Techniques for field macro photography

[jliechty]

Building a portable light tent sounds great for stuff that's close to the ground, especially when the sun is out and you need some diffusion (plus, changing your angle could get you a nice flat white background if the occasion demands it). Making the frame out of PVC is something that I could do easily enough, but what kind of material would you recommend?

A technique that I recently "discovered" now that I have a DSLR has helped me when I'm trying to photograph a subject that's either too high or too low for my old inflexible tripod, as long as the light is reasonably bright and the aperture need not be too small. I simply put the camera on the continuous mode and shoot a 4.5fps burst as I slowly lean in toward the subject; one of those frames is bound to be reasonably in focus. Of course, you all probably already knew this, and certainly it is no substitute for proper tripod technique, when that is possible.

[francois]

Many brands and models are available. Here is an example.

Francois

Edit: Sorry, Mike was faster to answer...

[boku]

I hold the stem with my left hand, preferably out of the frame, although with shallow DOF sometimes that doesn't matter. btw the "holding" is as often to get the lighting right as to still in a breeze.

- DL

Oh, out of the frame, so that's the trick...

[Christian]

You might be right about the capabilities of the 1-series cameras but that doesn't apply to my 10D. In any case, I find manual focus the only option when doing really close up work. The AF points are too coarse and inaccurate, especially when trying to *literally* pinpoint the focal point.

[Christian]

As an example of the problem...

Two days ago on a beach I was trying to shoot some of the tiny vegetation near the tunes. There was a breeze blowing, although it wasn't very strong. One shot was taken at 1/1250 at f/8, ISO 200 (to give you an idea of how bright the scene was) but I could tell it wasn't working because of the plant continually moving out of the DOF. So I got my backpack (Rover II) and my shoulder bag (Stealth Reporter 400) and placed them around the plant. Leaning over, the camera's meter now suggested 1/13! So I'd managed to make the scene very dark but guess what? The plant was still moving too much! As is common on a beach, the breeze was blowing constantly so no point waiting for a break in the wind. I took around 50 exposures and although I haven't had the chance to check them on the computer yet, I suspect only two or three of them will probably be sharp. Stopping down further wasn't an option because I only wanted part of the plant in focus. Flash would freeze the motion but wouldn't hold the plant at the correct point in the DOF. In the end I suspect I *may* have gotten one of the shots I wanted but it took a long while and if so it was purely luck!

[Jonathan Wienke]

Flash would freeze the motion but wouldn't hold the plant at the correct point in the DOF. In the end I suspect I *may* have gotten one of the shots I wanted but it took a long while and if so it was purely luck!

That's where you manually select a single focus point and use AI Servo. At least on on the 1-series Canons, the AF will keep the focus locked on the desired area even if the subject is blowing in the wind. It works great on spiders; I select a focus point over the fangs and get a fairly high percentage of keepers.

[Christian]

Is anyone experienced with in situ macro photography of wildflowers, for example? Given even the slightest breeze will make them jump across the viewfinder and given the low apertures (and thus low shutter speeds) required for adequate DOF, how is this done? Is special equipment required? If so, is it suitable for hiking with? How expensive is it?

[Jonathan Wienke]

I select a single focus point and use AI Servo mode. It's the only thing that works on moving insects like honeybees. Select a focus point, put it on the bee's head, and shoot.

[Christian]

Thanks guys, will look into these clamps and also the light tent option!

[Christian]

Holding is definitely out - I've tried this and it definitely doesn't work (for me). *Any* movement at all causes blur and my hands aren't perfectly still.

Try a faster shutter speed, and flash, possibly in conjunction with some of the previous suggestions like the light tent. Some subjects don't like being clamped...

http://www.visual-vacations.com/Photogr....ng_.htm
http://www.visual-vacations.com/Photograph...flash_setup.htm

Shutter speed is not the problem -- DOF is. The subject has to be precisely positioned in the in-focus plane and any movement takes it out of this. Stopping down and using flash (in my experience) doesn't work well because a) the actual increase in DOF is marginal and  working with flash in the field is very awkward. Your solutions are certainly innovative but would be difficult in many locations and aren't really suitable for carrying up to the top of a mountain, for example.

[Jonathan Wienke]

Try a faster shutter speed, and flash, possibly in conjunction with some of the previous suggestions like the light tent. Some subjects don't like being clamped...

http://www.visual-vacations.com/Photogr....ng_.htm
http://www.visual-vacations.com/Photograph...flash_setup.htm

Shutter speed is not the problem -- DOF is. The subject has to be precisely positioned in the in-focus plane and any movement takes it out of this. Stopping down and using flash (in my experience) doesn't work well because a) the actual increase in DOF is marginal and  working with flash in the field is very awkward. Your solutions are certainly innovative but would be difficult in many locations and aren't really suitable for carrying up to the top of a mountain, for example.

That's where the use of AI servo in conjunction with a manually selected AF sensor comes into play. It can react faster than camera jiggle, at least on the 1-series Canons. The night I shot the black widows, there was some wind, and the spiders were jiggling around in their webs enough to make focusing a crapshoot from a tripod, as they were bouncing in and out of focus in the wind. I still used a tripod, but lit the spiders with a flashlight to give the AF enough light to do its thing.

[aross007]

For a light tent (also partial windbreak) get a couple of the jointed tent poles for backpacker size tents, some small bungee cords, clothes pins, a piece of black cloth for dark backgrounds and a piece of "translucent" construction plastic for diffusion and make your own domed tent over the subject.  Stick a pole in the ground and bend it over the subject, second pole at right angles, bungee them together, drape dark cloth, light cloth, diffusion plastic in the proper places, tie together with clothes pins, crawl inside with your camera (it will quickly get very warm in there) and shoot away as long as you want.

You can also easily make a multi-flash bracket with a short piece of aluminum from the hardware, a couple of adorama standard flash holders, two of the cheapest and smallest used flash units you can find, and a few pieces of white nylon for diffusion on the flashes.  You'll have to calibrate it yourself as far as "flash number."  If it gives you too much depth of field, Photoshop to the rescue, blur the background.

If you are in the buying mode, look at Benbo tripods - they look weird, but are excellent for getting the camera in the right place (like really low) and holding it steady - I have two and wouldn't use anything else.

Just some ideas that work for me,
alan

[nobody]

You won't need any tripod mount for the 100 macro. Just mount the body to the tripod. This lens isn't all that heavy to cause much cantelever with the 20D.

I have never seen any one use a tripod mount with this lens and I have seen many people using it. It is very popular.

Using a tripod is a must, though.

Is that because of the weight?  It doesn't look to me like the 100/f2.8 macro should be all that much heavier than my 17-40, which is imminently hand-holdable.

If it's steadiness, I've had good luck with my 50mm/f2.5 hand held.

[Graham Welland]

I sometimes use one of those umbillical clips to hold larger stemmed items steady but if you shooting smaller woodland stuff you might consider either buying or building a portable light tent. You can also be quite creative with diffusers as wind-breaks too!

[Christian]

I sometimes use one of those umbillical clips to hold larger stemmed items steady but if you shooting smaller woodland stuff you might consider either buying or building a portable light tent. You can also be quite creative with diffusers as wind-breaks too!

What are these clips like and where could I get them? I think I'll look into the portable light tent option.

Holding is definitely out - I've tried this and it definitely doesn't work (for me). *Any* movement at all causes blur and my hands aren't perfectly still.

[Peter McLennan]

Jeez, Jonathan!  That's a heck of a spider shot.  Bugs are hard!  Dangerous, too, by the look of that red hourglass.

Peter

[larkvi]

I sometimes use one of those umbillical clips to hold larger stemmed items steady but if you shooting smaller woodland stuff you might consider either buying or building a portable light tent. You can also be quite creative with diffusers as wind-breaks too!

I find that a tripod, large Flexfill reflector, and my body, coupled with a goodly amount of patience for letting the wind die down (probably the most important bit) works adequately for most shots, and is much easier to take a long hike with.

[francofit]

...
was the spider triple flashed?
...

See the first of the two URLs provided by Jonathan above.

[slrnovice]

Hi everyone,

I'm interested in macro too.  Four questions here really....

1) I have just ordered the 100mm f2.8 macro lens to go with my 20D and can't wait to try it out.  I read somewhere that there is a tripod mount ring for this lens - can anyone throw any light onto whether this is a useful bit of kit or not?  

2) I'm used to hand holding a fuji S602 and I'm a bit concerned I won't be able to hand hold this 100mm macro lens thus, in my mind, eliminating a plethora of wonderful opportunities.  How do you manage to get great shots of a bee that just happens to land straight in front of you when you have to rush indoors, get your tripod, fix your camera to the tripod and set up the whole apparatus to correct height/angle etc to catch that bee before it flies off?  If I were that bee I'd tell the tripod-using photographer to get a life cos I've got work to do!  I realise you can observe for a while and work out where the most action is, set up the tripod etc and just wait for the model to arrive but it still rules out a whole load of photo-land serendipity.

3) Do you use filters with macro photography, if so which ones and why?

4) How much will a proper flash set-up for this lens help my macro photography?  Which set-up would you prefer, the ring-flash or the twin lite flash?  Is it a case of the ring flash lets you get closer but the twin lite gives you more lighting control?

Btw On the subject of holding plant life still - that definitely needs a tripod set up.  I've tried holding plants still with one hand while hand-holding the camera with the other - I don't recommend it!  Al servo for macro seems like a terrific idea, I'm definately going to try that out.

slrnovice

[aross007]

I didn't look at Jonathons pictures of his triple flash setup before I commented.  What he shows is the same idea I'm talking about.  I bolt a piece of aluminum to the tripod socket on the bottom of the camera, then use the kind of flashes and short flash brackets you find on the junk table at a photo type flea market.  His is much better, because you can program the flashes to work together.  My version uses small flashes with layers of cloth over them to cut the light further, and then you shoot a series of pictures of a test subject at a slow shutter to calibrate what f-stop to use at what range.  

Alan