sigma 50mm macro at f22 with on camera flash..

http://www.cavecom.com/pics/fly-2.jpg

trog

Nice clear photo. The fly looks like something from a sci-fi movie. I like his stunner shades.

Jim B.

Quite a strong title! Good capture and I like the detail, The background is interesting but the colour detrachs slightly from the subject, particularly around the eyes but overall I think I works.

yes its just a picture of a fly on a brick wall.. the only thing that makes a macro like that vaguely interesting is the size and detail captured.. of course shrunk down for web posting both size and detail are lost..

this one probably looks better shrunk down.. it has better pose and background but full size lacks the detail..

http://www.cavecom.com/pics/fly.jpg

i know everything is relative and one gets used to what one gets used to.. but sadly my normal large screen viewing habits seem to be affecting my appreciation of an image too much..

i keep telling myself that a good image is still a good image whatever size it is.. but somehow size does seem to matter which is why i dont print much or crop.. its just not practical trying to reproduce on paper something similar to what i see on my twenty inch widescreen monitor..

trog

Are you using builtin flash or hotshoe?

Get a hotshoe and get it off the camera to one side and get a diffusor.

Something like this: http://www.pbase.com/jody_melanson/my_macro_setup

I've been playing with stacked lenses and the magnification is awesome with my 75-300 zoom with a 50mm stacked on it. Image quality is terrible tho and DOF is millimeters.

I only have the lens taped to the front, I need to get a male to male threaded coupler to mate the two lenses. That might improve image quality and reduce the extreme CA I get.

Tim

yes its just a picture of a fly on a brick wall.. the only thing that makes a macro like that vaguely interesting is the size and detail captured.. of course shrunk down for web posting both size and detail are lost..


I disagree. Going closer/bigger is not always a good thing. There are tons of images out there in which a subject is way too large and for no apparent reason other than to say "look how big I can make it".

To me, I think the most important aspect of macro photography is to maintain the context - i.e. keeping the subject within and relating to its environment. This is even more important than simply the size of the subject. You have demonstrated that you have the technical expertise and knowledge to get a technical picture (which is great for textbooks) if that is your intent. It's like comparing a mug shot to a portraiture. They both have their uses - but they are not interchangeable.

I do applaud your efforts. I understand the technical difficulties involved. However, natural subjects tend to need to appear behaving naturally within a natural looking environment :)