Sungei Buloh Macros - C&C

[Pyre of Fyre]

For your C&C. Any ID would be appreciated.

Beetle

Beetle Family

St. Andrew's Cross Spider

Flower

Mud Crab

Regards and Thanks for looking,
PoF

 

[Pyre of Fyre]

Butterfly

Regards,
PoF

 

[An drew]

nice :thumbsup:

 

[Pyre of Fyre]

Thanks for the feedback Andrew.

So everyone, is there anyway that I can improve in this area?

Thanks.

 

[Ljung]

#2 is my favourite!! :thumbsup:

 

[An drew]

Thanks for the feedback Andrew.

So everyone, is there anyway that I can improve in this area?

Thanks.

To me all look good. I am most interested in the beetle family picture. I think it is hard to get a great shot as the dof is thin and the composition could be more creative perhaps.

 

[leyo04]

the cross spider is really good. I like the DOF on the web. :thumbsup:

 

[FadAly]

bro, nice pic u got there.... whats the setup.....

 

[espion]

I agree with Andrew on the beetle family. it is a v interesting subject being so colourful, and a better composition is required, especially deciding where and what to be in focus an what not given the very shallow DOF available.

The mud crab is good too, maybe a little more DOF to put some of the further eye in focus and also not to cut off its feet.

The butterfly - a blue tiger - is underexposed.

The flower - a simpoh air flower - needs light to make its redness shine. As it is, it is dull & nondescript.

 

[Pyre of Fyre]

Ljung, An_drew. Leyo,

Thanks for the compliments!

bro, nice pic u got there.... whats the setup.....

Setup for all shots:

EOS 30D
No flash
Sigma 150mm
Aperture Priority

Beetle:
ISO: 400
Exposure: 1/60s at f/4

Beetle Family:
ISO: 100
Exposure 1/50s at f/5

Cross Spider:
ISO: 800
Exposure: 1/1600s at f/5

Flower:
ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/100s at f/2.8

Crab:
ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/30s at f/5

Butterfly:
ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/80s at f/2.8

I agree with Andrew on the beetle family. it is a v interesting subject being so colourful, and a better composition is required, especially deciding where and what to be in focus an what not given the very shallow DOF available.

The mud crab is good too, maybe a little more DOF to put some of the further eye in focus and also not to cut off its feet.

The butterfly - a blue tiger - is underexposed.

The flower - a simpoh air flower - needs light to make its redness shine. As it is, it is dull & nondescript.

Hi Espion,

Thanks for the feedback.

1) Actually tried gently prying both leaves apart, to show more of the family, but lost my nerve when the beetles started to move, so left it as it is... Was trying to focus on the 'mother' beetle (the largest one on the RHS leaf), but somehow didn't seem to work... Will keep the insight in mind for future shoots.

2) *laughs* Only realised the feet were cut off when you mentioned it... *Mental Note* Must be more careful in future...

 

[tchuanye]

I like the details on the crab.

For macros, DOF is an issue, so try to have a smaller apeture to get greater DOF. It will be at the expense of loss of light, so either slower shutter or use a flash (diffused).

For #1, its a shield bug and not a beetle.

 

[Pyre of Fyre]

I like the details on the crab.

For macros, DOF is an issue, so try to have a smaller apeture to get greater DOF. It will be at the expense of loss of light, so either slower shutter or use a flash (diffused).

For #1, its a shield bug and not a beetle.

Thanks for the compliments.

Currently using the Sigma 150mm for the macros, so it's usually a balance between standing further back to gain the DOF (but having to crop later) or standing closer and getting more of the subject in (but losing the DOF). I normally try to take multiple shots while focusing on different points on the subject, but some of these guys don't stand around for too long, so it's quite difficult! Was wondering if you've got any other suggestions on increasing DOF? I've actually tried going all the way up to f22, but to maintain the 1:1 without cropping, it's almost impossible to get decent DOF. *sighs*

Thanks for pointing out the family shot.

BTW, love your shots - have been following them for awhile!

Regards,
PoF

 

[tchuanye]

Thanks for the compliments.

Currently using the Sigma 150mm for the macros, so it's usually a balance between standing further back to gain the DOF (but having to crop later) or standing closer and getting more of the subject in (but losing the DOF). I normally try to take multiple shots while focusing on different points on the subject, but some of these guys don't stand around for too long, so it's quite difficult! Was wondering if you've got any other suggestions on increasing DOF? I've actually tried going all the way up to f22, but to maintain the 1:1 without cropping, it's almost impossible to get decent DOF. *sighs*

Thanks for pointing out the family shot.

BTW, love your shots - have been following them for awhile!

Regards,
PoF

Low DOF is a problem faced by all macros photographers. Know your equipment and its limitation and use it to your adv.

Not familiar with your set up so can't advice on the F stop to use, but always try to get the subject parallel to your camera plane, so that the entire subject lies within your DOF. Main focal points has to be the eyes.

E.g. for the first shot, to get the camera parallel to the shield bug would get the entire body in the DOF.

 

[diediealsomustdive]

Great shots. One maybe small, maybe not small, point to consider. If you look at the shot of the flower there is some undesirable highlight taking away attention from the photo. Perhaps the butterfly shot can be helped by a darker background. Or PS to darken the surrounding.

On the choice of subject matter, my comment would be this appears to be more of a macro exercise. Rather common unexciting subjects, mostly.

But I like the bug and beettle shots. Personally I think nothing of the comments posted on the beettle family shot, like it as it is.

Overall good effort and demonstrated expertise! Now to look for more exciting subjects, perhaps?

 

[Pyre of Fyre]

Low DOF is a problem faced by all macros photographers. Know your equipment and its limitation and use it to your adv.

Not familiar with your set up so can't advice on the F stop to use, but always try to get the subject parallel to your camera plane, so that the entire subject lies within your DOF. Main focal points has to be the eyes.

E.g. for the first shot, to get the camera parallel to the shield bug would get the entire body in the DOF.

Aah, that makes sense, will keep that in mind for future macros. Thanks for the tip!

Great shots. One maybe small, maybe not small, point to consider. If you look at the shot of the flower there is some undesirable highlight taking away attention from the photo. Perhaps the butterfly shot can be helped by a darker background. Or PS to darken the surrounding.

On the choice of subject matter, my comment would be this appears to be more of a macro exercise. Rather common unexciting subjects, mostly.

But I like the bug and beettle shots. Personally I think nothing of the comments posted on the beettle family shot, like it as it is.

Overall good effort and demonstrated expertise! Now to look for more exciting subjects, perhaps?

Thanks for the feedback.

Yeah, noticed the highlight around the flower while PP'ing. But living in the East makes it a little difficult to go back to SB to redo the shot. No confidence in my PS skills too, but yeah, mostly looking at the flower shot, I find the highlights distracting.


Yeah, definitely need to look for more exciting subjects. How's this for starters?

http://forums.clubsnap.com/showthread.php?p=3047550#post3047550

Regards,
PoF

 

[diediealsomustdive]

The green snake is a nicer subject than many of the stuff in this post, but I still like the family of beettles.

Good day.

 

[mojopy]

It's a vinegar crab (tree-climbing crab).
as for correct species name, i'm not that sure but i think it's the Singapore Vinegar Crab.

:thumbsup:

 

[An drew]

Thanks for the compliments.

Currently using the Sigma 150mm for the macros, so it's usually a balance between standing further back to gain the DOF (but having to crop later) or standing closer and getting more of the subject in (but losing the DOF). I normally try to take multiple shots while focusing on different points on the subject, but some of these guys don't stand around for too long, so it's quite difficult! Was wondering if you've got any other suggestions on increasing DOF? I've actually tried going all the way up to f22, but to maintain the 1:1 without cropping, it's almost impossible to get decent DOF. *sighs*

Thanks for pointing out the family shot.

BTW, love your shots - have been following them for awhile!

Regards,
PoF

A question to the gurus:

As theory goes, at a particular f-stop and magnification (on sensor), the DOF is always the same, regardless of distance. So you can only sacrifice magnification for DOF. (Of course with the same lens, magnification can be reduced by increasing distance)

So is it correct that in order to optimize DOF, one should determine the minimum magnification reguired to get the maximum DOF?
Secondly, what should a balanced or better approach be (other than or in addition to flash)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Pyre of Fyre]

Not a guru, but I do know this:

DOF is determined by
1) the aperture - the larger the opening (the lower the f-stop number) the shallower the DOF;
2) the focal length - the longer the focal length, again, the shallower will be the DOF;
3) the object distance - the closer the lens, hence the sensor, the shallower the DOF.

Incidentally, the crop factor on most DSLRs play a secondary role in determining DOF. Basically, what this means is that on a 1.5 or 1.6 crop camera, the camera would have to be placed further away from the subject (as opposed to a FF camera), in order to get the closest approximate equivalent in composition, etc. Of course, all other variables constant between the cropped and FF camera. In a nutshell, because of the increased object distance the DOF also proportionately increases; not directly because of the crop factor, but because of compositional requirements.

Not sure if this answers your question, though.

PoF

 

[An drew]

Not a guru, but I do know this:

DOF is determined by
1) the aperture - the larger the opening (the lower the f-stop number) the shallower the DOF;
2) the focal length - the longer the focal length, again, the shallower will be the DOF;
3) the object distance - the closer the lens, hence the sensor, the shallower the DOF.

Incidentally, the crop factor on most DSLRs play a secondary role in determining DOF. Basically, what this means is that on a 1.5 or 1.6 crop camera, the camera would have to be placed further away from the subject (as opposed to a FF camera), in order to get the closest approximate equivalent in composition, etc. Of course, all other variables constant between the cropped and FF camera. In a nutshell, because of the increased object distance the DOF also proportionately increases; not directly because of the crop factor, but because of compositional requirements.

Not sure if this answers your question, though.

PoF

Thanks for trying answer my perhaps irrelevant question. I suppose people just take whatever pictures with whatever equipment and if it looks good then good. People will try to get maximum magnification and sharpness and play around with composition until they get what they want and increase the light if they need more dof...

My question might be more relevant to those who do "available light" macro handheld. Than again maybe not. :dunno:

Anyone care to share what they think about this? Not looking for answers now.