experienced photographers: macro work...?

Question

question for more-than-amateur photographers. how can i take better macro nature photos (besides more experience, which I'll get in due time)?

I'm fairly new to photography, but I've done my research. i know how to take your average macro shot, (i know about aperture, filters, different lenses, bokeh, tripod of course ect. ect. ect.), but i can't find any in-depth information about what will help with my photos. every website or book i've found just gives me basic information that I've already heard 20-30 times...

i tend to use available light, it's adequate for now, but would a macro flash or ring flash help? are close up filters or extension tubes worth while? any composition tricks that work best with macro photography? i usually blur the background and keep the subject to one side, but that's getting a bit repetitive now.

just any information or advice you can give me from your own experience would help. thanks.

macro photography is my favorite type of photography, and i'm currently saving up for a Zeiss ZF 2/50 macro lens.

please don't give me a link, unless you think it will be really helpful. i've seen so many things that say the same thing.
thanks again.

PS. to show you what 'level' i'm at, here's some macro photos of mine.
http://fc69.deviantart.com/fs40/i/2009/052/b/1/Blur_by_t_o_j_e_e_m.jpg
http://fc78.deviantart.com/fs38/i/2008/340/c/a/Green_by_t_o_j_e_e_m.jpg
http://fc76.deviantart.com/fs37/f/2008/263/2/4/bumble_bee_by_t_o_j_e_e_m.jpg
http://fc32.deviantart.com/fs37/i/2009/019/0/8/_yellow__by_t_o_j_e_e_m.jpg
http://fc76.deviantart.com/fs37/f/2008/263/e/a/ladybug_2_by_t_o_j_e_e_m.jpg

criticize, by all means =]

Answer 1

Not a bad start, the main comment I would make is that you could improve your lighting. Available light has many plus points, but often when working close-up you need to add a little flash, not just to lighten the image, but so you can use a smaller aperture and get sharper focus and better depth of field. Don't worry about the background, it's easy to blur it more later if necessary.



If you don't have funds available right away, you can make a diffuser by cutting a hole in the lid of a plastic container. Poke your lens through the hole and point your flash right down at the back of the plastic. Semi transparent, colourless, "milky" looking plastic is best. You'll need to set your flash to manual or TTL and experiment to get the best results. Not quite a ring flash, but it works.



Supplementary lenses are cheap and take up little space in your camera bag, but they do tend to cause chromatic aberration (colour fringes) although this can be mostly corrected in later editions of photoshop. The results can be quite good. I would recommend you try them, but nothing will compare to a good quality, purpose built macro lens.



One thing that I've found really useful when shooting outdoors is a little homemade windbreak. (a clear plastic sheet with wire coat hanger legs.) There's nothing worse than trying to catch that perfect shot of a bug on a flower as it bobs around in the breeze.



In general, composition is something that cant be taught. Other than the rule of thirds etc. The only way is to look at lots of pictures, drawings, paintings, photos in magazines... You will in time develop "an eye" for it, but keep it fairly central for macro.



Just try to make your next set of pictures better than your last, and soon enough they'll be something to be proud of ;)

Answer 2

who told you to compose photos with things off to the SIDE???



Eg, in the first posting, you have blurred everything, AND your picture is filled with half a frame of blurred brown STUFF???



I have a feeling that you are trying to shoot at large apertures to try and get the blurring you refer to as BOKEH. However, when you take the macro shots, you should be starting with a smallest aperture to get as much depth of field as you can. When you focus closely, you need as much detail as you can get. START at f11 or so and then if you think that too much of the background is interfering, drop it down to f8. Don't START with f 3.5 !! When you focus closely, even a small aperture won't give you a heck of a lot of depth of field.



Lets say you wanted to take a picture of a dragonfly sitting on a branch. Well at F11, you are barely going to get the rear wings clear in the shot.



You might want to consider using manual focus as well with your macro shots.



I think you will be very impressed as to the difference a true MACRO lens will enable you to do. In your picture of a ladybug sitting on a leaf, you would be able to get in close enough to basically have the ladybug fill up half of the frame.

Answer 3

In some of the pictures, your subjects were a bit off focus. Nonetheless, for starters, not bad. Of course in macro photography, you always want to have your lens with its aperture wide open. It all comes down to choosing the right subject, getting the right focus on it, what lens you use, lighting situations, etc. You generally want your subject in the center for macro photography, since that is where most of the attention is brought whilst the rest of the photo is in blur from the lens. The wider the aperture, the more "bookeh" you will receive. Keep that in mind when shopping for a lens. Generally, the focusing distance and F-stop on a lens all factor in to how much of the "bookeh" you're going to receive. Lighting is an issue when it comes to macro photography. You always want most of the light on your subject. Ring flashes do aid in bringing more light onto the subject, but it also depends on the natural lighting conditions. Keep those in mind, hope you get what you're looking for. Keep on shooting!