Look at these spiders.

[no0b]

I know you take those photo's in Ohio, please tell me none of those nasty a$$ bugs are near the Dayton area.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Great joerb once again!

Like the placement of the lighting. Nicely done.

 

[upsciLLion]

Dang. That's some ghetto booty right there.

 

[Wallydraigle]

Originally posted by: no0b
I know you take those photo's in Ohio, please tell me none of those nasty a$$ bugs are near the Dayton area.

These are very common, and I'm absolutely sure they live in the Dayton area too.

 

[Tsaico]

Sweet bajeezus! Those things look scary... I am glad all we got a some wolf spiders and black widows... Nothing as mean looking as those... well, there are some spiders here that grow huge! If you are quiet enough, you can hear them breathing...

 

[dude]

Are these tasty? Roasted? Poisonous?

They are freaky creapy dude! :0

Nice shots!

 

[spidey07]

Lirion,

Nice work again.

I've actually tried to do some insect macro photography and its not working well for me.

Can you offer any tips on insect macro?
1) Focal length and can you use a slight zoom to prevent scaring the bug?
2) Or do you use an very nice macro lense and get right up on your subject?
3) Is a lot of light required?

Thanks a bunch. I'm thinking about getting another digicam just for macro.

 

[MustangSVT]

:Q

i would hate to live where u live :Q

agian, great pics

 

[Wallydraigle]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Lirion,

Nice work again.

I've actually tried to do some insect macro photography and its not working well for me.

Can you offer any tips on insect macro?
1) Focal length and can you use a slight zoom to prevent scaring the bug?
2) Or do you use an very nice macro lense and get right up on your subject?
3) Is a lot of light required?

Thanks a bunch. I'm thinking about getting another digicam just for macro.

Thanks for the compliments!

The lens I used for these two shots is a 65mm macro lens, and since it's so short you have to be right on top of your subject to focus. When these photos were taken the end of my lens was about three inches from the spiders. I actually like this because if I were further away there would be more room for leaves and such to get in the way of the shot. Also it forces me to see the subject in a very up close way, which I think shows through in the intimate nuances captured in the photographs. If I were further away I would see the subjects in a very different way, and I think something subtle and ineffable would be lost.

The lens I used for these is unusual in that it is useless for any kind of normal photography. The farthest away from something it will focus is 1:1 magnification. What that means is that the image cast by the lens onto the film or sensor is the same size as the subject in real life. A photo of a brick wall taken at 1:1 would just look like grains of sand and stuff. I can't back up any more than that and still be able to focus. That lens is also unusual for the fact that it has no focus motor or manual focus of any kind. You turn a ring which makes the lens extend further and further until you get the magnification you want, and then you have to move the camera into position and move it back and forth until focus is achieved.

I also own a 180mm macro lens that focuses from infinity down to 1:1. This one can be used as a normal telephoto lens. I use it for subjects that are too large and too fast moving to be photographed with the 65mm. I use it for dragonflies, and I have a very nice treefrog shot from it. With this one I can have the end of my lens almost a foot from the subject and still get 1:1 magnification.

With a 35mm SLR 90mm-105mm is a good range for a general-purpose macro lens. It lets you be close to the subject, but still far enough away to get some of the faster subjects. With a digicam you'll want to look for a camera that combines "zoom" range, with close focus ability. I don't have any recommendations there because I'm not into compact digicams. With most digicams there are proprietary or third party diopters that allow closer focusing.

Lots of light is necessary so that you can use small aperture settings. Using a small aperture makes more of your subject appear in focus in the photograph. For flowers or mushrooms, and other stationary subjects you can use a tripod if there's not enough light, but for insects the way to go is to use flash and hand hold. For these photos I used the macro twin flash, which is a flash unit with two small heads that attach to the end of the lens, and also a full sized flash unit. Light is what makes the photograph, so it's imortant to be able to get enough of it the way you want it.

Hope this helps.

 

[spidey07]

Makes sense.

Thanks a bunch. When doing macro on a digi cam I'll get the subject size framed the way I want, then use manual focus. Sometimes I move the camera to get perfect focus because I think "absolute perfect focus" is best to catch all the detail of insects. Its the detail that really stands out and you're showing something that can't really be seen with the naked eye.

I'll keep playing with my decent prosumer camera and when I'm more comfortable I'll move up to a digital slr if for nothing else than the flexiblity to use all my 15 year old canon lenses laying around in a box in the basement somewhere. And even then those lenses weren't cheap. Macro, 80-250 zoom, 25 wide, standard 50 mm.

 

[Eli]

Can't believe I missed this thread. :Q

Awesome pics, and great advice.