Late, as usual, but in nonetheless. Here are my macro shots for last month's theme: The bottom image is of a lynx (?) spider in Isimangaliso (Side lighting from a single flash with a home-made softbox), Middle image, fly in the same field a month later with the same lighting setup and the top image of two mating locusts is in the Drakensberg...lighting is curtesy of a passing cloud to soften the harsh sun. All shot with a 105mm macro lens, bottom two on a tripod, top, handheld. One thing i quite like about the bottom two is hte mix of flash and ambient. I purposefully stretch the exposure past handheld limits. The flash captures everything in sharp focus but occasionally there is a slight halo blur around the edges of legs etc. which creates the impression of movement (most obvious in the spider shot) and also allows some of the ambient light to bring colour to the background rather than the tell-tale 'blackout' of a flashed macro shot. Any c and c always welcome.
Cheers
E
1 comment:
Okay, now I am sure! I must have one of these soft boxes. Your lighting is awesome, and I bet it is actually that that makes the difference between an average macro shot and these of yours. Lovely images. Some c&c: I think I would have preferred a different angle of the spider. Now the head is hiding/partly obscured behind some legs, which, as you say seem to be soft as a result of your method of taking the shot. I can see that some people would really like your angle though, with the eye just visible, but for me it doesn't work too well. Then your fly, I think that is awesome. Perhaps a little highlight on the front of the head, but that is not disturbing as the beautiful eyes catch all the attention. Very good depth of field, great composition. I love your grasshoppers too. Would maybe have liked to see a little more depth of field, so the eyes of the male would also be sharp. For the rest, beautiful colors, nice composition.
Well done,
Cheers Nick
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