Results 1 to 12 of 12

Thread: Western Forktail up close, 6 image stack

  1. #1
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Sacramento, CA
    Posts
    3,469
    Threads
    495
    Thank You Posts

    Default Western Forktail up close, 6 image stack

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    This is a Western Forktail, 6 image stack. Captured with a macro-stand mounted Nikon D200, 200mm f4 Micro Nikor with a reversed Nikor 50mm f1.8 mounted on the front, f32, 1/250sec, mirror locked up, TTL flash with Nikon SB800, exp comp -2.0, BG is blue painters tape! Images PP in CS3, combined with CompineZM.

  2. #2
    Ed Vatza
    Guest

    Default

    He needs a shave! :D Excellent techniques and detail, Dan. I find these kinds of images very difficult to critique because it is much more detail than I personally have a desire to see and its just not my thing.

    I had this discussion with a colleague who wants to get into macro and keeps say he wants to be able to get so close that he can look up a mosquito's backside. I told him, he can do it with a MPE-65 or a set up like you used but I keep wondering why? I guess it just falls into the different strokes for different folks category. ;)

    Nice job though!

  3. #3
    Mike Moats
    Guest

    Default

    Hey Dan, very nice job, Well done on the focus area and BG color looks great.

  4. #4
    Julie Kenward
    Guest

    Default

    Painter's tape? Nice one! Very inventive!!! Great detail on this. I like seeing the insects in great detail but they do tend to give me the heebie jeebies. :eek::D:eek:

  5. #5
    Alfred Forns
    Guest

    Default

    Excellent Dan !!! Very appealing form every angle and high impact !!!

    For all that want to try these extreme magnification images there will be a steep learning curve but will be fun. I used a MPE-65 for a while and it took a while getting used to it.

  6. #6
    Judy Lynn Malloch
    Guest

    Default

    Unbelievable detail and the eyes are aweome. Great capture Dan !!!

  7. #7
    Gus Cobos
    Guest

    Default

    Congratulations Dan. I like the up close and in your face look...:eek::D Excellent image, great depyh of field, with razor sharp details...good job...looking foward to your next creation...:cool:

  8. #8
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Tampa, Florida, United States
    Posts
    599
    Threads
    100
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Wow Dan, you're really getting into this! I'm still bewildered by it all. I'm still stuck at the mechanics behind "getting your subject to be still".... I guess that's why this technique is so frequently done on bugs.... ?? Now I know what Al was saying about using this technique on a complicated flower.... I'm not sure I'll figure it out before my Siam Tulip is finished blooming! :)

    Amy

  9. #9
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Sacramento, CA
    Posts
    3,469
    Threads
    495
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks all for the nice comments. This "stacking" is fun and "a box O chocolates". I am by no means an expert at this, many of my stacks are failures, but I have learned a few things recently.

    Amy, the trick is to collect "recently deceased" insects that are in good shape and freeze them until you are ready to shoot. This "stacking" technique seems to be easier and more successful on bigger subjects like your flower. Leave a lot of room around your flower if you can and before you run the stack, touch up the images, especially remove dust spots produced by your cameras sensor. These spots turn into a line of spots on the final product which can be a little harder to remove. Dan
    Last edited by Dan Brown; 08-18-2008 at 07:15 PM.

  10. #10
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Tampa, Florida, United States
    Posts
    599
    Threads
    100
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Brown View Post
    ....collect "recently deceased" insects that are in good shape and freeze them
    I'm trying to picture my husband's reaction to that one....

    Ooooh - wish I'd known about this when I was in college. My room mate and I caught a rat in a glue trap, and then didn't know what to do with him - he was alive, and standing there in the glue.... Our neighbor "Wind" - very earthy guy - decided the most humane thing was to put him in the freezer. Weeks later at a party at our neighbors', we went looking for ice.... THAT would have been a stack!!!

    :eek:

    Amy

  11. #11
    Jody Melanson
    Guest

    Default

    Nice job, Dan. :)

  12. #12
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Sacramento, CA
    Posts
    3,469
    Threads
    495
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Thanks O master Melanson!!

    Amy, here's a heavily cropped 6X stack of the Forktail's wing tip showing the pterostigma, the dark window at the tip of most odonates wings. In the circle is a group of sensor dust spots that I missed before running the stack. I see 7 of them and they look like a bug themselves.

    Dan

    http://naturestoc.smugmug.com/
    Last edited by Dan Brown; 08-18-2008 at 08:46 PM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics