Suggestions on how to improve my macro?

[royce10]

Still working on my macro shots. I don't feel quite "dialed-in" yet. Not quite as sharp as I would like or expect. This was shot with the kit lens 18-55mm on my K100D. Besides getting a dedicated macro lens any suggestions on how to improve my macro photography? Here are some details of this pic:

Tv= 1/30, Av= 8, Iso=800. Hand held. No flash. Taken in the shade mid morning. Manual focus.

[royce10]

Addendum: I did use quite a bit of photoshop to clean things up. Contrast, brightness, sharpen, color.

practice??? maybe???

royce, please don't think i'm being flippant because i'm not. i'll bet a resonable number of macro deletions for me has got to be over 2000.. i went out and shot about 40 this morn. here's 3 i kept but am not quite happy with. of course i'm getting use to a new flash and i'll try and take things you can't(no dedicated lens) but 3 out of 40??? and i've had worse days.. people think that all you have to do is walk up on these macros and shoot- piece of cake-- right!! what to do. mind your breathing. brace youself in any manner you can, pretend you're shooting a pistol, don't jerk the camera when you press the shutter button(BIG one here), use flash.. basicly tho, it boils down to

practice..

when you d/l them get the of the crap and i mean - be tough on yourself. you'll know if it's sharp. if it isn't , it's CRAP. also , shoot in raw, it's a little more forgiving..

roy

here's one i'd never post. it just aint good enough..

[royce10]

roy

thanks for the feedback. i feel better now. hahahah. actually i did shoot about 30 pics this morning and this was the best out of them. rofl. here are some more questions:

1) do you use the onboard flash or an attachment?

2) do you normally use autofocus or manual? guess that would depend on the type of lens.

3) do you adjust the exposure? i notice most people only comment on the Tv, Av, and ISO.

4) do you prefer macro shots in direct sunlight or shade?



i'm just curious as to what people have noticed worked well for their macro shots. i haven't learned how to work in RAW yet so that should help too. for now, i'll keep my elbows to the ground and keep snapping away. =)

royce10 wrote:

roy

thanks for the feedback. i feel better now. hahahah. actually i did shoot about 30 pics this morning and this was the best out of them. rofl. here are some more questions:

1) do you use the onboard flash or an attachment?

2) do you normally use autofocus or manual? guess that would depend on the type of lens.

3) do you adjust the exposure? i notice most people only comment on the Tv, Av, and ISO.

4) do you prefer macro shots in direct sunlight or shade?
i'm just curious as to what people have noticed worked well for their macro shots. i haven't learned how to work in RAW yet so that should help too. for now, i'll keep my elbows to the ground and keep snapping away. =)

1: off camera 95%, i like the shadows it produces, not like the onboard
2: NEVER! auto !!! even with auto lens. it's different if using the kit lens. it comes nowhere as close as a macro..
3:me, i think flash and macro are 2 peas in a pod.. always M and i set the aperture. the speed with TTL will be 1/180 so i set that. let the cam do the TTL.
4:depends on the shot if i'm not using flash..

''i'll keep my elbows to the ground and keep snapping away.''
sounds like ''pratice'' to me.. anybody tell you theywent out and shot 1 shot for this 1:1 macro, then they were lucky, but , i , have been there. it does happen.. please don't wear the ''del'' print off the key... scotch tape will help.. hehe..

practice!!
roy

royse, i just looked again at your original settings. 1/30sec at macro-- aint never goin to happen unless you are on a tripod and the subject is dead on your desk.

roy

[mtngal]

I've been using the onboard flash with the Phoenix 10mm macro lens and have done OK with it. As Roy pointed out, it's not as good as if you have the lens off the camera, but its better than nothing (I've been using f22 to get enough DOF and there's no way I've been able to handhold the camera). A sharp macro lens will help quite a bit when it comes to focusing manually - AF will hunt like crazy trying to lock in on something.

[gfurm]

for a better look I'd remove the grass blades in front of blade with droplets and shoot it parallel to the blade with droplets to have them all in focus. I find this blades in foreground a bit distracting.

[dms25]

Roy

Quick question about your off camera flash set up if I may. As you will have guessed I need something other that the onboard to go go with the vivitar 105. To that end I've been looking at the two sigma guns that will be suitable to go with the DL2. My question quite simply is what are you using to connect the flash unit to the camera when it is off camera?

Dom