Macro Photography

[FOSELONE]

is harder then i thought it would be...
messing with my 100 mm f/2.8 lense for the first time tonight
& i have no clue what im doing...when i press the button to take the photo
i could see the lense doing some auto-focusing...& cant seem to get it focused
any pointers...tips...ideas ???

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

Use manual focus.
Use a GOOD tripod.
Make sure you are as perpendicular to the glass as reasonably possible.
Turn your pumps off.
Clean your glass.
Balance moving polyps (shutter speed) with number of polyps (aperture)
Make sure your chosen focus point is the right point. Wasting DOF is a Macro crime.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Are you too close to your subject? Try focusing on something farther away. The 100mm needs to be at least something like 5 inches away.

Or, are you taking a picture into a tank at an angle? Try to be at right angles to the glass.

 

[xtm]

What is your lens' min. focus distance? You probably need to step a few inches away from the aquarium glass.

 

[FOSELONE]

let me try stepping back a bit...i did have the camera all up on the tank...thanks fellas

 

[Dino]

The min focusing distance for the 100mm is ~6in which will give you full 1:1 macro. In macro photography you hardly ever use AF (AF just does not cope well when you're working with DOF measured in millimeters) so its best to just flick it in MF via the switch on the side of the lens. [Unless you wanna set your camera up where AF is controlled via the * button on the back of the camera.]

Probably the best thing to do if you're just starting out with macro is take something small - a toy, newspaper, whatever, just something that won't be moving around on you and practice focusing at different ranges and magnifications. Macro isn't easy - and it takes some time to learn the tricks to it. It already starts out challenging and then add on top the challenges of aquarium photography (shooting through glass, typically no where NEAR enough light when you're stopped down, subjects that are moving all over the place) its a steep learning curve .

 

[FOSELONE]

okay...second time DOF is used...but...uuhhmm...what is it ???

anyway,
thanks Dino...good advice

 

[Dino]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14293168#post14293168 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FOSELONE
okay...second time DOF is used...but...uuhhmm...what is it ???

anyway,
thanks Dino...good advice

DOF= Depth of Field, think of it as how "thick" the in focus part of your picture is - the more you "stop down" your aperture the deeper/thicker it gets at a given focal length and distance. DOF is a BIG part of macro photography because it is so incredibly thin, even if you're stopped down to f/16. And the higher magnification you go - the worse it gets.

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

 

[hypertech]

Get the hood for the lens. Is a flat cylinder so you can put it right up against the glass and make sure you are perpendicular.

If you have live view on your camera, learn how to use it. Manual focus and live view make for good macro pics. I'm like a little kid in a candy store with the nice screen on my new 50D. Macro shots got a little easier with this camera.

 

[Reef Bass]

hypertech if you think live view on the 50D's screen is good (which it is!), you should try remote shooting. Imagine the live view window being the size of your laptop screen and controlling all your settings from your laptop (except manual focus obviously, still need to turn the focus ring, although how long til that is remotely controlled? It's already on an electric motor...).

Oh, and the images can be stored directly onto the laptop's hard drive as they are shot, so no downloading from the camera at the end of the shoot. And the laptop screen sized preview window to examine the shot you just took is another nice feature of remote shooting.

 

[amadillo]

very hard