DSC_2008
Aug, 2016Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo on a day tip to Elbow Falls in Alberta which is about a 1 hour drive from my home town of CalgaryTime
This was taken just before noon on a slightly overcast dayLighting
The overcast sky really helped with the lighting here as shooting in the mid day light can be quite harsh. Anytime I'm shooting in the middle of the day I am quite happy to see some cloud cover as it means I will have far more control over lighting, angles and composition.Equipment
For this photo I used my Nikon D750 and Nikon 105mm f/2.8 macro lens.Inspiration
Macro photography is one of my favorite subjects. In this case I was in the mountains near Elbow Falls so my main intent was perhaps some waterfall shots. As I did not have the correct neutral density filters with me i decided to switch gears and try some macro instead. This particular wildflower and fly are actually quite tiny, it has always fascinated me to see tiny creatures and nature in a much larger format.Editing
I processed the original RAW file in Lightroom. I have done a slight crop to bring the subject into a more eye catching composition. I also have adjusted the colors slightly to ensure a more natural look, from there I enhanced the clarity and sharpened slightly. The final step was a little bit of noise reduction, which was very minimal to begin with but I also use the luminance slider after sharpening to balance things outIn my camera bag
My primary camera is the Nikon D750, my go to lenses are the Nikon 105mm f/2.8 macro, the Nikon 24-120mm f/4, the Nikon 200-500mm and a 50mm f/1.8. I also carry a variety of filters, lens pens and micro fiber cloths. My secondary set up is a Nikon D7000 with Nikon 40mm f/2.8 macro, Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX, Nikon 70-300mm and SB 600 Flash.Feedback
Getting good sharp macro images of insects can be a challenge. The most important things to me are having a good command of camera settings. I always shoot manual, I like to keep iso between 100-250 for macro whenever possible as it can really help create a more crisp image. I usually don't do macro with a tripod as I like to be able to respond quickly as insects can be here one moment gone the next.Patience is important as is having a good handle on depth of field and understand that the close you get the shallower your slice of focus can be. Most important is to take a few shots because you may get one that looks good at first then find later that it is not as sharp as you would like it to be. A little movement from an insect can create more blurriness the closer you are so take a few shots at each angle to improve your chances of getting something to be proud of.
