wide, macro, zoom

[papatooth]

i would like to play in the macro world and zoom a bit more.
i have 2 lenses, 18-55 and 70-300.

i was not able to capture a shot of a water bird with its young because i was not close enough. what add on for my 70-300 should i look into?

macro because small is fun, any ideas? also flash for macro, will my regular one work?

i have a canon rebel T1I

 

[Samanax]

i was not able to capture a shot of a water bird with its young because i was not close enough. what add on for my 70-300 should i look into?

You mean like a tele-converter? Can't help you with that.

macro because small is fun, any ideas?

How much did you want to spend? A popular Canon macro lens is the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM...$490 right now with the Canon Instant Rebates. I have the EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM which is $370 right now with the Canon Instant Rebates (ends July 11, 2009). It's a very sharp lens and I really enjoy shooting with it. I do plan to pick up the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM one day though.

also flash for macro, will my regular one work?

Which one do you have? The built-in pop-up flash?

 

[Overread]

The 70-300mm zooms are a big compramise - even more so since they generaly are aimed at more budget costs. Thus they are not made to be compatable with teleconverters and even if they would take one the image quality would suffer a lot. A teleconverter magnifies the image you get from a lens - giving you an increase in focal length - on good lenses this increase will give you a better end image than resizing on the computer will - with cheaper lenses the reverse is true.
Make use and learn toget close to the animals if you can - hides, food, resting spots, the right time of day, patience - all these things can get you a lot closer to the animal.

As for the other considerations you willl have to give some idea of how much your willing to spend - macro and lighting setups can be cheap or very expensive - like all areas an idea of the money you are willing to spend along with an idea ho how keen you are and what results you want will help us give you the right advice.