I’M NOT GIVING UP ON THE MACRO
As most of you know, I still make an occasional attempt to shoot close-up photography without the use of a macro lens. I’m making the assumption it’s much more difficult without a macro lens. At least, I hope it will get easier when I’m able to make that highly anticipated purchase.
Upon returning to my car yesterday, I found this insect sitting on top of my car basking himself in the sun. I’m guessing it’s some Katydid species. But, I can’t say for sure. He was polite enough to pose for a while, but it was certainly difficult to get a decent shot off with the reflection of the white car and the fact that, because of his position – and my lack of proper lenses, I was shooting into the sun.
At any rate, I decided to post him/her. But, I hope everyone will remember – this is a learning blog about photography. That means I try to post images that we can discuss and offer suggestions of help. I really hope to get better, but I really don’t want to sit around and wait until I can buy a macro lens before I shoot close-ups! In fact just today, my wife found a spider feasting on something while resting in his web. What did I do? Well, I drove over to her office and fired off some shots. We’ll see how they turned out tonight when I download them.
I was working on keeping the eye in focus, but still feel it’s a little fuzzy when enlarged. It’s unfortunate that I had to adjust the saturation and exposure levels due to severe washout by the sun.
So, let me hear your suggestions/evaluations, or even just a “Hang in there!”
Thanks for stopping by!
Photographyfree4all's Blog 
You’ve captured a pretty amazing shot there given the circumstances… Very nice indeed…
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Thanks for stopping by and leaving a kind word of encouragement, FS! The circumstances were challenging..at least for me! I hope you’ll stop by again, soon!
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It is never ‘unfortunate’ to use your photography software to adjust for any lacking in your photos. We do the best we can given the circumstances and then go back and ‘photoshop’ to clean it up. It was no different with film. I remember “dodging” and “burning” in the lab to make a portion of a photo pop, or come out of the shadows in my photography classes at Cal-State USB.
We work at it as often as we can because we are called to view the world through our camera’s lens. It is a journey we take for ourselves and if someone likes what we’ve captured, well, all the better!
We all learn from each other’s successes and failures. Don’t apologize… I don’t think any of us would be here if we didn’t like what we were seeing and/or learning. 😀
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You are too hard on yourself! I think you did great as the composition is fantastic (love the addition of the shadow).
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Funny that you took these shots because I took a couple of close-up shots the past few days without a macro. I will post them tomorrow or the next day. You will see that you can get close up without a macro. It just depends how serious you want to go, how much you want to spend, and really how much macro-photography you intend to do. If it’s just occasional, heck, that picture that you have posted is pretty darned good. However, having said that, I would have darkend those hightlights and sharpened it up a bit. Is you’re PS Elements the shadows/highlight tool would have done a magnificent job. A good photo, and you’re going in the right direction.
Incidentally, the close-ups that I am going to post were taken with my Canon 100-400mm lens. Watch for them.
Bob Zeller
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that’s a pretty good shot, no matter that it isn’t taken with a macro. I think you’ve used the blown-out contrast to good effect, blowing out the background completely to almost give it an abstracted look, which works well due to the dominant subject.
the focus is right where it should be, on the eyes, and any softness is probably just due to handholding the lens.
before I had a macro lens I would use cropping to get me there. as long as you don’t have an editor hanging over your shoulder, who cares what the image size ends up being? it’s about image-making, and image-making is about doing the best we can with what we’ve got. so far you’re doing pretty good
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Thank you for this comment, Lynda! it was very encouraging to me! I’m very flattered that you as well as others continue to visit and help me grow! All I can say is, Thanks!
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It’s that perfectionist persona coming out! Thanks for your comment, Milkay! It really encourages me.
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I’ll definitely be looking for those Bob! I’ve seen your work, I know it will be good. The spider turned out OK. I’ll be posting it in a few days, too. Thanks for stopping by!
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I love it! I like the bright sun in the back, with his bright green color, and the contrast of the shadow in the front.
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Catherine, thank you for this comment. i do think the shadow gives a nice effect to the overall shot! I’m so glad you stopped by today,
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This seems like a great shot to me, espacially considering the circumstances! The whited out background isn’t a problem here, it looks great. The only problem I could find is with the antenae. Funnily enough I find it gives an extra interest it being captured sitting on a car: I love the blueish shadow, and the reflection of its legs is interesting!
Personally, whenever I am photography macro, I don’t need a macro lens, I’ve got an excellent macro mode on my camera.
Funny you call this a katydid, in England this is a cricket!
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Have you tried turning your lens around? Shooting through it backwards? It makes a ‘make-shift’ macro lens. if you google that, you’ll find lots of websites that tell you how.
I like your picture. A Macro lens will give you different abiilties, but you are doing a great job with the lens you have.
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I think this is a great shot! I like the effect of the white out or washout! So often photos are focused with black or fuzzy DOF, this creates a whole different look!
My work has often been commented on has great macro, when I don’t own a macro lens
I use my 18/55mm Nikon lens and lean in close…
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I really like the hard-edged, blown-out nature of this shot – combined with the shadow, it is very stylistic and striking. Well done!
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Thank you, Kai! I can be quite the perfectionist sometimes. I think I can achieve a fairly good overall shot without a macro lens (even though this shot was captured under extreme circumstances). But, I do like the detail that can sometimes only be achieved with a macro lens. But, I know you’re shots are great without the lens, so I’ll no doubt continue to do the same. Thanks for stopping by. Funny, here in the states a cricket is a completely different creature. That’s interesting!
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I’ve heard of this technique, Amanda. But, I’m not sure exactly how it works. I’ll have to research it a bit. Thank you for that tip, though. I hope you’ll stop by again, soon.
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I have to say, John, when you come in with your comments they are so packed with information! There’s always so helpful. Thank you for that! And, thanks for stopping by.
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Thanks for this comment, Jeff! Lean in close is the key! When I was shooting a spider yesterday, I seriously thought I was going to touch the web at one point! I’m glad you stopped by and left such an encouraging comment!
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Thank you so much, Journey! I apprecite your encouraging words. I do hope you’ll come back again, soon.
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I saw your dragonfly shot today, Bob! It’s a great shot. It could be a flaming skimmer. Thanks for the mention in your post today!
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I think you did pretty good given the conditions. He reminds me of Jiminey Cricket. 🙂
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HAHA! Thanks for your comment, Robin! I’m glad you stopped by today. Juminey Cricket – maybe? Kai commented that’s what they call them in England. Well, not necessarily Jiminey – but cricket for sure. 🙂
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Talk about a challenge! You did really well, considering the light and everything else. Did you use a tripod? I found that was pretty essential before buying the macro lens. I never tried reversing a standard lens, but it’s supposed to work pretty well.
Thanks for your honesty and humility–very refreshing and helpful to an amateur like me!
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Thanks for this encouragement, Ms. Pearl! I think it’s great that we can be an encouragement to each other. I did not use a tripod. In fact, I’ve never used a tripod with my close-ups. I know that’s part of my problem. It seems most of my opportunities have come unexpectedly. I always carry my camera, but rarely have my tripod unless I know I’m going to need it for a shoot. I’m glad you stopped by!
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Wow, this is a stunning shot! And the eye of the bug is absolutely amazing! Don’t go so hard on yourself; if I even tried a close up of a bug severely backlit, I would most certainly fail. What you’ve managed here is amazing! 😀
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Thank you for stopping by and leaving such a wonderful comment, Sunflower! I thought it was a difficult shot, and have grown to like the results. It’s one of those times when you aren’t prepared for this type of shot. And, you really don’t have a lot of time to consider what you need to do – because he’s not going to sit there very long. So, I acted quickly and this is the result. I hope you’ll stop by again, soon.
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Great shot – kind of reminds me of the character “Hopper” from It’s a Bug’s Life. Nice capture!
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Thanks for stopping by today Car54. I don’t think I’ve seen Hopper. I’ll have to take a look at him. I hope you’ll stop by again soon.
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