Red Ant, in field near Crossflatts W Yorks late April 06
This is very much a work in progress. I've always been fascinated by ants but photographing them has always been a problem as they are so tiny. As many of you know I'm quite a fan of teleconverters - so it seemed logical to see how they could help in the macro arena.
I chose a steep bit of hillside to look for a suitable subject so that I could lie on the ground and get to eye level with the ant.
Tech details
20D 100mm macro 12mm ext tube and x2 teleconverter. Giving about x 2.2 mag. Ringflash, handheld. ISO 200, 250th F22 about half the frame is used. Sharpened etc in PS.
I don't like the lighting - red ants are very shiny and I get a lot of reflections - plan to use polarised flash eventually.
Anyway I thought some of you may find this interesting.
Good, detailed close-up, John.
Amazing what photogenic subjects are there under are nose, if only we would take the trouble to look, and stop chasing after those birds!
Very nice indeed and certainly a project that is well worth the effort and time to pursue... I agree over the lighting mainly because I am not a fan of ringflash..... perhaps a large diffuse source.... which is how we do 'shiny' insects.....
Hello John
This looks like it is going to be an interesting series. I think you are right about the bright flash being too reflective, but still an impressive image of a diminutive subject.
Best wishes
Phil
Hi John
a nice image of the Ant. Every time I see them they are always running about. It must have been difficult to get this kind of image.
John
Aberdeen
An excellent macro shot with great impact. Good skills to achieve the shot too. I see what you mean about the reflective light, if you could just subdue your ring flash slightly I think this would improve the image (which is darn good to anyway).
Hi John,
Tricky things to capture well aren't they,excellent result though and with a bit of experimentation regarding the lighting/flash I think you'll be onto a winner.
I too have been experimenting with a convertor and a macro lens the last couple of days.
I was totally suprised to discover that an old Jessops 2X convertor which I picked up for £2 from a car boot sale works superbly well with my Tamron 90mm macro lens,there doesn't appear to be any degradation of image quality whatsoever,which I was totally shocked and very pleasantly suprised to discover
Discussion
7 repliesThis is very much a work in progress. I've always been fascinated by ants but photographing them has always been a problem as they are so tiny. As many of you know I'm quite a fan of teleconverters - so it seemed logical to see how they could help in the macro arena.
I chose a steep bit of hillside to look for a suitable subject so that I could lie on the ground and get to eye level with the ant.
Tech details
20D 100mm macro 12mm ext tube and x2 teleconverter. Giving about x 2.2 mag. Ringflash, handheld. ISO 200, 250th F22 about half the frame is used. Sharpened etc in PS.
I don't like the lighting - red ants are very shiny and I get a lot of reflections - plan to use polarised flash eventually.
Anyway I thought some of you may find this interesting.
by for now
John
Amazing what photogenic subjects are there under are nose, if only we would take the trouble to look, and stop chasing after those birds!
This looks like it is going to be an interesting series. I think you are right about the bright flash being too reflective, but still an impressive image of a diminutive subject.
Best wishes
Phil
a nice image of the Ant. Every time I see them they are always running about. It must have been difficult to get this kind of image.
John
Aberdeen
David
An excellent macro shot with great impact. Good skills to achieve the shot too. I see what you mean about the reflective light, if you could just subdue your ring flash slightly I think this would improve the image (which is darn good to anyway).
Nice work
cheers
Sean
Tricky things to capture well aren't they,excellent result though and with a bit of experimentation regarding the lighting/flash I think you'll be onto a winner.
I too have been experimenting with a convertor and a macro lens the last couple of days.
I was totally suprised to discover that an old Jessops 2X convertor which I picked up for £2 from a car boot sale works superbly well with my Tamron 90mm macro lens,there doesn't appear to be any degradation of image quality whatsoever,which I was totally shocked and very pleasantly suprised to discover