Postby Notorious Scullman » August 18th, 2008, 10:55 am
Wow! Always loved Tiger lillies.
Unless you intend to make heaps of money from Macro shots, why not invest in Canon extension tubes, or even a Kenko extension tub kit?
These will convert any of your existing lenses into macro lenses, with no sacrifice on quality, but for a fraction of the price.
The problems I'm seeing with the images are lack of light and aperture too large (probably as a result of not having enough light). Macros should show impeccable detail, and for this you need light. Secondly, when you've decided what your subject is, whether it's the entire flower or just the stamens, you need to choose an aperture that would allow the entire subject to be in sharp focus. Then when you realise that because of how close you are*, that you probably need to use f11, f16, or even f22, then you really have to figure out how you're going to light the subject.
*Two things to keep in mind with this are that DOF decreases when you're focusing at close range, and also to keep in mind the minimum focusing distance of the lens, unless using an extension tube.
Tripod or monopod would be a good idea.
In the 4th pic, where there's what appears to be window light in the background, the light could have been better used by allowing the light from the window to cross the subject at 45 deg. to your back left or right when taking the pic, this would better illuminate the subject, giving it better form and shape.
Other things to remember are:when focusing close to the subject, your lens can block the on-camera flash from the subject, and also it can help to switch off Auto Focus when shooting macros, to ensure you're focusing exactly where you want.
