when you take macro shots of these bugs, flowers and whatnot on here do you use tripods? i thought that some might but how do you get so close to the bugs with the tripod attached without disturbing them? must take practice and/or a lot of patience for that bug to land near you for a shot, lol.

flowers i usually use a tripod since they don't get up and fly away when i get too close ....

bugs i usually handhold - up the iso if needed for a faster shutter speed - depends on the bug - where it is - then just slowly creep up on them

Excellent question, slayer.

I used to use a tripod - period. Literally as soon as I stepped out of the car, the camera would be mounted and wouldn't come off until a got back.

Now with IS capable lenses, I NEVER use a tripod. So I guess the answer would depend on which lens I plan to use. But the fact that I don't even have a tripod in the car would explain why I don't use my 180mm macro.

You're right though about the limitations of using tripods - very difficult when chasing after animated subjects. Just when you have everything set up, the bugger flies off or the breeze moves it away. Plus, I feel that the advantages of a tripod are often negated when shooting small macros in real life (with wind and such).

The IS has revolutionized the way I shoot. I'm hanging over railings, standing on railings, laying sideways - impossible positions for using tripods (even monopods). I think my images are much more dynamic than they ever were as a result of it.

thanks guys. i guess it just depends on the situations and preference. what is a IS lens? cant say ive heard of them before

IS - image stabilization - canon term / nikon has VR (vibration reduction)

The lens compensates for movement during taking a picture - (camera shake) can get about 3 stops slower with one of these lenses - sony has IS built into their bodies / nikon and canon it is in the lens

ohh ok, thanks! thought the term looked familiar, just couldnt recall it.

My sony is blessed with IS - I have a tripod for long exposure shots and group portraits but It mostly just stays in the car. I shoot most of my macros in all kinds of crazy positions too, bracing against whatever I can. Having live preview and a live histogram are two things that put P&S cameras above (most) DSLRs for macros - I can hold it out at arm's length and still be able to see composition and exposure information, and change it on the fly (pun intended). Plus, I can sneak it in closer than I might be able to get a DSLR, since my body can be an extra few feet from the subject. Very nice when shooting timid animals or venomous snakes.

I don't what kind of camera you shoot with, but many of the advanced compact point and shoots have built in IS.

I have to retract my statement regarding the use of the word NEVER - I did use a tripod a few weeks ago when I shot cherry tomatos going on our deck. Yes, I did say tomatos :p Before I get scolded, it was a shot meant for the kitchen :D

But the experience did confirm what Canon_Bob stated in one of his earlier threads. When stopping down a lens to around f/22, every little dust on the imaging sensor shows up.

I use a tripod whenever it is practical to do so. Most of my macro work IS with a tripod, but I rarely open the legs. I usually use my tripod in "monopod" mode when creeping up on a critter. I usually start at a distance, and then work my way in (shooting a few frames at each increment) until the critter either runs off or flies away. I may start back 8-10 feet, and then creep to within 6 inches in one step increments. Yes, it means I delete a lot of images....but I also usually wind up with the best possible shot of the critter. Always remember that the closer you get, the smaller the DOF. So I usually make f/stop and ISO adjustments with each step to preserve the necessary DOF for the shot, and speed to prevent motion blur. Macro is definitely a challenging genre, and takes some getting used to. Take a look at the "Night Lizard" thread I posted yesterday. That was shot at f/22 and 1/250 (ISO 200) in all manual mode with twin macro flash.

Hope that helps.

Bob

Hey, look! Not a great image but a milestone photo - my first in-field image shot with a tripod in probably 2+ years :p

I bought a new tripod head about a week ago in hopes that I can fall in love again with the tripod. So now I've got a quick grip head with a quick release mount on a quick adjusting Benbo legs. I figure I need the fastest possible rig for my guerrilla-style of shooting (I like to think of it as "paparazzi for nature")

Anyway, shot 1/20s at f/11 at ISO 200 with 433EX flash with 180mm macro. Mirror locked up, remote cable release. The wind was virtually non-existent but still a factor.

I'll have you know that a pair of dancing moths came within shooting distance so I closed the legs of the tripod and tried shooting them while holding the tripod in the air (no time to fiddle with the quick release plate). Not a pretty sight!

*Sigh* this is going to take some getting used to again :)

One of the techniques I use in trying to capture fast moving butterflies, hummingbirds and such is to put my camera on a tripod and pre-compose and pre-focus on an especially nice looking flower and wait for them to come to it. This does take patience to do, but the results are almost always worth it.