If you have nothing nice to say about my pictures
- Thread starter Buckshot
- Start date
Thanks Buckshot.
For the really small jumping spider (Zebra Jumping Spider, IIRC - and young), I used a normal (43mm) lens and about 50mm of extension tubes. I then cropped heavily. For the larger Three-spotted Jumping spider (the one that looks like a Tarantula), I used a 77mm lens and extension tubes - I think I used about 10-20mm. I then cropped heavily.
I can't recall the apertures of these shots, but I generally keep it between f/11 and f/22 - which allows for decent depth of field for those focal lengths and good resolution.
There was a lot of jumping before they decided to stay put and 'duke-it-out', so it requires some patience - and in one instance, a lot of rolling of the propane tank.
Unfortunately, they're just too small to use the 400mm, though I'd prefer that because it would give me more distance between me and the spiders.
I could use the 70-300mm which has a macro feature built in, but it only allows for a 1:2 magnification @ 300mm, which still means a lot of cropping but it's not as good optically as the 43 or 77mm lenses and has a less usable depth of field when I add the extension tubes (f/22 is about 1 or 2mm).
For the really small jumping spider (Zebra Jumping Spider, IIRC - and young), I used a normal (43mm) lens and about 50mm of extension tubes. I then cropped heavily. For the larger Three-spotted Jumping spider (the one that looks like a Tarantula), I used a 77mm lens and extension tubes - I think I used about 10-20mm. I then cropped heavily.
I can't recall the apertures of these shots, but I generally keep it between f/11 and f/22 - which allows for decent depth of field for those focal lengths and good resolution.
There was a lot of jumping before they decided to stay put and 'duke-it-out', so it requires some patience - and in one instance, a lot of rolling of the propane tank.
Unfortunately, they're just too small to use the 400mm, though I'd prefer that because it would give me more distance between me and the spiders.
I could use the 70-300mm which has a macro feature built in, but it only allows for a 1:2 magnification @ 300mm, which still means a lot of cropping but it's not as good optically as the 43 or 77mm lenses and has a less usable depth of field when I add the extension tubes (f/22 is about 1 or 2mm).
It is amazing how much detail we lose in shrinking down our images. When they are open to actual size the detail is amazing. Cropping helps a ton. Thanks for that info Andrew. I think I may work on getting a bit further back and cropping a little more, it seems like that gives better depth. I dont have any extension tubes. I have used extension tubes on an old nikonos5 and loved them. They came with stout wire frames that mounted on the lens. You physically put the frame around the subject and touch the ground, web, flower or whatever with the frame and the focus was perfect.
Dizzy,
I love the clouds you managed to capture in these overall. I especially like that 4th one of the small cloud backlit by the sun.
You also got some great colour in the last 4.
I agree with Buckshot about the sun in the first and last shots, but I think the last one has so much going for it, regardless. Even the lens-flare suits the image in this case.
Of all the shots though, the 4th one stands out in my mind the most. It's simple, interesting, colourful and a bull-eye composition with the sun really makes this work.
Depending on what you're photographing, a graduated neutral density filter might help you out, but for lily pads, I think you might have to make a second (exposed for shadows) and third (exposed for the high-lights) exposure and blend the images to keep the highlights and shadows in check. Personally, I'll use whatever works, but prefer the filters in general if I can get away with it.
I love the clouds you managed to capture in these overall. I especially like that 4th one of the small cloud backlit by the sun.
You also got some great colour in the last 4.
I agree with Buckshot about the sun in the first and last shots, but I think the last one has so much going for it, regardless. Even the lens-flare suits the image in this case.
Of all the shots though, the 4th one stands out in my mind the most. It's simple, interesting, colourful and a bull-eye composition with the sun really makes this work.
Depending on what you're photographing, a graduated neutral density filter might help you out, but for lily pads, I think you might have to make a second (exposed for shadows) and third (exposed for the high-lights) exposure and blend the images to keep the highlights and shadows in check. Personally, I'll use whatever works, but prefer the filters in general if I can get away with it.
Thanks 
I like the shots myself.
There's nothing done to them, aside from the last, which I just darkened off a bit, as it was a bit bright.
I just take pics for fun, I don't have the patience to get all technical... My dad is a wonderful photographer, but there's too much tweaking for my liking. I like to point, shoot and keep going, because I'm normally out walking.
I like the shots myself.There's nothing done to them, aside from the last, which I just darkened off a bit, as it was a bit bright.
I just take pics for fun, I don't have the patience to get all technical... My dad is a wonderful photographer, but there's too much tweaking for my liking. I like to point, shoot and keep going, because I'm normally out walking.
I don't know about over-doing the post-processing. It all looks fine to me.
For the second shot, I'd have loved to have seen the full reflection of the drink. For the last shot, I wish it was a bit darker. However, I like what you were doing with them. I also hope you post more shots here!
If you get a chance to flip through some of the other photos, or the ones that get put up in the future, I'd love to know what your thoughts would be in post-processing as you've got a lot more skill with PS than I could ever hope to come up with!
For the second shot, I'd have loved to have seen the full reflection of the drink. For the last shot, I wish it was a bit darker. However, I like what you were doing with them. I also hope you post more shots here!
If you get a chance to flip through some of the other photos, or the ones that get put up in the future, I'd love to know what your thoughts would be in post-processing as you've got a lot more skill with PS than I could ever hope to come up with!
I don't know about over-doing the post-processing. It all looks fine to me.
For the second shot, I'd have loved to have seen the full reflection of the drink. For the last shot, I wish it was a bit darker. However, I like what you were doing with them. I also hope you post more shots here!
If you get a chance to flip through some of the other photos, or the ones that get put up in the future, I'd love to know what your thoughts would be in post-processing as you've got a lot more skill with PS than I could ever hope to come up with!
For the second shot, I'd have loved to have seen the full reflection of the drink. For the last shot, I wish it was a bit darker. However, I like what you were doing with them. I also hope you post more shots here!
If you get a chance to flip through some of the other photos, or the ones that get put up in the future, I'd love to know what your thoughts would be in post-processing as you've got a lot more skill with PS than I could ever hope to come up with!
And I'll be sure to do that some time.
Baxter'smybaby,
I like a lot of what you have going on in this image. I like how the river leads you all the way through the frame and I like how the background hill is slightly hazey, giving a good sense of depth to the shot.
One thing that would help this out is having something interesting in the fore-ground, like a tree-trunk/branches or a large rock. It would give a better sense of scale to the shot and would break up the expanse of river that uses the bottom half of the frame.
Also, because this was shot (from the looks of it) was taken around mid-day, it's got cooler colours. A bit later in the afternoon/evening or earlier in the morning would give the light some warmth.
I'm not sure what camera gear you're using, but if it's an SLR, a polarizer (while it would cut through the haze I mentioned before) would help the colour in the sky by making the blue a deeper, richer colour.
Overall, a good shot.
I like a lot of what you have going on in this image. I like how the river leads you all the way through the frame and I like how the background hill is slightly hazey, giving a good sense of depth to the shot.
One thing that would help this out is having something interesting in the fore-ground, like a tree-trunk/branches or a large rock. It would give a better sense of scale to the shot and would break up the expanse of river that uses the bottom half of the frame.
Also, because this was shot (from the looks of it) was taken around mid-day, it's got cooler colours. A bit later in the afternoon/evening or earlier in the morning would give the light some warmth.
I'm not sure what camera gear you're using, but if it's an SLR, a polarizer (while it would cut through the haze I mentioned before) would help the colour in the sky by making the blue a deeper, richer colour.
Overall, a good shot.
Baxter'smybaby,
I like a lot of what you have going on in this image. I like how the river leads you all the way through the frame and I like how the background hill is slightly hazey, giving a good sense of depth to the shot.
One thing that would help this out is having something interesting in the fore-ground, like a tree-trunk/branches or a large rock. It would give a better sense of scale to the shot and would break up the expanse of river that uses the bottom half of the frame.
Also, because this was shot (from the looks of it) was taken around mid-day, it's got cooler colours. A bit later in the afternoon/evening or earlier in the morning would give the light some warmth.
I'm not sure what camera gear you're using, but if it's an SLR, a polarizer (while it would cut through the haze I mentioned before) would help the colour in the sky by making the blue a deeper, richer colour.
Overall, a good shot.
I like a lot of what you have going on in this image. I like how the river leads you all the way through the frame and I like how the background hill is slightly hazey, giving a good sense of depth to the shot.
One thing that would help this out is having something interesting in the fore-ground, like a tree-trunk/branches or a large rock. It would give a better sense of scale to the shot and would break up the expanse of river that uses the bottom half of the frame.
Also, because this was shot (from the looks of it) was taken around mid-day, it's got cooler colours. A bit later in the afternoon/evening or earlier in the morning would give the light some warmth.
I'm not sure what camera gear you're using, but if it's an SLR, a polarizer (while it would cut through the haze I mentioned before) would help the colour in the sky by making the blue a deeper, richer colour.
Overall, a good shot.
I thought I'd post these... I took them a while ago, though.
Here's the original, if you're interested...
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/4256/lalane0.jp
Here's the original, if you're interested...
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/4256/lalane0.jp
