Macro Mantis

[Sharna Lee]

My husband bought me a new canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro a month or so ago. I've been practicing and practicing and almost every picture has been blurry. Today I went out to my garden and found this mantis hanging around my daisies. I finally got a few good shots. This one is my favorite so far. I am still going through the pics.
C&C appreciated.

Sharna
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/ittyboo9358/_MG_9562copy.jpg
Canon 40D, 100mm f/2.8 Macro, F/7.1, 1/25, ISO 125, Handheld

[Anita Rakestraw]

Nice job, Sharna, especially for handheld!! I'd highly recommend using a tripod when doing macro though - there is just that much less room for movement error in macro. I have that lens - it's very sharp and I like it alot.

[Julie Kenward]

I have that lens, too, and it took me a couple of months to get the hang of it. Now I can't imagine being without it!

Anita is right...at 1/25 you did very well for handheld. I'm fine without a tripod about 75% of the time but it all depends on how steady you are at handholding. I would suggest pulling down the lighter tones using a curves adjustment as he looks a bit overexposed and I'd also check your color balance on this one - that BG looks a bit on the red/magenta side.

Overalll, I think you're getting the hang of it, though. Sometimes in macro you have to put the focus exactly where you want it and let the rest fall away - it makes you much better at getting the focus on the eyes in every situation and you seem to have done that here.

Keep at it...it can be frustrating but once it "clicks" it's so sweet you can never imagine life without macro again! Another suggestion is to always make sure you've got the focal length where it needs to be on the lens itself. Push that button away from you when you want to get in tight and make sure to push it towards you when you are standing further away. It really does help the lens focus in to have that button in the right position.

[Sharna Lee]

Thanks you two. I do need to work on macro a LOT! hehehe

Jules,
I wondered about that button too LOL. thanks for clarifying it for me.

Sharna

[Robert O'Toole]

Nice job Sharna! I love the pose and the warm BG. Good job for being handheld.

They have green mantis in Palmdale? Who would have known? Wonder if its an nursery agriculture escapee?

Flash is one thing I can strongly recommend for any macro photographer. The sharpening effect of the high speed flash output will make your success rate increase unbelievably. The best thing is you dont need to buy anything just use your pop up with a diffuser and use use flash comp or manual settings to avoid the over-flashed look.

Robert

[Mike Moats]

Hey Shama, very cool pose, good details and BG. Well done.