I doe noe what I am doing

[Overread]

But I think its working!

f13, ISO 200, 1/200
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3456/3272683190_97994781cb_o.jpg

f13, ISO 200, 1/200
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3273012834_5484fcdb28_o.jpg

f13, ISO 200, 1/200
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3325/3273013766_b75f1b360f_o.jpg

f13, ISO 200, 1/200
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3344/3272194881_4975c5d10d_o.jpg

All taken with canon 400D, sigma 150mm macro, 1.4 teleconverter, speedlite 580M2 and lumiquest softbox (As well as off camera flash cord - I am really warming to off camera radio remote use though - that cord can be limiting at times)

Went to Wisby butteryfly house today - it was packed with people - week day, term time I was hoping for it to be mostly quite - not so. Everyone was their - at least 3 if not 4 young school kid trips and several coachloads of senior citizens. Note Wednesday is fieldtrip day!

Anyway aside from slow cooking myself and cursing my rechargable batteries (which died again - both sets - so I bought some disposables which kept going!). All I can think is that they are not getting a full discharge in the flash since when they stop performing they get replaced - thus they might still have a reasonable amount of charge left in them. One set were used and (Admitidly) was waiting for them to die, but the others lasted about just as long and were unused since their last charge.
As for the lens it performed brilliantly though I am now thinking that a shorter macro lens has benefits - you don't need big working distance in those places and it actually hampers you a bit (you can't keep moving back or you run into someone/a barrier and if your too far back you get in everybodies way as they have to wait between shots). Also the bugs tend to be very dosile and few had a problem with me pushing a big lens and flash right at them. Besides a shorter macro would be a lighter macro!

Also, for those that remember, I tested out the flash being held on the tripod collar via a miniballhead - in the end it failed in the upright position (the 580M2 is just too heavy for stable results) but it was possible ot have the flash upright if the collar was set to a side position and the ballhead used to return the flash to the vertical.

Oh and there are many many more shots to come --- though I think I really have to get over my eye obesssion - I always end up getting really close shots and no (ok few) full bodied ones

 

[doenoe]

Great shots. The light in the #2 looks really good. Dont you just love all the little scales that cover the wing, that you can see in the third one. Isnt it fun to experiment :thumbup:
About the batteries, i always charge them before i leave. For all i know, batteries have the tendency to drain when you dont use them. I had it a couple of times too, that i didnt charge the batteries before i left, but some time before. They didnt last very long.
Question: does the ttl and stuff still work when you use a cord? Cause when i use the cactus trigger, it doesnt. So i just have to keep fiddling with the buttons and move the flash further away/closer to get the lighting i want.
Anyways, good shots and hope too see the rest soon too

 

[KevinUK]

Great shots - far better butterfly pics than I've ever managed. Clearly I must try harder <sigh>.

Re the batteries, yes there are various types but I think most can discharge a bit whilst being unused. Many have less capacity than disposable batteries, too, and even this capacity can diminish with age and/or the number of recharging cycles. Nickle cadmium batteries also suffer from a so-called 'memory effect' where their capacity gradually drops unless they're fully discharged before re-charging each time, so Nickle metal hydride (or some such!) are supposed to be better if thats happening to them. Think there are more modern rechargeable types like lithium and so on too, but i don't really know anything about them.

Kevin

 

[poppy67]

Great set the detail in the first is superb..defintiely the favorite of the bunch for me!

 

[Overread]

Thanks all
Doenoe - the ttl (or Ettl) does work with the cable release which is a great boon to using it. Interestingly I find that I never get good results with the flash unless I use the flash exposure lock (usually on the darkest part of a scene) before taking each macro shot (or each burst of shots). To leave the flash totally on auto it tends to give me less power than is needed though sometimes it does work out. I think I might have to change my flash metering mode and see if that helps.

As for the batteries at the moment I am on energizer rechargable nimh (?) though I have heard that there are better rechargable variants which don't lose charge over time which I might experiment with.

 

[BoblyBill]

Looking good Overread!!!! I like these a lot! #2 is my fave!

 

[Overread]

Thanks Chris - I do like 2 though looking at it now I wish I had taken a shot with the full wing showing as well (I just really like to get close to the details when shooting)

 

[Markw]

The wings are cut off in every single one, but this is the first set where it actually works. Amazing photos.

Mark

 

[m2v]

great crisp high definition photos

nice color and composition too

i really don't mind not seeing a whole butterfly, i can always find one in the encyclopedia

 

[polymoog]

All these great macro shots people keep posting ... making me start to think about getting a macro lens of my own

And I agree, don't think you need to see the whole insect here, these are really nice detail shots

 

[Overread]

Thanks all
true wings are nice sometimes - but to get them in these shots I would need a large format camera -- wait do they make largeformat camera macro lenses?? *gets ideas*

oh and if your after wings check out the other thread - wings in there now

 

[tpe]

Those are looking excelent, you are definatly doing it right, that is the same lens I have, what was the longer one? I had a 180 but it broke unfortunatly, i dont miss it too much because i just couldnt keep it steady so got more binable shots than the shorter one. Watch out that lens tends to loose its edge after f18-22 odd though.
Great work.

tim

 

[Overread]

Thanks Tpe!

Interesting view - I know a few others that shoot with 180mm macros and they say that the lens is very much a tripod one.
And I agree on the apertures - I think some lenses are different in how much diffraction they encounter - I think its Phranquy (SP) who has a macro lens that can go down to something like f45 and keep its sharpnes!!

 

[tpe]

Really, i have never heard of a lens that can keep sharp at that apperture, fantastic, it sounds like it is worth converting the mount type. Will have to go and look for one now, hopefully it wont be a bazillion dollars .

tim

 

[Overread]

well at least the shot looked sharp - no full idea of its capabilities- but certainly I think it appeared to have a higher tollerance of smaller apertures. From what I recall its an older mount lens (I think Nikon - though it might be minolta or something totally different)
certainyl for macro work the older lenses (if you know which ones) are not a bad idea since AF is not needed and working with flash a lot of the time - lighting is very constant so metering is less of a game