Assignment #47: Dew

[Nikolai]

No, I'm not talking about popular club soda brand. I'm talking about the water droplets resting comfortably on grass blades, branches, leaves, cobwebs, roof racks, etc.

In case you have hard time finding the real dew (which usually forms as a result of a condensation), it's OK to use the results of a rain, sprinklers, or even your own hosework, as long as it looks like real thing:-) :wink .

Try to get close. Dew droplets are small, yet you want them to look as big and prominent as possible. Macro lens and/or extension tubes are highly recommended.

For samples and technicalities please see wonderful macro exercises by Lord Vetinary (http://www.dgrin.com/member.php?u=3181), since most of his advices will suite our case perfectly. :bow

Another useful thing is the book "Light: Science & Magic", esp. its glass section.

Fresh pictures only. Moderate post-processing OK. For the rest of the rules please consult this sticky (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=41800).

Let's get us some dew!

[Antonio Correia]

I can't get closer because I don't have macro ring, macro lens, or any equipment for that kind of pictures.

I think this is not very good, indeed.

You may ask then, why do you post it ? :dunno
Because it's the best I can do (is it ?) for now with the available lens.

And I was not going to miss this assignment, not now that I have been participating in all of them.:D
http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/180555456-S.jpg http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/180556611-S.jpg

[Nikolai]

Thank you for the entry and braving this one up for all of us! :thumb
Interesting take :-) I guess, a condensation is a form of a dew (or vice versa:-), and a film is as good a media as the ones I mentioned.. :wink

Funny: looks like Europe (and Russia) has one way of dealing with storing veggies, while in US it's a bit different:-)

[Lord Vetinari]

Dew- One of my favourite subjects :)

For those who have not got any closeup lenses, You could try:-

a) reversing a lens around 50mm directly on the camera body- you can do this by simply holding it there and shooting in Av,Tv or M modes. You can also on most DSLRs preset the aperture by mounting the lens normaly set an aperture in Av mode (say F8) and then remove the lens whilst keeping the DOF preview button depressed (assuming you do not have an old manual lens handy).

b) Reverse a lens on the front of another normally mounted lens- Normally either the same focal length or the reversed lens smaller focal length than the main lens and either literally temporarily tape the lens on with duct tape or make a temporary connecting tube out of butyl rubber sheet or some foam material (camping mat is good for this)

In both cases it's best then to focus just by moving the camera. The kit lens you typically get with a camera is fine for either method.

Couple of example shots using the dewdrop as a lens. I place a flower behind the drop.

Brian V.

Natural light

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1208/1020515827_ef15862f92.jpg

Flash

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1280/1020516093_349e340a74.jpg

[Nikolai]

Dew- One of my favourite subjects :)

Thank you very much, I do appreciate your input! :bow

[Antonio Correia]

Lord V,
You gave us all a reason to shoot / re-shoot !:D
Important small tutorial.
Thank you:thumb

[Llywellyn]

Dew- One of my favourite subjects :)

Man, more amazing photos AND he's a Pratchett fan. If only you didn't have a creepy bug blowing bubbles for your avatar, you'd be perfect. :wink

Thank you so much for these tips! I'd read elsewhere about "reversing the lens" but had no clue how to go about doing that while focusing, et al. Thank you for giving me that clue. :D

[Antonio Correia]

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/closeup-stacking-reversing.html

[Llywellyn]

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/closeup-stacking-reversing.html

Thanks! :D

[Nikolai]

Thanks are great, but I wanna see some pikchas!:deal

[Llywellyn]

Thanks are great, but I wanna see some pikchas!:deal

I tried many times yesterday, and failed many times. :D "I place a flower behind the dew," he says. Pshaw! Like it was really that easy. One more reason I need to just... :bow

Will try again today. I'm determined to figure this whole "macro dew" thing out.:pissed

[Lord Vetinari]

Ok a few dewdrops on a shot from today :)

brian V.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1208/1041089725_7c0096c045_o.jpg

[Nikolai]

Ok a few dewdrops on a shot from today :)
brian V.

Nice! Awesome entry! Thanks, Brian! :thumb
Can you please describe your setup for this shot?

[Antonio Correia]

Brian:
:jawdrop :jawdrop :jawdrop :jawdrop :jawdrop

[Lord Vetinari]

Nice! Awesome entry! Thanks, Brian! :thumb
Can you please describe your setup for this shot?
Thanks Nikolai,

Was using my MPE-65 macro lens with flash- camera in manual,1/200th ISO200, F9. magnification about 2.5:1 I think. The natural dew is on a sedum spectabile seed I noticed in the grass. Flower placed about 2cms behind it and series of 5 shots taken to cover the DOF and then focus stacked.

brian V.

Here's another dewdrop shot- this time on grass - fraid dewdrops are one of my favourite subjects :)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1280/1020516093_663357e907_o.jpg

[Nikolai]

Thanks Nikolai,

Was using my MPE-65 macro lens with flash- camera in manual,1/200th ISO200, F9. magnification about 2.5:1 I think. The natural dew is on a sedum spectabile seed I noticed in the grass. Flower placed about 2cms behind it and series of 5 shots taken to cover the DOF and then focus stacked.

brian V.

Here's another dewdrop shot- this time on grass - fraid dewdrops are one of my favourite subjects :)



Thank you, appreciate the info!
Another great entry! You're the King of Dewdrops!
I'm only afraid that now nobody would dare to post here:-) :rofl
C'mon, gang, we're here to learn, it's not like you gonna get "F" and detention..:lol3

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you, appreciate the info!
Another great entry! You're the King of Dewdrops!
I'm only afraid that now nobody would dare to post here:-) :rofl
C'mon, gang, we're here to learn, it's not like you gonna get "F" and detention..:lol3

The photos I have posted make me laught of so ridiculous, looking at those from Brian. :D

You know Nikolai that I am not going to let you down.:D

I will post pictures of dew, yes I will !
I just need some more time.
:thumb

[Felicia]

Ok a few dewdrops on a shot from today :)

brian V.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1208/1041089725_7c0096c045_o.jpg

Sweet Baby James!!!:bow

[Tentacion]

Gees Nik, I didn't even know about this forum....Good To Know...

[Llywellyn]

Okay, tell me you at least forget to breathe while doing the whole "sway and focus" thing, too, so I'll think you're human, Lord V.

I tried following your tips here and in your sticky in the Techniques forum, but this is my first brush with macro, dew, and flash. (I am a n00b in the extreme. :D)

By trying to set this shot up and PP it, your advice elsewhere now makes a lot more sense. I will be trying this again. For now, I was happy I could actually see a flower in the drop (i.e., I know it's a crap shot, but I felt guilty filling this thread with so much chatter and not even an attempt). So much more to learn!

http://blackcatphoto.smugmug.com/photos/181580887-L.jpg

[Nikolai]

Okay, tell me you at least forget to breathe while doing the whole "sway and focus" thing, too, so I'll think you're human, Lord V.

I tried following your tips here and in your sticky in the Techniques forum, but this is my first brush with macro, dew, and flash. (I am a n00b in the extreme. :D)

By trying to set this shot up and PP it, your advice elsewhere now makes a lot more sense. I will be trying this again. For now, I was happy I could actually see a flower in the drop (i.e., I know it's a crap shot, but I felt guilty filling this thread with so much chatter and not even an attempt). So much more to learn!


Hey, that's pretty darn good for a first try! :thumb
Now, how did you do it? :wink

[Llywellyn]

Hey, that's pretty darn good for a first try! :thumb
Now, how did you do it? :wink

Oops...forgot that part, didn't I? :rolleyes

ISO: 100
SS: 1/200
f/9.0
300mm
Flash: +1.0 EV

I can't afford a big, fancy flash yet, so I was using my pop-up flash with three pieces of Scotch tape over it to "diffuse" it. :D I attempted to reverse a lens by hand-holding, but I couldn't see a durned thing. I ended up using my Tamron 70-300mm lens and just moving waaaaay back--which is part of what made this so hard. I couldn't see anything in the drop at that distance to know if I had it in focus or not.

Macro...how can something so tiny be so danged HARD? :rofl

[Vizhon]

Not the best I coulda probably done, but the best of the handful of shots I did take. Will likely spend a bit more time on these, now that I know about them.

Rose right behind my apartment, black poster board for backdrop, and artificial dew (water dripped on slowly, mostly from fingertips). Taken with a Fuji S5Pro and Tamron SP Di AF 90mm 1:2.8 Macro 1:1 under natural overcast morning light.

Self-comment: Shoulda used a higher f-stop and pulled a bit more depth of field. Also, still working on fine-tuning the color in the camera, everything currently coming out with a bit of a yellow cast, though I mostly corrected that in development. Was set to +1 Red, +/-0 Blue but will be trying it for a while set to +2 Red, +1 Blue, to see if it helps.

Anyway, the effort:

http://Vizhon.smugmug.com/photos/181776284-L.jpg

EXIF (http://www.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=181776284)

[heatherfeather]

I was inspired by you Llywellyn-

My first try too!

I really enjoyed it, but it was hard. I got a few that I liked...
1.
http://ambience.smugmug.com/photos/181771767-L.jpg
2.
http://ambience.smugmug.com/photos/181767066-M.jpg
3.
http://ambience.smugmug.com/photos/181769841-M.jpg
For me the hardest thing was that I would be working so hard on getting the right focus for the dew I would bump it and knock it off the leaf- And when I tried the flower reflection thing like the "King of Macros" was telling us about, I had to hold the flower and focus the camera at the same time. It didn't work out as well as I had hoped- I would be looking through the viewfinder and get the flower too close to the water drop and bump the darn thing off. I wonder if you had a tripod for your flower. :D
Of course if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth working on, right?

Oh then my other excuse- there was a bit of wind.... : )

[Llywellyn]

I was inspired by you Llywellyn-

My first try too!

Awww. :lust Your first shots turned out amazing. :bow I love the web one.

I had a very tall (fake) orchid sitting up on my desk with the (fake) dew drop right in front of it. I wanted to be able to fully control the environment so I could understand where I needed to be versus the flower versus the dew before I tried to do it outdoors. In other words, I cheated. :D

What were your settings? (So I can steal them and post shots as awesome as yours! :deal)

[heatherfeather]

Awww. :lust Your first shots turned out amazing. :bow I love the web one.

I had a very tall (fake) orchid sitting up on my desk with the (fake) dew drop right in front of it. I wanted to be able to fully control the environment so I could understand where I needed to be versus the flower versus the dew before I tried to do it outdoors. In other words, I cheated. :D

What were your settings? (So I can steal them and post shots as awesome as yours! :deal)

Hey thanks! I had fun and was fairly happy with what I got, even though I didn't get an amazing picture of one of those fancy flower reflection.

I had borrowed some rings from a friend, (and I can't even tell you the magnification) Then of course tripod... I had my 3 kids and some cousins running all about me while I did this so it was a little nerve wracking, and a lot of saying "don't bump me" and "stay away, I am doing something hard."

But anyway, the settings were:
Spider web 1/25 f1.8 ISO 200
Leaf 1/60 f1.8 ISO200 flash fired
grass 1/60 f1.8 ISO800 flash

Probably not the best settings, but aaah well. Who knows!

I didn't read the tutes about it, just plunged ahead!
Here is one more that I plum forgot about, and it does have a bit of a flower reflection, just not fantastic like "the Lords":
http://ambience.smugmug.com/photos/181824696-M-2.jpg

[Antonio Correia]

with the kit lens reverted.
http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/181831386-M.jpg http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/181828816-M.jpg http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/181832800-M.jpg

[heatherfeather]

with the kit lens reverted.


Pretty amazing that you could do that! :clap

[Antonio Correia]

Pretty amazing that you could do that! :clap

Heather, good evening.:D
I always try hard ! :wink
:D:thumb
But more are coming in ! Young ones !:D

[Antonio Correia]

Better but not that good ! :D
ST-E2 in action. Flash too harsh ! Same technic: reverted kit lens (18-55). I thought I would never use this thing ! :D
May be they are too similar ... Sorry.

http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/181856183-M.jpg http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/181857026-M.jpg http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/181857976-M.jpg

[Nikolai]

Rose right behind my apartment, black poster board for backdrop, and artificial dew (water dripped on slowly, mostly from fingertips).

Nice entry, cool writeup, thank you! :thumb

[Nikolai]

I was inspired by you Llywellyn-
My first try too!

Good shooting of a difficult subjects! I love the first one! Thank you for the entries! :thumb

[Nikolai]

Here is one more that I plum forgot about, and it does have a bit of a flower reflection, just not fantastic like "the Lords":

Another good one, Heather, thank you!:thumb

[Nikolai]

Thank you! I like those better than the veggies :wink
I'm surprised the kit lens works that good. Nice entries! :thumb

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you! I like those better than the veggies :wink
I'm surprised the kit lens works that good. Nice entries! :thumb

Nikolai, good morning.
Yes, these are far better than those ridiculous veggies, macro pretending :D
I shot in raw - not as usual these days - and with surprizingly better results than with the 16-35.
I want to try again. Later on.
Cheers.:thumb

[Llywellyn]

b) Reverse a lens on the front of another normally mounted lens- Normally either the same focal length or the reversed lens smaller focal length than the main lens and either literally temporarily tape the lens on with duct tape or make a temporary connecting tube out of butyl rubber sheet or some foam material (camping mat is good for this)

What am I doing wrong? I tried this, and I only see blackness through my viewfinder. I can't see a durned thing to even try to focus manually.

I reversed my Tamron 28-80mm and taped it to my Tamron 70-300mm (my only other lens is a wide angle, so I can't experiment with another combination.

I also tried just reversing my 28-80mm alone by hand-holding it. I preset the aperture then pressed the DOF button while removing the lens and then reversing it, as Lord V suggested in an earlier post. My camera refused to fire. I could see a dimmed view of the shot in my viewfinder, but my camera was having nothing to do with my experiment.

I am completely ignorant here and would love to know what I'm doing wrong. :scratch

[Antonio Correia]

shot when I arrived home.
I know that they are not dead sharp, but it is the best I can do for now.
Nikolai and Brian: You are the ones to blame if now I want to have a macro lens: the 100 or the 180 mm Canon :D
http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/182120854-M.jpg http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/182114021-M.jpg http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/182115718-M.jpg

[Nikolai]

shot when I arrived home.
I know that they are not dead sharp, but it is the best I can do for now.
Nikolai and Brian: You are the ones to blame if now I want to have a macro lens: the 100 or the 180 mm Canon :D

Very nice indeed, Antonio! :thumb
It's all Brian, he's the Macro Mastah!

Brian, what are the Pros and Cons of 100 vs 180 vs tubes? :scratch

[Antonio Correia]

What am I doing wrong? I tried this, and I only see blackness through my viewfinder. I can't see a durned thing to even try to focus manually.

I reversed my Tamron 28-80mm and taped it to my Tamron 70-300mm (my only other lens is a wide angle, so I can't experiment with another combination.

I also tried just reversing my 28-80mm alone by hand-holding it. I preset the aperture then pressed the DOF button while removing the lens and then reversing it, as Lord V suggested in an earlier post. My camera refused to fire. I could see a dimmed view of the shot in my viewfinder, but my camera was having nothing to do with my experiment.

I am completely ignorant here and would love to know what I'm doing wrong. :scratch
I just reverted the kit lens as you have probably read.
Shoot raw !!! Important !!! Very important.
I was in Manual 1/200 f/5.0 but the exit doesn't say so. I don't know why.

Please try again. Come on. You are going to do it now.:D

[Antonio Correia]

Very nice indeed, Antonio! :thumb
It's all Brian, he's the Macro Mastah!

Brian, what are the Pros and Cons of 100 vs 180 vs tubes? :scratch

The tubes I can't find them here. I can go to e-bay...
I do have googled a bit and I have had some difficulty finding the tubes.

At my usual store they don't advice tubes with the 16-35 - if I ever find them - because the lens is too heavy to be hold just in the thread of the filter.

I hope I made myself clear !
:thumb

[Lord Vetinari]

Very nice indeed, Antonio! :thumb
It's all Brian, he's the Macro Mastah!

Brian, what are the Pros and Cons of 100 vs 180 vs tubes? :scratch

I always recommend a macro lens around 100mm unless there is a very good reason you want a longer focal length lens. The Tamron 90, canon 100, Nikon 105, sigma 105 are all very sharp when used properly. Advantage of the shorter lens?- it's just much easier to handle. When you start getting towards 150/180 you are in tripod land. A 100mm macro lens also makes an excellent long portrait lens.
Only advantage of a genuine macro lens over say a 50mm lens with a full set of extension tubes is smooth "zoom" from infinity to 1:1 macro. A 50mm with extension tubes would have a max focus distance of a few feet at most and a 1:1 focus distance of a few inches in front of the lens.

Brian V.

[Lord Vetinari]

What am I doing wrong? I tried this, and I only see blackness through my viewfinder. I can't see a durned thing to even try to focus manually.

I reversed my Tamron 28-80mm and taped it to my Tamron 70-300mm (my only other lens is a wide angle, so I can't experiment with another combination.

I also tried just reversing my 28-80mm alone by hand-holding it. I preset the aperture then pressed the DOF button while removing the lens and then reversing it, as Lord V suggested in an earlier post. My camera refused to fire. I could see a dimmed view of the shot in my viewfinder, but my camera was having nothing to do with my experiment.

I am completely ignorant here and would love to know what I'm doing wrong. :scratch

Not sure what camera mode you are in but you need to be in manual mode really although I think Tv or Av modes should work.
Brian V.

[Lord Vetinari]

shot when I arrived home.
I know that they are not dead sharp, but it is the best I can do for now.
Nikolai and Brian: You are the ones to blame if now I want to have a macro lens: the 100 or the 180 mm Canon :D


Very good Antonio - think you are getting the hang of this :)

Brian v.

[Nikolai]

I always recommend a macro lens around 100mm unless there is a very good reason you want a longer focal length lens. The Tamron 90, canon 100, Nikon 105, sigma 105 are all very sharp when used properly. Advantage of the shorter lens?- it's just much easier to handle. When you start getting towards 150/180 you are in tripod land. A 100mm macro lens also makes an excellent long portrait lens.
Only advantage of a genuine macro lens over say a 50mm lens with a full set of extension tubes is smooth "zoom" from infinity to 1:1 macro. A 50mm with extension tubes would have a max focus distance of a few feet at most and a 1:1 focus distance of a few inches in front of the lens.

Brian V.

Thank you very much, much appreciated.

FWIW I just ordered Kenko set from Adorama. My "nifty-fifty" hasn't seen any action for a loooooong time, hopefully this set will bring it back to life:-)

[Llywellyn]

Not sure what camera mode you are in but you need to be in manual mode really although I think Tv or Av modes should work.
Brian V.
I always shoot in full manual and RAW. Just won't fire. I must be having a blonde moment as I just have no clue. :dunno

[Nikolai]

I always shoot in full manual and RAW. Just won't fire. I must be having a blonde moment as I just have no clue. :dunno

1) no card
2) no battery
3) lens cap ;-) :rofl

[Antonio Correia]

I always recommend a macro lens around 100mm unless there is a very good reason you want a longer focal length lens. The Tamron 90, canon 100, Nikon 105, sigma 105 are all very sharp when used properly. Advantage of the shorter lens?- it's just much easier to handle. When you start getting towards 150/180 you are in tripod land. A 100mm macro lens also makes an excellent long portrait lens.
Only advantage of a genuine macro lens over say a 50mm lens with a full set of extension tubes is smooth "zoom" from infinity to 1:1 macro. A 50mm with extension tubes would have a max focus distance of a few feet at most and a 1:1 focus distance of a few inches in front of the lens.

Brian V.

Thank you Brian.:thumb
I think I will buy the Tamron 90 or the Sigma 105, the cheaper.:D
Cheers.:D:thumb

[schmoo]

I always shoot in full manual and RAW. Just won't fire. I must be having a blonde moment as I just have no clue. :dunno

I don't know if this helps but I was having a blonde moment trying this just now myself... and found out that my problem was I had the lens zoomed out to 18mm. The focal length being at 55 (for the kit lens) seemed to be the sweet spot. :dunno

[Antonio Correia]

I don't know if this helps but I was having a blonde moment trying this just now myself... and found out that my problem was I had the lens zoomed out to 18mm. The focal length being at 55 (for the kit lens) seemed to be the sweet spot. :dunno
I don't know where the zoom was when I shot because I just adjusted it once or twice as I shot in sequence.
As I was holding the lens in my left hand, the zoom moved too and I had to re-adjust it.
I have also noticed that - this is most obvious - different zoom positions were giving me different field of vision. It was then that I noticed: I had moved it un-voluntarely. Then I re-adjusted it.

For the focus I moved myself back and forward as Brian said to.
This is not a procedure to repeat over and over. The camera is wide open to the air consequently to dust.:D:thumb

:D:thumb

[hawkeye978]

This is hard....

Started with the simple dew on flower petal shots

http://hawkeye978.smugmug.com/photos/182370525-L.jpg

Nothing special for settings. Aperture priority, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/30 s.

It's early morning so I have the sun putting light on the grass at a shallow angle so I figure I'll try and get the light through the grass at ground level. That was not easy, even stopping down the aperture and trying to get the camera to focus where I want. Technically, I'm not crazy about this picture because the focus isn't right, but I like the effect I got so what the heck.

http://hawkeye978.smugmug.com/photos/182369656-L.jpg

Here I'm at ISO 400, f/15, 1/45 s.

[tlee]

Here are two dew drop images from this morning...

Morning /filtered light. I used a Canon 30D with a 100mm macro lens.

2"]EXIF (http://studiotphotos.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=182437000)[/URL]

http://studioTphotos.smugmug.com/photos/182414954-L.jpg

EXIF (http://studiotphotos.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=182414732)
http://studioTphotos.smugmug.com/photos/182414732-L.jpg

[Nikolai]

This is hard....

Started with the simple dew on flower petal shots

Nothing special for settings. Aperture priority, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/30 s.

It's early morning so I have the sun putting light on the grass at a shallow angle so I figure I'll try and get the light through the grass at ground level. That was not easy, even stopping down the aperture and trying to get the camera to focus where I want. Technically, I'm not crazy about this picture because the focus isn't right, but I like the effect I got so what the heck.

Here I'm at ISO 400, f/15, 1/45 s.

Thank you for the entries!
I love the sunstar on the second, very nice touch! :thumb

[Nikolai]

Here are two dew drop images from this morning...

Thank you, nice entries!
Can you please update your post with the inline EXIFs and other accompanying info? TIA!

[tlee]

Thank you, nice entries!
Can you please update your post with the inline EXIFs and other accompanying info? TIA!

Ooops! Sorry. It has been updated :D.

[Nikolai]

Ooops! Sorry. It has been updated :D.
Thanks!

[schmoo]

Thanks to LV, Nikolai, and Antonio I have finally tried reversing a lens to do macros! I've never actually been moved to try this before (was too scared.)

http://schmoo.smugmug.com/photos/182547642-L.jpg

EXIF here (http://schmoo.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=182547642)

I was having a terrible time with the focus - my DOV is so narrow I don't even think any of these shots caught the water drops itself... Plus I didn't realize it was national Check Your ISO Day so this is at 1000. I think that everything I shot comes with a kind of blurry haze over it, too. Maybe I am not getting the lens centered over the body? :scratch

Nonetheless it's great knowing that there is some macro photography possibilities available with the equipment I have!

*goes off to play some more*

[Nikolai]

Thanks to LV, Nikolai, and Antonio I have finally tried reversing a lens to do macros! I've never actually been moved to try this before (was too scared.)

EXIF here (http://schmoo.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=182547642)

I was having a terrible time with the focus - my DOV is so narrow I don't even think any of these shots caught the water drops itself... Plus I didn't realize it was national Check Your ISO Day so this is at 1000. I think that everything I shot comes with a kind of blurry haze over it, too. Maybe I am not getting the lens centered over the body? :scratch

Nonetheless it's great knowing that there is some macro photography possibilities available with the equipment I have!

*goes off to play some more*

Thank you for taking the dare:-) :thumb

[OffTopic]

New student joining the class! :D Now that I've got my site (somewhat) up and running, I have time to play, and I have always wanted to learn how to do this. Thanks Lord V for the outstanding tutorials with a wealth of information. I even optimistically downloaded the program for focus stacking, but I think that will have to wait until I get real macro gear. :rofl

My first attempts were with the kit lens just to get an idea of how to set up the shot, and I was really excited that I was able to get a decent refraction in the water drop. This is at 5.6, 1/100 and my flash bounced and diffused with the attached thingies:

http://OffTopic.smugmug.com/photos/182705783-S.jpg

Exif http://offtopic.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=182705783


I really wanted to get in closer to get my hand out of the image and I didn't want the flower to be recognizable but I don't have any macro lenses or gear, so I checked out Antonio's linky (thank you Antonio) about reversing the lens and soon found out that I needed another hand; one to hold the camera, one to hold the lens, and another to hold the flower in just the right spot. I made a "stem" out of toothpicks for the flower so I could position it where I wanted. Wow, handholding the reversed kit lens is really difficult - all I had to do was breathe and it would move out of place, which I could tell because the image in the viewfinder darkened. And it's really hard to find the sweet spot for focusing on the drop. Maybe it was because I drank too much coffee that morning :huh. Here's the best of that:

http://OffTopic.smugmug.com/photos/182706106-S.jpg

Exif http://offtopic.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=182706106

5.0, 1/60, 580EX on camera bounced and diffused again with the attached thingies.

I felt I was getting closer, but I didn't like the highlight from the flash, so this morning I gave it another shot with direct flash diffused ala Lord V (yes, I caught it in the photos :D), otherwise known as a papertowel attached with a rubber band. I liked this light better, but I spent an hour trying to get just one drop hanging suspended from a blade of grass, rather than sitting on top, and it just wasn't happening. Here's the best from this morning, but my in-house critic already told me he doesn't like it because it doesn't look like a drop of water sitting on top of the blade of grass. I think I spent more time trying to get perfect water drops than anything else.

http://OffTopic.smugmug.com/photos/182705704-S.jpg

Exif http://offtopic.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=182705704

I haven't given up yet because I'm making just enough progress to keep me going! I was going to try with a larger flower to improve the background (the one I used was maybe an inch across), but there was just enough breeze by that time that it was impossible to get a sharp image. And these were all shot in the early morning under a heavy marine layer for soft, diffused light, but I think I'm going to give it a try in sunlight, too.

Pretty exciting stuff for my first attempt at macro photography, as low budget as it was. Thanks for the great assignment! :D

[Nikolai]

New student joining the class! :D ...

Pretty exciting stuff for my first attempt at macro photography, as low budget as it was. Thanks for the great assignment! :D



Welcome to the Class! :clap
Thank you for the post, nice entries! :thumb

[Llywellyn]

I swear, I haven't given up yet. I figured out that my camera wouldn't fire because I had my built-in flash popped up. Once I locked down the flash, my D80 would fire just fine with the hand-held reversed lens.

Of course, this leaves me trying to take macros without a flash. :rolleyes I've been trying to find a way to force the flash to fire with my lens dismounted and reversed, but I've had no luck.

Next step options: continually scold camera until it feels shamed into obeying me, use a really bright spotlight to compensate for lack of flash, or give in and buy the external flash I need but can't afford and try to fire it off camera. Of course, the collective genius here may have another idea I haven't thought of yet. :wink

[Antonio Correia]

I swear, I haven't given up yet. I figured out that my camera wouldn't fire because I had my built-in flash popped up. Once I locked down the flash, my D80 would fire just fine with the hand-held reversed lens.

Of course, this leaves me trying to take macros without a flash. :rolleyes I've been trying to find a way to force the flash to fire with my lens dismounted and reversed, but I've had no luck.

Next step options: continually scold camera until it feels shamed into obeying me, use a really bright spotlight to compensate for lack of flash, or give in and buy the external flash I need but can't afford and try to fire it off camera. Of course, the collective genius here may have another idea I haven't thought of yet. :wink

Remember that the flash doesn't work off camera without more equipment.
Shoot at Sunlight :clap

[Lord Vetinari]

I swear, I haven't given up yet. I figured out that my camera wouldn't fire because I had my built-in flash popped up. Once I locked down the flash, my D80 would fire just fine with the hand-held reversed lens.

Of course, this leaves me trying to take macros without a flash. :rolleyes I've been trying to find a way to force the flash to fire with my lens dismounted and reversed, but I've had no luck.

Next step options: continually scold camera until it feels shamed into obeying me, use a really bright spotlight to compensate for lack of flash, or give in and buy the external flash I need but can't afford and try to fire it off camera. Of course, the collective genius here may have another idea I haven't thought of yet. :wink

Not familiar with D80s but do they have any user set functions ? you may find you can alter the way the camera responds to the flash being up ?

brian V.

[Lord Vetinari]

Some more dew shots. First two are high mag (around 3:1) ISO200, F9, 1/200th camera in manual flash shots. Last shot is a low magnification around 1:1 ISO 200 Tv mode 1/200th natural light shot. All the shots were focus stacked to increase the DOF.
I've had a lot of practice with dewdrop shots :)

Brian V.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1221/1095115477_8ebfd6e608_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1118/1095115189_e8f4d2a627_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1031/937569282_43ab632a39_o.jpg

[Nikolai]

Some more dew shots. First two are high mag (around 3:1) ISO200, F9, 1/200th camera in manual flash shots. Last shot is a low magnification around 1:1 ISO 200 Tv mode 1/200th natural light shot. All the shots were focus stacked to increase the DOF.
I've had a lot of practice with dewdrop shots :)
Brian V.

Damn you Brian, you're so good it's impossible to even go that direction... :deal :bow :bash :wink :rofl

[schmoo]

:bow

FWIW, I've been pointing a lot of non-Dgrin/Smugmuggers over this way lately - specifically for Brian's macros!

[dlscott56]

Some more dew shots. First two are high mag (around 3:1) ISO200, F9, 1/200th camera in manual flash shots. Last shot is a low magnification around 1:1 ISO 200 Tv mode 1/200th natural light shot. All the shots were focus stacked to increase the DOF.
I've had a lot of practice with dewdrop shots :)

Brian V.


Totally amazing! :thumb:bow:thumb

[Antonio Correia]

I found this (http://www.novoflex.com/english/html/macro_accessories.htm) and I thought it could be useful to someone.

[Nikolai]

I found this (http://www.novoflex.com/english/html/macro_accessories.htm) and I thought it could be useful to someone.
Good find!:thumb

[Llywellyn]

I found this (http://www.novoflex.com/english/html/macro_accessories.htm) and I thought it could be useful to someone.

Man, I had my hopes up, too. (Which, of course, makes me a Nikon user.)
:doh

This has not yet defeated me! :patch

[Llywellyn]

And to prove my non-defeat, I marched right outside after my post yesterday to take advantage of a break in the rain. I'm still flash deficient, so these were taken with natural light and my ISO juiced up way high. They're noisy as all heck, but as least the frame was captured! :wink

ISO 1600
1/50 s
f/1.0 (oh, my camera was so fooled!)
http://blackcatphoto.smugmug.com/photos/186679431-M.jpg

Same settings as above, but ISO 1000
http://blackcatphoto.smugmug.com/photos/186679517-M.jpg

Who needs flowers when you can squeeze a whole building into one of these drops? :D

Whew. No more macro for me until I have the flash and lens for it. :deal

[Nikolai]

And to prove my non-defeat, I marched right outside after my post yesterday to take advantage of a break in the rain. I'm still flash deficient, so these were taken with natural light and my ISO juiced up way high. They're noisy as all heck, but as least the frame was captured! :wink

Who needs flowers when you can squeeze a whole building into one of these drops? :D

Whew. No more macro for me until I have the flash and lens for it. :deal

Thank you, nice entries!
I especially like the first one, it looks almost like some lizard skin...:thumb

[Antonio Correia]

Again with a finding (http://www.diyphotography.net/diy_reverse_macro_ring). :D

I have bought today the body cover for 5,15 € and tomorrow I am going to make the hole on it.

The filter, I have it already and I am going to use it with the kit lens.

:thumb :D

[dlscott56]

Again with a finding (http://www.diyphotography.net/diy_reverse_macro_ring). :D

I have bought today the body cover for 5,15 € and tomorrow I am going to make the hole on it.

The filter, I have it already and I am going to use it with the kit lens.

:thumb :D

I think I'll give that a try myself. Thanks for sharing Antonio.

[Antonio Correia]

Please have a loook at this (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=70138).
Thank you. :D:thumb

[ShepsMom]

Lord V will always be my hero....:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow

I have few to show, nothing impressive, but here it goes..

http://www.intruecolors.com/photos/143480395-M-9.jpg

http://www.intruecolors.com/photos/143480400-M-9.jpg

http://www.intruecolors.com/photos/143480384-M-9.jpg

Anyone wants to buy my lens? It's for sale :D

[Nikolai]

Lord V will always be my hero....:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow
I have few to show, nothing impressive, but here it goes..

Marina, thank you, nice entries! :thumb

[Pexi]

Something different:

http://pexi.smugmug.com/photos/257573932_mHuRJ-L.jpg

[Nikolai]

Something different:

call me a slacker, but I don't see a dew here :-( :scratch :dunno

[BPerron]

call me a slacker, but I don't see a dew here :-( :scratch :dunno

It looks like the back window of a care with alot of dew on it...

[Antonio Correia]

http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/photos/256863281_c99Xg-L.jpg

[Nikolai]

It looks like the back window of a care with alot of dew on it...
Well, I have no problem recognizing dew in this: http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=611028&postcount=12
But last entry still keeps me guessing...:dunno

[Nikolai]

dew
Now THAT's the dew!!!:thumb :clap

[Antonio Correia]

Now THAT's the dew!!!:thumb :clap

It was a foggy morning and this was shot to a spider web.
:D:bow:thumb

[Pexi]

It looks like the back window of a car with alot of dew on it...
That's what it is! Another shot (hope you see the DEW now, Nikolai :dunno :scratch):

http://pexi.smugmug.com/photos/257781137_7yp8d-L.jpg

[BPerron]

That's what it is! Another shot (hope you see the DEW now, Nikolai :dunno :scratch):

http://pexi.smugmug.com/photos/257781137_7yp8d-L.jpg
Sweet what is my prize for getting it right? :barb:barb:clap

[Nikolai]

That's what it is! Another shot (hope you see the DEW now, Nikolai :dunno :scratch):

Aaaaaaaa! :bash!
got it, thanx! :thumb

[Nikolai]

Sweet what is my prize for getting it right? :barb:barb:clap
Take the cookie from the shelf :-) :thumb

[Mless5]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/kazakovi/nh2005.jpg

From the collection of my favorite ones.

[Nikolai]

From the collection of my favorite ones.
Uhm... does this mean it's from the archives? :scratch
Then it's DQ-ed by default: fresh pics only! :deal Sorry...:dunno

[Dalantech]

http://dalantech.smugmug.com/photos/248297912_D9hhD-L.jpg

[Nikolai]

dew
Nice one, thank you very much!:thumb