Extreme Macro -the Art of Patience eBook

Extreme Macro -the Art of Patience is now available as an eBook. You can also order it via iTunes

Featured in Holy Crop!

When Rikk Flohr first contacted my via a private message at Deviant Art to let me know that he was featuring my blog I had mixed reservations. But after reading a few posts at Holy Crop! I realized that Rikk was basically saying what I have (that you need to get it right with the camera) and he's not a priest in the church of "fix it in post". Go on over and give it his blog a read!

Published by AMC Outdoors

Tuscany series 1-1
Originally uploaded by Dalantech.

This image of a Cuckoo Bee was published by AMC Outdoors. It was a pleasure to work with their staff -very professional!

Post Moderation Part Two

The latest technique that the spammers are using is to send a compliment with a link to a web site embedded in it, like this one:

"Always so interesting to visit your site. What a great info, thank you for sharing. this will help me so much in my learning.
security equipment"

Of course "security equipment" is a hyperlink to the site the spammer is trying to advertise.

*sigh*

You have my word that if you comment on a post, even if it's extremely negative, I'll approve it for publication as long as it's not spam. My intent is not to filter out any potential negativity -I learn from all of your comments. I just don't like having to go through all the comments to delete the spam.

Learn to Lie

Hungry Moth at 5x
Originally uploaded by Dalantech.

If you're a pretty good photographer then you're also a pretty good liar. You might not know it, or want to admit it, but it's true. By taking a photo you're taking the subject out of context and presenting it in a way that you didn't see it with your naked eye. Take the moth included with this post: I saw a water bottle with a blue label on it in the background, but you see what might look like a blue sky.

The trick to pulling off that lie was in knowing that I didn't want the background to be black, if it were then the scene might seem out of place even though most moths are nocturnal. So I deliberately placed the water bottle behind the critter to give the flash something to reflect off of. It had natural spring water in it, if that makes you feel better ;)

Once you realize that photography is a lie then you can start pushing the envelope to create "realistic" scenes. Like using a second flash to illuminate a vinyl table cloth that has a floral print on it. Is it "natural"? No, but it looks natural and that's all the matters.



Now some of you might shoot only using natural light because it looks more realistic -closer to the way that you actually viewed the scene. But how many of you used a reflector to get more of that sunlight into the subject?

Liars... :)

Macro by definition is not a natural form of photography -no one sees the world with the level of detail that we macro photographers can capture. So there's no need to constrain yourself since no matter what you do the final image really isn't natural anyway. The better you get at lying the easier it is to trick the viewer into thinking that the scene is normal, that nothing is out of place. They'll spend more time appreciating the image as a whole instead of picking it apart because it doesn't look right.

So learn to lie...

Habits and Quirks

Cleaning Up I
Originally uploaded by Dalantech.

It feels like spring here in southern Italy so I decided to get out and test a new diffuser that I've been working on (more on the diffuser in a future post). It was warm with plenty of sun so the critters where hyper active, and yet I managed a few shots of this Banded Eye Drone not because I'm special, or have some unique power over wild creatures.

I got close cause the Drone was busy.

Insects just don't seem to have a whole lot of "processing power" -if they are engaged in just about any activity then they aren't expending too many brain cells on predator, or photographer, avoidance. So the key to getting close to them is learning their habits and quirks.

Here's the exact same insect a few minutes later. It had taken off so I set my lens to 2x and the camera to ISO 400 (to get some detail in the background) and waited. Less than a minute later the Drone landed in the exact some spot it had been before and started cleaning itself again. Most insects move in predictable patterns that you can take advantage of...



The more you learn about the critters that you want to photograph the easier it is to get the images you want. Happy shooting folks :)

What Focal Length for Shooting Macro and Closeups

Gustavo Mazzarollo (a fellow macro shooter with some mad skills) recently asked me how I would rate Canon's 300mm F4 L and how it compares to the 180mm macro. At first I wasn't going to do a blog post on it -I'm not all that and a bag of chips, and there are other sites out there that review lenses much better than I could. But I realized that I could answer Gustavo's question in a way that other sites might not. You see I spent a lot of money on Canon's 180mm macro only to realize that I couldn't really use it for any of the images that I wanted to take, and if I can save you from making the same mistake that I did then it's worth writing about.

Before I start a post where it seems like I'm bashing the 180mm macro let me start out by saying that it's an awesome lens from a technical point of view -great color, contrast, and plenty sharp. So no angry letters please :) But it does have some "limitations" that you need to be aware of...

All too often I hear people say that for bug photography you need a lot of working distance to keep from scaring the critters, and so a long focal length lens is a good choice. More experienced macro shooters either know how to get close to skittish subjects, or they know when to go looking for them when they are not so active (late evening / early morning) so working distance is a non issue. You can, with practice, get close to just about anything.

Canon 65mm F2.8 macro lens at almost 4x. Single frame (I don't focus stack).



For flash photography the increased working distance of a long lens works against you. Due to the Apparent Light Size Principle it's easier to get good diffusion the closer your diffuser is to the subject. But if you get your flash out past the end of the lens then you've just lost the gain in working distance that comes with long glass. I took most of my macro shots with the 180 L using either natural light, or a mix of natural light and flash.



For shooting closeups the 180 L just doesn't have the "reach" of a long prime like the 300mm L, and hard to reach subjects were impossible to shoot at the magnifications that I wanted to shoot them at. Also keep in mind that, shooting the same scene, the bokeh with the 300mm L (or any long focal length prime) is going to be better than the bokeh of the 180mm L because there is more distance between the lens and the subject with longer glass (so more distance between the lens and the background as well).

180mm F3.5 L



300mm F4 L (taken in the middle of the day so the light is pretty harsh)



I know this is gonna sound kinda of odd coming from a macro shooter, but I just can't recommend a long focal length macro lens. They don't work well for macro unless you want to use natural light and a tripod, and they just don't have the reach and bokeh of a long focal length prime. I currently carry a Canon MPE-65mm macro lens and the 300mm F4 L and those two cover all of the macro and closeup shooting that I do.