A couple of Macro dashes to Roma St Parklands!

[Dennis]

Hello,

Last Sunday and this morning, Saturday, saw us make a couple of quick sorties down to Roma Street Parklands to see what the sunshine might have brought out. Generally, the insect population seemed somewhat less than expected; maybe the rains or the plethora of Eastern Water Dragons had something to do with this?

Here is our collection with the Canon 7D and Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro lens (non-L!).:P

Thanks for looking!

Dennis

[multiweb]

:eyepop: That 's really cool Dennis. Those close ups on the dragonfly are amazing. Lovely colors on the wasp shots too. Top work. :thumbsup:

[StephenM]

Another excellent collection Dennis. Really like #3 and #6!
I'll have to drag out my old Pentax for some more macros (or better still buy the Canon 100mm .....)

Cheers,
Stephen

[dpastern]

Wonderful set Dennis, very well done. Very sharp, nice colour 'pop' too! I especially like #3. Oh, and the jumper of course, what a beautiful female specimen.

Dave

[Octane]

#6 is so beautiful. Love it.

H

[troypiggo]

Lovely set, Dennis. Esp #6. Your diffuser is working well.

[Dennis]

Thanks guys!

I shoot in RAW and use the Topaz Lab plug-ins (http://www.topazlabs.com/)in CS5 to help with processing. I mainly use Topaz Adjust (Photo Pop) on its own Layer set to Normal/30% and Topaz Detail (Micro Contrast Enhancement) on its own Layer set to Luminosity/30% and I find that they help lift the image from the page.

My early impression of the 7D is that I am seem to be able to resolve more detail than the 40D; an 18Mp sensor vs. the 10Mp chip.

The dragonfly was very cooperative, remaining still for 3 to 4 minutes whilst I slowly moved around it to try different angles and sneak in closer. I’m very impressed with the capability of the Canon 580 EXII flash when set in E-TTL II mode – it seems to expose the subject perfectly each time. I occasionally manually dial in +1/3 stop if the subject is light and –1/3 stop for dark bodied insects.

With the fickle weather of late, it’s been a case of a quick “look out of the window” and if she’s fine, make a dash for the Parklands!:)

Cheers

Dennis

[leon]

Amazing photography Dennis, :eyepop: as H said no 6 is just spot on as are the others, but I think no 6 could do with a shave, :lol: :lol: sorry mate couldn't help myself.:P

Leon :thumbsup:

[lacad01]

Great set of macros Dennis, nice colour and detail. Topaz is a pretty neat tool to lift the detail out :thumbsup:

[astro_south]

Great collection Dennis - some really nice shots there :thumbsup:

[Sharnbrook]

Excellent Dennis!

[Dennis]

Hi Leon

:lol: Look who’s talking – I couldn’t help but chuckle when I looked at your avatar; sprouting a healthy looking full set yourself!;)

Cheers

Dennis

PS – apologies for the lousy weather you are experiencing in Brisbane – we should be able to do better than that for visiting guests!:sadeyes:

[Dennis]

Thanks Adam, Andrew & Mike – it’s nice to have a good set of tools to work with, they make all the difference when chasing the bug life.

I’m constantly humbled by the exquisite forms I see, both at the moment of capture and when their full beauty becomes visible upon uploading the contents of the CF card.

Cheers

Dennis

[bloodhound31]

WHOA! Dennis! That Topaz is amazing as are your shots! Did you do any focus stacking on those dragonfly images? What method did you use to steady your camera?

Awesome work mate!

Baz.

[Dennis]

Hi Baz

All these were hand held. I started off in macro photography using a tripod but soon found that it was too clumsy and time consuming to position correctly; usually, the insect had long since flown or I just couldn’t get into position because of foliage, etc.:sadeyes:

I then tried a monopod and found it useful for working in a small area at the same level, but once again, when the insect moved it became too unwieldy to raise/lower the monopod head and/or reposition the overall set up.

I now shoot mostly hand held but if I am working a shrub at a relatively constant height, I will use a monopod to steady my hand. However, I use the monopod more as a support stick rather than mount the camera on a ball head on the monopod. Basically, I just grip the monopod in my left hand whilst simultaneously holding the macro rig in the same hand and by loosening my grip, slide the rig up and down the monopod length. This has proven to be quite an effective technique. I first saw Mike Ford on a BIMBO outing using a simple pole to do the same thing, although I prefer the monopod because I can telescope it down to a small, stowed size rather than carry a 6 ft pole with me!:)

None of the shots were stacked. The dragonfly remained stationary for 3-4 minutes so I had the time to change my position to get a reasonable depth of field.:)

Cheers

Dennis

[bloodhound31]

Thanks Dennis. Again, top work mate!

Baz.