Now here is a real photo challenge

Now here is a real photo challenge

Postby armata » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:29 pm

These little guys do not stay still!! I got the shots with rubida's help.
This jumping spider is less than 1cm body length. The photo setup was a 105mmacro with two tubes - Nikon SB27 macro flash andusing a novoflex macro focussing slide. 30% crop

Image
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Postby Leos r gr8 » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:55 pm

You are a very tallented photographer Armata, that shot must have taken patience!
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Postby jka » Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:12 pm

Really nice photo
armata wrote: The photo setup was a 105mmacro with two tubes - Nikon SB27 macro flash andusing a novoflex macro focussing slide

but I really dont have a clue what your talking about.
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Postby Mongoose » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:02 pm

Nice - my old man used to photograph arachnids (mainly spiders) He had a pentax with bellows and a 50mm lense aswell as a 75-210mm macro lense with a side mount flash.

Ive tried out the bellows and you get really close.. But im glad there are more modern ways.
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Postby froot » Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:41 am

The lighting is perfect, well done.
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Postby Ice Cold Milk » Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:29 am

That's a shot worth waiting for... nicely done!
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Postby MrG » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:46 pm

Nice shot Armata. I like jumping spiders. ;)
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Postby Bushbaby » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:47 pm

Very nice pics. With MrG on this one. Jumping spiders are so cute!!
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Postby BushSnake » Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:12 pm

Great shot armata. One has to try photographing these little goggas before you really understand how difficult it is.

Here's a little trick that can be used for REAL closeups using your current photographic gear. It is really usefull for photographing insect eggs and other seriously small objects.

All you will need is 2 Cokin Coupling rings (about R200 for the 2) glued together and a wide angle lens. I use an old Sigma 24mm lens inverted on my 100mm macro but the 17-55mm lens that comes with Canon cameras can also be used. Unfortunately the 24mm Sigma is a 52mm diameter whereas the Canon 100mm is a 58mm diameter. This causes excessive vignetting (the black ring in the photos) but since these pictures are normally used for scientific purposes it doesn't bother me too much. Using a larger diameter lens decreases the vignetting but doesn't elliminate it completely. Here's the setup and some examples. The snake is a 25cm BHS and the butterfly egg is about 0.5mm in diameter.

Image

Image

Image

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Postby MrG » Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:32 pm

@Mods: There has been quite a few posts lately of photographic techniques, etc. Can't you group them together in a new category?


Good idea. Maybe something like Reptile photography techniques.

All you will need is 2 Cokin Coupling rings (about R200 for the 2) glued together and a wide angle lens. I use an old Sigma 24mm lens inverted on my 100mm macro but the 17-55mm lens that comes with Canon cameras can also be used


Thanks for that tip BushSnake, should be interesting to try this.
I suppose you need a good light source for this technique. Who did you buy the rings from.
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Postby Quintin » Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:41 pm

Great pics!!...

@ Bushsnake... i did create a post regarding Photography etc... but it seemed to have died!!

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Postby froot » Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:37 pm

Interesting trick Bushsnake, where did you get it from? The whole idea of using a lens in reverse is very strange, I like the results though. You might be able to eradicate some of the vignetting if you can somehow reduce the distance between the 2 lenses at the filter rings.
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Postby JTS » Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:30 pm

This is very nice Bush snake I have the F2.8 100mm macro lens ..jus need to rest. Where can I get the Cokin Coupling rings?
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Postby alexander » Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:51 pm

Those are cool pics, i just wish i had a macro lens.
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Postby BushSnake » Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:59 pm

Another Lepidopterist that played around with these things in the late 70s and 80s told me about about it. It's a very old trick but works well. The one big problem is depth of field which is REALLY REALLY small. Froot, yes I think the vignetting will be reduced if you can get the 2 lenses closer to each other but that is a lot easier said than done. Ideally you would use something like a 72mm diameter lens but I tried this without spending too much money. I got the my one set (for my 52mm lens) of Cokin rings at New World in Menlyn, Pretoria and the other set (for my 58mm set) at Kameraz in Rosebank.

Lighting is a problem mainly because the camera can't control the flash power accurately when another lens is used on top of the one mounted on the camera. I use my ringflash that I hold at the correct distance from the subject. Good luck with keeping the camera still :D
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