What a cool series. Are these with your 50mm f/1.8?
You're suffering slightly with the DOF on the two bee ones, but the dragonfly one (is that what it is?) is spot on. And regardless of that - the composition of the first is cracking.
Wow, it's like that mobile phone advert where they take photos of a dragonfly being eaten by a fish being eaten by a bird being eaten by a bear being carried off by a bird of prey.
The picture of the dragonfly is superb. Looks like it might be a female Skimmer (genus Orthetrum), perhaps the Keeled Skimmer (http://www.geocities.com/pelionature/Orthetrum1.htm), Orthetrum coerulescens.
Yes, I like the dragonfly too (damselfly? I can't remember how to tell them apart), a fraction more depth of field would have the whole body in focus, but that's being picky.
The first three are with a borrowed zoom lens, the last two with the 50mm. None of the insect shots have quite perfect focusing/DOF but I decided they were good enough to put up anyway.
I didn't use a macro lens, though I'll probably get one at some point. In most cases I cropped a bit and then scaled to a uniform pixel size. As a nod towards integrity I try to keep the aspect ratio the same as the full output.
The first was 113mm, the 2nd and 3rd 200mm. The 4th and 5th used the 50mm lens. The cropping (both inherent to the camera's sub-35mm sensor and in post-processing) may make these figures misleading. The EXIF data is preserved in the published versions so you can jhead them yourself if you like l-)
Looks like a slow shutter to me: 1/20th of a second, at a guess. Any slower and you'd get a blurred blob; faster and you'd get motionless carven glass instead of living water.
I do this kind of thing all the time. Surprisingly, I have very few insect photographs. Here's another snap with the pocket camera (Casio Exilm-100 shiny but it's not the Olympus E-10):
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-18 07:10 pm (UTC)I presume these are mostly exercises in what can be done with a pro-grade macro lens; are they zooms-down or crops-into the full camera output?
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-18 07:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-18 07:55 pm (UTC)You're suffering slightly with the DOF on the two bee ones, but the dragonfly one (is that what it is?) is spot on. And regardless of that - the composition of the first is cracking.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-18 08:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-18 08:19 pm (UTC)Fountain
Date: 2005-08-18 08:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-18 08:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-18 10:21 pm (UTC)Sorry - that was my first reaction, and a little tricky to render in type. These are really really shiny...
I like the first one best, but they are all very wonderful...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-18 11:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-18 11:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-19 12:39 am (UTC)I saw lots of dragonflies in Somerset last week - lots of clean freshwater streams - but they are very difficult to photograph.
Re: Fountain
Date: 2005-08-19 08:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-19 08:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-19 08:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-19 09:30 am (UTC)The fountain's beautiful ("only" 1/1600? I would've guessed more).
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-19 12:46 pm (UTC)The fountain was just a fast shutter.
I didn't use a macro lens, though I'll probably get one at some point. In most cases I cropped a bit and then scaled to a uniform pixel size. As a nod towards integrity I try to keep the aspect ratio the same as the full output.
(Who're you?)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-19 12:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-19 12:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-19 12:50 pm (UTC)tricky to render in type
Date: 2005-08-19 12:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-20 12:11 am (UTC)Looks like a slow shutter to me: 1/20th of a second, at a guess. Any slower and you'd get a blurred blob; faster and you'd get motionless carven glass instead of living water.
Suit by Moth Bros
Date: 2005-08-20 12:19 am (UTC)I do this kind of thing all the time. Surprisingly, I have very few insect photographs. Here's another snap with the pocket camera (Casio Exilm-100 shiny but it's not the Olympus E-10):
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rillaith's games weekend a few weeks ago.