michaelgaleone

Caterpillar World

Photo taken in our backyard after a recent camera club session on macro photography.

Photo taken in our backyard after a recent camera club session on macro photography.
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NIKON D750

settings

Aperture f/16 ISO 1000 Shutter 1/125 Focal Length 1050/10

upload_date

Mar, 2016

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2614

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+632

Awards

Action Award

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Creative Winter Award

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Top Shot Award 21

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Featured

Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 8

Peer Award

+158

Superb Composition

+71

Top Choice

+64

Absolute Masterpiece

+63

Outstanding Creativity

+38

Magnificent Capture

+12

Superior Skill

All Star

Genius

Virtuoso

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Behind The Lens

Location

I did a macro photography session outside of our home after noticing that the monarch caterpillars were getting very active. The night before I just been to a macro photo session sponsored by my local camera club. That session was a refresher course for me and helped remind me of a few details on how to set up and photograph close ups using tripod, manual focus, and remote shutter control.

Time

It was on June 24, 2015 at around 7:19AM. Early morning light was just getting to the point were I was able to photograph with a little more shutter speed. Although the caterpillars didn't move too fast there was a slight breeze and this extra light allowed me to increase shutter speed.

Lighting

Sun rise was probably around 6:00AM and the session started about an hour later around 7:00AM. I was able to keep the light to my back as I moved around setting up the shots. I can't remember but I think it was full sunlight with no clouds so I didn't have to worry too much about adjusting the exposure setting a lot. The light was great and gave me the soft effect I was hoping for.

Equipment

I used a tripod with a Nikon D750 and a Nikon 105mm f/2.8. My exposure was manual settings with shutter at 1/125, aperture at F16, ISO 1000, and a EV of +.3 I also used the Live view on the camera body to help focus and a remote shutter release. I took quite a few photos of different caterpillars and different positions. Probably took around 50-60 photos of just the caterpillars.

Inspiration

My goal was to try something different. I had not use some of these techniques in a while and the previous camera club photo session got me motivated to expand from my previous work doing wildlife photos.

Editing

My post-processing is basically to do some editing in the RAW editor that mostly consist of exposure adjustments, some minor sharping, and some noise reduction. I find these adjustment work well in the RAW editor. Once that is done I will finish in Photoshop by cropping the photo, checking the levels, checking the hue/saturation, and doing a curve adjust for contrast.

In my camera bag

It depends on where I am heading. I have a large ThinkTank bag for doing wildlife and I usually have it loaded with my Nikon D4 camera and a backup body usually it is the D750, a prime 400mm f/2.8, sometimes a 70-200mm f/2.8, a 24-70mm f/2.8 for landscape, a couple of tele convertors, a flash- D910, extra batteries, memory cards, chargers, and cleaning supplies. I also carry a Feisol tripod with a Wimberley mount with me if I am taking this equipment. It I am doing just local stuff I have a smaller bag that I can get a camera body along with a 80-400mm lens, 24-70mm and maybe a flash. Also extra battery, cards, and cleaning supplies.

Feedback

The best advice I can give is to just go out and try it. There is plenty of information on the internet on how this is to be done. Try something and if it doesn't work research and try something else. If you are not a member of a camera club join one and connect with those that have the skills you are wanting to learn. The three P's to photography for me is perseverance, patience, and practice, practice, practice. For a photo of this type I would suggest learning to use a tripod and remote shutter release. Keep the light behind you for these shots or use an off the camera flash (that would have been difficult for this particular photo). Be aware of what your background looks like. Try not to have a background that will look out of place and ruin the effect of what you are trying to create. I found that a wide depth of field was necessary and I used something better than f/10. I still need to work on my macro skills trying to get a better exposed and focus subject. I will keep trying this some more! It only takes patience!

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michaelgaleone

michaelgaleone

Caterpillar World

Photo taken in our backyard after a recent camera club session on macro photography.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow michaelgaleone

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