A great day on the south coast, but even better inland a visit to Scotney Castle in Kent and the sun brought the Damsels and Dragonflys out. A first class oportunity to put the 180mm Macro to good use. Albeit as a slow learner a few errors came up. I struggled to get the subjects full length in focus I seemed to lose the tails maybe the angle I was shooting and the old chestnut I was handholding. How many times have I been told?
It was a great day none the less and I'd appreciate any Comments Critique and Advice.
Canon 1D3 Canon 180mm HH ISO400 f/3.5 1/3000sec RAW to Lightroom 20% crop and resized to post.
A nice Large Red... not one of the easiest as they tend to rest with their wings slightly spread, It is an art getting parallel to the body but that is the only way to ensure the sharpness, also your PoV here is a little too much above... the biggest problem however is the light, It was very harsh today, this was possibly taken around midday, ideally, early morning or late evening light when the sun is lower and a little bit softer is best...
Thanks for the prompt reply, I know a tripod would also help but I'm not convinced I'm quick enough to adjust or re-adjust the head. I managed to get several keepers and one Blue species is giving me a problem ID with its markings in the reference book I'm using. Also do you think my settings are a good starting point with this lens?
I don't know what Phil thinks, but my own opinion is that you should be able to handhold a 180mm lens at a lower shutter speed than 1/3000th of a second. A few stops down on the aperture would help the depth of field enormously. I do echo Phil's opinion about the light though.
Sorry just looked at your techs, you could easily have gone to f8 and still retained a reasonable shutter speed... f3.5 will normally result in not enough DoF, Your Blue species, I'm no expert, it will be either a Common Blue or an Azure, the ID is often the shape of the black markings on each segment....
Discussion
4 repliesIt was a great day none the less and I'd appreciate any Comments Critique and Advice.
Canon 1D3 Canon 180mm HH ISO400 f/3.5 1/3000sec RAW to Lightroom 20% crop and resized to post.
Thanks for looking.
A nice Large Red... not one of the easiest as they tend to rest with their wings slightly spread, It is an art getting parallel to the body but that is the only way to ensure the sharpness, also your PoV here is a little too much above... the biggest problem however is the light, It was very harsh today, this was possibly taken around midday, ideally, early morning or late evening light when the sun is lower and a little bit softer is best...
HTH
Phil
Thanks for the prompt reply, I know a tripod would also help but I'm not convinced I'm quick enough to adjust or re-adjust the head. I managed to get several keepers and one Blue species is giving me a problem ID with its markings in the reference book I'm using. Also do you think my settings are a good starting point with this lens?
David
Sorry just looked at your techs, you could easily have gone to f8 and still retained a reasonable shutter speed... f3.5 will normally result in not enough DoF, Your Blue species, I'm no expert, it will be either a Common Blue or an Azure, the ID is often the shape of the black markings on each segment....
Phil