busy bees

[Natalie13]

Hi,
i am currently trying to understand aperture, i think i understand exposure and ISO speed but am trying to put them all together. I took this photo on the weekend and am wanting to know how i can improve this shot. How do i make the photo sharper? are my settings correct? I was trying to capture the bees on the flowers.

My camera is a Canon EOS 450D.
aperture: f/5.6
exposure: 1/30sec
ISO: 100
my lens is an EFS 18-200mm, and i think i had it on 200mm zoom. no flash.
my camera was set on auto focus, manual setting, and was handheld.

Any assistance will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Natalie.

[Weird Girl]

I'll start by saying I am a Nikon user so things could vary with Canon but here is what I see: first, you did a very nice job with the depth of field and blurring the background. This really helps the eye focus on the subject. I think one of your main issues with this photo is your shutter speed. I try not to go below 1/60 for a hand help photo (again, using a Nikon D300s). Then you might need to open your aperture (smaller number) to allow more light in so you will really have to make sure your focus is dead on the subject. When you say you are using manual focus, do you still have a little square in your view finder that shows you what the lens is focusing on? I keep mine in the middle, focus on what I want, then recompose while holding the focus. The photo is a little on the darker side too- was it gloomy out? Do you have any editing software? You can try bumping up the exposure or adding fill light in post. Hope this helps! I am sure you will get some more helpful tips!

[Monjo71]

Hi Natalie. Here are my thoughts on the questions you raised. First I'll attempt to explain aperture value to you in the simplest terms using your lens as an example. If I'm not mistaken your EFS 18 - 200mm lens has a maximum aperture of 3.5 -5.6. That mean the widest it will open at the 18mm setting is f 3.5 and the widest it will open when set at 200mm is f 5.6 while the maximum aperture between the two extremes will vary accordingly. The wider the aperture setting the shallower the depth of field will be. Therefore if properly focused the higher your f-stop setting the more of your image will be sharply in focus. Try shooting the same subject at f5.6 and again at f22 and you will immediately understand what I'm talking about.When shooting with your lens I suggest not shooting at either 18mm or 200mm. Those are where your lens optical quality is at it's worst. So instead of shooting at 200mm, try say 160 to 180mm and move closer to your subject.

Now we will talk a bit about composition. From your title I take it that the bees are your center of interest. Therefore you want them to standout from the rest of the image. In your shot the bee on the left is totally in view while the other is hidden a bit. So the left bee should be your main center of interest and the other of secondary concern. Please check out this illustration.



What I did here is crop your shots using "The Rule of Thirds. Google the term or find info about it here on the site. With the bees as center of interest i feel you had too much added space in your original. Next time get much closer. Shooting at 1/30 of a sec. is way to slow, especially for this type of shot. For macro shooting I try never to shoot under 1/250 sec. The bees move, the wind blows, and your camera shakes. All of that contributes to a less than sharp image. Enough for now. One more thing, try the auto focus. Its "eye is more likely sharper than yours. Check out my butterflies and bee thread in the macro share your shot sectiion to see the results you can get using these tips. Hope this helps.
John

[Natalie13]

Thanks Weird Girl. Yeah, i use the square to focus on my subject.
not sure if that particular shot was in the shade. the day itself was a beautiful clear sky but it was coming into the late afternoon so there was shade in places. some of my other shots from the same garden bed are not as dark.
no i don't have any editing software yet.
Thansk for your feedback. i'll try again with your suggestions.
Natalie.

[Natalie13]

Thanks John (Monjo71). i'll give all that a try and see how i go. i looked at one of your shots last night and i think it was then that i realised i could get my photos a lot sharper.
Natalie.

[loons49]

Another point is that all digital images need sharpening (as a result of the in-camera anti-alias filter), especially if you are shooting RAW. If you are shooting JPEG then you will can choose between what is available in-camera vs post processing or some of both. So if you are shooting JPEG and you see some sharpness or saturation issues with straight OOC shots then check your camera settings. Note that the camera settings for white balance, sharpness, saturation etc. just effect the JPEG images because with RAW you have total control in post-processing.