# General > Member's Lounge > Photography >  photos from Macro outing

## Simon

Thank you guys for the support, due to the monsoon season there isn't much subject available. If you guys are keen again, I shall organise another with a better array of subjects, or you guys can join me in a butterfly trek/hunt at macritchie














and I even got a chance to add another species to my collection  :Smile:  #208

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## jwuog

Simon, your images are beautiful! I will post my little pic of sleeping squirrel when I get down to it.

And thanks for organizing this, it's great to finally be able to put some faces to nicknames.

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## trident

Simon, jwuog, Justin,
Nice to meet all you guys. Those were great shots.
Can't wait to get my hands on a DSLR and learn to shoot like that!
Nice spider, now wait for Luenny to post it.

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## genes

All the shots are so cool!!! I love the ant shot! The bronze shine makes the ant looks like it has a coat of fur!

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## Simon

thanks to those kind words, honestly the photo turned out only an ok to me, perhap laying off from photography got me really rusty

hope to see more pix

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## juggler

Exellent pics, Simon!
The spider has beautiful markings. Is it harmful?

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## Simon

KF

my reference didn't mention about the venom of the spider, perhaps they are harmless to humans. Also found out how to differentiate the st andrew's spider, is by looking at their web construction. the female will have an outstanding X stitch while the male has none

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## wasabi8888

wa lau. damn swee....

Damn regret not going today.. can we organize anyone soon? need to learn from the experts here. got lens but dont know how to shoot properly.

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## Simon

Jeff

soon? now rainy season. My kind of macro is different from fish photography :P

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## wasabi8888

> Jeff
> 
> soon? now rainy season. My kind of macro is different from fish photography :P


Actually Simon, my interest in photography did not stemmed from fishes.. basically I do not take much of fishes. I like insects and flowers much more

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## luenny

Wow! Those are very nice shots Simon. Like that butterfly and the grasshopper one a lot. My grasshopper shots are always on green leave so the subject doesn't stand out. Yours is on nice orange/yellow flower. Cool! Oh sure, call me when you're going macritchie, you've got my number and I still have a lot to learn.




> Simon, jwuog, Justin,
> Nice to meet all you guys. Those were great shots.
> Can't wait to get my hands on a DSLR and learn to shoot like that!
> Nice spider, now wait for Luenny to post it.


Richard,
Now you're giving me a lot of stress. I have not even look at the photos yet. I went back, change the water for my 5 tanks and scrub the tanks as well. Then go out with the family. Wah, still have not look at it on the PC yet.  :Knockout:

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## wynx

> thanks to those kind words, honestly the photo turned out only an ok to me, perhap laying off from photography got me really rusty
> 
> hope to see more pix


Rusty? I beg to differ...you still have that 'touch'.

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## Simon

begging denied  :Smile:

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## wynx

> begging denied


Oops...I forgot I still can't kneel. But seriously, in terms of a good photo, yours are still excellent.. :Grin:  :Grin:

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## ranmasatome

Simon... if we bash.. sure got insects one... just that some may not like bashing..haha..
maybe next saturday i go bash at ammo dump again..so long never been there liao.. see what i can find..haha..

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## luenny

Agree with Wynx. If your photos are not good, then I think I'll just hide mine under my bed and not show anybody.  :Grin: 

Darn! Next week I'll be in Penang. If not can go bash with you guys.

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## Goondoo

> Agree with Wynx. If your photos are not good, then I think I'll just hide mine under my bed and not show anybody. 
> 
> Darn! Next week I'll be in Penang. If not can go bash with you guys.


I believe if you buy tickets for everyone, they won't mind joining you in Penang! :Opps:

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## luenny

Hahaha ... tickets already bought. Anyway, going back home to see some friends and family. Hopefully will have time to go shooting - instead of eating all the time.

Ok, manage to look at the photos during lunch and manage to share these 3 first - I really need longer lunch time.  :Laughing: 

St Andrew's cross spider - thanks to Simon for pointing it out to me.



For this one, I try to take both spiders in 1 shot but cannot get my tripod to reach and the place is pretty high up too so I'll have to settle for this. Hope you don't mind.



This one I try to show the web - which is not so successful. I think it'll be better if there are some mists on the web.



I think I should start using the tripod more. Getting too lazy already.

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## luenny

Wah, I just realize that Simon's shots are either ISO 400 or 800. I must say the noise control is very nice. Mine are all ISO 100. The noise level on the D200 is horrible.  :Sad:

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## Simon

Luenny

you shot at ISO 100? care to share the settings on the photos? Apologise if I sound harsh, but I find the lighting too harsh on the subject and a black background. I'm also assuming it is due to low ISO and fast shutterspeed.

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## Goondoo

> Luenny
> 
> you shot at ISO 100? care to share the settings on the photos? Apologise if I sound harsh, but I find the lighting too harsh on the subject and a black background. I'm also assuming it is due to low ISO and fast shutterspeed.


From the pictures, it looks like you are using the built-in flash?

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## Simon

external flash, control by commander mode on his camera

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## Goondoo

> external flash, control by commander mode on his camera


Oh... I asked because it looks especially bright only in the middle. Probably due to higher shuttle speed then...

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## luenny

> Luenny
> 
> you shot at ISO 100? care to share the settings on the photos? Apologise if I sound harsh, but I find the lighting too harsh on the subject and a black background. I'm also assuming it is due to low ISO and fast shutterspeed.


Yeah, I think it's because low ISO and fast shutter that causes it to have black background. Come to think of it I totally forgotten about the ISO until I saw your post. Hahaha!! Inexperience photographer!  :Embarassed:   :Razz: 

Ok, next time I try using tripod with lower shutter or higher ISO with to get the background brighter. Hack, looking at the shots that I have, I think I better go shoot again. *Sigh!*

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## luenny

> Oh... I asked because it looks especially bright only in the middle. Probably due to higher shuttle speed then...


If you're talking about the last photo, it's especially bright in the middle because:

i) The sides are nothing except web that doesn't relect light so much.
ii) The flash is pointing at that direction - I didn't diffuse the flash, forgot again! 

I guess if I diffuse the flash, the web will show more?

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## Simon

if you using tripod then you can use a low ISO with slower shutterspeed to achieve a balance exposure. For me, using a monopod allow me to shoot at a slower shutterspeed, therefore I have also compensate it with a high ISO. I believe ISO 800 for both system is acceptable

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## mervin

Apologises to Richard and Simon for not turning up.

Had a last min trip leave for Christchurch, NZ.  :Crying:

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## luenny

Ok, manage to squeeze out one more before I leave. This one got harsh lighting but intended. Too bad the background is not dark.

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## mervin

Simon, u must shoot more often leh.
Pixs are ok but not great as before. :Roll Eyes: 

1 - a little over for the whites.

2 - too tight crop.

3 - ant a little soft.

4 - good.

5 - crop seems a a little off, wings and tail chopped.

6 - slightly soft.

7 -ok

no offence meant hor..... :Kiss:

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## Simon

haha, none taken  :Smile: 

I also know the pix not up to par. bring me go birding one day? :P

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## trident

mervin,
no problem, job always come first.
see you soon.

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## ranmasatome

Tell me about not shooting!!! In the morning..i Almost forgot battery... then forgot CF card.. then if you guys complain shooting at ISO 400-800 is hard.. try 50. 
G6 cannot shoot anything in macro above iso100 because the noise is HORRIBLE!! And i shot at 200...which kinda sucks!! totally forgot everything i learnt while i was working and shooting insects daily with PNS. Haiz.... thats why i must go shoot shoot shoot again.
When go shoot bird huh?? maybe i'll come along.. you both shoot bird..i shoot insects again.. :Grin: 

Simon.. you using 2nd curtain flash?

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## Simon

justin

no, without a tripod, rear curtain sync very difficult to use

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## luenny

> Simon, u must shoot more often leh.
> Pixs are ok but not great as before.
> 
> 1 - a little over for the whites.
> 
> 2 - too tight crop.
> 
> 3 - ant a little soft.
> 
> ...


Actually for 5, I think tail chopped is ok but the wings must be in. Because I feel that it is currently neither in nor out. From the composition, I can clearly see that you intend to chop of the tail, so it is expected cause you can to close up on the eye part. But not so clear whether you want to show the wings or not. I've got a lot of shots like this too. A lot of time when I'm viewing on the PC, I realise this one looks very good but part of the insect is chopped off. 

In the film days, I would spend minutes at a time composing and thinking how to shoot before pressing the shutter - flim processing are expensive. Now with digital and more than 10 years off photography, *sigh!* I'm down right rusty. Funny thing is, I never used flash for macro last time when I'm shooting flim. Darn! Must pick up the skills again.

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## Simon

for photo like no. 5, it varies between individuals, some like it because of the details while others prefer the entire subject. With the introduction of DSLR, it makes it easier and economical without having the hesitate before a shot. I have many similar composition with butterflies, let me go dig up some

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## Simon

some close ups













photography should be fun, don't limit your creativity or your preference because someone thinks otherwise.  :Razz:

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## ranmasatome

> justin
> 
> no, without a tripod, rear curtain sync very difficult to use


Simon... i thought you "hou geng" (cantonese and i dont know how to translate this to english) ma...so can use monopod..haha.. :Grin:

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## Simon

99&#37; of my shots never go lower than 1/100s using the 180mm because of handshakes

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## luenny

Wow, those are some nice shots. Pic 2 especially because of the small bug on the butterfly. These shots are wonderful. You should organize more trips and teach me how to take these.

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## Simon

if you take another look, you can find another bug in the same pix :P

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## luenny

Oh yeah, you're right. There's one small one at the leg of the butterfly. 3 bugs in 1 shot. Execellent!

Ok, I know my shots are lousy, but what do you guys think of this? I kinda like the composition but the ants could be sharper.

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## Simon

first off, the background is abit too dark for my liking and also the leaf behind distract the attention. Will be nice if the background has a smooth pastal color

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## kuching

Simon, nice macro shots! And images are super sharp! :Smile:

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## mervin

> Jeff
> 
> soon? now rainy season. My kind of macro is different from fish photography :P


hahahaha !
did u introduced them your _special powder_ ???? :Angel: 
or did u just pee ?  :Laughing:

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## mervin

> Actually for 5, I think tail chopped is ok .



chops are ok however in No5. the cropped was rather awkward cos the head is in the centre but its too small to catch any attention.

In Simons later pixs, the crop was much better in terms of composition as the eyes or heads were much bigger to dominate the whole pix.

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## Simon

birders are extremely fussy  :Grin:

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## luenny

> first off, the background is abit too dark for my liking and also the leaf behind distract the attention. Will be nice if the background has a smooth pastal color


Actually I think if the background is not dark, the whole leaf and ants won't stand out that much. But I do agree that the leaf behind is a bit distracting. Must remember to look at the background more next time.

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## luenny

> chops are ok however in No5. the cropped was rather awkward cos the head is in the centre but its too small to catch any attention.
> 
> In Simons later pixs, the crop was much better in terms of composition as the eyes or heads were much bigger to dominate the whole pix.


I agree with Mervin on this one. Plus the fact that you only clip off a small part of the wing, which could well be in the photo if you shift the subject up a bit. Kind of gives the feeling that it's done accidentally. No offense hor.

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## trident

Simon,
I really liked your close-ups shots. Personally I liked to shoot close-up shots too, see the detail of the face.
Got this photo taken at the recent discus competition.
Fuji S6500fd f5, 1/60, ISO200. On board flash

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## wynx

> hahahaha !
> did u introduced them your _special powder_ ????
> or did u just pee ?


Special Powder? You mean the belachan powder? Works damm well for certain butts...as far as my memory serve me.

Ya, peeing works too...  :Jump for joy:

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## luenny

Richard,
Nice shot. Too bad the bottom of the tank actually cut of the fish - cannot see the body shape.

Anyway, just for fun, I took this photo in the same trip. Saw this when I was trying to focus on the subject and decided to take one out of focus one instead.  :Grin:

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## wasabi8888

> Thank you guys for the support, due to the monsoon season there isn't much subject available. If you guys are keen again, I shall organise another with a better array of subjects, or you guys can join me in a butterfly trek/hunt at macritchie
> 
> 
> 
> and I even got a chance to add another species to my collection  #208


Hi Simon

I am trying to learn how to do borders like yours. Do you increase the canvas size and add text?

Also, is it possible to batch all the pics with borders? rather than individual pic (provided all the info is the same)

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## Simon

Jeffrey

like I told KF and Richard, the border and the data are extracted using a script. I still go through each and every photo for post processing before running the script. However, I have wrote the code such that information like location, species are keyed in manually. but if you have a common information, all you need to do is add it in. Size of border, text and font can be change. As for batch processing, yes it can be done. Just add the action in the batch options

drop me an email with yr email and I can email you guys the script

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## wasabi8888

> Jeffrey
> 
> like I told KF and Richard, the border and the data are extracted using a script. I still go through each and every photo for post processing before running the script. However, I have wrote the code such that information like location, species are keyed in manually. but if you have a common information, all you need to do is add it in. Size of border, text and font can be change. As for batch processing, yes it can be done. Just add the action in the batch options
> 
> drop me an email with yr email and I can email you guys the script


HI Simon

Sorry for noting what you told KF and Richard, I have sent you an email. I forgot to put my name at the bottom. My email is [email protected]

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## luenny

> HI Simon
> 
> Sorry for noting what you told KF and Richard, I have sent you an email. I forgot to put my name at the bottom. My email is [email protected]


Hey Simon,
Email me also. My email is [email protected]

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