[photo] hoverfly macro

"RobertJM" wrote in message
...
Getting ready for when its ' OUR ' money

Only when he makes more than her :-)

MrT.

"Helen" wrote in message
...
On a personal note, I am not "most cases", if it were me, I
would be delighted to buy my fiance the lens he wanted.

Nice to know there is at least one in the world then.

MrT.

"Helen" wrote in message
...
I am indeed a very rare person.
A lot of women would view your statements as sexist.

Most in fact, just as I view *many* of their ideas as sexist too!
It's just another case of "shoot the messenger" if they don't like someone
stating common (not claiming universal) facts.

Of course few women acknowledge *anything* they do as sexist unfortunately.

MrT.

Troy Piggins wrote:
* Russell D. wrote :
Troy Piggins wrote:
* Russell D. wrote :
Troy Piggins wrote:
That just too cool, Troy. Awesome. Only critique is when are you going
to show us how you do it.

Russell
Thanks mate. Thought the gear and settings was pretty
self-explanatory in my first post. Ok. I'll see if I can get
some shots of my current rig[1] this weekend. It's nothing
special. Just a macro lens, extension tubes and off-camera flash
with diffuser.

[1] Calling it a "rig" makes it sound cool, hey?
Yes, you did explain it and I read it. I'm just not able to visualize
distances here. As close as your lens must be to the lovely model, I
don't see how you are getting such nice lighting without the lens
getting in the way.

At 1:1 shooting with just the bare macro lens at its minimum
focus distance, the subject is about 150mm from the front of lens
- that's what we call the "working distance".

That shot was taken at close to 2:1 magnification with 68mm of
extension tubes. Haven't measured it, but I would imagine the
working distance is down to about 75-100mm.

I see what you're asking about the lighting, and you are correct.
The flash is not on-camera. I have a flash bracket and
off-camera shoe chord. The flash also has a diffuser on it to
soften the light since the subject so close. I have the face of
the diffuser at about 2 o'clock right at the front of lens (if
the camera was pointed at you, but obviously doesn't matter too
much if it's 10 o'clock or 2, you get the point).

Sometimes have to play with flash exposure compensation to tone
down the light. I vary it between 0 and -.3.

While I'm organising myself to get shots of my rig, these shots
of others with similar setups may help.

Brian "LordV" Valentine has really perfected macro photography,
and my setup is modelled on his. This shot shows the
relationship of flash and diffuser, although his is a ghetto
DIY diffuser make from cut up Coke cans and paper towel

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/75900443/

Thanks for the link. This really helps me put things into perspective.

He has been featured in many magazines etc. Love his work.
Browse his FlickR gallery. You'll see much better dewdrops than
the ones I took.

I didn't see anything much better. I'm not even sure it's better.


See how he grips the beanpole for stability? The hoverfly shot I
posted is the first time I've tried that. Really works! And
quicker to maneuvre/adjust than a monopod.

That is a great idea! I have a very stout and light bamboo pole that
will work very nicely for that.

Hope that helps. It's all I can think of at the moment.


It helps a lot. Thanks for taking the time.

Russell