First Macro shots

[kilroy217]

Well, I rented the Nikon 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro-Nikkor, and immediately fell in love with it. My savings fund is already started. Any comments welcome. This was my first attempt at macro, so please be gentle.

I took a trip to the local aquarium. I was surprised when I called ahead and found out that tripods were allowed. I took over 220 shots, but here are a few of the highlights:

 

[kilroy217]

...and some more... I think this set is a little better than the first few...

I think the monkey shot is the best so far... I know the eyes are a little dark, but I'm still a novice with the post-processing. So, any thoughts? Thanks in advance for being gentle with this novice...

 

[scottwhitson]

Good looking pics!!

 

[zef004]

good job. I think Im have to rent a macor lens.

 

[kilroy217]

Thanks Scott and zef. Anybody have any critiques on how I could improve? Thanks again!

 

[waxy]

Kilroy,

I knew you'd give in hahaha.

Should have just bought the darn thing, because you're spending 5% of the proceeds towards a rental

I went straight to the Nikkor 105 macro when I did the math for renting both a Sigma and Nikkor. To hell with it, I just took the plundge.

Regardless, those pics are amazing

You may need more lighting for the monkey picture.
Since you took that shot in the day you may want to lower the shutter speed.

Did you take that in RAW? If you did, process that through Lightroom and see if you can adjust. It will fix what you need to do.

Can't tell what is imbedded into your shots when you took them.

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

Like this maybe?

 

[kilroy217]

hehe... yeah... can't splurge right now, but will save up and eventually get it...

Yes, took it in RAW, and yes, using Lightroom for editing (definitely NOT a photoshop guy).

In particular for the monkey shot, all light is direct sunlight, but what are you gonna do in a situation like that? I'm just glad I was able to take the spots out from the smudges on the glass of his cage. I was shooting in Aperture priority, with the aperture set to f/8.0, I believe. I was standing probably 10-15 feet away, and the lens autofocused to probably somewhere in the 4:1 to 10:1 range. Unfortunately, I had set ISO to 800 for some of the indoor shots, and forgot to lower it when I went outside for the monkey shots. So, with the ISO that high, the shutter speed was VERY fast. I believe around 1/1250 sec. IN hindsight, I wish I had remembered to lower the ISO, because it would have adjusted the shutter speed... hey, I'm a beginner that's still learning! hehe... I'm using a Nikon D40, so the lowest ISO would have only been 200 anyway.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to work on the exposure in Lightroom to bring out the eyes like TitusvileSurfer did. What do you guys think about composition of the shots? I know some of them were sort of centered (the freshwater fish, for example), but I'm working on it.

Thank again for your help, everybody.

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14700113#post14700113 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kilroy217
In particular for the monkey shot, all light is direct sunlight, but what are you gonna do in a situation like that?

Take the next DSLR step. Speed light.

 

[waxy]

A little fix in the lightroom goes a long way.

It's a good application to tweak your images. It's not really cheating, but it is more like an assistant. Besides, you can totally tell when the picture is fake with over exposed shots or super intense color on the subject and the background.

 

[kilroy217]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14700438#post14700438 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TitusvileSurfer
Take the next DSLR step. Speed light.

I actually have a Speed Light (SB-600), but I was shooting through glass, so that would have created an unwanted reflection, wouldn't it?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14701831#post14701831 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by waxy
A little fix in the lightroom goes a long way.

Yes, I am enjoying using Lightroom - still a beginner with it. As you saw from my earlier post, I've got spot-removal down. hehe... Right now, I'm going through a lesson on an online learning site. I'd say I'm about halfway through the set of beginner lessons. There are three sets of advanced lessons after that, as well.

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

Not if your speed light has its own tripod and is triggered with a pocket wizard. You can go pretty far down the rabbit hole.

 

[waxy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14704967#post14704967 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TitusvileSurfer
Not if your speed light has its own tripod and is triggered with a pocket wizard. You can go pretty far down the rabbit hole.

I'm a poor man driving a Mercedes with no gas

How much better is the speed light vs the macro light ring?

 

[kilroy217]

I'm definitely not that far down the rabbit hole yet... this is just a hobby for me, not a profession.

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14705824#post14705824 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by waxy
I'm a poor man driving a Mercedes with no gas

How much better is the speed light vs the macro light ring?

For a zoo animal? about 10,000x better. lol

Technically the macro light ring is a speed light of sorts. I'm talking about the hot shoe mounted lights though...just not mounted on a hot shoe. I think this type of lighting is where Nikon really comes out on top of the other manufacturers.

 

[waxy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14714060#post14714060 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TitusvileSurfer
For a zoo animal? about 10,000x better. lol

Technically the macro light ring is a speed light of sorts. I'm talking about the hot shoe mounted lights though...just not mounted on a hot shoe. I think this type of lighting is where Nikon really comes out on top of the other manufacturers.

I might have to take a look at that.

You have any links?

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

I think I would start here.
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html