Macro-photography

[Raphael GolezParticipant @raphaelgolez]

[Raphael GolezParticipant @raphaelgolez]

I'm always fascinated with macro photography and its been a while since I took some macro pictures. I have taken random shots in my workshop. I find it very interesting. Please do share you macro shots here as I wanted to see how others view and take pictures of the subject they like from a different perspective.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

I'm very glad to see you posting again; I was getting a bit concerned for your well being, with your profession and the current pandemic.
You might have persuaded me to dig my camera out now.
I've taken very few photos of late, as I've not been able to get out to view the wildlife, just a few of machining setups etc.
I'll dig out the macro lens and have a ponder when I've finished re-assembling the car.

Bill

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

I have an old Yashika fxd I just dug out of the loft. Had no idea what to do with it. Lots of lenses etc that I bought many years ago. Just made me think if I could butcher the case to get to the focusing part to attach to my gopro. Maybe I could do some Macro shots.

Hope this thread stays active by members.

Steve.

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

Hi Raphael,

I don't know if you will regard this as macro photo:

It was taken in macro mode with my small digital pocket camera, nothing special, I took the photo just to show a friend how I milled the Steam Ports.

Thor

Edited By Thor on 15/05/2020 05:50:21

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

It was just a simple record shot, but perhaps worth noting that the countersunk head screws in question were [nominally] M2.6

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MichaelG.

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P.S. ___ I do like that barbed-wire shot, Raphael !!

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 15/05/2020 09:38:31

[Raphael GolezParticipant @raphaelgolez]

Thanks Bill, things do eased up a bit in our local hospital and happy to see things are improving. We are not out of this issue as yet but in a better position when we all started. I still have to do my clinic follow up over the phone and was happy to know that most if not all my elderly patient are doing very well at home and all of them gave their warmest thank you to all of us in the frontline. Maybe you can take some macro shots with your current car project. It would be interesting to see the part we don't normally pay much attention especially at a macroscopic scale.

 

Hi Steve, that would be interesting to see. Adding a macro capability with go pro and seeing things in a different perspective.

 

Hi Thor, thanks for sharing the pictures! Nice to see the process from a closer perspective.

 

Hi Michael, it is interesting to see where the break on this M2.6 took place. Very good depth of field actually. We seldom pay attention at this scale but it is very interesting to pick out the tiny details if we magnify it.

Keep it coming gents, any macro shots will do. Very fascinating!

Edited By RAPHAEL VAL GOLEZ 1 on 15/05/2020 12:25:00

[Raphael GolezParticipant @raphaelgolez]

Pictures are not cropped. 1:1 magnification

[Raphael GolezParticipant @raphaelgolez]

Spring flowers, I don't know what kind it is. Just took some shots as it gives the garden a happy colours.

Edited By RAPHAEL VAL GOLEZ 1 on 15/05/2020 12:37:31

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

Posted by Thor on 15/05/2020 05:50:04:

Hi Raphael,

I don't know if you will regard this as macro photo:

It was taken in macro mode with my small digital pocket camera, nothing special, I took the photo just to show a friend how I milled the Steam Ports.

Thor

Edited By Thor on 15/05/2020 05:50:21

Hi Thor,

No, it's not generally accepted as "macro". Macro is considered to be at least 1:1.

Glad to see I'm not the only one keen on macro. My Olympus OM4Ti and a Vivitat Series 1 macro lens takes some beating. The problem these days is, film stock and processing.

I've been wondering if/when "proper" wet photography will come back, as vinyl records have?

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

Did you catch the wasp on a cold morning? All my attempts at things like bees, wasps, butterflies etc. seem to end up with a space where they were before they buzzed off.

Martin C

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

I sure Michael Gilligan will know exactly what the last creature is!

Dave

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

I would be interested in knowing what lenses you are all using for macro photography.

I have a couple of Nikon D7000 cameras and range of lenses from 11-16 wide angle, the standard 18-105 zoom, 70-300 zoom, and a 300-500mm zoom.

Are you using dedicated macro lenses or screw on macro lenses filters (as normally purchased in sets)

Colin

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Martin Connelly on 15/05/2020 12:57:03:

Did you catch the wasp on a cold morning? All my attempts at things like bees, wasps, butterflies etc. seem to end up with a space where they were before they buzzed off.

Martin C

No just good luck; bright sunshine let me try a fast ISO setting that caught it just before it moved. Not quick enough to freeze the wings though. My brother in law taught me the secret is to take dozens of photos and never show the failures. I've got thousands of them!

Dave

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Colin Heseltine on 15/05/2020 13:38:26:

I would be interested in knowing what lenses you are all using for macro photography.

I have a couple of Nikon D7000 cameras and range of lenses from 11-16 wide angle, the standard 18-105 zoom, 70-300 zoom, and a 300-500mm zoom.

Are you using dedicated macro lenses or screw on macro lenses filters (as normally purchased in sets)

Colin

 

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My shot of the screw was taken using a vintage 55mm Micro Nikkor adapted to my [Panasonic Lumix G1] micro four-thirds camera body. .. But I use a wide range of other lenses.

Always happy to discuss technicalities, but don’t wish to sidetrack the spirit of Raphael’s thread.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 15/05/2020 14:16:02

[Raphael GolezParticipant @raphaelgolez]

Great shot SOD, really loved that water droplet popping out from the water and forming a column. Did you do a burst shot on this? How many FPS can you camera can handle? Totally agree with you with the several shots for this tiny insects. I wanted to do some stacking but have to get a proper macro slide and a good photo editor software.

Is that a water hydra?

Colin, i'm using my old Nikon Micro lens 105mm f/2.8 D. It was on storage for a long time and I pulled it out to see if fungus have grown on my lens but thankfully they are all ok. I'm looking at getting a tube stack or a teleconverter to see if I can further improve the style of my shooting. Lighthing is done via Nikon R1C1 system.

Nice! im enjoying and having fun seeing all of the macro shots you guys took. Im sure some of you here will put a creative style on everyday objects doing your macro shots.

[Raphael GolezParticipant @raphaelgolez]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 15/05/2020 14:01:19:

Posted by Colin Heseltine on 15/05/2020 13:38:26:

I would be interested in knowing what lenses you are all using for macro photography.

I have a couple of Nikon D7000 cameras and range of lenses from 11-16 wide angle, the standard 18-105 zoom, 70-300 zoom, and a 300-500mm zoom.

Are you using dedicated macro lenses or screw on macro lenses filters (as normally purchased in sets)

Colin

.

My shot of the screw was taken using a vintage 50mm Micro Nikkor adapted to my [Panasonic Lumix G1] micro four-thirds camera body. .. But I use a wide range of other lenses.

Always happy to discuss technicalities, but don’t wish to sidetrack the spirit of Raphael’s thread.

MichaelG.

Hi Michael, this is the purpose of the thread. I would encourage people to talk about it. We could learn a thing or two from each other. By no means I'm good at this. I say share what you can share here and everyone is welcome to chip in what they know.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 15/05/2020 13:38:00:

I sure Michael Gilligan will know exactly what the last creature is!

Dave

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Probably not down to species level, Dave

But, for those who might be interested in dipping the pond … here is an excellent guide to Vorticella and her chums. **LINK**

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by RAPHAEL VAL GOLEZ 1 on 15/05/2020 14:09:25:

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 15/05/2020 14:01:19:

Posted by Colin Heseltine on 15/05/2020 13:38:26:

[…]

Are you using dedicated macro lenses or screw on macro lenses filters (as normally purchased in sets)

Colin

 

.

[…]

Always happy to discuss technicalities, but don’t wish to sidetrack the spirit of Raphael’s thread.

MichaelG.

Hi Michael, this is the purpose of the thread. I would encourage people to talk about it. We could learn a thing or two from each other. By no means I'm good at this. I say share what you can share here and everyone is welcome to chip in what they know.

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… In which case ; let me briefly answer Colin’s closing question

The basic screw-on supplementary lenses can be a little crude [soft around the edges, etc] but a good quality Achromatic Doublet can give excellent results. …. My own favourites being the Minolta ones from the 1970s.

These do sometimes crop-up on ebay

MichaelG.

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P.S. ___ I corrected a typo in my earlier post : The Micro Nikkor is 55mm focal length 

http://pindelski.org/Photography/2013/10/21/55mm-f3-5-micro-nikkor/

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 15/05/2020 14:36:26

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, well here's my rouge & ready attempt, taken with my IXUS 170 while holding a magnifying glass in front of the slightly zoom in lens.

I can actually count all those little blighters now.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 15/05/2020 14:50:20

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Colin Heseltine on 15/05/2020 13:38:26:

I would be interested in knowing what lenses you are all using for macro photography.

…

Are you using dedicated macro lenses or screw on macro lenses filters (as normally purchased in sets)

Colin

I use a Sony Cybershot Bridge Camera for outdoor targets of opportunity. The built-in lens has basic Macro and image stabilisation, so it's sometimes possible to get good shots. Outdoor photography is uncooperative though: I wobble, plants move in the breeze, and insects won't sit still and fly off. The camera has to be close to the subject, which most animals and insects dislike.

Indoors and outdoors I have a Sigma 70-300 DG Macro on a Canon EOS600D; it's handy for zooming in on nervous subjects from a distance. Trick is steadying the camera for which I have a monopod, or lean on something, or pull the strap tight around my neck just as the shutter is pressed. Any indignity necessary to reduce camera movement is suffered!

Indoors, I mount the camera and lens on a weighted tripod and work the shutter with a remote release. The object is staged on a table top, often lifted an inch or two on the end of a pin to blur the background, with the camera located overhead. Fair bit of care needed with lighting, and a LED ring light on the camera is helpful.

I probably do most macro work with a 50mm lens and extension rings. By quirk of physics, it's cheap and easy to make really good 50mm lens. Other focal lengths, zoom etc, involve more engineering and compromises that push the price up. An extension ring magnifies by putting empty space between lens and camera, and introduces no extra optical distortions. Simple spacers work quite well, but it's worth buying rings compatible with the camera, ie they connect the lenses electronics to the camera as normal. This allows the camera to do it's usual clever stuff with exposure settings and whatnot. Mine are 'Kenko' brand.

The problem with rings is they make focussing very tight – hard to adjust, and only correct over a very narrow range. To overcome the adjustment problem the camera is mounted on a rail and moved finely with a worm drive. Several pictures of the same object are taken each focussed sharply on a different plane. (So when the top is in focus the bottom is a meaningless blur.) Then the photos are loaded into a computer package that does focus stacking. Basically, the computer looks at each image and erases anything that's blurred. The sharp parts of each image are then combined into a single composite image that's in focus from top to bottom. Obviously this technique works best on subjects that cannot move.

Choice of SLR can make a difference. I bought an EOS600D specifically because its mirror can be locked, which minimises camera movement when pictures are taken. Not all SLR's can lock their mirrors, and this type may be at a disadvantage when mounted on a macro-rail or microscope where every tiny movement matters. They perform well with an image stabilised macro lens, just not on a microscope or with extension rings.

Dave

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by RAPHAEL VAL GOLEZ 1 on 15/05/2020 14:07:06:

… loved that water droplet popping out from the water and forming a column. Did you do a burst shot on this? How many FPS can you camera can handle? … Is that a water hydra?

…

Not a Hydra, (though I've got a snap of one somewhere), it's a protozoa, a Vorticella just as MichaelG says. I'd have to be very thirsty to drink pond water now I've looked at it through a microscope.

Nor is the water droplet a burst shot, just a single shot with my EOS600D and macro lens. The trick with that one is a tap adjusted to drip slowly into a bowl about 50cm below. I watched the drip form on the tap until it releases, then press the shutter release. The release is connected to an Arduino programmed to trigger the camera and flash 'n' milliseconds later. The time taken for the drip to fall 50cm is calculated and plugged into the Arduino; it won't be quite right because my reaction time and the camera response have to be factored in, but it doesn't take long to catch drops at almost any stage of the impact and rebound. Repeat until a good one is captured. Actually a failure: I was trying to get a Corona shot (nothing to do with the virus) like this example off from dreamstime.com:

More success with an air-pistol:

The shattering glass photo was taken in pitch darkness with the camera in 'B' – shutter open. A microphone was connected to an Arduino programmed to fire the flash and close the shutter shortly after a loud noise is heard. The pistol was pre-aimed in a clamp. Firing the pistol made enough noise to trigger the camera, then it's just a matter of adjusting the Arduino delay for best results. This one is quite dangerous. I took considerable care to make sure neither I or the camera would be damaged by ricochets or flying glass, and that I wouldn't end up wounded alone in the dark.

Dave

[Raphael GolezParticipant @raphaelgolez]

Thanks for the explanation Dave. Im sure I will try your water technique at some point. You have a great set up for triggering your flash. Im relying on the basics for now. Got to try some creative lightning at some point. Macro is such an interesting field in photography. Fun and at the same time frustrating to get it right but very rewarding once you got your desired shots. Im trying my best at hand held shooting as most of the interesting stuff is out side the controlled environment though you can produce some dramatic shots indoors and in a properly rigged set up.

[Raphael GolezParticipant @raphaelgolez]

Cropped images.

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