Shield Bug

[StuartRae]

I found this little fellow on my back doorstep this morning. Body about 1cm long.

350D, EF-S f/2.8 60mm macro, tripod, RC-1 set to 2 sec delay + MLU.

First image f11, 1/25, ISO 200. Shows detail of wings better.

Second image f11, 1/20, ISO 200. Shows head detail better.

Both shot in raw, converted by RSP and sharpened a bit with Focal Blade.

Is the sharpening overdone? I tend to do that as my eyes are a bit blurry

Regards,

Stuart

 

[Sean DeMerchant]

I
Is the sharpening overdone? I tend to do that as my eyes are a bit blurry

Hi Stuart,

They both appear a tad oversharpened to my tastes. Back it off just a tad. Even with brand new glasses or up close without glasses they appear sharper than life. But that can also be an artistic choice of going for the hyper-real look.

Pretty little beauty though. <smile> But I am rather fond of the beautiful little ones so I may be biased. At the end of the day, I would suggest doing prints and showing them to people. I far and away prefer that to online viewing as I can see and hear the emotions on the viewers face and in their voice which tells me far more than I can ever express with the written word.

I would also suggest exploring using diffused flash and handholding insect photos as it is way easier to get the shot. Especially with the faster moving little ones.

The bottom shot shows moderately clear light sharpening halos about the antennae of the beauty. Separating your sharpening into lightening and darkening layers and selectively masking out the light and dark halos can get a more realistic seeming hyper-sharpened look without showing artifacts. Albeit, at this resolution the halos could be JPEG artifacts too.

some thoughts,

Sean

 

[StuartRae]

Hi Sean,

Thanks for commenting.

They both appear a tad oversharpened to my tastes. Back it off just a tad. Even with brand new glasses.....

I've just put my glasses on, and yes, there are sharpening halos. Note to self - swallow pride and wear glasses.

I would also suggest exploring using diffused flash and handholding insect photos

It would certainly make getting into position for the shot easier, but I think I'd still struggle without IS, even at faster shutter speeds. It's OK for you young lads with steady hands

Regards,

Stuart

 

[Sean DeMerchant]

I've just put my glasses on, and yes, there are sharpening halos. Note to self - swallow pride and wear glasses.

I have worn them for decades (since I was 12) so I am actually at the point where if I had the laser surgery and it fixed everything perfectly I would still wear them as I am accustomed to always having something between my eyes and the world.

It would certainly make getting into position for the shot easier, but I think I'd still struggle without IS, even at faster shutter speeds. It's OK for you young lads with steady hands

When using pure flash (or bright sunlight as fill) you work at your x-sync speed (1/200 or 1/250 w/ Canon) and IS should not matter at that point.

I also use the the servo focus mode which at macro distances serves as IS for forwards and backwards shake. The only problem with this is that the subject is always dead center in the frame. But with modern DSLRs and a good sharp lens there is always room to crop. The whole usage of tripods and manual focus for macros of live subjects simply mystifies me as it means getting way less in focus shots of the subject. Tracking autofocus (AI-Servo on Canon) is way better at tracking a moving bee/wasp/damselfly/.. than manual focus will ever be. One Shot autofocus mode is still more precise than I can manually focus using the center autofocus point (it is a cross type sensor on all modern Canons) and can be useful for pre-focusing to catch insects in flight.

I should note I am a very modern shooter and favor controlling the light whenever I can over using a tripod. Truth be told, my tripod is currently configured with a lighting boom holding out a 12x18 inch (30x45 cm) softbox which I use in the field with a flash and a wireless flash trigger to control the light for fungi and such. I use a small 4x8 inch (10x20 cm) Lumiquest Velcro on softbox on a 550-EX mounted on the camera when stalking insects as it is fast, portable, and highly diffuse* for small creatures.

I also carry a small collapsible reflector that can provide fill light in daylight or flash-light if needed.

I should note that this technique is highly reliable and results in sharp, low noise images far more often than a tripod as the stalker gets more shots than the waiter. The usage of flash mixed with AI-Servo autofocus tends to negate hand shake in everything but bright sunlight on highly reflective surfaces (i.e., the chitin on a ladybug/ladybird).

enjoy your day,

Sean




* This is like using a 10x20 m softbox to photograph humans if the subject is a European Honeybee (Apis meliflura) to give a sense of scale.

 

[StuartRae]

Sean,

Thank you very much for the advice. I must admit I'd never thought of it in that way, and assumed that a tripod + MLU was the way to go. I'll have a go when I get back from my trip to the Lake District.

Regards,

Stuart

 

[Sean DeMerchant]

Thank you very much for the advice. I must admit I'd never thought of it in that way, and assumed that a tripod + MLU was the way to go. I'll have a go when I get back from my trip to the Lake District.

Hi Stuart,

You are welcome. The tripod + MLU is great for landscapes in low light, but then your subject is typically stationary. But exposures in available light that is not direct sun will often result in shutter speeds where motion blur is likely. But even at 1/200 the specular highlights on a ladybird's carapace will blur even when using flash (I have lots of examples somewhere in my archives, somewhere*).

have fun in the Lake District,

Sean


* I have taken over 30,000 shots with my current camera and that number does not include my prior cameras. Albeit, I delete nearly half of what I shoot for technical reasons (focus was off, noisy boke, disliked the composition once home, ...)

 

[kombizz kashani]

great shot of this cute bug belong to Hemiptera family.
By the way what MLU stands for?

 

[Sean DeMerchant]

By the way what MLU stands for?

MLU = Mirror LockUp

It moves the mirror in an SLR a couple seconds prior to exposure to reduce mirror movement induced vibrations. It can significantly reduce vibration in shots from roughly 1/10 to 1 second long with less effect outside that range.

enjoy your day,

Sean