My first close up- can I get macro tips?

TheHarold · Apr 28, 2016

Hey R2R! Here is my first "Close up" photo, using a Canon T3i with stock 18-55mm lens and a tripod.

I used "No Flash" (auto) mode with a 10 second timer delay. Can i get some critique?

shadow1013 · Apr 28, 2016

Looks awesome! Did you shoot right up against the glass or do you have a top down tube to shoot in?

143MPCo · Apr 28, 2016

@d2mini @saltyfilmfolks might have some good tips for you but that's a great picture you took!

TheHarold · Apr 28, 2016

shadow1013 said:
Looks awesome! Did you shoot right up against the glass or do you have a top down tube to shoot in?

This is right up against the glass, maybe 1" (Including glass!) away from the subject

TheHarold · Apr 28, 2016

143MPCo said:
@d2mini @saltyfilmfolks might have some good tips for you but that's a great picture you took!

Thanks! Here is the only other "good" one that I managed to get; the others ended up not being focused right

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 28, 2016

TheHarold said:
Thanks! Here is the only other "good" one that I managed to get; the others ended up not being focused right

it looks like you ,may have just missed focus a bit on this one, two things, If your on a tripod, stop down 2.8 to an 5.6(aperture priority mode)
and try to stay flat to the glass.(distortion)

On the first one(excellent BTW) I would NOT stop down. the shallow depth of field is used to excellent effect.

try aperture priority. (Note the color balance and asa of the pics and set to aperture priority.)

there is a technique called bracketing, pic a stop for good exposure, and shoot more open, then more closed . gives you choices on depth of field the effect.

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 28, 2016

TheHarold said:
Hey R2R! Here is my first "Close up" photo, using a Canon T3i with stock 18-55mm lens and a tripod.

I used "No Flash" (auto) mode with a 10 second timer delay. Can i get some critique?

EXCELLENT!!! Keep shooting!

d2mini · Apr 28, 2016

The first looks great!
Salty pretty much has you covered.
It's also generally good advice to turn off your circulation pumps to slow down coral movement.
Aperture priority can work well, and if you need a faster shutter speed to stop movement you can try raising your ISO a bit.

You also might want to see if your camera will let you choose/move the focus point. This way you can keep the camera still, but move the point to the area you want in focus.
The camera may be trying to guess what you want in focus which works well for people, but not so well for something as abstract as coral.
And the old trick of focusing and then recomposing is tough with macros because the slightest change can really shift your focus.

TheHarold · Apr 28, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
it looks like you ,may have just missed focus a bit on this one, two things, If your on a tripod, stop down 2.8 to an 5.6(aperture priority mode)
and try to stay flat to the glass.(distortion)

On the first one(excellent BTW) I would NOT stop down. the shallow depth of field is used to excellent effect.

try aperture priority. (Note the color balance and asa of the pics and set to aperture priority.)

there is a technique called bracketing, pic a stop for good exposure, and shoot more open, then more closed . gives you choices on depth of field the effect.

Yes, unfortunately missed the focus point!

I am on a tripod. Unfortunately I am using cheap eBay extension tubes that do not contact the electrical contacts.... eg no adjusting F.

I do not know what aperture priority, bracketing, etc is; new to this. However I will research them for sure: I have a list of terms and techniques I am working on!

Here is a SPS closeup from this afternoon:

TheHarold · Apr 28, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
EXCELLENT!!! Keep shooting!

Thank you!!! I appreciate the help and advice; all of this is new to me

TheHarold · Apr 28, 2016

d2mini said:
The first looks great!
Salty pretty much has you covered.
It's also generally good advice to turn off your circulation pumps to slow down coral movement.
Aperture priority can work well, and if you need a faster shutter speed to stop movement you can try raising your ISO a bit.

You also might want to see if your camera will let you choose/move the focus point. This way you can keep the camera still, but move the point to the area you want in focus.
The camera may be trying to guess what you want in focus which works well for people, but not so well for something as abstract as coral.
And the old trick of focusing and then recomposing is tough with macros because the slightest change can really shift your focus.

Next time I will turn off my circulation pumps, thats a great point. ISO is at 100- is that right? Need to research aperture priority more. My camera can move the focus point but I am not sure how to utilize that effect, perhaps focus on the subject using the rule of thirds?

TheHarold · Apr 28, 2016

For most of these I set the ISO to 100. I (manually) focus "roughly" and then zoom in 10x to get the fine details.. .Is that correct?

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 28, 2016

d2mini said:
You also might want to see if your camera will let you choose/move the focus point. This way you can keep the camera still, but move the point to the area you want in focus.
The camera may be trying to guess what you want in focus which works well for people

I forget people use auto focus.