Feedback appreciated.

11lisa11 · Aug 23, 2013

Hi, any feedback on my macro pics is much appreciated. I am currently using a canon aEOS1100D, but will be upgrading to the canon 7OD next week, and I am very keen to learn what I could do to improve.

View attachment 53469

pisto1981 · Aug 23, 2013

These are OK in my opionion. I especially like the butterfly

11lisa11 · Aug 23, 2013

Thankyou very much for the feedback. Much appreciated.

sm4him · Aug 23, 2013

I think I recognize that last photo of the bee from another thread I commented on earlier today. I'd suggest not putting the same photo in different threads; it's just kinda confusing.

These aren't really "macro" shots; what lens are you using? Do you want suggestions on how to improve your macro shots specifically, or just these sorts of insect shots in general?

In general, these have the same problems I mentioned in the other thread--the white balance seems off on most of them and the first one is underexposed. The last two also look like maybe a little too much saturation--I don't know, that could just be my old, tired, "It's Friday and it's been a long week" eyes.
On the plus side, you've got your insect pretty well in focus on all of these, and your composition, while not all that compelling, at least doesn't have the insect smack in the middle of the frame every time.

I rather like the second photo, though I don't care for the landscape orientation. I'd rotate it to be a portrait orientation, and I might take the time to clone out the out-of-focus weed in the background. But the caterpillar/moth is nicely done!

If you're interested in improving true macro shots, let us know what equipment you're using--macro lens? extension tubes? reversing ring? You'll need SOMETHING besides just a standard lens to get macro shots.

amolitor · Aug 23, 2013

I like 'em for the most part. The first one is quite good, the butterfly is excellent.

What sets these apart from most macro work is that there's an effort to make something beautiful going on here, there's attention to the whole frame and where the bug is, and what else there is. Most macro work one sees is simply a technical exercise: how close can I get to the bug, and how sharp can I make it. That's all very well, and if it makes you happy, go for it. It's not particularly interesting after the first couple hundred, though.

The first one, I think, could use a bit more contrast, and some manipulation to better separate the foreground flowers from the out of focus background flowers.

I would probably crop the butterfly to place the center of the frame more between the butterfly and the out of focus flower upper-right, to balance the frame better.

The other two could use a bit of a crop to reduce the dead space in the frame, but they're not as strong to begin with.

Redeyejedi · Aug 23, 2013

welcome lisa,
i too, like the butterfly shot, however the oof elements are distracting to me.
last bee, i like perspective, but perhaps closer and get a flash on there so you can darken the distracting background...it doesn't seem uniform enough to render it out of focus enough to not be a detr5acting element.
second bee, wait for bee to get to a more interesting part for the entire composition and closer / more mag.
my 2cents.

11lisa11 · Aug 24, 2013

Ok thankyou all, and first I will apologise for posting the last bee photo twice, it was a mistake on my part, and I will make sure it never happens again.
SM4him, I am sorry I did not realise these were not considered macro.
I am currently using a 75-300mm tamron lens, when I am between 180 and 300 I can switch it to macro lens, and im using the canon 1100D. I am interested in improving on macro specifically, I really enjoy it. I have actually tried to crop these down a little more, but then it starts getting blurry, and im not sure if that is my current lack of skill, or the camera and equipment itself.
I will be picking up a new camera tomorrow, a canon EOS 70D, but will have to stick to my current lens for macro for another month or two, I am looking at getting a 100mm macro lens then.

As for the butterfly, I never even thought to rotate it, I will try that, and see if I can crop it down just as bit more.

I will also try to work on my white balance, obviously its all to warm.

If anyone knows of a good program to use for post processing, that is easy to figure out, I would appreciate that also, as iphoto on my laptop is very limited in what I can do.

snowbear · Aug 24, 2013

These are nice - especially the butterfly.

As for a program, Adobe Lightroom is the "standard" and will handle most processing tasks. As an alternative, though not as powerful, Apple Aperture is not a bad program.