My little flying buddy

[Val1064]

I am thinking he thinks he is a bee. He went from flower to flower this morning. It was interesting to watch him just play. I adjusted the depth of field just a tad on this but did nothing else. As always I can't wait to hear what you all think. I wish I could have gotten more of the flower he was on (and not cut off the edges so bad, I was afraid he would take off if I wasted time). Thanks for looking and helping me learn!

[matthewchj]

The fly looks out of focus, actually. Other than that, composition seems fine.

[baseballboy828]

Our favorite enemy: camera shake. You really need a tripod for macros. Invest in a $100 bogen or something. It'll improve your shots more than a better camera. Also, nothing seems to be a focal point. It's possible that the subject is too close for your camera to focus.

[clockdoc]

Hi. In loking at your EXIF data you certainly had a high enough shutter speed. You were shooting at a wider aperture so depth of field would be minimal at a close shooting distance. Do you recall how close you were to the flower? Try this next time. Put the camera in the macro mode and zoom out to full optical telephoto (check your owners manual to see the closest focusing distance as a starting point.) Then try using different apertures closing down between test shots. This should allow you to move back from your subject a few feet and gain a little more depth of field. Macros can be very rewarding but sometimes take a bit of work. The advice about using a good tripod cannot be overstated. It is cumbersome to use a tripod in many "macro" situations but use one whenever possible. One last tip in shooting macros is to depress the shutter button down halfway to lock in focus and exposure but then "rock" in or out, moving slightly closer to or farther away from your subject to slightly move the original camera point of focus. Occasionally the camera's autofocus doesn't focus exactly on what we see so shoot lots of exposures. Thanks again for posting your work.

[Val1064]

Thank you all for your input. I do believe I was fairly close to the flower when taking the pic. I never thought of using a tripod on this because the flower is close to 5 foot tall.Do you think I could use my latter to steady the camera when shooting this flower? I will keep trying and hopefully improve.

[RussHeath]

Val -- Thanks for sharing your picture. If you're using the camera from your signature, then it's a point and shoot. Macro photography with my old point and shoot was one of the things that made me fall in love with photography. Be careful! Before you know it you'll have an SLR and a macro lens. But the truth is, you can take great macro shots with small point and shoot cameras.

In many ways, my little Canon is easier to use for macro shots than my heavy SLR, because I'm more likely to be able to hand-hold the shot well. Using a tripod is sound advice, but in the field it means lots more time. By the time you set up the tripod, the bug you were shooting has invariably flown away. That leaves you waiting and hoping for another, rather than getting the shot like you did here.

If your camera has manual controls (aperture mode, specifically) then check out my thread about bokeh for macro (shameless plug). If your point and shoot is a simple one like mine, here are a couple of tips for hand held macro shots: (forgive me if I'm telling you things you know).

1) Make sure you're in macro mode. Almost every camera on earth has this somewhere. It's either on the dial, usually represented by a flower, or it's in a menu somewhere. It's a way of telling the camera you want to focus very close-up.

2) Zoom out and get close. Using the wider angle end of your point and shoot zoom will minimize the effect of camera shake and make it more likely for you to be successful shooting hand-held. I have quite a few shots with my point and shoot where I'm zoomed all the way out and my lens was nearly touching the subject.

3) Use continuous shooting mode and take lots of shots of the same subject. Your hands will move a little between each shot, and the focus may shift slightly. This will give you a little higher chance of one of the photos turning out well.

4) Practice all this in a well lit area with a stationary subject. Bugs are hard! Some of the hardest (and most rewarding in my opinion) macro subjects of all. You'll have to know every nuance of your camera and how it handles macro before you will be fast enough to have a chance with subjects that move so quickly.

Good luck, and we look forward to seeing more.

[clockdoc]

Hi Valerie,
Anything your can use to help support the camera will work. You may also want to look into a monopod. Sometimes these are easier to manipulate in tight spaces than a tripod. Practice shooting at slower shutter speeds and see if you can learn what techniques (holding your breath, leaning against a post or tree, wrapping the camera strap more securely in your hands) work best. Increase your ISO to gain a faster shutter speed in lower light levels. The trateoff is "noise" or more grain in the image but if it means the difference in getting the shot then go with the added noise. It can be somewhat reduced in post processing.

[Val1064]

Thank you guys! I will keep playing around and see what I can come up with. I do have a few other shots from that day and I think one is better than this one looking back, if you want to see it let me know.

[jiminyClickit]

Val1064,

If one of your better shots is of a non-red bloom, then part of the problem is the camera's difficulty with red spectrum subjects. I have to get low-angle sunlight to focus very well with the Fuji.

[PLouie]

That is actually a fly. Not a bee.

If it has one pair of wings, large red eyes, short to nonexistant antennae, and a head with that "stripe" pattern, it's a fly.