A walk near the park : With JeffRey!

[benetay]

It was a good day, not too warm for a stroll near the park. It was a last minute decision & plan to go back to the same puddling pool to see if there are any new species of butterfly in the area. Didn't know Jeffery was free so decided to send him a sms.

We're not fully equip, unclear thoughts float freely. We still persisted onwards. On the way in, there isn't many butterflies. Upon reaching the site, we were welcomed with a few butterflies that have been there earlier.

Inspected the area for sharp objects to prevent us from getting any cuts when we lay low. strapped on with elbow pads & knee guards that Jeffery took the liberty to get for me, we look over dress for an occasion.

After setting up the gear, with much persuasion, Jeffery prone down for a shot. The rest was history!



Enough said!
#1

Told you the rest is history!!
#2 Chocolate yellow

#3 Blue Jay

#4 Blue Jay

#5 skipper

#6 tail-less line blue

#7 Branded Imperial


Cheers!!

[Wackytpt]

Pictures Bene!!!!!!!!!!!

Where are the pictures

[benetay]

Okay here you go Nicholas. Jeffery don't mind me posting your picture

Hoping to see some of Jeffery's shot soon.

Cheers!

[trident]

benetay, Jeffrey,
Wow, nice series. liked the last picture, the contrast between the butterfly and the dark background is beautiful.

[benetay]

The background is dark & i don't think it's the norm for having such a dark background. Think they prefer clean bright background rather then black & dark ones.

Cheers!

[Simon]

where is Jeff's pictures?

[benetay]

Heard that he is busy, will not be seeing his pictures so soon maybe later today or tomorrow.

[wasabi8888]

Hi all

It was a great shoot. Relaxing and fun. Thanks Benetay for bringing me out.... He is a great partner.. would be left in the longkang if he did not gave me a hand..

In my attempt to learn more about macros, please feel free to critique. I have also added my comments on the pics. Please feel free to agree or disagree. I will include what I think is sharp. Of course if you were to zoom at the eyes, then it will not be.One of my big mistakes this time is that I keep focusing on the eyes, until I forget to get the wings sharp. Should have increased my DOF.

All pics are cropped. Shot with D3 and 105VR and flash.

Here it goes

1. Chocolate Yellow
a. Eyes: Sharp
b. Body and wings: sharp, plane of focusing is better than the next.



2. Chocolate Yellow
a. Eyes: Sharp
b. Body and wings: Edge of wings not in focused. Should have bring aperture down to f11 or f14.



3. Skipper
a. Eyes: Sharp
b. Body: due to lack of DOF, not as sharp as the next. Should have increased my DOF



4. Skipper
a. Eyes Sharp.
b. Due to aperture of f/16, body and wings are sharper.



5. Tapena thwaitesi bornea
a. Generally OK. Eyes are sharp if pic is not zoomed in.



6. Blue Jay
a. Eyes: Sharp
b. Pic generally OK in my opinion.



7. Common Blue Bottle
a. Eyes: Sharp
b. Looks good to me.



8. 2 Blue Jays
a. Eyes of the near Jay is sharp. Should have increased the DOF again.



9. Jamides celeno aelianus (Common Caerulean)
a. Eyes: sharp
b. Body and wings: Again same prob. SHould have increased DOF.



10. Tail Less Line Blue
a. Eyes: sharp
b. Body and wings: Again same prob. In fact worse. SHould have increased DOF.



11. Branded Imperial
a. Eyes: Not that sharp. Hand held and sweating.
b. Colors abit over saturated.



12. Grasshopper
a. Eyes sharp
b. Position of subejct should be more frontal. But physical limitations prevent me.

[Simon]

these are good shots Jeff, the reason why you not getting the wings in focus together with the eye is because you need to shoot parallel to the subject, with that technique alone, you do not need much DOF, my shots are usually done in the sweet spot region of f8 to f11.

some ID corrections:
3&4: Telicota besta bina
5: Tapena thwaitesi bornea (not moth, a family of skipper)
7: Common Bluebottle
9: Jamides celeno aelianus (Common Caerulean)

some tips
1: go lower for the shot
2: As long as the angle shot is intentional, I think it is quite ok
3: Crop abit too tight, sometimes to achieve a deeper DOF, you need to move back. Problem with skippers is they tend to open up their wings to bask under the sun, so getting everything in focus will be a problem
4: A better shot than the previous, perhaps a slight adjustment to stay parallel with get everything in focus

the rest is almost similar, go parallel to the subject.

Anyway, a job well done.

Sometimes we tend to nitpick on sharpness and try to zoom in to see every area of the photo, however, unless you intend to blow the photo up to say above 4R, you wouldn't see a differences. Sharpness is only one aspect of photography, once you get a hang on focusing, you have to consider composition, lighting and etc.

Some help on IDing

http://b-pals.com/butts/check_list.p...0=&lng1=&img=Y (We have officially 281 species in Singapore)

[trident]

Jeff,
well done!!! It's good that you are able to spot your weakness, I am still very poor at that. Look forward to shootinh with you this Sat.

[Simon]

here is a online DOF calculator, good to know how much DOF you can achieve at different distance and aperture

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

[benetay]

Jeff your pictures better then mine! should have left you at the longkang Joking! Wow the so called moth was actually a butterfly, look at the front got the 'straw' Didn't get a shot on those, it was zipping in & out. Shame!


#8 my favourite , nice pairing up front and back shots, looks interesting.

It's much easier for someone to tell you to go lower or higher when shooting parallel.

#9 got tail, #10 no tail. Different species.

Cheers!

[Simon]

I can help you on sat with my monopod

[benetay]

You sound like a RSM walking around with the stick and shouting orders! Please show mercy.

Any imperials at SF?

[Simon]

depends on your luck, but they are common there, you might even see the common posy, pygmy posy, grand imperial (if you very lucky). For the common imperial, they at AH

[benetay]

I'm very interested in the imperial group knowing that the common posy and pygmy posy belongs to the same family. Grand imperial must be very lucky to spot.

Simon that brown skipper rare to see it puddler? I know can see it quite frequent in the lowland grass.

[Simon]

not uncommon to find skippers puddling

[luenny]

Wow, nice photos Jeff. Great improvement. I see you've got a hang of your D3 already. Anyway, besides Simon's comment, I think #8 would be better if you reduce the DOF and make the one behind more blur to bring out the butt in front. Just my 2 cents.

[wasabi8888]

Wow, nice photos Jeff. Great improvement. I see you've got a hang of your D3 already. Anyway, besides Simon's comment, I think #8 would be better if you reduce the DOF and make the one behind more blur to bring out the butt in front. Just my 2 cents.

Luenny

Really? I was actually thinking otherwise... to increase my DOF to make it clear.. sort of like a pair of twins effect..

[Goondoo]

Luenny

Really? I was actually thinking otherwise... to increase my DOF to make it clear.. sort of like a pair of twins effect..

Well, I think these are up to individual. Like for my case, I prefer more blurry in my pictures so only the eyes sharped is good for me. I am not doing any scientific collection of pictures and I like the shallow DOF feel. That said, it should blur off with a art sense la! haha...

Anyway, well done! You collected your glasses yet?