frankiehudman

I am a NEWBIE,, , or as some say a total NOOB. Seriously though ive seemed to have quickly developed a huge interest in Macro/Closeup photography.. So with out any one to teach me I have purchased a Nikon D 3000 (yes i know not a super great camera But I am new to photography) Because i figure it was a step up from P7S and im glad I did. Using the internet I have learned many things which I have patiently practiced and experimented.. Ive gone from close up lens filters to reversing my lense. Here what ive been able to accomplish thus far.. go ahead critique the heck out of me and I will use this to learn more,, thanks all and hello from South Philly.

lense@55mm,10X close up filter,Aperatur f5.6 shutter 1/1000s, ISO140


Lense @55mm,aperaturf8 10X closup filter,shutter spd 1/320sec,ISO 100

sinatraman Loc: Vero Beach Florida, Earth,alpha quaudrant

very good your macro shots are better than mine and I have beeen shooting for 43 years. I am sure there are plenty of books on amazon.com to teach you all the ins and outs of macro photography. Since your from philly sorry to hear that geno of genos steaks has passed. I have never had a real philly cheessteaks from either genos or pats. Have one for me post a photo of and tell me how good it was. i'll live vicariously thru you :thumbup:

KishaB Loc: Northern Indiana

To be a newbie...these shots are amazing. Very good!

frankiehudman

Thanks Sinatraman,, Ill be in Philly next week I live few blocks from Genos so yeah ill get and and shoot it for ya, as far as those 2 shots the originals were flat looking but had high detail and thanks to my wifes old copy of CS3 Extended I researched a bit and found a way to create 3 or 4 layers of the pic and tooling with the blending, filters, and image adjustments to create a weak HDR that just kida makes em pop just right. A nikon D3000 whoda thunk it? it really isnt the gear it is the person behind the lense with the eye! thanks again.

frankiehudman

Thanks Kishab Or.... beginners luck! HA! Ive been at it for only a year but the macro is just recent. thanks to digital trial and error doesnt take weeks anymore.. Oh plus the internet is highly informative too. Just like this site.

notnoBuddha

frankiehudman]I am a NEWBIE,, , or as some say a t............"

Help please -what is 10X close-up filter.
Just when I start to believe I may be getting smater, I find that I an going in reverse.

Love the detail & focus.
Great another one to be envious of.

tilde531 Loc: Seaford Delaware

FANTASTIC!

Dragonflies are a personal favorite subject (one of a few "familiars" or "totem animals").

I was blessed by a visit to my 3rd floor balcony by a HAM of a dragonfly.
I was TICKLED PINK with these two shots... but wow.
They seriously PALE in comparison to yours.

Absolutely fantastic!

frankiehudman

HEy glad to help , Well plainly a 10X Close up filter also known as a diopter is not a true filter,, It screws onto the end of your lense like traditional , polerizer, warmin, cooling, filters etc. But instead of changing the hue or reducing glare it is like a magnifying glass on the end of your lense. heres a link to explain in more detail...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close-up_filter

Toni's Vision Loc: Quincy, Illinois

Great shots! Question.. why is the Nikon D 3000 not a good camera. I'm researching to get a dslr and I'm curious.

frankiehudman

Tilde531,, i use a nikon d3000 dslr, entry level at best.. my shots were pale as or more than yours,, I did some post prcessing in adobe photoshop cs3. Ill explain the steps,, sound difficult but easily mastered.
step 1. open the photo in photoshop >filters>sharpen>smartsharpen

step2, filters>reducenoise

step 3 duplicate layer, then choose blending options for the new layer choose linear dodge or color doge adjust to ur liking, then under the Image tab choose highlight/shadow adjust as u like

Step 4 duplicate that layer and in that layers blending options choose linear burn or color burn adjust as u like,,,

flatten image, reduce noise, and presto..

now u can duplicate more layers if u like and play around with the blending options if you like but thats the best results from those few steps ive gotten for my Bigginer Nikon Dslr. LOL.. Hope this helps

before cs3 post editing


After cs3 post editing

frankiehudman

@Tonis Vision...... I really can not say its a bad camera at all... I specifically chose because one day I woke and said I wanna learn photography..Generally speaking i have no professional photography background and point n shoots were all the rage and all ive ever used. SO with that said, i looked at price, lens quality, and something I could LEARN on (key word). It is classified as a BEGINNER/Entry LEVEL DSLR. it had enough preset programs as does a point n shoot but also has a manual settings with a host of settings to learn with. it does not have LIVE VIEW nor video.. It forces u to actually get behind the camera and compose you shot. This is where in my opinion where one with live view can make some people lazy in the composing side, tho live view does have benefits in situations like where there is no room for you to get behind the camera. I am very glad I chose this camera as a first DSLR,, for the money to quality ratio i say it is a bargain for beginners. Remeber when looking at cameras it is the lens system you are buying into. I like the nikon lens system. Hope this helps

Toni's Vision Loc: Quincy, Illinois

It definitely helps. I just bought a new (used) vehicle and haven't even made the first payment yet so I have to put off buying a dslr for a little bit. In the mean time I'm trying to decide what I want. I could be wrong but I don't see myself spending close to $1000 or more on a camera and in a year having to do it again because I've grown out of the camera I bought. Some may say you should get a "beginner" dslr but I want to have all the possible options available to me in this camera so I don't find myself limited in the near future and have to spend the money on another one. I'd rather spend the money on more lenses, filters, etc. I'd like to find someone who has owned and used a Canon and now has a Nikon or viceversa to find out what their likes and dislikes were.

Travis Loc: Wetumpka, Alabama

Very good shots!!! I love macro too and suck at it, these are great!!!!

tilde531 Loc: Seaford Delaware

I don't have photoshop, but I do have a similar free program called GIMP 2.6 that has many of the same (complicated) tools and options as photoshop.

Although I don't yet know how to use it to the fullest advantage, I'm going to try to apply what you've been so generous in sharing here, with my software, and see how it comes out.

Thank you SO much! :)

T~

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

You're doing just fine! The photos are interesting, well framed & exposed. Nice focus! Keep up the good work.