Thanks for your comments! It is the various items of nature that brighten my days...I can only hope to share some of these pleasures with others.

Bob

Let me preface this by telling you that I am 77 years old and have been involved with photography since I was about twelve years old. That's a long time to develop opinions and I have certainly developed enough of my own. Most of my flower and insect shots are centered intentionally. It has been my experience that "rules" do not exist in photography..."guidelines" do. As for lighting, our best source is from nature and natural light is totally different at different times of day and in different weather conditions. Likewise, many, many wonderful pictures are shot using various sources of artificial light. Proper light and composition is what pleases the photographer unless your intent is to market them. Many of the photos that I share with you will violate some principles of photography but they represent what I liked at the time!

It is a pleasure to be with you...

This is a Penta (Penta lanceolata) that was in a 5 gallon pot sitting on my asphalt driveway at the time of the shot. My method of shooting is, usually, to set my exposure compensation from 2/3 to one full stop underexposure, set metering for SPOT, shoot in either shutter or aperture priority. This usually results in black backgrounds. Occasionally, there will be very faint images within the black background but they can usually be cloned out.

Since the majority of my shots are relatively close-up and the subjects are usually quite small the spot metering is imperative...most of my shots are made in full light, and my yard is nearly completely shaded with mature trees allowing me to dial in to a well lit subject while aiming into a fully shaded area for background. I hope this answers your question.

The attached shot of a Common Buckeye butterfly was one that resulted using the above method while pointing the camera into the shaded area. I have found that shooting the subjects that I do, "shooting dark" (slightly underexposed) and then gently correcting the exposure using photoshop gives me best results.

Bob

This is a Penta (Penta lanceolata) that was in a 5 gallon pot sitting on my asphalt driveway at the time of the shot. My method of shooting is, usually, to set my exposure compensation from 2/3 to one full stop underexposure, set metering for SPOT, shoot in either shutter or aperture priority. This usually results in black backgrounds. Occasionally, there will be very faint images within the black background but they can usually be cloned out.

Since the majority of my shots are relatively close-up and the subjects are usually quite small the spot metering is imperative...most of my shots are made in full light, and my yard is nearly completely shaded with mature trees allowing me to dial in to a well lit subject while aiming into a fully shaded area for background. I hope this answers your question.

The attached shot of a Common Buckeye butterfly was one that resulted using the above method while pointing the camera into the shaded area. I have found that shooting the subjects that I do, "shooting dark" (slightly underexposed) and then gently correcting the exposure using photoshop gives me best results.

Bob

I have been retired for 15 years and enjoy photography with an emphasis on nature. I use Canon equipment and have for most of my adult life. My 40D coupled with a 100mm f/2.8 macro is almost always mounted on my sturdy tripod and this pairing is used for about 99% of my shots. I will attach a couple of shots that are representative of what I shoot. Thanks for taking a look.

Bob

I am a new member with a new hard drive. This is an attempt to check my results,

Bob