Taken in my garden in France a beautiful rather dainty species
1D Mark III,180 macro,ISO 400,f16,1/100,-1/3, Tripod
Posted by Paul Hillion on September 5, 2007 at 5:39 AM
Hey there Jacqui, how you liking your new 1D3?
Lovely looking Damselfly although looks a little oof on my screen, and cropped a little too tightly for my tastes. If there was some slight movement due to wind it might have been worth trying to up the ISO a wee bit to get a bit more shutter speed if you really wanted to use f16? Or maybe invest in a McClamp, very useful to have in your kitbag.
Love how the damselfly's colouring is so similar to that of the perch he's resting on and I like the totally diffused backdrop too.
Just a little too large in the frame for me, the space on the right and bottom is fine but ideally would prefer to see a bit more room on the top and left of the frame.
Looks as though a little more sharpening would benefit this one, although I find it hard to judge if it's a lack of USM or slight subject movement.
It may have been worth dropping your aperture down to f5.6 or f8 which would have given you a little extra shutter speed, or if that wasn't necessary, then a lower iso setting would have been another option, looks like you would then have needed to try and move your camera/lens a millimeter or two around to your right to ensure both ends of the damselfly are within the depth of field range. Easier said than done sometimes though
Posted by Andy Astbury on September 5, 2007 at 8:11 AM
Hi Jaqui - ditto nits above.
You could try clamping as Paul sugested - but you'll probably end up scaring the Damsel away - I've stopped trying
I can see where your thoughts were taking you with regard to f16 but your usable DoF at macro distance is only a couple of millimeters or so even at f16.
Personally I'd have shot this from slighly further away - you are on a 10mb camera so a 20% crop will still yield a highly marketable 8mb immage - and increasing distance a bit would improve you DoF.
I don't know to what level the 1DIII is defraction limited but f16 has got to be getting there, so be careful as too much f number can make your picture soft
A Justin suggests, a slight move round to the right would have helped bring the subject parallel to the sensor - helping your DoF even more.
And if you take a look at Jeroens' Bush Cricket image at 800iso you'll see where you could have stolen a bit more shutter speed - you've just spent a bundle of cash on the best high iso body available so don't be worried about using those high iso numbers.
The image looks evenly soft overall which makes me wonder if perhaps you've picked up some mirror vibration - a higher shutter speed would have helped avoid it if you have, and investing in a remote release and using mirror-up (does the DIII have that - it must have) would kill it altogether.
Lots to think about there Jaqui, but it's well worth developing a good macro technique as there's whole other world of macro out there
Posted by Helge Sorensen on September 5, 2007 at 8:28 AM
Hi Jacqui, a nice presentation. I do however agree with the former comments, in particular I also think a bit smaller in frame would benefit it.
thanks very much for the feedback and tips I will try out the tips in time its such a shame that I cant go back and have another go ;-) but thats just the Nature! of the game I suppose
Is this one any better taken at the same time as the first one?
Jacqui
Posted by Andy Astbury on September 5, 2007 at 10:46 AM
Hi Jaqui - now you've certainly got the DoF on this one
Two things though - it looks a tiny bit over sharpened, and the comp is a bit 'wrong' - was the damsel actually 'perched' in this attitude?
I suppose it's head isn't all that low but they are usually perched 'head uphill' - might look better in portrait format showing a bit more of that sumptuous BG
Posted by Dave Courtenay on September 5, 2007 at 10:47 AM
Hi Jacqui
The 2nd image is a big improvement over the first both in sharpness and composition
Dave
Posted by John Chapman on September 5, 2007 at 11:43 AM
Hi Jacqui yes the second one is a lot better
John
Aberdeen
Andy No the the damselfly was not perched like that I cropped it to that position, but I have been out in the garden today and saw him again and took plenty of pictures I havent looked through them yet but fingers crossed at least 1 might be worth saving
The second image is a lot better, as regards critical sharpness, your first I don't think was helped by the crop.
Regards the second image, I don't have too much of a problem with the orientation of the damsel, as Andy points out they will more often perch head up, but not all the time....and the way the light is falling here it looks correct.
I do feel that critical sharpness is still not quite there, it looks better in the secondimage becauase it is smaller, might I ask how you are achieving focus? mighty as the 1D3 may be it is always better to use MF on close up subjects, also look at you shutter speed, 1/100th may sound fast but it isn't, plus it is in the famous mirror slap region, MLU + a remote are essential here.
Going on.... what a super looking little damselfly, almost looks like a teneral stage and like your second image
Thank you for your comments and advice it is greatly appreciated,
At the moment I have been using AF but tomorrow (weather permitting)! I will try MF I have only had my camera a couple of weeks, before that I had a 400D which when I used it for Macro work I always used a remote, however the connection on the new camera is different so I need to buy a new one, which I hope to be doing next week back in the UK
I was lucky enough (just call me eagle eye) to spot the little beautie again this afternoon which to be honest was purely by chance as I had been lookig for him and had given up hope, but on the way back indoors I just saw him!!
Here is a photograph taken with AF and at f8 shutter speed was 1/400
Your third post is IMO the best... certainly make sure you pick up that remote and practice your mf tech, it should be a lot easier with the better viewfinder of the 1D3.
Posted by Marko Trebušak on September 6, 2007 at 1:03 AM
Jacqui, its nice sequence of photos leading to grand finale. Your last photo is just right. I like the angle of light that bring out the tiny hair on its head.
Discussion
15 replies1D Mark III,180 macro,ISO 400,f16,1/100,-1/3, Tripod
Lovely looking Damselfly although looks a little oof on my screen, and cropped a little too tightly for my tastes. If there was some slight movement due to wind it might have been worth trying to up the ISO a wee bit to get a bit more shutter speed if you really wanted to use f16? Or maybe invest in a McClamp, very useful to have in your kitbag.
Best wishes
Paul
Just a little too large in the frame for me, the space on the right and bottom is fine but ideally would prefer to see a bit more room on the top and left of the frame.
Looks as though a little more sharpening would benefit this one, although I find it hard to judge if it's a lack of USM or slight subject movement.
It may have been worth dropping your aperture down to f5.6 or f8 which would have given you a little extra shutter speed, or if that wasn't necessary, then a lower iso setting would have been another option, looks like you would then have needed to try and move your camera/lens a millimeter or two around to your right to ensure both ends of the damselfly are within the depth of field range. Easier said than done sometimes though
You could try clamping as Paul sugested - but you'll probably end up scaring the Damsel away - I've stopped trying
I can see where your thoughts were taking you with regard to f16 but your usable DoF at macro distance is only a couple of millimeters or so even at f16.
Personally I'd have shot this from slighly further away - you are on a 10mb camera so a 20% crop will still yield a highly marketable 8mb immage - and increasing distance a bit would improve you DoF.
I don't know to what level the 1DIII is defraction limited but f16 has got to be getting there, so be careful as too much f number can make your picture soft
A Justin suggests, a slight move round to the right would have helped bring the subject parallel to the sensor - helping your DoF even more.
And if you take a look at Jeroens' Bush Cricket image at 800iso you'll see where you could have stolen a bit more shutter speed - you've just spent a bundle of cash on the best high iso body available so don't be worried about using those high iso numbers.
The image looks evenly soft overall which makes me wonder if perhaps you've picked up some mirror vibration - a higher shutter speed would have helped avoid it if you have, and investing in a remote release and using mirror-up (does the DIII have that - it must have) would kill it altogether.
Lots to think about there Jaqui, but it's well worth developing a good macro technique as there's whole other world of macro out there
thanks very much for the feedback and tips I will try out the tips in time its such a shame that I cant go back and have another go ;-) but thats just the Nature! of the game I suppose
Is this one any better taken at the same time as the first one?
Jacqui
Two things though - it looks a tiny bit over sharpened, and the comp is a bit 'wrong' - was the damsel actually 'perched' in this attitude?
I suppose it's head isn't all that low but they are usually perched 'head uphill' - might look better in portrait format showing a bit more of that sumptuous BG
The 2nd image is a big improvement over the first both in sharpness and composition
Dave
John
Aberdeen
Andy No the the damselfly was not perched like that I cropped it to that position, but I have been out in the garden today and saw him again and took plenty of pictures I havent looked through them yet but fingers crossed at least 1 might be worth saving
The second image is a lot better, as regards critical sharpness, your first I don't think was helped by the crop.
Regards the second image, I don't have too much of a problem with the orientation of the damsel, as Andy points out they will more often perch head up, but not all the time....and the way the light is falling here it looks correct.
I do feel that critical sharpness is still not quite there, it looks better in the secondimage becauase it is smaller, might I ask how you are achieving focus? mighty as the 1D3 may be it is always better to use MF on close up subjects, also look at you shutter speed, 1/100th may sound fast but it isn't, plus it is in the famous mirror slap region, MLU + a remote are essential here.
Going on.... what a super looking little damselfly, almost looks like a teneral stage and like your second image
HTH
Phil
Thank you for your comments and advice it is greatly appreciated,
At the moment I have been using AF but tomorrow (weather permitting)! I will try MF I have only had my camera a couple of weeks, before that I had a 400D which when I used it for Macro work I always used a remote, however the connection on the new camera is different so I need to buy a new one, which I hope to be doing next week back in the UK
I was lucky enough (just call me eagle eye) to spot the little beautie again this afternoon which to be honest was purely by chance as I had been lookig for him and had given up hope, but on the way back indoors I just saw him!!
Here is a photograph taken with AF and at f8 shutter speed was 1/400
Your third post is IMO the best... certainly make sure you pick up that remote and practice your mf tech, it should be a lot easier with the better viewfinder of the 1D3.
Cheers,
Marko
Jacqui
But I;m sure you are doing something bad in your processing - if you could email me the CR2 raw file and let me have a look at it??