Love this stuff.

Lovely. I love all the detail you captured.

Really nice and WOW! that's great stuff.

very lovely! Love the detail you were able to capture. I'd have to agree with Csand above, if possible not to crop quite so close so that you can keep the tails/feet. But since the focus is on their heads, it's not a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination. Very lovely.

very nice!

Yes for sure and this lens really is designed for much closer than my original shots I've discovered.

I've been working a lot more with it and realized there are a couple of tricks to getting the most out of it. One is certainly getting closer. Here's a couple of new examples.

this is a knob on a guitar: iso 100 450 mm f/5.6 1/60 s

(Download)

iso 1600,147 mm, f/5 1/3200 s

(Download)

Would it open up employment or business opportunities for you?

You know, I did a bunch more shots last night, using a tripod, working with ISO, aperture, and shutter in different lighting and with different subjects, and I finally came away from the process thinking maybe it's not me and I just cheaped out too much and believed in the reviews too strongly. Because nothing really comes out as crisp and clear and sharp as I get with other lenses.

I'll post a few examples later.

Got it. thanks

Thanks. I couldn't agree with you more. My idea that I can hold a non-VR lens steady enough to snap a pic at a slower shutter speed has now been thoroughly disabused. Not only with what the pics tell me, but also with the comments I'm getting. Appreciate this very much.

thanks, I'm going to try these suggestions and re upload.

thanks I'm going to re do these pics with faster shutter speeds.

Ah yes. A very good point. I've added them again here. As well, a bit more info: the palm tree tops were all hand held. The squirrels were on a tripod. I hope I got the same as I originally added, but I can't say for sure as I can't see the originals while I'm uploading.

hand held

(Download)

hand held

(Download)

hand held

(Download)

tripod

(Download)

tripod

(Download)

tripod

(Download)

OK specs first: The new lens I got is this: Tamron Auto Focus 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens with Built In Motor for Nikon Digital SLR, and I'm shooting with a Nikon D3300 camera body, so not the best but certainly good enough for where I'm at in my learning curve at this time I think.

Now, I took it out and did some experimental shots mostly learning how to use the Macro Zoom and when to use it and when to not use it, etc. I shot in raw and then edited (as little as possible) in ACD Systems Ultimate 10 Photo Studio.

I shot in 3 modes: first auto everything to get used to the camera/lens. then aperture, then shutter. Since I was shooting in bright light, on aperture and shutter, I kept the iso at 800 or below.

I think one error I made was cropping too much on some of the pics, and another error I made was not using a tripod religiously as there is some camera shake in some of my shots that I hand held. For some reason, I found it very trying to hold the camera with this lens, despite it being lighter than what I normally shoot with.

Anyway, here's a few that I got. I think my major concern aside from some composition issues is that they're just not as sharp as I had anticipated and I don't know what I should change to make them sharper.

Pointers are most welcome. I've looked at a number of truly spectacular close up photos others have posted here, and they're all so much closer and bigger than I've got here. I guess I need to get closer to my subjects with the lens I'm currently using?

Spectacular! What do you edit in to get the colors so vivid?