yesterday's bugs part 3 - the flying things

[Sushigaijin]

Here's a couple of flying things from yesterday. I apologise for the numerous posts, but i didn't want to bog anyones AOL down

this is a colorful moth, hence the filename, colorfulmoth.jpg.



and a butterfly of some sort, which wouldn't allow me to get its profile. To be my own critic, the light was very bright and the white flower blew out regardless of how fast my shutter or how tight my diaphram was - I was just lucky to get any detail left at either end of the histogram when all was said and done.



and the best images of yesterday, a very photogenic dragonfly.




not only did it sit still, but it was HUGE..



would this crop be better if it were centered, of if i didn't shave part of his head off? The full frame image is similar to the first image posted, just a little closer, so I can pretty much frame it however i want.

Erik.

[Knight]

Totaly awsome captures ,now give me details please Lens the whole 5 yards etc etc

[scott-devon]

The dragonfly is incredible. And yes..please do give info on lens etc..

[Loupey]

Good shooting, Erik! You should have posted the 3rd one by itself because it is stealing the show

Seriously, that one is gallery quality. You should see how large you can print this one. You got the DOF and angle right on - from the eyes, across its back, and through the wings - very nice execution The lighting is very diffuse and gives it a nice atmosphere.

[Sushigaijin]

thanks guys :-)

I know i can get good 8x10s from these, I don't think it would be any problem to go a little larger and still get a nice looking image.

The lens I alluded to earlier is the sony close-up lens VCL M3358, which is a 3.3 diopter model, comperable to the canon 250d and 500d. It works as reading glasses do, so it allows me to focus my 432mm equivelent lens at about 10 inches from the subject, as opposed to the native 3 feet. It also knocks DoF down to millimeters, focusing can be tricky. I often find myself using the highest stops and stepping back to the 250-350mm zoom range to get enough DoF to take the photo, even then I often miss that back leg Fill flash has been a lifesaver, in many cases it is the only thing that lets me get shutter speeds higher than 1/100. It's pretty tough shooting moving objects at 432mm at 1/100!

I'm sure that some of those compact 200 and 300mm zooms out there would make steller macro lenses with one of these cheap (under $100) close up lenses screwed onto the front. I know that years ago adding more glass between the shutter and the subject was a sticking point, but as you can see the quality of these today has greatly improved.

There is almost no benefit to using one with a wide-angle setup, the greatest effect is seen on the longest lenses. I've been eyeing a 1.7 TC, which would bring my lens out to ~700mm f/3.7...

Erik.

[Alison]

Now these are the sorts of shots I wanna be able to take! Congratulations on your featured photo!

[Loupey]

Yes, good shooting. The featured photo is something I expect to see as a poster in a biology class or hanging in a park office wall.

[Sushigaijin]

Wow how exciting!!! I'm really more thrilled than i probably should be!!

just in time for me to go out of town though, I am headed down to La Rue pine hills (snake road), in southern Illinois, to watch the snake migrations...with any luck my 4 GB of storage will come in handy....

Erik.

[EMMAh]

Those are all really great. Congrats

[SmartWombat]

For a P&S camera I'm astonished a the quality.
The 12x zoom is pretty much the same as my wife's Panasonic FZ25 but the images look far sharper.
That H5 and it's 2.5d close focus lens must be far easier to carry than my 1D, 70-200 and tubes.
Just goes to show - it's not the cost of the equipment that matters, eh Bev?