All bugged out

Author: Eric Delmar (aka Cerumen)
Location: Montclair, NJ
Eric's Site
Years Shooting: 20+

Camera Type: DSLR
Camera Brand: Nikon D70
Aperture: f16
Flash: Nikon SB-800 and Lumiquest lightbox and a slaved old flash
Lens Used: Sigma 105 f2.8 macro coupled to 72mm of Kenko extension and 1.4 converter

Note: Click on photo to see larger version at Eric's PBase site.

Eric writes...

I shoot a lot of bug pictures, and typically use a macro lens coupled with one or more extension tubes. My goal for this image was to maximize the reproduction capabilities of my equipment and discover some of the challenges of the world of ultra-macro, especially regarding bug imaging.

For those unfamiliar with extension tubes, they come in various widths, and contain no optics. They function as a spacer between camera body and lens, allowing the lens to focus closer. Extension tubes can be used with almost any lens, but work best with focal lengths of 50mm and greater. For this shot, which is uncropped, I used three extension tubes in combination with a 1.4x teleconverter (providing even greater magnification).

Light was provided by an sb-800 thru a Lumiquest lightbox at 12 o'clock position, and a slaved old flash at half-power was fired thru a red gel to provide a bit of color on the fill-light.

The fly was gently chilled in the fridge in a Tupperware container for about 25 minutes (never use the freezer--the insect will be killed if frozen).

The slightly chilled fly was placed on a piece of elevated plate glass (from a picture frame) for the shot. The glass allowed the red-gel flash to be positioned so that its light illuminated the side and below.

I got off nine shots before my model flew away.

Full-frame with this setup is about 8mm, yielding a reproduction size of about 3x. Depth of field is kind of nano, in the neighborhood of half a millimeter. In the image, note how little is actually in focus. At this magnification, I tripod, and likely a focus rail, are necessary.

For the record, I almost never chill my subjects, and my website reflects hundreds of images captured without any assistance from Kenmore. Just bugs in the wild, very alive and in their natural state. However, for this image, some assistance was necessary due to the challenges of the assignment.

More HDR photography

Photo Title: End of Summer

This is an HDR (High Dynamic Range) shot taken from a tripod on a late afternoon in Jamaica Plain, MA right outside of Boston. The three photos with different exposures were then combined using Photomatix software.



Photo Title: Warm Water + Cool Air =

This was a handheld HDR shot taken on a cool morning in Raymond, Maine. The shot was taken in Auto-Exposure Bracketing mode (2 stops apart). The three photos with different exposures were then combined using Photomatix software.


Author: Richie Moriarty
Location: Brookline, MA
Richie's Site
Level: Amature
Primary Interest: HDR and landscape photography
Time Shooting: Less than 6 months

Camera Type: DSLR
Camera Brand: Canon 30D
Lens Used: Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens
Exposure: 3 different exposures using auto bracket +2

This old picket fence

Photo Title: old picket fence oob
Author: Robert Durfee
Location: near Roanoke, Virginia on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge mountains
Robert's Site
Level: Advanced Amature
Primary Interest: Nature and Nature Macro Photography
and Antique Objects

Camera Type: DSLR-like
Camera Brand: Kodak DX6490
Aperture: Auto
Exposure: Auto
Post Processing Software: Corel Paint Shot Pro X

I really like Robert's different post processing technique he uses for select photos. This photo was originally a nice photo shot in auto exposure mode using natural lighting. The photo was shot along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, Tennessee. Robert then extracted the fence and some surrounding grass, and placed it in a layer on top of a gradient background. He then applied took a section of the remaining photo, applied a box frame around it, and applied a drop shadow onto the gradient "background". See some other creative ideas of Robert's at his Flickr site or more "Out of Bounds" photos at the Flickr Pool

Droplets are lenses too...

Photo Title: Just a Droplet, But Upside Down
Author: Predi
Perdi's Site
Location: Newtown, PA
Primary Interest: Child Portraits, Macro Photography
Years Shooting: 20+

Camera Type: Point & Shoot
Camera Brand: Canon PowerShot S3 IS
ISO: 80
Aperture: f8
Exposure: 1/80

Description:
Perdi has a very nice collection of macro and portrait shots. With macro photography being one of his specialities, he sees the beauty in some small things like water droplets. Knowing that it's pretty hard to set focus with such small distances he set the aperture to f/8 to get to maximize the focusing range. He still ended up with about 250 shots before getting the right one. The point? Patience. If you recognize that great shot that is difficult, keep at it. Look at the results!

He didn't use any special tricks, just pointed and shot. He got the camera as close to the droplet as possible paying special attention to the refracted image. After shooting, he flipped the image so the refracted image in the water droplet appears right side up. When shooting shots like this, keep the background in mind. It should be relatively simple but interesting.

How do I submit my photo?

So you have a great photo that everyone should see. Perhaps you used some special technique to capture it. So go on, send it in!

If you would like to submit your photo to potentially be shown on How I Shot This, send an email to donovancade@adelphia.net with the subject "How I Shot This". If we choose it, we'll let you know right away.

To submit, include a medium size web-resolution copy of your photo. At the very minimum, you must include a description about how you got the shot. Please try to give a detailed description including at least:

Camera Type (Point & Shoot or SLR)
Camera Model
Lens Used (if applicable)
Flash Used (if applicable)
If you used a flash, the flash settings if you know them
Exposure
How did you capture the shot (technique, lighting, time of day, angle, or whatever you feel is important)

Also, send any of the following info you would like listed.

Name
Photograhpy company Name (if you have one)
Email address
Website URL, flickr homepage, or any site(s) you call "home"
Primary type of photograhpy
How long you've been shooting
City, State

Thanks for participating!

Welcome to How I Shot This.

We all see those amazing photos and think "how did they do that?" I created How I Shot This to provide a public forum for photographers to show off their work and to describe how they did it.

My hope is that How I Shot This will be a useful learning tool for both beginner and experienced photographers alike; a learning tool to explore different areas of photography. Perhaps a way to step outside our typical comfort zone and just try new things.

Equally important is recognizing many amazing photographers out there who fill a niche of eccentricity and come up (or perfect) alternative styles of shooting. Sometimes it may not be different, but just really good. Don't always expect to see a long tutorial or description. Sometimes you may see a photographer just because they're great.

I welcome comments with additional tips and tricks, or whatever comments you feel appropriate. Hopefully you'll find this site useful as I work hard to keep it up to date.