of this thread, but I'll keep trying.

Bees:

A Pider eyeballing me!

(My M-I-L did not like that piccy - I hadn't realised she was so unfond of spiders)

Some caterpillar or other:

A nant:

David Martin · « **Reply #35 on:** 29 April, 2011, 12:07:23 am »

Nice - you do have to think about background as well as what it is you are intending to photograph. definitely off to a good start.

Kathy · « **Reply #36 on:** 05 May, 2011, 09:17:01 pm »

Latest attempts:

rogerzilla · « **Reply #37 on:** 05 May, 2011, 09:50:46 pm »

The ladybird is good, although I'm more used to seeing them on roses, looking for aphids.

David Martin · « **Reply #38 on:** 05 May, 2011, 11:04:24 pm »

Nice and sharp insects, a bit more playing with looking at the background and it will be really good. Have you tried the loop of greaseproof paper over the flash yet?

Kathy · « **Reply #39 on:** 06 May, 2011, 08:33:41 am »

Quote from: David Martin on 05 May, 2011, 11:04:24 pm

Nice and sharp insects, a bit more playing with looking at the background and it will be really good. Have you tried the loop of greaseproof paper over the flash yet?

Still not got a flash yet.