November Photo Contest: Macro

[Nate P.]

November Photo Contest: Macro

Post up to 5 photos, but only one will be judged.
List what settings the photo was taken at, if you know.
A poll will be opened to vote for the winner at the end of the month.

Good luck!

[kylepaddock]

who won the sports contest?

[Glow9]

LOL what am I doing wrong here, when I set my camera to macro everythings fuzzy

[Martijn]

It just means your camera can't focus from that close. Take the photo from a greater distance and see if it focuses properly. You can then work from there. Who the hell knows you are only showing a small part of your original image ;)

[Glow9]

Cause the resolution I take pics at I thinks bigger than my LCD so have something to do with it? What resolution should I be shooting at?

Okay put it to lowest seeting, hit digital macro now looks like crap lol? I'm not good with cameras. Is there manual macro u can do?

[tjelaw]

To start off... ewww

http://www.aion-genesis.net/law/dust.jpg

its dust on top of my radiator, good thing I have some grills in between. Making macro pics makes me realize how dirty it is..... gonna vacuum first thing in the morning! lol

[[XC] 2long4u]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2596744842_a6cfc22e77_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3020/2595909461_cf234d25b0_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3064/2595910659_1141d02cbe_b.jpg

[YugenM]

I have no macro lens :(

[[XC] 2long4u]

You have a 50 right? The last 3 pics were with the 50 reversed.

[Knight203]

Who did win the sport contest? I dont think there was ever a poll..maybe we should open one and have the winner chose next months? Cuz I just love macro :)

[Martijn]

Camera: EOS400
Lens: Reversed kitlens. Ducktape FTW! :ROTF:
Shutter: 1/200 with flash
Aperture: 0, no lens attached (well... that is what the camera thought at least :p:)
Sensitivity: ISO 100

EDIT: Just FYI, both shots are from a P4 2.8 s478.

[chew*]

A small frag of a coral in my saltwater fish tank ;) Done with a elcheapo Nikon L12 P@S.
*edit* removed picture coral as its really not what i consider a close up macro macro.


Same camera, moving subject macro. Fish is actually 1"

http://members.cox.net/wmdieselmc26/pics/5.jpg

Another Moving macro with my better camera without my macro lens kit. Unfortunately I blasted the sand in the background otherwise it was perfect.

http://members.cox.net/bostonreefer1/canon4.jpg

[slugbug]

Using a Canon SD1000. Not bad for a $150 camera I guess. Gotta get me one of those Captain Highliner hats :)

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b167/slugbug55/Picture013-1.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b167/slugbug55/Picture009.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b167/slugbug55/Picture012-1.jpg

[YugenM]

2long4u;3414749']You have a 50 right? The last 3 pics were with the 50 reversed.

In that case, I'll find some tape and play too.

Had a 50 for my Canon, just picked up a 50 1.8D the other day :D

[Metric]

Camera: Canon 400D
Lens: 100mm F/2.8 USM Macro

Roommate pointed out this bug on one of my speaker cables:

(NEW)
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/2028/Xtreme%20Systems/IMG_5874_Small.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/2028/Xtreme%20Systems/Xtreme%20Photography/IMG_5839.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/2028/Xtreme%20Systems/Xtreme%20Photography/IMG_5845.jpg

Maybe a couple more later if I have the time...

[Nate P.]

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb231/natephillips/ftord012.jpg

I fail at macros.

[werty316]

My camera sucks :(

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c312/werty316/Used/6f0d9dca.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c312/werty316/Used/51088257.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c312/werty316/Used/6691f74c.jpg

[YugenM]

Will add more later

D70s
reversed 50 1.8D
SB-800
USM+resized

EDIT: choosing to leave the eyes out of focus was a conscious decision

[Soulburner]

If this is a true macro contest, 1/2 the pics in this thread don't qualify.

[Scubar]

Thought id take a picture of the box text as thats pretty small.

http://xs233.xs.to/xs233/08450/dsc_0030690.jpg (http://xs.to)

[RADCOM]

Great photos chaps, just going to read my manual on Macro lol

[Nate P.]

If this is a true macro contest, 1/2 the pics in this thread don't qualify.
What defines true macro?

[Metric]

What defines true macro?
I believe 1:1 reproduction size and higher.

[YugenM]

I was thinkin'... should future topics be things that anyone with a camera can do, like "architecture," "nature," etc., instead of topics like macro which require specialized lenses and such?

[kylepaddock]

I was thinkin'... should future topics be things that anyone with a camera can do, like "architecture," "nature," etc., instead of topics like macro which require specialized lenses and such?

:up:

[Nate P.]

I was thinkin'... should future topics be things that anyone with a camera can do, like "architecture," "nature," etc., instead of topics like macro which require specialized lenses and such?
Good point! This month's topic was sort of spur of the moment, sorry guys.

[evil-98]

Nikon D60
Nikon 28mm f/2.8D AF Nikkor Lens @ f/2.8 1/125s ISO 100 28 mm
crop, resize, frame

http://evil98.insanity-asylum.com/evil/flowers.jpg

[Marvin_The_Martian]

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4107/100166620081111032avq6.th.jpg (http://img136.imageshack.us/my.php?image=100166620081111032avq6.jpg)http://img136.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

This walks over my walls scaring the crap out off me :shock: yeah I am kind of scared by spiders ;)
Shutter 1/200
Apature f3.7
Iso 400 ( dark room with flash )

zd710

[Knight203]

Marvin that looks like a brown recluse.....I hope u killed it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse_spider

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Marvin that looks like a brown recluse.....I hope u killed it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse_spider

Wrong continent, I didn't kill it, I took some more pics and set it loose. I'll post one or two more of it but their not that great since I was abit scarred and put an upside down glass over it :sofa:

[Martijn]

The worst thing a Dutch spider can do is scare you. I don't recall any dangerous poisonous spiders living here. More pics = :up: Marvin :p:

Although I don't really like spiders, they are very beautiful creatures really.

[Marvin_The_Martian]

kruisspin doet wel pijn :rofl: Maar toen was ik 8 ofzo :poke:

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/8499/2008081810016792irfanvivv2.th.jpg (http://img397.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2008081810016792irfanvivv2.jpg)http://img397.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

Sorry had to use irfanview original file is to big for imageschack :down: It's not really a macro anyway don't think my point and shoot is capable of focussing closer then 6cm or so.

[dduckquack]

camera: cannon powershot A570 IS
aperture: F/2.6
shutter speed: 1/30 sec.
ISO: 200

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g5/dumayroxas/Picture435.jpg

[[XC] 2long4u]

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4107/100166620081111032avq6.th.jpg (http://img136.imageshack.us/my.php?image=100166620081111032avq6.jpg)http://img136.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

This walks over my walls scaring the crap out off me :shock: yeah I am kind of scared by spiders ;)
Shutter 1/200
Apature f3.7
Iso 400 ( dark room with flash )

zd710

That looks like a wolf spider. Those leave a nasty bite. Not poisonous tho.

[n-sanity]

Hairy SoB...

[chew*]

Due to evil-98's pic i had to step up the bar a little , btw evil very very nice shot man.

Canon A720is point and shoot ;) Haven't whipped out the macro lens kit just yet but these are true macros.

First pic inside of my wedding band, I left a hair on it on purpose.

http://members.cox.net/bostonreefer1/ring.jpg

Second pic The pixels in my LCD monitor taken on section of screen that is "white"

http://members.cox.net/bostonreefer1/pixels%20in%20LCD.jpg

[-X-hellfire]

look what crawled on my wall, a 7 legged spider :shock2:

http://w1.319.telia.com/~u31938290/Foto/Insekter/DSC09060-big-spider-l.jpg



took some macros until it fell down on the floor
http://w1.319.telia.com/~u31938290/Foto/Insekter/DSC09055-big-spider-2-l.jpg


I generally don´t kill spiders, just relocate them, but this one freaked me out while it was running on the floor so...
:horse:

[chew*]

This makes # 5 New mexico quarter.

http://members.cox.net/bostonreefer1/quarter.jpg

[The-Fox]

look what crawled on my wall, a 7 legged spider :shock2:

http://w1.319.telia.com/~u31938290/Foto/Insekter/DSC09060-big-spider-l.jpg



took some macros until it fell down on the floor
http://w1.319.telia.com/~u31938290/Foto/Insekter/DSC09055-big-spider-2-l.jpg


I generally don´t kill spiders, just relocate them, but this one freaked me out while it was running on the floor so...
:horse:

Is this creepy thing real :shocked::eek:

[little_scrapper]

Dolphin:
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8378/dsc00562rw5.jpg
By guyf (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/guyf), shot with DSC-W170 (http://profile.imageshack.us/camerabuy.php?model=DSC-W170&make=SONY) at 2008-11-20

Tree Frogs:
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/9871/dsc00700ac9.jpg
By guyf (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/guyf), shot with DSC-W170 (http://profile.imageshack.us/camerabuy.php?model=DSC-W170&make=SONY) at 2008-11-20

Disgruntled Spiderman:
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8973/dsc00078uu5.jpg
By guyf (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/guyf), shot with DSC-W170 (http://profile.imageshack.us/camerabuy.php?model=DSC-W170&make=SONY) at 2008-11-20

Dolphin about to eat my wifes arms and legs:
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/9581/dsc00558rw8.jpg
By guyf (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/guyf), shot with DSC-W170 (http://profile.imageshack.us/camerabuy.php?model=DSC-W170&make=SONY) at 2008-11-20

[chew*]

Waterfall

November Photo Contest: Macro

those above pics are not Macro's except maybe the leaf...........

[little_scrapper]

November Photo Contest: Macro

those above pics are not Macro's except maybe the leaf...........

DOH!!! I are stupit. I guess we know which one will get judged then dont we.. hehe:rofl:

[chew*]

DOH!!! I are stupit. I guess we know which one will get judged then dont we.. hehe:rofl:

Btw I love the waterfall shot.

[little_scrapper]

Btw I love the waterfall shot.

yea me to. I resized it for 16 x 10 ratio and now use it as my wallpaper.

[Metric]

Btw I love the waterfall shot.
Which is from InterfaceLift from a person in Taiwan, so why is it posted in a contest?... :shrug:

[Warboy]

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c398/Warboy/100_0414.jpg

[-X-hellfire]

Is this creepy thing real :shocked::eek:

Yeah, that hairy monster is real, too bad I had to kill it but it had to go, don´t want a surprise party i middle of the night if it falls down into the bed or something :shock:

...keep in mind that this is a macro competition, and the camera makes it look even bigger than in real life unless you look really close to it, but who in their right mind would do that? :rofl:

well with a camera i your hand you believe you're invincible ;)

[hoax]

first entry 'Nickel':

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e299/cagiali/nickel.jpg

sigma DP1
hoya +1, +4, +6, +10 + Raynox +2.5
ISO 50
f11
multiple shutter speeds, manually combined in PS
crop, resize

[little_scrapper]

st cant seem to get a good fucus. I sux.

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7141/2frogsrl2.jpg
By GuyF (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/GuyF) at 2008-11-23

[Nate P.]

Yea guys, please keep it on the topic of macro. I'm really pleased at the turn out this month, keep it up!

[massman]

Being a complete known-nothing of the photography world, here's my macro:

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s261/Massman-/cut.jpg

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Hoax I am wondering could you post the seperate images and tell me how you combined them? I think you used the diffrent shutter speeds to get as much detail as possible, each seperate image 'high lighting' some of the details and leaving some others out and them combining them back into one image but I'm very interested to see the seperate pictures :)

[hoax]

Hoax I am wondering could you post the seperate images and tell me how you combined them? I think you used the diffrent shutter speeds to get as much detail as possible, each seperate image 'high lighting' some of the details and leaving some others out and them combining them back into one image but I'm very interested to see the seperate pictures :)

My plan was to try out "Merge to HDR" in photoshop. But this is a bad shot to attempt HDR and the results were pretty bad. But yeah, all I wanted was to get extra detail from the other speeds, I just didn't expect to have to combine them manually. :slap:

These is how the original RAW files looked when I first opened them in PS:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e299/cagiali/orig01.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e299/cagiali/orig02.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e299/cagiali/orig03.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e299/cagiali/orig04.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e299/cagiali/orig05.jpg

It turned out being too many shots, I only used 3. First I tweaked the RAW settings of each of the 3 shots and turned them black and white.

Then I moved each shot into the same document so that each has its own layer. Then changed the blend mode and opacity values for each layer. There is no real recipe for this, there is always a great deal of experimentation. I have the bad habit of not saving psd's when I am experimenting so I lost the original layered file I made.. The original had a few more layers but this is a similar example of how to set it up:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e299/cagiali/SDIM0237.jpg

You can pretty much keep going adding subtle detail with each new layer/shutter/blendmode/opacity variation.

As far as blend modes goes.. a very simple way to look at it:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e299/cagiali/Untitled-3.jpg

So if the layer will be used to add shadow/dark details you would normally use one from the first group. If adding highlights, one from the second group. For adding saturation/contrast something from the third group. Whatever looks best for each image.

Once the layers are stacked and aligned(if you hold down shift while dragging each shot into the new document they will always anchor to center), I use the arrow keys to flip between blend modes until I see something I like. Sometimes copies of the same layer will look interesting with more then one blend mode, and you can duplicate the layer(crtl J) and use all variations that look good. After a bit of experimentation it becomes natural and you do a lot less guess work.

Anyway, sorry for all the ramblings, let me know if you have any questions :)

edit: was reading it all and I think I should add that those 3 shots on the example are pretty bad to show what we are after. The idea is to tweak the RAW to isolate each area of interest. for instance using the last original RAW to grab only the highlights while darkening the nickel:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e299/cagiali/orig05-1.jpg

[YugenM]

Thanks, hoax, learned a lot of new things today :)

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Yes thanls, that's what I wanted to see. Though I thought you where applying masks on the layers. My pas doesn't do raw but I can edit the jpeg's with lightroom and still get some nice results, I will try to mimick the coin shot abit try what I can do with it :up:

[inCore]

Posts like that should be compiled somewhere in the photography section, thanks for the information. :up:

[hoax]

cheers guys :up:

@Marvin: In a weird way, that last image of the tweaked nickel is a mask of the highlights(even more so because we are dealing with BW pixels). Sometimes a simple blend mode does the job, but you could also quickly grab the highlights by pressing crtl+alt+1 then crtl+shift+J (with the proper layer selected). This creates a new layer with only the highlights and leaves all the blacks in a separate layer in case you want to keep it.

I try to avoid manual masking at all costs. But with more complex images, I would normally add a layer mask as soon as I pick the right blend mode for the layer. Some layer masks with soft brush strokes for touching up small areas. And some with gradients for subtle 'camera filter' type of effects (to enhance sky, to create depth of field, etc).

Another one that is very handy is the "Blend if" option that appears once you enter the layer properties menu (double clicking on a layer name). Its sort of like quick masking but it uses luminance values instead, has options for each channel and the advantage that you are not actually erasing any pixels from the layer, just hiding them and can quickly reverse things if needed.

please show us your testing results if you get a chance! :)

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Don´t worry I will but first things first ( like getting my own hw running ok again, somehow I killed an lcd ??? )

[hoax]

ouch!! :(

sorry to hear that... hope you get it sorted out soon.

[Marvin_The_Martian]

Nm don't ask how but it came to live after a few reboots and cable swappings. I had a psu fan fail and one of my lcd's started freaking out ( snowing.. ) and I pulled the plug, exchanged the psu fan rebooted had a solid white/cream color screen. Think it's because the lcd uses a vga input and for some odd reason I need to make custom profiles to run in native res of 1680 otherwise it treis to run 16/12 as a 4:3 crt :confused:

Enough OT, it's almost 3 at night I'll try my own coin shot tomorrow :)

[YugenM]

...poll? December topic?

[Shadowmage]

...poll? December topic?

I won the September contest (go me!), so when do I get my prize? :D

[Riggs]

We should do outdoors. :)

[YugenM]

I won the September contest (go me!), so when do I get my prize? :D

Personally, I think getting to see other peoples' images is a prize in itself

[.Logic]

I seem to have 'lost' the image (apart from the uploaded one) so can't tell you what the settings were (how I lost the image I don't know :rolleyes:)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3196/3086534240_eaf4b15121_o.png

Ignore the dust bunnies... camera is going in for a service soon ;)

[Nate P.]

Poll posted; it would only let me add 10 users, so if you would like to vote for someone else, just post it in this thread. Poll will remain open for one week.

[Warboy]

Can i vote for myself? lol.

[Nate P.]

Can i vote for myself? lol.
Don't see why not.