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Big Daddy

Discussion

10 replies
Posted by Matt Cole on September 18, 2008 at 3:39 PM
Big Daddy
A Crane Fly, or Daddy-Long-Legs, taken in my garden recently. This larger version shows the details off a bit better.

Canon 30D and MPE-65 macro lens, taken at between 2 and 3x magnification. F10, 1/160 sec, ISO 100, diffused Speedlight on off-camera bracket. Full frame and focus stacked from 2 images.

All C+C appreciated.

Matt

Posted by Robert Lawrence on September 18, 2008 at 3:50 PM
Hells bells Matt, my missus is petrified of these and if I showed her this she'd have a fit!!
Cracking detail.
Robert
Posted by Matt Cole on September 18, 2008 at 3:57 PM
she'd better not see the one I took at 4x magnification then :biggrin:
Posted by John Robinson on September 18, 2008 at 5:38 PM
Brilliant Matt.!
Not many folks look at these close up.
very well done.
JR
Posted by Andy Astbury on September 18, 2008 at 8:45 PM
Never thought the mouth looked like this - looks like it belongs on the set of Starship Troopers :eek:

Thanks for the insightful imagery Matt :wink:
Posted by Tom Smit on September 19, 2008 at 2:29 AM
Hi Matt,

Lovely picture. Nice details.
Can you post the 4x picture also? I'm very curious.
Thanks.
:toast:
Posted by Rene de Heer on September 19, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Looks like something from outerspace! Very interesting image.
Rene de Heer
Posted by David Taylor on September 19, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Superb colour to the eye. Excellent. I wish I could fit one of those MPE-65 macro lenses to my Sigma SD14.

:toast: :toast: :jump:
Posted by Alan Bryant on September 19, 2008 at 4:29 PM
Nice shot :cool:

How do you find the MPE-65 ?.That is going to be my next lens.
Posted by Justin on September 19, 2008 at 4:32 PM
A really good close-up and an excellent job keeping such a decent proportion of the insect in sharp focus. A fascinating creature when seen up close like this.
:toast:
Posted by Matt Cole on September 19, 2008 at 4:46 PM
many thanks for all of the comments. Tom, I'll post the 4x shot in a day or two!

Alan, the MPE-65 is a fantastic lens but it takes some getting used to. It's best suited to static shots on a tripod with a focusing rail but this is next to useless for insects so I use it handheld (or braced against something solid) and light the images entirely using flash. This obviously removes motion blur so I then 'simply' have to deal with the very shallow DOF (less than 0.5mm in this shot!).

Matt