Monarch egg
Jun 18, 2017 14:19:17 #
Saw some monarchs flitting around the milkweed the other day, looks like we got at least one egg. If you zoom in on it, you can see the striations on the egg.
Jun 18, 2017 15:47:24 #
Good close-up documentation. I would like to see you get closer. Set your lens to Minimum Focusing Distance on Manual, move camera + lens towards subject until focus found, then take photo at 1:1 mag (true macro).
Jun 18, 2017 17:38:13 #
Thanks for the suggestions, I've only had my Tamron 90mm macro lens for a few weeks, I'm still learning what it can do. I think I was pretty close to the minimal shooting distance even in autofocus. The biggest challenge was the wind, my wife was holding the leaf so I could shoot the underside, but the whole plant kept moving around in the breeze.
I'm hoping we can remember which milkweed plant the egg was on so we can shoot it again and watch for the caterpillar.
I've got a Fotodiox doubler, but I haven't tried it with the macro lens yet. (Based on my experiences with other lenses, it wouldn't surprise me if I wound up using manual focus only.)
I'm hoping we can remember which milkweed plant the egg was on so we can shoot it again and watch for the caterpillar.
I've got a Fotodiox doubler, but I haven't tried it with the macro lens yet. (Based on my experiences with other lenses, it wouldn't surprise me if I wound up using manual focus only.)
Jun 18, 2017 17:54:46 #
Update: With the doubler attached to the Tamron 90 mm, the minimum focal distance is probably no more than two inches from the front of the lens, and, as I suspected, autofocus doesn't work well.
Jun 18, 2017 19:15:09 #
Here's another shot, taken with the camera on a tripod, image stabilization off, with the doubler mounted, using manual focus. I'm not sure it is as in-focus as the earlier shot, the surface of the leaf may be more in focus than the egg due to depth issues, but the light was different, so the striations show up differently. It kept bouncing in and out of focus, probably due to wind.
Jun 19, 2017 04:09:19 #
You are experiencing the bane of every field macro-photographer: subject movement and extremely narrow Depth-of-Field. Most of us use diffused speedlight illumination, which allows a typical exposure of 1/200-sec at f/16, ISO 200, hand-held. Do you own a standard speedlight? Take a look at hand-held field macro set-ups from pages 4 through 7: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-32754-4.html
Jun 19, 2017 10:21:33 #
I don't have a good speedlight yet (also on my wishlist), and that probably wouldn't have helped here, because I was shooting outdoors, the second shot was with late afternoon direct sun. (Although I see some outdoor settings on the setups pages you mentioned, where there are some impressive looking kits.)
Adding the doubler to the 90 mm macro lens, as expected, produces an even shallower depth of field, something I'll have to practice with if I'm going to try to take shots using the doubler.
Thanks for the suggested settings.
Adding the doubler to the 90 mm macro lens, as expected, produces an even shallower depth of field, something I'll have to practice with if I'm going to try to take shots using the doubler.
Thanks for the suggested settings.
Jun 19, 2017 12:56:41 #
This is a good start. The speedlight creates more powerful illuminationthan the on-camera flash, and this lets you get effective exposure at smaller apertures and lower ISO. Also, you make use of a big diffuser on a big flash, and this cuts the shadows.
Jun 19, 2017 17:35:53 #
Jun 20, 2017 03:33:15 #
mikenolan wrote:
ALL of my macro-photography is hand-held, and in the field (outdoors). Speedlight illumination allows ISO 200, 1/200-sec at f/16. This is my earlier hand-held, macro set-up. It is fairly typical of set-ups used in this forum.I don't have a good speedlight yet (also on my wishlist), and that probably wouldn't have helped here, because I was shooting outdoors . . .
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