macro photography

[Fred H. 0]

I have been told my fly photo's need improving. Look at my realistics and you can see for yourself.

the biggest part of the problem is I don't know enough to know what aspects need improving.My camera is an Olympus Stylus 760 (7.1 megapixel). when I post a picture ,because I have dial up internet I resize the photo from 3072x2304 to 600x450 so it wont take a day and a half to upload. Do I need a better camera? do I need some kind of software? I know photogrphy is an art in itself and I just might have an eye for it, but any help would be greatly apprieciated.

 

Fred

[day5 0]

Fred does your camera have a macro setting? Its a button that looks like a tulip or flower.

[Fred H. 0]

yes, it has a macro setting.and a super macro setting. I shoot most with the super.

[JayMorr 0]

Fred,

 

Post some examples for us and we can give you some thoughts and possibly help you out. Macro photography is really fun. I shoot a lot of my macro stuff on an Olympus C-750 which is a 4.0 MP. Feel free to check out www.jaymorrphotography.com and go to my galleries. Most of my macro work has been shot on a Point and Shoot. I am just starting to get more involved with macro shooting on my 40D.

 

I can also help you with some photoshop solutions that might improve the macro shot just a bit.

 

The shot below was taken a few years ago on the Olympus:

[Fred H. 0]

Jay,thanks for replying you are a great photographer.I'm at work now and this computer does not have those files,but if you look on this forum under Realistics you can find most of them.

[FKROW 0]

This is my favorite site for discussions and photo examples.

 

http://www.flickr.com/groups/closer_and_closer/

 

Regards,

FK

[JayMorr 0]

Thanks for the link FK! Nice. I am checking it out now.

 

 

[DaveB 0]

Hi Fred,

I think you will find some great Macro help by doing a Google search for macro photography help. I found great information to setup your shot, camera setting, lighting and all around photography help/tips. The next piece is some constructive criticism to help improve your photo work. I think you came to the right place. Shooting the flies can become as much a passion as the tying itself. I've moved from a point and shoot to a dedicated DLSR with macro lens, light box, various lights (daylight, tungsten, etc) for various effects. If you are not already using a photo editing software, I would recommend that. It is no substitute for photography “know how” but it is much a part of the process like the darkroom is to film.

 

Attached was shot with an E-Volt 500 with a ZUIKO DIGITAL 35mm F3.5 Macro on Macro mode. I am new to the forum so I hope to start contributing more photos.

 

I look forward to your pictures, this discussion and learning from you all.

 

 

-Dave

 

[JayMorr 0]

Dave,

 

Excellent shot! I love the lighting. I look forward to your contribution. I am really excited to see your work.

 

 

[Fred H. 0]

Ok I 'll build a light box ,but what editing software(adobe Photo shop)? I just read about RAW editing as a novice should Look at that sounds exspensive. And can someone tell me what DLSR is?

Can I do with my Olympus stylus or should I upgrade. My only focus is to put good quality macro photos online.

[rhinorods69 0]

fred i would up grade to a slr if moneys is very tight then try this one i have the fuji fine pix s5100 which is a 4.0 mega pixcel camera the one at the link below is a s5200 which has 5.1 megapixcels and it is cheaper then what mine was for basically the same camera then all you need is a lens for macro mode save the lense adapter ring that comes with the camera and order the best optical zoom lenses you can i got opteka for my camera which is 10x all i do is set it on the m on the round dial know as macro then hit the flower know as macro open the flash and adjust the camera position back and forth till in position tripods help to the fish eye macro lenses is not the lens your looking for even though it takes very cool pics it not meant for what you want to do

 

for $145 for camera and $33 for a lenses it not a bad camera it's a point and shot to were the dslr is way better

 

http://www.hdcameraworld.com/product_p/fuj...CFQRksgodXw0vtw

 

this ones not bad either for $130

 

http://www.hdcameraworld.com/product_p/fujs700.htm

 

btw nikon d40 has slr it a lens here is body only still will have to buy a lens

 

http://www.broadwayphoto.com/ViewProduct.a...mp;l=Everyprice

 

 

any ways good luck and tight lines rhino.............

[letumgo 0]

Fred - Since you have a dial-up connection, the size of the file is going to be a key issue for you. I use a program called Picasa (distributed for free by Google). The program has a lot of great (and very simple) photo editing tools (rotate, crop, straighten, etc., etc.). One of the features I love to use is called Export. This feature allows you to take any photo and export it to a different pixel size without any noticeable lost in photo quality. The nice thing is that the photos are dramatically smaller in file size.

 

Here are a couple photos that I just exported using Picasa to illustrate the different size files and photos.

 

 

The original JPEG image was taken with an 8 Megapixel camera and was 2.9 MEG (3456x2304 pixels). All of the exported images are under 238K file size, and yet they look nearly identical to the original.

 

Shortcut Link to the Picasa Photo Program (free from Google)

 

PS - This software also works with RAW images if you go down that path in the future.

[rhinorods69 0]

btw here are some pics with my 4.0 mega pixcel camera with the macro lens first is a beatle

 

 

second is a dry

 

 

i find the small the the fly the better it come out any ways you don't want to know what my 26's look like they look like :poop: because they any torn thread or discolored thred shows up very well on very small stuff with this camera it the fine pix s5100 any ways good luck and tight lines rhino.... btw flash only

[flyrod98 0]

If you don't have enough info to keep you reading for the next month, here is another link to the Canon Digital Photography Forum Macro Photograpy

Check the stickies.

[letumgo 0]

Fred - I did some research on your camera and I do not think you need to upgrade. The camera has three different macro settings which you can play with to get the result you are looking for.

 

According to the manufacturers website, the focus ranges are:

Focus Range Normal Mode: 23.6” – infinity (0.6m – infinity)

Macro Mode (Wide): 7.9” – infinity (0.2m – infinity)

Macro Mode (Tele): 19.7” – infinity (0.5m – infinity)

Super Macro Mode: 3.2” – 23.6” (8cm – 60cm)

 

You may want to shoot some photos in each of the macro settings to see what difference it makes in the finished photos. The thing that catches my eye with the Super Macro Mode is that distance is limited to less than 23.6" from the lens to the object being photographed. If your camera is further away than that, the images will appear blurry.

 

I went back and looked at a number of your previous posts to look at your macro photos again. The main improvement I can suggest would be in the way of getting better lighting for your photos. It looks like a lot of images could be improved simply by increasing the amount of lighting that you have availible for the photo. You may want to try a few photos in outdoor sunlight. I often have the same problem with macro photos, so I have started to build my own light tent. It will take me a while to get it finished, but I am hoping that it will help me take photos when I can't wait for a sunny day.

 

Hope this helps.