KIT Lens macro possible? bee/fly?

[jayaruwan]

EXIF
Canon EOS Rebel T1i
18-55 Kit lens
f/5.6 (@55mm)
ISO 100
Shutter 1/15

I was trying to get some close up pics with the kit lens. but since the minimum focusing distance is 0.25m it's a little bit hard. this bee/fly/insect looked really small so I cropped it out from the original pic. there was no room to use a tripod at the place this was taken and I couldn't use a higher shutter speed due to lack of light.

my questions are,
what else can I do to improve the sharpness? I don't own any external flashes.
what do you think of the composition after cropping? that little bug seems distracting.

I do have some macro filters. is there anything I should know before using them?

anything else you can say about this picture is much appreciated.

thank you very much in advance. I just got my camera 2 weeks ago. this was taken at my own backyard.

[RecurrentNerve]

I may well be wrong but it seems like the blade of grass the fly is sitting on is where the focus lies, and so because of the large aperture the fly is slightly out of focus. Make sure you use spot focusing to focus directly on your subject; and a tripod really helps when your shutter speed is this slow.

I think the composition is good; I didn't actually notice the little bug but it should be relatively simple to get rid of it in Ps.

[jayaruwan]

Originally Posted by RecurrentNerve

I may well be wrong but it seems like the blade of grass the fly is sitting on is where the focus lies, and so because of the large aperture the fly is slightly out of focus. Make sure you use spot focusing to focus directly on your subject; and a tripod really helps when your shutter speed is this slow.

I think the composition is good; I didn't actually notice the little bug but it should be relatively simple to get rid of it in Ps.

yes I did try to use my tripod but this was taken at a tea estate and it wasn't possible to mount the tripod there. large aperture and slow speed is due to lack of light but I should have boosted up the ISO. I focused the fly so it's probably due to camera shake. maybe I should try around ISO 400 or so. unfortunately the flowers are now dead and the flies are gone lol. better luck next time.

thank you very much. I might try those macro filters as well.

[bbtom10]

Originally Posted by jayaruwan

I might try those macro filters as well.

Experiment, play, have fun!

You got those macro filters for a reason, may as well screw them on and see what happens!

Tom