Moth - Macro assignment

[Gail Spitler]

This moth is a "Snowberry Clearwing" (Hemaris diffinis). The are bumblebee-like sphingid moths that nectar at flowers during the day. Unfortunately they do not stay still as long as bees or wasps, but are moving fairly quickly from flower to flower. The body of the moth is about an inch long.
What I would love are some suggestions about what kind of equipment could have helped me get a 'larger' image, so that the crop didn't have to be as severe as it is. I have tried both the 100-400mm and 300mm lens (with extension tubes added) on these guys. That size lens lets me follow the action which is quick and rather random in direction, but I am not close enough. Maybe I should have been farther away with a 500mm plus 1.4TC and w/wo extender? Alternatively I guess I could try to get closer, but I am not optimistic that the moths would stay near.

Big crop, sharpening (passes with Smart Sharpen at decreasing radii) and NR in CS4 PS.

Of course all c & c's are much appreciated.

Cheers and thanks
Gail
Canon 40D with 100-400mm lens at 370 mm (probably with 12mm or 25 mm extender), f/6.3, aperture priority, pattern metering with 0 ev, ISO 640.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Gail - Gus would be the resident Macro expert - IMHO - You probably need to think about a dedicated MACRO lens - Yes the extnsion tubes will work but I find you cant really compare them to a macro lens which is designed to give you a 1:1 lifesize ratio.

Your moth is a little on the soft side probbaly due to a combination of the large crop and F6.3 - with macro you are usually going to find you will be working at much smaller apertures - lots shoot at f29 or F32 - which means you are also going to need a tripod as the shutter speed is going to slow in accordance with the aperture. The aperture is required as the DOF is very tight when working with Macro - unless you are of course going for a creative effect - like some of Gus's work with flowers.

Stick with it and keep them coming ;)

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Gail,
I like the capture...a few points to consider...when going after these guys, its best to pre-focus on a specific spot and wait for your subject to come back, they always come back to the same spot. You need to stop down your lens, in other words you need to use a much more smaller aperture like f/16; f/22; f/32 etc...depending on the lens selected and the shutter speed and ISO combination...the white flowers are a tad on the hot side, they need to be toned down and would also selective sharpen the subject, its a bit soft...on your next one, try going with the smaller aperture settings and experiment also with the ISO factor...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[Gail Spitler]

Thanks for the suggestions gentlemen. I agree about the softness of the moth and in the future I'll stop down to get a bit more dof. Just as an aside, these moths are not nearly as cooperative as dragonflies and do not appear to have a repeating route at all. Unfortunately I won't see another one of these until next summer. I'll have to try other insects 'til the the snow flies.
Thanks again. Most helpful as usual.
Cheers
Gail

[Jeni Williams]

Thanks for posting Gail - I'm also trying to learn the macro side of things and have noted the suggestions. Keep practicing!