Insects!! Extreme macro, post yours!!

[vwtuner4ever]

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Last year I bought an old manual Nikon 28mm that I quickly reversed to do macro shots of everything I could find. I quickly started to work on insects, and with the summer approaching, I thought I should show my work from last summer. Most pictures are between 3 to 5 stacks, done at F8 to F11. Most insects were alive and released in the nature after. The dead ones (the two flies and the hornet) were already dead when I found them.

What's tricky about insects is that they all react differently to light. Some get stunned for a few seconds, some move their antennas between shots, which is bad for stacking, some just want to run away, or want to jump to the light... these little critters made me sweat!

I hope you enjoy, and feel free to post some of your pics as well if you have extreme macro close up.

Think about their little faces before killing them for no reasons!

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[peoples_car]

Great stuff man some of those little monsters are straight up hideous though

Can we photoshop a pint and an ash tray into #22? Dude looks like he's very comfortable posting up the bar.

[FNG21222]

Nice close up shots.

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[SYNYSTAGLX]

Great stuff!!!

[Sonic303]

Gnarly!

[lunch.box.]

wow those are freaking cool

[Vdub4me97]

Awesome!

[vwtuner4ever]

Am I really the only one here doing that type of picture?? Post yours even if they aren't as nice

[Seki]

[evosky]

wow, very nice. some good talent there

so that's what a daddy long legs looks like close up ... #32

[vwtuner4ever]

Yup that's one of these. Very weird looking, it's completly different from regular spiders. And it's eyes are not in front of it but on top. it was challenging to keep this one still while taking 2-3 pictures at different depth to increase the focus. I took probably 50 or more pics of it before having something decent.

Of all, the most challenging was the mantis. Second, was the spider at the very end I'd say, but mostly because I was affraid of it.

[casablancababe]

these are totally awesome ! what body/equipment do you use? are you using flash set-ups etc? i would love to start doing this when summer finally hits! i'll try and post some soon

[PCDT99]

This is so cool very well done

[Surf Green]

Wow.

I've done a bunch, but I don't even want to post mine now that I've seen yours.

[vwtuner4ever]

these are totally awesome ! what body/equipment do you use? are you using flash set-ups etc? i would love to start doing this when summer finally hits! i'll try and post some soon

Very simple set up. I use a Nikon D300s but you can use anything else. Then I got a cheap 52mm reverse ring on E-bay for 10$. I also got a Nikkor 28mm f2.8 fully manual. It's important that you can change the aperture manually on the lens you get and I highly recommend 28mm for great magnification. I usually shoot at F10 or so. As for focussing, I simply get closer and closer until I see something. The zone of focus is only a couple mm wide. I shoot about 5 frames in the zone of focus, so first frame on the nose of the bug, then next one a bit further and next one a bit further until the whole head has been shot on focus. It's very important that the bug doesn't move at all when you do that so it's a lot of trials and error. The best way I find is to put them in a jar that's upside down and let them in the dark for a while, they seem to fall is some kind o sleep mode (doesn't work all the time). Avoid putting them in the cold, it doesn't work and will kill them. As for the strobes I use one or two Alien Bees B800 with honey comb grids with CyberCommander. I adjust the strength of the flash manually. Lastly I always put colorful stuff in the background, they always end up being out of focus anyway, but add some colors to the shot. I always keep a few rocks and pieces of wood around, and get some leafs and flowers from the backyard. Then I just have fun editing in Photoshop.

Start with dead ones... much easier to practice on and you'll get the feel. The lens and reverse ring cost me 125$ total. I already had the strobes, but you don't have to use studio strobes, you can customize your on-camera flash too.

Feel free to ask more questions if I'm not clear.

[jhayesvw]

fantastic macro work
and great how to write up.

I have wanted to do macro for a while.
I need to pic up an old manual lens and mount it backward I guess.

[vwtuner4ever]

2012 stuff so far, mostly done with a Sigma 150mm F2.8 and my D300s

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Enjoy

[Laser04]

[vwtuner4ever]

Some more from today

[wheeltowheel]

These are so great! These are some of the best macro insect shots I've seen (and that's coming from a biology student).

[vwtuner4ever]

Thanks man!

[izz]

amazin shots.

[ricas_gti]

Impressive macro photography.

[DarkSideGTI]

great stuff.