Beginner Macro

[jake337]

jake337 what type of paper did you use? ordinary A4 printer paper?

I had purchased a pop-up flash diffuser for my d90 and never used it. I've used toilet paper, paper towels, etc.

 

[St3phaniex3]

Ok so I finally got my altura slave flashes in but my bracket still hasn't arrived. Here are a few photos I took with one of the new flashes. Please let me know what you think. I would really like some constructive criticism for taking better macro pics.

 

[St3phaniex3]

Really?? No one has any constructive criticism? No tips for better macro shots? Nothing?

 

[nf1]

ok - let's start a bit unusual - would you share what was end goal that you had in mind when taking them and what do you like the most in the end results?

 

[Peakapot]

I think you sort of answered your own question. Decent macro requires a tripod and remote shutter as a good foundation.

 

[Overread]

I think you sort of answered your own question. Decent macro requires a tripod and remote shutter as a good foundation.

Slow macro of static subjects or cold insects works with a tripod; anything more active won't work at all and sometimes macro subjects are in darn tricky spots to get a tripod into position.



Your photos look good, but what you need is a bracket to hold those flashes and then something to diffuse the light. A little softbox like a Lumiquest soft box might fit your flashes (I don't know what shape your flashes are so have a look to see if they might fit); or you can make your own with some cardboard and white paper. Increasing the size of the light source relative to the subject should help avoid some of the harshness you're getting with light at present

 

[davholla]

I think you sort of answered your own question. Decent macro requires a tripod and remote shutter as a good foundation.

I don't agree you can take good macro without a tripod, but it is a good idea to rest against something.
Although I got this without any support and one handed (my wife refused to hold it)
IMG_7414Beetlelarva by davholla2002, on Flickr
I just wish I had got all of its legs in.

 

[jake337]

I think you sort of answered your own question. Decent macro requires a tripod and remote shutter as a good foundation.

I've never used a tripod for macro yet.

 

[St3phaniex3]

ok - let's start a bit unusual - would you share what was end goal that you had in mind when taking them and what do you like the most in the end results?

My goal is to get sharp detailed images with macro. I am going to be purchasing a new camera hopefully soon. I will be doing a slight upgrade to the D5500 which I'm hoping will help with getting sharper images since it doesn't have the anti aliasing filter. My images seem to lack detail which I try to make up for with editing but I feel it makes them look even worse. So I'm hoping the upgrade will help with taking sharper more detailed photographs.

 

[St3phaniex3]

I think you sort of answered your own question. Decent macro requires a tripod and remote shutter as a good foundation.

Slow macro of static subjects or cold insects works with a tripod; anything more active won't work at all and sometimes macro subjects are in darn tricky spots to get a tripod into position.



Your photos look good, but what you need is a bracket to hold those flashes and then something to diffuse the light. A little softbox like a Lumiquest soft box might fit your flashes (I don't know what shape your flashes are so have a look to see if they might fit); or you can make your own with some cardboard and white paper. Increasing the size of the light source relative to the subject should help avoid some of the harshness you're getting with light at present

I have a bracket to hold my flashes and they came with soft boxes which I added a piece of drafting film to because the softboxes didn't seem to diffuse the flashes very well.

 

[St3phaniex3]

I think you sort of answered your own question. Decent macro requires a tripod and remote shutter as a good foundation.

I don't agree you can take good macro without a tripod, but it is a good idea to rest against something.
Although I got this without any support and one handed (my wife refused to hold it)
IMG_7414Beetlelarva by davholla2002, on Flickr
I just wish I had got all of its legs in.

I haven't used a tripod for any of mine and it seems having the two slave flashes help with faster shutter speed but also give blown out highlights.

 

[jake337]

ok - let's start a bit unusual - would you share what was end goal that you had in mind when taking them and what do you like the most in the end results?

My goal is to get sharp detailed images with macro. I am going to be purchasing a new camera hopefully soon. I will be doing a slight upgrade to the D5500 which I'm hoping will help with getting sharper images since it doesn't have the anti aliasing filter. My images seem to lack detail which I try to make up for with editing but I feel it makes them look even worse. So I'm hoping the upgrade will help with taking sharper more detailed photographs.

It's not the camera. The D5500 is fine. All my macro was with a D90 which is much older.

 

[nf1]

ok - let's start a bit unusual - would you share what was end goal that you had in mind when taking them and what do you like the most in the end results?

My goal is to get sharp detailed images with macro. I am going to be purchasing a new camera hopefully soon. I will be doing a slight upgrade to the D5500 which I'm hoping will help with getting sharper images since it doesn't have the anti aliasing filter. My images seem to lack detail which I try to make up for with editing but I feel it makes them look even worse. So I'm hoping the upgrade will help with taking sharper more detailed photographs.

As @jake337 pointed out your camera is fine. You can go and purchase better one if would like but D5500 is perfectly capable of taking tak-sharp photos. From your photos actually - the photo of the butterfly is really sharp (maybe not perfect but close to). However it has too much per-pixel contrast due to flash pointed directly at the object.

If you want to take really sharp images take into account that in macro photography even if you shoot at f16 you still get very shallow DoF. This means you can't use techniques such as focus lock and recompose. You need to take the photo as soon as your AF locks in or use manual focus and this will bring more challenge to your composition. Even if you move a millimeter since your focus locked before you take the image - the end result will be blurry.

In order to increase DoF - try shooting with closed down apertures - start f5.6 which is the sweet spot for crop sensor cameras before diffraction starts to kick in and then go to f8, f11, f16 - you can compare the difference between DoF and picture sharpness as you go down.

Next is your shutter speed - as you are shooting with flash use your max sync speed with the flash - it's usually between 1/200 and 1/320 sec depending on the camera (not sure which is it for D5500 but you should know of consult your camera manual). If your surrounding is dark enough and you're using f8 or even more closed down aperture your exposure will effectively be the duration of your flash. Lower down the power of the flash and you'll get shorter duration - which will help in taking sharp focus without "motion blur". If you're shooting without flash consider that your shutter speed when shooting macro should be at least twice as high as your lens focal length. So for a 100mm lens on 1.5 crop body (D5500) you get a focal distance of 150mm - make sure your camera shutter speed when shooting macro without flash is at least 1/300 sec.

If your lens has IS - use it, it can make the difference between perfect image and a ruined one.

Practice your shooting technique and steady shooting - try to lean on something sturdy (e.g. a wall) when you shoot - this will minimise any shake on your end. If this isn't work - try shooting with tripod at least in the beginning until you get more comfortable.

With these tips in mind - go ahead and try some more photos and share the result with us.

 

[St3phaniex3]

ok - let's start a bit unusual - would you share what was end goal that you had in mind when taking them and what do you like the most in the end results?

My goal is to get sharp detailed images with macro. I am going to be purchasing a new camera hopefully soon. I will be doing a slight upgrade to the D5500 which I'm hoping will help with getting sharper images since it doesn't have the anti aliasing filter. My images seem to lack detail which I try to make up for with editing but I feel it makes them look even worse. So I'm hoping the upgrade will help with taking sharper more detailed photographs.

As @jake337 pointed out your camera is fine. You can go and purchase better one if would like but D5500 is perfectly capable of taking tak-sharp photos. From your photos actually - the photo of the butterfly is really sharp (maybe not perfect but close to). However it has too much per-pixel contrast due to flash pointed directly at the object.

If you want to take really sharp images take into account that in macro photography even if you shoot at f16 you still get very shallow DoF. This means you can't use techniques such as focus lock and recompose. You need to take the photo as soon as your AF locks in or use manual focus and this will bring more challenge to your composition. Even if you move a millimeter since your focus locked before you take the image - the end result will be blurry.

In order to increase DoF - try shooting with closed down apertures - start f5.6 which is the sweet spot for crop sensor cameras before diffraction starts to kick in and then go to f8, f11, f16 - you can compare the difference between DoF and picture sharpness as you go down.

Next is your shutter speed - as you are shooting with flash use your max sync speed with the flash - it's usually between 1/200 and 1/320 sec depending on the camera (not sure which is it for D5500 but you should know of consult your camera manual). If your surrounding is dark enough and you're using f8 or even more closed down aperture your exposure will effectively be the duration of your flash. Lower down the power of the flash and you'll get shorter duration - which will help in taking sharp focus without "motion blur". If you're shooting without flash consider that your shutter speed when shooting macro should be at least twice as high as your lens focal length. So for a 100mm lens on 1.5 crop body (D5500) you get a focal distance of 150mm - make sure your camera shutter speed when shooting macro without flash is at least 1/300 sec.

If your lens has IS - use it, it can make the difference between perfect image and a ruined one.

Practice your shooting technique and steady shooting - try to lean on something sturdy (e.g. a wall) when you shoot - this will minimise any shake on your end. If this isn't work - try shooting with tripod at least in the beginning until you get more comfortable.

With these tips in mind - go ahead and try some more photos and share the result with us.

Thank you for all of that. I currently am using the D5200 but want to upgrade to the d5500. I have researched and learned that the d5200(which I am current using) has the anti aliasing filter but the d5500 does not which will result in sharper images. I've mainly been shooting at f/24 ish range or smaller when the setting allow it. I was using the flashes at their most powerful which was probably why I was getting blown out highlights but I wanted a faster shutter speed. I'll have to try a slower shutter speed but that was the problem in the beginning because my lens does not have image stabilization. I'll also look into getting a tripod but I'm not sure I'll use it much if at all for macro it seems like more of a hassle to carry it around make sure it's set up right and in the right position to take a **** of the bug that has already flown away lol. I know I'm just starting out and eventually I'll find what's best for me but it's always great to learn tips and tricks to help learn along the way!

Thank you again!

 

[jake337]

ok - let's start a bit unusual - would you share what was end goal that you had in mind when taking them and what do you like the most in the end results?

My goal is to get sharp detailed images with macro. I am going to be purchasing a new camera hopefully soon. I will be doing a slight upgrade to the D5500 which I'm hoping will help with getting sharper images since it doesn't have the anti aliasing filter. My images seem to lack detail which I try to make up for with editing but I feel it makes them look even worse. So I'm hoping the upgrade will help with taking sharper more detailed photographs.

As @jake337 pointed out your camera is fine. You can go and purchase better one if would like but D5500 is perfectly capable of taking tak-sharp photos. From your photos actually - the photo of the butterfly is really sharp (maybe not perfect but close to). However it has too much per-pixel contrast due to flash pointed directly at the object.

If you want to take really sharp images take into account that in macro photography even if you shoot at f16 you still get very shallow DoF. This means you can't use techniques such as focus lock and recompose. You need to take the photo as soon as your AF locks in or use manual focus and this will bring more challenge to your composition. Even if you move a millimeter since your focus locked before you take the image - the end result will be blurry.

In order to increase DoF - try shooting with closed down apertures - start f5.6 which is the sweet spot for crop sensor cameras before diffraction starts to kick in and then go to f8, f11, f16 - you can compare the difference between DoF and picture sharpness as you go down.

Next is your shutter speed - as you are shooting with flash use your max sync speed with the flash - it's usually between 1/200 and 1/320 sec depending on the camera (not sure which is it for D5500 but you should know of consult your camera manual). If your surrounding is dark enough and you're using f8 or even more closed down aperture your exposure will effectively be the duration of your flash. Lower down the power of the flash and you'll get shorter duration - which will help in taking sharp focus without "motion blur". If you're shooting without flash consider that your shutter speed when shooting macro should be at least twice as high as your lens focal length. So for a 100mm lens on 1.5 crop body (D5500) you get a focal distance of 150mm - make sure your camera shutter speed when shooting macro without flash is at least 1/300 sec.

If your lens has IS - use it, it can make the difference between perfect image and a ruined one.

Practice your shooting technique and steady shooting - try to lean on something sturdy (e.g. a wall) when you shoot - this will minimise any shake on your end. If this isn't work - try shooting with tripod at least in the beginning until you get more comfortable.

With these tips in mind - go ahead and try some more photos and share the result with us.

Thank you for all of that. I currently am using the D5200 but want to upgrade to the d5500. I have researched and learned that the d5200(which I am current using) has the anti aliasing filter but the d5500 does not which will result in sharper images. I've mainly been shooting at f/24 ish range or smaller when the setting allow it. I was using the flashes at their most powerful which was probably why I was getting blown out highlights but I wanted a faster shutter speed. I'll have to try a slower shutter speed but that was the problem in the beginning because my lens does not have image stabilization. I'll also look into getting a tripod but I'm not sure I'll use it much if at all for macro it seems like more of a hassle to carry it around make sure it's set up right and in the right position to take a **** of the bug that has already flown away lol. I know I'm just starting out and eventually I'll find what's best for me but it's always great to learn tips and tricks to help learn along the way!

Thank you again!

The D90 is older than a D5200 as well. I've never used a tripod or a lens with IS/OS or whatever that's called. Here are some images from the D90 and tokina 100mm f2.8 macro with a diffused sb600.