SteemitPhotoChallenge Entry - Nature Macro
Cute Spider Warning!
Jumping spiders and beetles and snowflakes, oh my!
My submissions to this week's #SteemitPhotoChallenge hosted by @jamtaylor.
I don't often macro, but when I do I like to include a lot of colour and detail:
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Stunning photos. You should be doing more of them :)
I get into it now and then - it eats up a lot of time, though. :)
Unreal...your sensibilities are so good! I love the vibrant “bubblegum” colors juxtaposed with the browns and whites of the spider. SO many contrasts happenings. Love it.
Bubblegum colours...hehe...yes, that's a good way of putting it. I don't think I've used those colours before but I really liked how it turned out. Thank you! :D
That IS a cute spider :)
Hehe - I'm not a fan of spiders, myself, but I find it difficult to dislike these. They have the big-eye thing going on, like a puppy.
Spiders have been redeemed with this photo. Those eyes look like jewels! I like all three, but especially the first and the gorgeous snowflake. (I could blame the Shack on my reluctance to the ladybug.) Definitely deserving to win.
*Would you mind sharing what equipment you used for these?
wait.. is that a ladybug?
I'm not entirely sure. There are different types of them now. This is not the conventional kind. I haven't read The Shack, so I have no reluctance about them, except for knowing that one kind (maybe this one) is invasive and is affecting the population of the normal ladybugs.
Assuming this is a ladybug at all.
:) You can watch the movie too. It's a good story, in its own way.
Will it make me dislike ladybugs?
Probably. But what you will like might be worth it.
Hehe, okay.
mr please follow me, i am still a bit of followers.?
Hehe, right? My perception of spiders (and least SOME spiders) changed after getting close to these.
Equipment...uhhhh.....good question. You see, I was (probably) using a reversed lens, and so that info isn't recorded in the exif. I can only say for certain that I was using the Pentax K-5 at the time, but that matters little. I've often reversed both a 28mm and 50mm lens, and sometimes reversed the 28mm and stuck the 50mm onto the front of it (not reversed). I think that's what I did for these. Later I played around with extension tubes+50mm lens, and had better results.
Okay, cool, thanks! I know that there are several ways of taking macro shots and I haven't tried all of them. I've only used macro filters and reverse rings, no extension tubes yet and no great macro lens. I am curious how people achieve good macro shots. I tired to photograph a snowflake with the 24 + ring and I couldn't get anywhere as close as you did. Maybe that was +the 50? I would have never thought of staking lenses - will have to look into that. Thanks again! :)
I think the 28 reversed would get you closer than the 50 reversed...it just becomes difficult to focus at all when you're so close. Extension tubes performed a little better - I couldn't tell you why just now, it's been a while since I played. A macro lens on extension tubes is a little better still, but a macro lens on its own will only get you so far if we're talking about this kind of extreme magnification. And to my knowledge there's only one lens (Canon MP-E 65mm) that will get you super close without tubes, and even so you'll probably still use tubes (I think?), because whatever lens you have you ALWAYS want to get closer. Except to a spider, maybe.
And congrats on winning the North America contest!!
Hey, you've piqued my interest about spiders, too! That one is actually really cute. Maybe getting closer will minimize the fear - not a bad thing. Wouldn't that be interesting, if photography proved able to cure phobias, haha! I'll look into extension tubes. I really love macro and experimenting with random subjects/textures.
Well, in all seriousness it's made my fear of heights easier to bear - some of the time! Spiders is the other big one. The disconcerting thing about the jumping spiders, though, is that while they're all cute and everything, they do jump.
well then you would get a really MACRO shot hahaha! Hmm...maybe photography will help cure my fear of heights, who knows. I've done some pretty daring things to capture good shots. Come to think of it, I once stood in a pretty dangerous place in order to snap photos of Houston at night. So much so that the hotel guard came up to me and asked me to get down lol.. Yeah, I don't know..never thought of it. I suppose it could go both ways: get over fear, or become too fearless/foolish?
I have a significant buffer between fear and unsafety, but you do have to be careful not to let the photos become so important in your mind that you take any real risks. It's not worth it, and in many cases it's REALLY not worth, but when you're at a place and just need to get closer to the edge to change the angle a bit, it can seem worthwhile.
Did you use strobes for these ?
Yes.......probably. Although I couldn't swear to it. I'm pretty certain I did for the spider and the ladybug-type-beetle, but the snowflake was more likely to have been lit with a flashlight (a high powered LED flashlight), which sometimes is easier to control when the subject is so tiny.
Great entries, really fantastic shots! That snowflake is stunning!
Thank you! I was staggered when I saw that detail and color in the center of the snowflake - it looks like little fishes!
Amazing macros!
Thanks! :)
Wow these are inspirationally good. What's the set up for these, especially the first one?
Thank you so much, @jamtaylor, really appreciated you picking the jumping spider pick as one of the winners! :D I wish I could tell you the details, but I don't remember them all now. My best guess for the first image is that I was using a reversed lens (probably a reversed 28mm lens) on a Pentax K-5. This means I had to get really close to the subject. The background was just coloured paper, the flower was a dandelion, and the spider was not harmed in the making of the photo (or after), and it didn't harm me either. The lighting, I think, was created by one or more flashes, diffused by a soft box and/or white paper. :)
Beautiful images mate. Congrats on the win! I'm pretty chuffed to have my image up there with yours :-). Looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Congrats to you as well, and thank you! :D