Macro help?

minicoop1985

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I also tried some macro shots yesterday with my wife's Sony Alpha a230, kit 55mm 18-55 f3-5.6 lens. As they are, I like them (they're unedited), but know they can be better. Numbers 1 and 2 are taken by me, and 3 is a sample of what I'd like to accomplish. What settings would you recommend in full sunlight? Or what could I do editing wise with these two existing images? All constructive comments are VERY appreciated. Thanks, everyone.

1
DSC05684_zps8824d8d6.jpg


2
DSC05685_zpsa5cde96e.jpg


3 (sample of what I want to accomplish-NOT my work, taken from Google Images)
MacroFlower.jpg
 
I see much more detail. In 1 and 2, I feel like there's a lot of lost detail in the petals. I'm hoping to do something special for my wife with some of her favorite flowers. What I'm after is a higher level of detail. I should have mentioned that, sorry.
 
Just doesn't seem very macro to me, I think of macro being with a 1:1 lense or at least 1:2

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I think you may be right, Ontop. The lens probably has a lot to do with it.

Murray, that's an improvement, most definitely. What did you do?
 
In Photoshop, I used Shadows/Highlights to recover highlight and shadow detail, then Levels to compress the middle tones and extend the brightest and darkest ones.
 
I think its more to do with the thin dof and separation from the background to get that smooth oof blur. Pic three is a single bloom where as yours have a lot of leaves from the stem. Try picking a single flower, set a short dof and get a good 3-6ft from your background (make that as green as possible, so a lawn or big green bush etc) and use a long focal length if you can
 
You need better lighting... diffused off camera flash, preferably... or even an external flash on camera with a small diffuser. #1 and #2... shadows are too dark, and highlights are bright.. need to even them out at a good exposure. #3 has good color... needs more DOF and sharpness.

Start leaving the metadata in, so we can see what you are doing.....
 
Its the lighting. Third one is nice and soft, first two were shot in full harsh sunlight, which is usually not good.
 
You need better lighting... diffused off camera flash, preferably... or even an external flash on camera with a small diffuser. #1 and #2... shadows are too dark, and highlights are bright.. need to even them out at a good exposure. #3 has good color... needs more DOF and sharpness.

Start leaving the metadata in, so we can see what you are doing.....

I'm not sure how to do that. Should I be using flickr instead of Photobucket for that reason? Given pretty much everyone here uses flickr I figure there has to be a reason.

Ah, so it's lighting. OK. Well, currently, she doesn't have a mounted flash for her Alpha, just the stock pop up one. When my Olympus E-450 gets back, I have a T-20 OM system flash that physically fits, and I would like to use it as a remote flash. I don't yet know what I need to do that or if it would even work at all. HOPEFULLY I can get this all figured out and mount a diffuser on it, then see what it can do. Worst case I'll just suck it up and get a flash made for the EVOLT series. Thanks a bunch, guys.
 
I started a Flickr and got Lightroom. The latest Photoshop is... well, I'm a beginner and I'm cheap. :greenpbl:. Here's some of my products from the first two... Think it's an improvement? Or should I just try and get a different photo? I think the metadata (I had to look THAT up too-but I'm glad I did) is intact now.


DSC05685 by longm1985, on Flickr


DSC05684 by longm1985, on Flickr


I'm totally new to flickr and have just basically found out that I have no idea what I'm doing with it. This may take a few tries. :confused:
 
For external flash you could look at some of the Minolta stuff. I previously used a 5400HS which cost less than $50 and worked great.

Is macro something you really want to dabble in? There are some cheaper options than a dedicated macro lens and can achieve some good results :)
 
I would like to, but my wife is VERY into the idea. We have a "macro" lens that isn't really a true macro I don't think... 28-80 with a little "Macro" section that converts the zoom to focus and the focus wheel still focuses... It's very strange and hard to explain. As for flash, I think I've found a perfect candidate for hers. In addition to her Sony Alpha, I have an Olympus E-450 (4/3). Do you have any (budget) lens recommendations for either of them? Thanks!

I did get this today with an OM-1n. This is more along the lines of what I'm trying to accomplish, but with a tulip instead.


R1-04325-0022 by longm1985, on Flickr
 

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