Macro Baby Grasshopper. How to use DOF to improve your photo
Finished Photo 1/125 sec f8
I took this photo of a baby grasshopper on purple clover using my hand held macro shooting method. What I would like to point out in these two photos is how drastically the aperture selection can change your photo. In the finished shot above I used f8 to create a nice creamy green background. This background is non intrusive and doesn't make the eye focus outside of the main subject.
Rejected Photo 1/125 sec f10
This photo is basically the same photo with only the aperture changing, as you can see the background starts to have some definition and lines. This image overall is unpleasing and you will find the eye being drawn into the background and away from the main subject. Another thing to point out is by stepping down the aperture to f10 we lose 1 stop of light. This means that the flash will light the main subject but the light fall off will not be strong enough to light the background resulting in a darker background. If you were to step down the aperture to f16 the background would certainly be all black. This can work in your favor and be creative as seen in the butterfly picture below. These options can completely change your image and should be thought out while your planning your shots. I hope you enjoyed this and if you have any question leave a comment I will respond to them all. Happy Shooting!!!
Final Photo Details
- Camera- Olympus EM-1
- Lens- 60mm 2.8 macro
- ISO- 400
- Focal Length 120mm (35mm equivalent)
- Aperture- f8
- Shutter Speed- 1/125th
- Flash- Fill Flash
you know it would also prove you very helpful if you would find out the 'sweet spot' of your lens...that's the exact aperture where it is the absolute sharpest!
True, generally speaking most sweet spots are between f8 and f11, any thing over f16 generally will have negative affects in the image!
Absolutely correct :)
Nice shots.
Thank you!
Cool shots!
Glad you liked them!
Nice post my friend. Dropped you a follow, you can follow me at @looking4llamas. Looking forward to your future posts!
Thank you, ill check out your work as well!
Thanks a lot! I appreciate it!
Nice ones. Like the butterflies and your great tricks. Do not have such a nice camera, yet....
Thank you, ive seen some great photos with phones these days but i do love my camera!
Great captures! I appreciate you sharing your experience and the different camera settings. We have yet to play around with macro shots. These are great :)
Thank you, I love macro so many oppurtunites!
You're welcome ~
Great macros @soonidrift, and with very nice explanation of your technique. I really appreciate that. Upvoted, resteemed & DPS.
Thank you fot the feature! Ill try to do more of these type post!
Very nice shots, Thanks for sharing your settings can't wait to get back out with my camera
Thank you, happy shooting!
great macro shots and a very generous tutorial ! undervalued post getting a resteem
Thank you for the resteem! Glad you liked it.
that grasshopper is just too cute ;)
I like macro photo!
Thank you, im glad you liked it. I love macro photography!