Sony DSLR "Picture of the day"

[sparkie1263]

Joining in with the first class Bee pics.
This is a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee and is pretty small (half an inch or so). You can tell she is a female Worker Bee by the angled antennae and the large ball of pollen attached to the back legs.
Not easy to get sharp because they shake about rapidly in amongst the stamens scattering pollen about, as you can see

BUFF TAILED BUMBLEBEE

Attachment 46840

Camera: Sony DSLR-A700
Lens: Minolta MD Macro 50mm f3.5
Exposure: 1/320th at f8 -1EV
Focal Length: 50mm (75mm equivelent)
ISO Speed: 200
Date: 02nd June 2009

Great image and ID info. All the other images are nice also.

Frank

[Peekayoh]

Thanks Frank, you say the nicest things.

I have to confess though that the Bumblebee should be sharper and she is blending too much into the background.
In my defense, I have to say it's difficult to aquire manual focus and release the shutter at the required instant. It's impossible to predict the Bee's next movement (they wriggle incessantly).
Still, it's the best shot I could get in the time available. Maybe another day!

[saf]

I think this is a hover fly. I wish it was a bit sharper and flower bud more in focus, any constructive criticism welcome !

Camera : A700
Exposure : 1/320 @f/9
ISO : 500
Lens : Sony 100mm macro

[dr4gon]

Nice hover fly! The focus is hard to get especially on these little things. You'll get em next time! I always get so excited if after I get one and nail the focus like my last two bee pictures!

[sparkie1263]

I think this is a Rose.


Frank



Camera Make: SONY
Camera Model: DSLR-A100
Image Date: 2009:06:02 10:13:07
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 300.0mm (35mm equivalent: 450mm)
Exposure Time: 0.0004 s (1/2500)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Metering Mode: Spot
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)

[DWessel]

On the way back from Bakersfield, CA to Los Angeles, I stopped at the Fort Tajon state park for a photo respit. According to the park literature, this Fort was the first place in the US where the Cavalry used Camels!

A900 w/ Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8
70mm @ f/11, 1/250sec, ISO 200


Same settings.

[SONYNUT]

stillwater mn

[Peekayoh]

I think this is a hover fly. I wish it was a bit sharper and flower bud more in focus, any constructive criticism welcome !

OK Saf, seeing as you asked!

Depth Of Field (DOF) is the killer with Macro shots.

I'll take a punt and guess you were about a foot away from the subject which gives (at f9) a DOF of 0.09" but half of that will be in front of the focal plane and may not figure at all so the effective DOF may be as low as 0.045". (If you've cropped a bit it could be more, say 0.06".) When you consider that the Fly stands maybe 0.16" tall, you can see that some part of the insect will inevitably be OOF, to say nothing of the flower. Picking your focus point is crucial. If the darn thing will stand still long enough, picking a point partway down the body, say the wing root, will utilise the DOF this side of the focal plane and maximise what little DOF you have.

If you're willing to push the envelope ISO800 f16 1/160th would have almost doubled the DOF to 0.16" total (wow).

If you want the flower in focus as well, you have to cheat a bit. If you look at the Bumblebee I posted on the previous page I seem to have a greater DOF; I didn't. After the Bumblebee departed I refocussed and shot the flower on its own. I layered the two pics in PS and masked the OOF flower allowing the in focus flower to show through.

BTW, I never found AF to be much use for Macro work which is why I got rid of my AF Macro lens and went back to the MD Lens.

[shoeytennis]

I just came back from a trip to chicago and it was quite the time. I was about to take a picture of this fountain and my buddy walked right into my picture and it acctually became one of my favorite shots. it really has alot of depth to it.

[Elisha]

i like BOOBIES!