Sharpness and Detail in Macro Photography
Вставка
- Опубліковано 18 чер 2021
- In this video I'll show you how I get sharpness and detail in my macro photography. I'll demonstrate techniques for keeping your camera steady and getting the right kind of light. I'll take you to three locations: a wood, a pond and a grassy field, and of course I'll show you the photos I captured whilst making this video.
If you have any questions, please ask them below.
Previous macro video:
• Spring Macro Photograp... - Навчання та стиль
Hey Scott. Just discovered your channel and got to say, I have learned more in the last couple of days than I have in years. The obvious effort you put into these videos really pays off and your communication style is just perfect. Humble but so full of knowledge and really great images with a way of explaining things that just strike the balance of being detailed enough without being patronising. Spot on Scott - thanks so much
Hi Darren. Wow, that's so nice to hear. Thank you. I'm glad I can be of help. Thanks for watching.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide I second this, Scott. In a sea of YT photo videos, your videos are the best. Looking forward to more!
Fascinating info about dragonflies! Thanks for the video!
Thank you so much for the lesson, i learn so much from your contents
A superb informative video. Very well put together, in the way that you explained the techniques, showed the set ups and then the walk through talk through of the images to finish off each section of the video. I enjoyed that and it has inspired me to get my macro kit out again. 👍
Excellent. I hope you have fun doing that and get some nice images.
Awesome, Scott! Thanks for the tips, congrats on the work and best regards from Brazil!
Thanks very much. I’m glad you found it useful. One day I hope to be in South America photographing your wonderful wildlife. Best wishes.
This is one of the best macro videos I have watched!
I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for watching.
Very grateful for the video
Hi Ahemd, thanks for watching.
Great video, packed full of wonderful information, detailed and well explained. Beautiful photos as fantastic examples. Thank you for sharing, have a wonderful day!
Thank you so much. I’m glad you liked it.
Your video taught me so much. Thank you.
Hi Tamara. I’m glad it helped. Thanks for watching.
Very grateful for the video. I'm from Brazil and I do macro photography. Your explanations are excellent. It's a video every macro beginner should watch. I'm using Google Translate to compose this message. Great person you.
Obrigado pelas suas amáveis palavras. Estou feliz que você gostou. Melhores votos do Reino Unido. Obrigado por assistir.
Beautifully presented video. You are an awesome teacher. Thank you so much.
Hi Ramesha. Glad you like it. Thanks for watching.
Really excellent video - I learnt a huge amount, thank you!
Much appreciated Dave.
Great video. I appreciate your style of teaching.
Much appreciated, thanks for watching.
Gracias por los consejos
De nada, gracias por ver el video.
Great video, thanks Scott!
Hi David, thanks for watching.
Great video! Very useful advice for me! Thank you very much.
Hi Vladimir. I'm glad you found it useful, thanks for watching.
Sorry this is a separate comment, but I believe the background's darkness is more due to the increased ambient light from the slower shutter speed, than light "reaching" the background, being pretty sure light travels a lot faster than the shortest possible shutter speed.
Great video! Thank you for sharing!!
Hi Luiz. Thanks for watching.
Love your channel young Fidel! Hasta la victoria siempre
🤣 I guess I just need the cigar. Thanks for watching.
have you ever heard of the perfect storm well this is the perfect video the perfect explanation with the perfect examples thank you it has helped me a lot to understand many things about macro photography 😉
Wow, thank you so much. Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching.
Really nice work, thanks for sharing it with us
My pleasure, thanks for watching.
Great information very grateful
Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching.
Thank you, from Bandung, Indonesia
Thanks for watching and best wishes from the UK.
Brilliant video, especially re flash and lens, just got into macro with my new tokina 100mm..subscribed cheers
Thanks for subbing and watching. Good luck with your new lens, I hope you get some great shots.
Great video. Definitely earned my sub looking forward to more
Thanks for subbing and watching. The next macro video should be in a couple of weeks.
Hi Scott, another very useful video. While I don’t have a macro lens yet for my Nikon, I do have a nice 52mm macro for my old Olympus e5. I’ll be dusting it off to practice my macro skills through the winter. Thanks always for sharing, cheers from BC!
Hi Gord. That's great and 52mm is a nice focal length. Many of the current macro lenses are telephoto in the 90mm-110mm range. There aren't so many of the standard focal lengths around now, but I love them. My first macro lens was 50mm, and I've got a video coming up where I'll be using a 60mm. Thanks for watching.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide the e5 is a 12.5GP 4/3 so I think it is roughly a 100mm equivalent? In any event, while I didn’t use it much then I do recall it as being very good glass
Hey Scott. Thanks for the video and very good job, but it will help us a lot if you include with each photo the parameters (ISO, speed, aperture and flash ones if you use it). Congrats
I'm really enjoying your videos; they are really informative. Good explanation as to how tricky macro photography can be. Quite often, a breeze suddenly appears out of nowhere when I'm about to take a shot. How I laugh. With respect to shutter speed and flash sync, don't forget that a good many cameras and flash guns are capable of high speed flash (HSS). I can set my FL700WR and FL900R speedlites to TTL (FP) and set my OM1's to any speed I wish, though I have yet to go beyond 1/5000th. When shooting macro at such shutter speeds I set my ISO my ISO to at least 1000, but this hardly matters as I use Topaz.
Good point Pete. I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. Thank you for watching.
The reason the background is dark when using flash is the inverse square law. The light from the flash diminishes by the square of the distance. The distance to the subject (insect ) is small, the distance from the flash to the background is quite a lot larger, so much more light drop off. As a general rule, the flash controls the brightness of the subject and the shutter speed and aperture control the brightness of the background. If you want a bright background (which you may not want) is to use a longer shutter speed.
Good video! Reminds me to go outside more often and just take some pictures. :-)
Are you happy which your Kuangren Laowa flash system? I got it some weeks ago and i would say it is definetly the best macro flash out there and i tried so many options.
It’s definitely the best macro lighting I’ve ever had. I sometimes use supplementary lighting with an LED Light panel, but that just helps me focus in low light situations. I wish the macro flash had a rechargeable lithium battery instead of AA batteries. But other than that it’s perfect. I know some people would like it to have TTL, but I never use TTL for macro anyway.
Very good info = thank you. The colorful joined pair are damselflies (not dragonflies both are Odonata) and yes, she is ovipositing. Not all Odonata oviposit as joined; some males protect from nearby and others not at all. Many Odonata stay under water two to three years as larva / nymphs. My fave is the male damsel on the grass. So lovely!! ☮️💟
Thanks for your video Scot which I really enjoyed, the bug like insect I think is a Volucella Pellucen from the hoverfly family.
Thank for letting me know. I’ve learned quite a bit these hoverflies since putting this video out. Fascinating how they imitate bees to avoid being predation. Thanks for watching.
Hey. The beelike fly on minute 8:11 is actually a hoverfly. This one is called "great pied hoverfly" (Volucella pellucens). Great Video my friend. I learned a lot. Greets Stefan
Thanks for sharing this. I started reading about these insects that mimic others’ appearance - really interesting. Thanks for watching.
What a great video, thank you for all the good advices, and the results speak for themselves ! Just one minor remark on the balance between music and voice (music is too loud).
Instant THUMBS UP sir ! I can't wait to discover your other gems on YT.
Thanks, glad it's helpful. I was still quite new to UA-cam when I put this video out. My audio balance is much better in my more recent videos.
Another great video with interesting tips on using a flash for macro can you get similar results using led lighting?PS great photos👍
Hi Brian. Fixed lighting can help in some situations because you're getting more light on the subject so you can use a slightly faster shutter speed without sacrificing iSO. But it's the flash that freezes the action and so that is what really gets you the sharpness you're looking for in macro. Thanks for watching.
Great video, i have been struggling to get the detail in insects eyes for a while now, i have only used natural light, mainly because i have a sony nex c3 which has no built in flash or hot shoe, i would need to get a hot shoe adapter, i recently bought the small flash that attaches to the camera, tried that but only without a diffuser. Thanks to this video i will get a diffuser and hopefully that should solve that problem. Your pics are great btw :)
Thanks for watching and your nice comments. I’ve seen the flash that comes with most nex models. I’d just start with a diffuser on that and see where it takes you. Looking at the specs it’s plenty powerful enough for macro photography but the recharge time (the time it needs between one flash burst and the next) might be a little bit slow - I’m not sure. But it’s a good starting point without having to invest a load of money.
I recommend AF for macro.
Thank you
Shooting with Pentax system, saves you thinking about stabilization. As the camera has stabilization built in, whatever lens you put on your camera, is stabilized.
Hi there. Thanks for watching. I also have stabilisation in camera, and honestly I believe that the flash is far more effective at freezing the motion. Stabilisation can help, for sure, and will typically help you keep your shutter speed lower and therefore keep your ISO lower, but flash freezes the action perfectly. It's an interesting discussion though and I realise that not everyone shares this opinion.
A really interesting and engaging video, I found your explanation on flash and how it adjusts the background especially interesting. You take great Macro photos, may I ask what focal length your lens is please?
I've subscribed and look forwards to seeing more of your videos.
Hi Julie, thanks for kind comments and subscribing. It’s a 90mm macro lens.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide thank you, I have a 105mm Sigma.
I’ve heard it’s a good lens. Are you getting nice shots with it?
@@WalksOnTheWildSide Yes I have managed to get some photos im reasonably pleased with but sharpness is still a challenge. 😊 Macro is quite new to me but I do love having so many bugs and critters to photograph!
Great video, with some really good tips. I do a lot of macro myself using a ring flash or natural light. Just one point, the dragonflies are actually damsel flies, the main difference is in the wings
Damselfly wings at rest are folded along their back, dragonflies do not fold their wings.
Thanks you. You’re absolutely right. I often use the same term for both, but in this case they were definitely damselflies. Thanks for watching.
I wanted to write the same comment ;-)
The usual explanation that made sense to me: for the flash being a very short event+ having quadratic falloff with distance, exposure is set by flash power/aperture.
If the background is far (enough) away that the flash has dispersed enough (and it's intensity drops with the square of the distance) then it's exposure is set by aperture/time.
So in a sense the foreground will be changed by setting the aperture, while the background exposure is changed by setting the shutter speed - in a sense you are doing a "long exposure" for the background.
There are a few things i don't want when taking pictures of shiny insects 1. Bright direct sunshine that causes the insects eyes and other parts to have harsh burnt light and dark shadows in them. 2. An undiffused flash, which also causes the same. Using a diffused flash brings out the micro contrast in my experience. For butterflies this doesn't matter as much as they tend to be of the matt nature and soak up light better. Overcast non windy days are my favourite for the shiny types and they are also less active. Thanks for sharing.
Completely agree. I love overcast days for macro, but you can make the best of a sunny day using shadowed areas and woods etc to get out of the brightness. Thanks for watching.
Great video
Just wondering what F stop you use mostly?
Thanks
Hi. My go to aperture is f/8 and I tend to stop down to f/11 or f/13 if I need to. I rarely go wide open, but I might go as far as f/4 on occasions. Thanks for watching.
Love your videos! Did you mention the lens you are using? What would you recommend for a good Macro lens? I have been using my 70-200 and 150-600 which do a good job but I am sure "the right tool for the right job" would apply here.
Hi. In this video I was using the Sony 90mm f/2.8 macro. It's a fantastic lens. But there are many great lenses out there and it depends which camera body/mount you're using. If it's your first macro lens, I would recommend something in the 90-110mm range - that will be most helpful. But I also use a 15mm and 25mm on my full frame and a 60mm on my APS-C. It's probably worth getting a lens from your camera brand to start with as they will have autofocus and manual. Eventually you'll want to be shooting with manual focus, if you're not already. Many of the third party macro lenses are excellent and I can absolutely recommend Laowa - but most of them are manual focus only. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching.
Very helpful video!👍🏾
May I know how much f stop you used for macro photography normally?
Thanks.😊
Thank you. I tend to start at f/9 and adjust to suit the circumstances. I rarely go over f/14 or below f/6.4.
Very interesting video sir ❤️
Thanks a lot
Another excellent and informative video, which I'm getting a lot from, particularly regarding flash - thank you. Yours is one of the few macro videos I've seen where you don't mention focus-stacking - are you not a fan? Also, in terms of stabilisation, I use an Olympus which has it built into the body - would you recommend turning it off?
Hi George. Thanks very much. I don’t focus stack very often. I just think that part of the charm of macro is having a shallow depth of field - focus stacking negates that and so it’s more of an artistic choice. There’s no harm in leaving IBIS switched on. I don’t think it helps much - a flash will help much more. I leave IBIS on all the time - so that I don’t forget to switch it back on for other forms of photography. But I keep the lens stabilisation off.
I do a bit of outdoors insect macro stuff and given that you usually have some, even if slight, movement of the insect over the space of a few seconds, a good focus stack is very difficult if not impossible to achieve. Golden rule - always go for the eyes, and if light conditions permit sacrifice a bit of image quality by using minimum aperture to maximise your DoF
Great tip. Thanks for sharing.
Your „photo of the day“ would be my „photo of my life“ 😂
I'm sure that's not the case, but thank you for your kind words and for watching.
Great video! Good info. What app are you using to import the photos to your phone?
Hi. Thank you. It’s Sony Imaging Edge. It allows my phone to connect to my camera by Bluetooth and transfer pics, or control the camera remotely. I believe the other camera manufacturers have similar apps.
Great video mate👍👍👍
Thank you.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide very welcome
Love this video, well done. So, what f/stop are you shooting these photos at?
Hi Jeremy. It’s usually a mid range aperture. I tend to start at f/9 and move up or down from there. More often than not I’m somewhere between f/7.1 and f/14. I’ve since started including camera settings with my pictures in videos. Thanks for watching.
I really enjoyed the video. I'm new to photography, so this was really helpful - I learned a lot. Can you tell me what macro lens you were using? I just bought a set of extension tubes to play with before I decide if I want to buy a macro lens.. Thanks for a very helpful video.
Jim
Thanks Jim. It was the Sony 90mm macro f/2.8. Extension tubes are a great way to try out macro. You loose a little bit of light and images are typically a little bit softer than with a dedicated macro lens. Good luck with your macro and thanks for watching.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide Thanks Scott
Scott, what is your go-to source for insect identification, thanks?
Hi, great video Scott. I'm currently using a 60mm macro lens and I saw that you used a 90mm macro lens? Will this affected my photos in term of closeness to the subject in any way?
Glad you enjoyed it. It doesn't really depend on the focal length of your lens, it's about how close your lens can focus. The focal length affects how wide your photo is. So you'll get more background in the photo with a 60mm lens that you will with a 90mm lens. But if both lenses achieve 1:1 magnification at the same focussing distance, the subject will be the same size in both photos. I hope that makes sense. Thanks for watching.
Hi Scott
Last night I watched Scott Tilley who I follow with you and afterwards subscribed to your channel I've learnt a lot from Scott and today have watched a few of your videos which have inspired me to plan some projects this year. I have a bridge camera and would like some more advise on Marco settings as I watched you video on the subject earlier and would like to try the technique
Great videos look forward to following you and Mr Tilley going forward
Hi Steven. Welcome aboard. If there are any particular questions you have feel free to ask. Thanks for watching and subscribing.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide
Scott
How do I set my bridge camera up for macro photography please
Hi Steven. That very much depends on which camera you've got. But for most bridge cameras there'll be an mode on the dial, or something in the settings with a flower icon. This is usually macro mode. It will let you focus much closer than in other modes but it might not get you full 1:1 magnification as you would with a dedicated macro lens.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide
Its a Sony Cybershot HX400V I'll take a look thanks again Scott
Mit welcher Blende machst du Single Shots? Ich habe das gleiche Objektiv
Hi Scott, Enjoyable video. I wonder, what is your opinion about using smaller sensor cameras like APS-C or MFT format for macro photography? Would there be noticeable difference in quality of the shots between FF format and the smaller once?
Hi Les. It’s absolutely fine to do macro work with an APS-C (and I assume it would be for MFT too, but I’ve never used a MFT camera) I used to regularly shoot macro on my A68 (APS-C) til I got my A9 (FF) a few years ago. I got some good results. The key is using an APS-C lens. I see people using FF macro lenses on APS-C cameras all the time. They justify it by saying that they get a better depth of field - which is true to some extent. But the FF lens is just not as sharp over the entire frame as it would be on a FF body. And there are other draw backs too. I even ran some tests to check by putting my 90mm macro FF lens on my A6400 APS-C body (The A6400 is what I use for video) and it was definitely not as good. So the short answer is yes, as long as you use a macro lens designed for your sensor. Do you think people would find that interesting as a video?
@@WalksOnTheWildSide Thank you for your reply. I made one interesting observation that many macro photographers use FF cameras. Bigger sensor has its advantages like dynamic range etc. Macro photography is one of the tougher chapters in the photography book, so every little bit of advice counts :)
Nice video. Didnt see much on how to click the shutter tho. Also breathing out relaxes the body and enables the muscles to be more pliant and absorb movement. Holding your breath tightens everything. No shock absorbers!
Thanks Eddie. I'll bear that in mind for another time.
Hi Scott, informative vlog and macro is really the area where a photographer is truly tested to get the results. Please do not think I am being smart, but I need to correct you on the dragonfly photos, they are actually damselflies. Normally wings at 90 degree to body = dragonfly, wings over the body = damselfly. I use a ring flash and when set correctly it works the same as your flash with diffusers. I also agree with your comments about image stabilisation, it is better turned off as this causes more blur than anything else. Great shots by the way, really enjoyed this one. See you out there!
Not, at all - you’re absolutely right. I always say dragonflies as a catch all, but these were indeed damselflies. Glad you enjoyed it.
Can you tell me the name of the app that transfers your photos to your phone. Please. TIA
Saludos desde Cozumel
no hablo ingles pero con los subtítulos esta bien
Saludos. ¿Eso es Cozumel en México? He estado ahí. También Isla Mujeres. Son lugares muy bonitos. Mis subtítulos son todos de Google Translate. Así que perdóname si no son perfectos. Gracias por ver.
Great video, beautiful and interesting informations.
I like this a lot.
Tomorrow I will go to the local shop and buy a 100 mm macro lens :)
Just one point: for me the music is a little too loud compared to the voice (e.g. around 19:00), so I need to adjust my speakers when enjoying this in the evening hours.
Thanks for watching and good luck with your macro lens. The music balance is much better in my more recent videos.
The fly is Volucella pellucens, a type of Hoverfly, great Vlog
Thank you. I must spend some time to get learn more insect identification. Nice Mull vlog btw.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide It’s so hard sometimes, so many different species. I only know this one because the wife photographed one yesterday, we had never seen on like this before, so we looked it up.
First of all: very nice video, thanks for sharing your insights. One point though I do not understand. Light moves through space with a speed of about 300000 kilometers per second, So even with a 1/1000 second shutter speed the light will move about 300 kilometers (if it were bright enough) in that 1/1000 of a second. So even with the background away 5 meters the light will hit the background before the shutter is closed again. So I do not think the black background you mention is caused by by fact that time at even 1/1000 shutter speed is too short to reach the background. I think the black background is caused by the fact that the light has spread out more when the background is reached, because its further away then the subject. Twice as far means four times more spread out or stated otherwise: only 1/4 of the light will hit a certain surface area when twice as far away. And the light also has to come back to the camera, where it will be spread out even more.
Hi. That’s a great point. This was the explanation from when I first learned to use flash and I’ve never questioned it. But you’re absolutely right - light travels much faster than that. I need to go away and think about this one. Thanks for watching and for demonstrating why you shouldn’t always believe what you’re told.
It is of course not a matter of the speed of light as you rightly pointed out. The dark(er) or black background comes merely from the fact that the shutter speed is too short to expose for it. The flaslight is much stronger and hence illuminates the flower or object close by. However, the light from the flaslight will fall off in intensity proportional with distance cubed as it is radiating out in a cone shaped geometry from the flash head. This means that the surface it illuminates gets larger and larger with the distance and not enough light will hit it. In simpler words, the further away the object is from the flashlight, the less light will hit it. In order to not get a dark background just lower your shutter speed until flashlight and ambient light will balance. Hope that helps.
@@thomasendlein734 inverse square law all the way baby 👍
@@AndyMan-mr1hyactually inverse of length *cubed* (distance times area)
Also, if everything is on manual, a longer shutter speed will allow more ambient light from the background to enter the camera, making the background lighter.
thank you for video but when you decrease the shutter speed you make bright back because of introducing ambient light into photo and flash light try it indoor and you get same black back at 1/100 and 1/200
What happened to the sound at around 18:40 ? It went really loud really quick :D
Amazing video tho, i just started macro photography with my eos r and an old reverse mounted film lens.
There were a few really good tips for starters like me ! :)
Thank you Scott!
Sorry about that. I was much newer to making videos when I put this one out, and audio is a massive learning curve. My more recent videos have a much better audio balance. I'm glad you found the video useful though. Thanks for watching.
Thanks. A pretty good video and some nice tips. I take pictures of butterflies. I still Think a lot of settings as I do it manually. Aperture and shutterspeed incl ISO. Its new for me with my new Nikon flash SB 700. Could you please give me some details about your choice for Aperture and shutterspeed? Lets say its a nice sunny day. I am very close to a butterfly. I want eyes very sharpe and some Sharp details for the wings but blury background?
Hi Thomas. Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately there’s no magic formula for this. So much depends on conditions (how much light and how much wind), how fast your subject is moving, and what kind of effects you want to create. If you’re fairly new I would aim for middle to narrow apertures (f/8 - f/14) this will give you the best chance of having what you want in focus. Lots of macro photographers like narrow apertures like f/2.8 - but so little of the scene is in focus that this is hard when you are new. If you’re using a flash, have a shutter speed of less than 1/200. At 1/200 you’ll get dark backgrounds and bright subjects. Lower, at say 1/50, you’ll get brighter backgrounds. If you’re not using a flash you’ll just need to experiment for the conditions you have. I would start at 1/500 and go up or down from there depending on how sharp your in focus areas are. I hope that helps as a starting point.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide its so perfect. Thanks a lot. 🦋
Coldeb 89
7 hours ago (edited)
Some great tips there Scott, I've already spotted a few things that I'm doing, or not doing correctly , which is why I have not yet taken a Macro shot I am completely happy with, but once the weather cheers up I'll put your Tips into practise. Edit: I just had to delete and write this comment again just to edit it because UA-cam have removed the Edit option..madness !
😂 I that case, I’ll wish you luck with your macro photography again. 👍 Thanks for watching.
Hi Scott. I'm from South Africa and live on the boarder of Kruger which is getting so busy to go into and and cat sighting there is a traffic jam. I therefore have moved onto macro which I really love mainly as I can move around my subject. I do have a speed lite (canon) but not a diffuser. Is it possible to make my own? and what would I use? ...... maybe you can sometime do a tutorial/ crit on the publics macro shots. I would love that after watching the one you did on Birds in Flight.
Hi Carol. It's definitely possible to make your own diffusion for a speed light flash. Most macro photographers will put some kind of diffuser on the flash and then a second diffusion material that hangs around the lens. Here's a video from my friend, Peter Virag, who is an excellent macro photographer and uses canon like you. ua-cam.com/video/geFiwms36e8/v-deo.html He's used a variety of set ups so you might like to check out a few more of his videos. I like the idea of a macro photo review video, so I will add that to the list. Thanks for watching.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide thankyou so much for your help and advise.
Yesterday I was taking some macro foto's of waterdrops and I noticed that in a number of shots, my diffuser was very visible in the reflections! Perhaps for waterdrops, a shot without a diffuser would have been better -- a star from the flashlight may be better. ;-)
However it also made me wonder, would a circular polariser filter have helped me in this situation? I didn't yet get a chance to try it myself, but after watching your video I was curious if have any experience with using a CPL to combat reflections and blown out highlights from the flash?
Regarding breathing, I think that I unconsciously am holding my breath while shooting. Breathing in first then holding your breath, instead of breathing out, might give your body a bit more oxygen to burn while getting the focus right?
I’ve only tried it once and abandoned it very quickly. I was getting some strange colours in the highlights. Nothing to do with colour cast, but I guess it would be something to do with the proximity of the light to the CPL.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide OK, interesting!
I had good results with it last week when I was shooting some flowers on the table, with lights from various directions bouncing off and causing blown out surfaces. But that was not as close-up as the water drops so it's not directly comparable.
Nice video with some useful tips. Just one thing, none of those were Dragonflies, they were all Damselflies.
PS..the Bug at 8:17 is a European Hoverfly Eristalis pertinax, there was quite an influx of them this and last year, I managed to get some nice pics of them myself.
Thanks. Someone else pointed that out too. Since then I’ve been reading about other insects that mimic bees’ appearance in order to put off predators. Really interesting. Thanks for the info.
I know that you recommend manual focus for macro but my eyes aren't what they used to be. How well do you think manual focus would work with transition lens glasses?
Hi Randy. Thanks for the question, but I'm not sure - I've never worn glasses. Most cameras have a tool that can really help with manual focus though. It might be called 'focus peaking' or 'focus assist'. If you turn it on you will see a coloured line surrounding anything that is in focus, the more intense the line, the more in focus it is. You can change the colour, normally red, green blue or white. You will need to be in live view if you have a DSLR. Give it a try. I would imagine it is really helpful even if you're wearing glasses.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide Thank you! I will try that.
Your 'bee-like bug' @ 7:59 is the hoverfly Volucella pellucens. It's larvae live in the nests of social wasps.
Thanks for the info
@@WalksOnTheWildSide Your welcome. I don't know which part of the country you are in, but you might want to keep an eye out for it's larger relative V. zonaria that is said to be a hornet mimic (recently confined to the London area but spreading north rapidly in recent years).
I’m in the midlands, but I’ll keep my eyes peeled.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide Definately in the midlands. July and August. Often on buddleia.
How do you get those creamy backgrounds. I have a canon 100mm 2.8 and still i don't get creamy background.in the background is still visible to a certain extent. Can't work that one out. Are you putting a coloured card behind?
Hi. It's hard to say without seeing your photos, but many macro photographers shoot from the wrong angle and so too much of the background is in focus. Here's another video of mine which describes it, but with birds rather than insects. But it's exactly the same principle. ua-cam.com/video/OlgHNJTDTQg/v-deo.htmlsi=gapzBBrWEBkh4x4s&t=126 Thanks for watching
What lens are you using for macro.
Hi Lisa. In this video it was all on the Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro lens. I use a few others as well, the Laowa 15mm f/4, Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X and I've recently got another lens that I'll be reviewing soon. Thanks for watching.
Great info Scot can you do a bit more about manual focus please I’ve never had much luck with that 🙄🤣👍
Hi Nigel. Great idea. I’ll work it into my plans for upcoming video. Thanks for your suggestion and thanks for watching.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide your very welcome every time I go onto manual focus it just seems to go very blurry and I don’t know why, I’m probably using the the wrong setting in the function menu 🤷♂️
Let’s see if we can get that sorted then. I’ll try and get that recorded soon and should be out in the next few weeks.
@@WalksOnTheWildSide ah great thanks Scot I’m based in Gloucester so if your in the area I don’t mind paying for any help if not I look forward to the video cheers Mate 👍
I’ve not got any plans to be near you yet, but I have been thinking about a little trip to the Forest of Dean - which isn’t that far from Gloucester. Always nice to meet others who have similar interests.
Nice video. Just a thing: the explanation on shutter speed and light when using a flash is wrong. It is not a matter a speed of light. In 1/1000th of a second, the light travels 180 miles. It definitely reaches the background whatever you do.
What plays a role is how much flash light you get compared to natural light, and the latter increases with your shutter speed.
As a result, you have more ways to control the effect: you can also just reduce the flash intensity, and keep the shutter speed as fast as possible.
Hi. Yes, you're absolutely right. Lots of people have pointed it out. I wish I could go back and edit it out, but unfortunately not. Glad you enjoyed the video any way and thanks for watching.
I want to take this.
Thanks for watching
Thanks do you offer workshops
I am hoping to offer some workshops from next year. If you'd like to sign up to my newsletter you should hear something about workshops soon. walksonthewildside.co.uk/subscribe Thanks for watching.
It would have been nice to know what some of your camera settings were.
Thanks for watching Gordon. I've started including settings in my more recent videos.
I think the advice about exposure length for adjusting the background brightness is good, but the explanation given at 10:23 seems misleading. The speed of light is almost 300,000 km/sec, so even if the background is 500m away it would only take light 1/300,000 seconds to get there and bounce back. Plenty fast enough to hit the sensor during the 1/250s exposure.
But by the time the flash reaches the background it will be extremely spread out, since the background is much bigger than the subject. If the background is 10 times further away then the inverse square law says that the flash light will be reduced to 1/100th of the intensity it has on the subject. That means the flash becomes unimportant on the background compared to the ambient light. And since the flash duration is shorter than the shutter speed extending the shutter speed doesn't change the light received from the flash at all, but it increases the amount of ambient light collected.
If you were photographing at night, when there's almost no light at all except the flash, then the background would be dark and mostly unaffected by the shutter speed, unless you use extremely low shutter speeds like a second or more.
You're absolutely right. I've had it pointed out quite a few times. The explanation was wrong. On the plus side, the advice still works. Thanks for your comment and for watching.
I think they are damselfly not dragon dragonfly have wings open. I may be wrong. A great video.
You’re absolutely right. I always refer to both types as dragonflies but these were definitely damselflies. Thanks for watching.
No mention about the aperture and depth of field. But a good video nevertheless!!👍👍
Thank you
Hi Scott great video but it is not a dragonfly they are damselflies otherwise very informative thanks Steve
With Canon, their macro stabiliser works very well. When I upgraded from the non stabilised to the new version, l got 2 full stops benefit from it. It made hand held shooting a delight whereas I had really struggled prior to this. Just put it on my R5 and holy cow! Even better!. So be careful with generalisations. Good video otherwise.
Good stuff. I’m glad it works so well. The image stabilised version does cost twice as much as the non-stabilised version though. Whereas a cheap flash could cost as little as £40. The flash will perfectly freeze the image and get even more than 2 stops improvement. So my advice to someone getting their first macro lens would still be to buy a flash over a stabilised lens. But thanks for the input and thanks for watching.
These are damselflies, not dragonflies. Wonderful instruction.
Love your videos! Maybe work on your audio a bit. Your music that you edit in is so loud that sometimes it's even peaking and distorting. Then it changes back to your commentary and your mic is the proper level (Super quiet in comparison) and I find myself constantly having to adjust the volume while watching your videos. It really ruins the experience.
Hi Brandon. yes, sorry. I was much newer to making videos when I put this out and audio was a big learning curve. My recent videos have a much better audio balance. Glad you enjoyed it anyway and thanks for watching.
Unfortunately, the ear splitting background music level between narrating spoiled it for me. However, the content was otherwise very good and highly informative.
Thank you.
Thanks for the feedback. I’ve worked on the audio since this video and it’s a lot better in my more recent videos.
Just wondering which english accent is this?
Hi. It's probably closest to the East Midlands accent.
Music much too loud in comparison to voice. Good content.
Glad you enjoyed it. Sorry about the music. I was much newer to making videos back then (this video was made a couple of years ago). Check out some of my more recent work and I'm sure you'll find there is a better audio balance.
Hello sir!
1st of all: Thank you for super great tips! - They are indeed very usefull and helpfull.
Now ... PLEASE, make sure your music is at SAME level as your speaker sound, else as it is right now, we have to turn up and down all the time.
Your speaker voice is a bit lower, and the music to load, so.....
Also, PLEASE wait, at least 3-5 sec before talking at the very beginning of your great videos, all devices playing, need to made a little buffer before it can play, so we allways have to restart a video to get all information. This is a common problem amoung youtubers, they simpley forget.
Last: I really want to make macro photo ect, but .. there is a big but ... I am disablet, and have to use a #¤%#%& wheelchair, can you (if you got time) try to make some usefull tips for person like me?
No one (as far I know) make any photo related for disablet ppl at all. We are humans!
Hello Per. Thanks for your comments and feedback. I'm glad you liked the tips. I have had a few comments about the audio volume and I have worked to improve it. My more recent videos have better audio balance. I've also had requests from other people for content that helps disabled people, elderly people and others. I will put some thought to this and if I can do it well, I will make something. Thanks for this idea and thanks for watching.
Damselfly im afraid !
Great video, but the jump between your voice level and going to just the music is too much.
Thanks Arthur - I’m working on it. Audio editing has been a whole new world for me. But I think the next video will have much better audio balance.
I hate it when people use higher music volume than that of voice. To hear clearly, I raise the volume up and when music comes in I lose my head.
Hi there. Sorry about that. I was still quite new to making videos at the time this was published and I think you'll find the audio balance much better in my newer videos.
They are not Dragonflies they are Damselflies.
Hallo, sehe ihre Videos recht gern, aber sie berufen sich alle auf eine Kamera mit Bildstabilisierung, hat man das nicht braucht es ein Stativ, was die Sache sehr erschwert. Konnte mit IBIS schon Fotos aus der Hand machen, die aber bei 200% schon Unschärfe oder Verwacklungen zeigten. Schade. Deine Filmaufnahmen sind ja auch nicht immer auf Fokus.
Those are not dragonflies they are damselflies.
The music is too loud compared to your voice.
Good tips but music way to loud.
Thanks for watching and for the feedback.