For those who lament not having a macro lens

[tropterrarium]

Hi desertanimal, glad that was helpful, even if possibly a bit overboard. Never shot snow flakes, but serious people go through some serious trouble doing it (microscopes in cold room). Not for me!

If you want to get better at photography, read. I'm serious. If you fully understand what is going on, you can analyze the results, and think about ways to improve. Some of my favorites are Ray, S. Applied Photographic Optics, Hunter & Fuqua Lights: Science and Magic, Freeman Perfect Exposure.

You only print some, but certainly do some sort of output (e.g., web postings). Learning more about digital image capture and processing comes next. Read the manual of your photoediting program, whichever you use. There is a great book on sharpening out there, and then the Real World series on Color Management (absolutely critical to understand for repeatable results). I love working in Lab color space, so worth exploring (Lab and the Canyon Conundrum), as is RAW conversion.

To my taste, most photo books are too fluffy. They do not help the reader to really understand what is going on. That's why I listed those above.

Also consider what you want to achieve, what your priorities are. Carrying a camera around all the times (compact camera) and high-resolution architectural photography (large format) are mutually exclusive. Neither is right or wrong. But use the right tool for the purpose if it is important, allow for some compromises when it does not matter that much. Nobody can tell you what you want. That is up to you to decide.

I remember the days when I had a Yashica FX-D with a Tokina 35-105 mm zoom, and a couple of diopter close-up lenses. Then steadily built on that, first OM system (also underwater then a PentaxLX in housing), then Contax. Now I use an iPhone for a quick snap, Canon SLR for standard macros, ArcaSwiss large format for precise focal plane control, Zeiss stereo and compound microscopes for higher magnification imaging (also z-stacking for greater depth of field), and a Zeiss scanning electron microscopy for ultimate detail. Yep, quite far off the center of the bell curve.

For macro, there are several approaches, including lens stacking, reversal rings, using microscope lenses on fixed tube, extension tubes or bellows either with head lenses or with normal lens reversed, diopter lenses. I've done all, except mounting microscope lenses on SLR. Today, I z-stacked a bunch of shell specimens with the Canon MPE 65 mm lens on a Cognysis StackShot motorized focusing rail controlled through Zerene Stacker interface on a laptop. Still have to process a few hundred shots. This is for my day job as researcher on biodiversity of marine snails.

I love shooting snakes as well. I bet you have better hunting grounds in AZ compared to SoCal. Have a shovelnose snake shot in Anza Borego as one of my screen savers. Below are some of my favorite snake images





Here and here are some insects, just in case you are curious. Not all are great, should edit them more carefully.

I also like odd stuff like slime molds.

Re stunning images, almost by definition they are rare. Good basic technique can be learned. You can develop personal style. But for the great shot, a bit of luck is involved. I easily throw 50% of shots away, and I don't even count the "forgot to take lens cap off" mishaps. In macro, I think I will throw 80-90% away.

Good luck with developing your craft.

[Bolero]

Great photography without a macro, nice work.

I still love my macro.

[RosieC]

Great work without a macro.

Like Bolero I still like my macro, for similar reasons to tropterrarium lists, but this is a great way if that's not something you can get.

[desertanimal]

Originally Posted by tropterrarium

Hi desertanimal, glad that was helpful, even if possibly a bit overboard. Never shot snow flakes, but serious people go through some serious trouble doing it (microscopes in cold room). Not for me!

Yes, they do! That's not for me, either. Snowflake photography is just to give me one interesting thing to do in the cold, long winters here. I don't do snow sports and with two ACLs that aren't my own, I'm not really allowed to pick them up now.

Originally Posted by tropterrarium

If you want to get better at photography, read. I'm serious. If you fully understand what is going on, you can analyze the results, and think about ways to improve. Some of my favorites are Ray, S. Applied Photographic Optics, Hunter & Fuqua Lights: Science and Magic, Freeman Perfect Exposure.

You only print some, but certainly do some sort of output (e.g., web postings). Learning more about digital image capture and processing comes next. Read the manual of your photoediting program, whichever you use. There is a great book on sharpening out there, and then the Real World series on Color Management (absolutely critical to understand for repeatable results). I love working in Lab color space, so worth exploring (Lab and the Canyon Conundrum), as is RAW conversion.

To my taste, most photo books are too fluffy. They do not help the reader to really understand what is going on. That's why I listed those above.

Thanks for the recommendations. I admit I'm not too good about reading about this stuff. It doesn't interest me all that much, and if I'm reading I should probably be reading other things.

Originally Posted by tropterrarium

Also consider what you want to achieve, what your priorities are. Carrying a camera around all the times (compact camera) and high-resolution architectural photography (large format) are mutually exclusive. Neither is right or wrong. But use the right tool for the purpose if it is important, allow for some compromises when it does not matter that much. Nobody can tell you what you want. That is up to you to decide.

For me it's just to always have my camera so that I can snap animals when I see them.

Originally Posted by tropterrarium

I love shooting snakes as well. I bet you have better hunting grounds in AZ compared to SoCal. Have a shovelnose snake shot in Anza Borego as one of my screen savers. Below are some of my favorite snake images

I did have good hunting grounds, but no more! :cry: Had to move away from grad-school locale to teaching post-doc locale. I'm impressed with some of your Dasymutilla, as I can never get those guys to stay still long enough to get even a reasonable photo of them. SoCal is not at all shabby, though. I drove from PHX to SD with my mother-in-law to pick up a car I was buying before moving to BOS, and we had a fantastic night of herping on the way. Tons of shovelnose, several sidewinders, a huge gopher snake, and a hatchling leafnose, not to mention several desert hairy scorpions. Plus I caught a k-rat, which I always love doing. SoCal treated us well!

[tropterrarium]

Hi desertanimal, good luck with the post-doc; that means mostly nose to the grindstone and publish-or-perish. Hang in there!

Dasymutilla [= velvet ant] are one of those shoot 100, keep maybe one. I've crawled for hours in the dirt to get a shot. The other elusive ones are skinks and horny toads. Don't do birds or mammals, the field is too crowded, so rather do slime molds. Suits my personality ;-)

[desertanimal]

Horny toads are fine if you catch them in hand! Then you can put them where you want and if you re-catch them and place them enough, they'll eventually stay. But if you want that iconic shot of horny toad buried up to the head, I have no advice. You need a keener eye and more luck than I have!

[Dante1709]

I use a Raynox DCR-250 and it was only 100$.. Pretty good for that price. It works great as long as you have good zoom and know how to use manual focus..It has so bad reviews, but you have to get used to it. Here are some shots I've taken with it ;


Lichen on stone by Dante1709, on Flickr


The devil's tongue by Dante1709, on Flickr


A little beauty by Dante1709, on Flickr

I use a Canon SX30 IS (yep, not a DSLR) and my Raynox for these shots. No extension tubes, extensive cropping, zoom lenses..etc

[silken]

You have some gorgeous photos. Was checking more on Flickr as we'll.

[Dante1709]

Originally Posted by silken

You have some gorgeous photos. Was checking more on Flickr as we'll.

Thanks! I'm a bit awkward when it comes to photographing orchids, though I'll probably get more used to it as my collection grows.

[Paphluvr]

When I was still taking pictures with my 35mm film camera (a Pentax Spotmatic), the macro was one of my favorite lenses. I initially bought a 50mm macro, but you had to be right on top of the subject to get a good photo. Then I walked into my favorite camera shop one day where the proprietor knew what I liked to shoot. He went into the back room and returned with a 85mm lightly used macro that I bought on the spot. With extension tubes you could shoot anything.

It's results that count, and anyone other than a pro would think your shots were great. The equipment you used to get them is immaterial.