Newsflash: Insects are small. And they move. For these reasons (and others such as shallow Depth of Field for close subjects) taking macro shots of insects is, usually, just plain hard work. 90% of the shots are not good enough to share, but occasionally I get some that are worthwhile.
I’ve added the EXIF settings to the pics to follow on from a discussion with Jeremy about macro shots and depth of field etc.
click the pics for full size. In the full size pics you will see the pollen on the bee’s head and leg if you look closely (the web-quality pics don’t really do it justice so I have included a blow-up).
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- Jewel beetles on Eucalyptus ‘Summer Beauty’, 60mm f/9 1/100 ISO 1250, subject distance 350mm
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- Spider, David Fleay Wildlife Park, 60mm f/2.8 1/100 ISO 250, subject distance 390mm
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- Lady beetle on fig leaf, 60mm f/2.8 1/80 ISO320, subject distance 210mm
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- Pollen-bloated bee, 60mm f/2.8 1/400 ISO100, subject distance 260mm
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- pollen-bloated bee, zoomed in
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- Dragonfly on lotus, 60mm f/2.8 1/800 ISO100, subject distance 800mm
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- Pollen-bloated bee, 60mm f/2.8 1/250 ISO100, subject distance 320mm
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- Grasshopper, 60mm f/16 1/60 ISO 200, Subject distance 240mm, Opteka macro flash fitted which let me shoot at f/16
Wow! Amazing photos. What camera and lens if u don’t mind me asking. Asking cause I’m thinking of taking the plunge and finally buying a dslr.
Do it! getting a DSLR has allowed me to so so much more and take a lot better shots (at the same time I started studying photography a little bit, so that probably helped a lot, too)
Canon EOS 60D, and these shots are with a Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens. Other details of gear are here: http://lightswimming.com/my-gear/
Great photos! Thanks for the shout-out, too :) I especially like the dragon fly and the grasshopper.
Thanks for sharing the EXIF data; 60mm may be long enough for me, after all.
well, as I said in my (much longer) answer earlier – we’d all love a 180mm Canon L series macro – but it costs about 3 – 4 times what my little 60mm macro cost. I think the 60mm is a fine lens, and I wish I could post some portrait work here to show you how good it is at that too (but I don’t put private pics here).
Fantastic macro shots. Thanks for sharing.
amazing pictures! really beautiful – and that’s saying something when I am not a great fan of insects ;) thanks for sharing
WOW great job!
Very Inspiring Blogger Award:
http://mehmudahrehman.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/and-the-award-goes-to/