Green Tree Frog (Unedited)

[Scott Murray]

Hi All I am after some harsh criticism regarding this photo, it is 6th out of 6 shots hand held using a LED ring light, all shot in manual.

Exif data

Camera	Nikon D800
Exposure	0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture	f/5.6
Focal Length	90 mm
ISO Speed	2000
Exposure Bias	0 EV
Flash	Off, Did not fire
X-Resolution	240 dpi
Y-Resolution	240 dpi
Software	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.1 (Macintosh)
Date and Time (Modified)	2013:01:20 20:11:25
Artist	Scott H Murray
Copyright	Scott H Murray Photography
Exposure Program	Manual

 

[Pierro]

Nothing harsh to say Scott - just 2 things. DOF is woefully missing apart from one eye, and the crop is too vicious too the right, making the frog looked cramped in by the side of the frame.

At f5.6, you're never going to get much DOF at such close range. TBH, you wouldnt even get much DOF at f11, or even f16, and thats if your lens, whatever it is, doesnt suffer from diffraction.

I do like the lighting though - that ring has done a nice job for you. Also, even though just a tiny portion of the frog is in focus, its lovely and sharp

 

[Scott Murray]

I have only been trying handheld at present with no flash which restricts what I can do. Maybe a tripod would work much better and open up my Aperture. These frogs are very friendly and only give me a ribbit or two before saying ok. I guess patience will be my virtue and trigger release etc. I agree with the cropping, I got kinda lazy.

I used the 90mm 2.8 Tamron macro for this.

 

[Pierro]

Ok, well the 90 tamron is a true 1:1 macro, so you really wont get much DOF at those apertures. Your subject is too big, so stopping down is only ever going to get his eye + perhaps his eyebrow in focus

With a big subject, close range, and true macro lens, you'll have to start focus stacking to get any kind of decent DOF. In reality this means a tripod, a macro rail to make things a lot easier, and a subject that doesnt move for each shot

edit...

For shoots where there is going to be 1 shot and limited DOF, like the frog, shoot head on if possible, as that will be a much more pleasing composition

Or just shoot really tiny subjects

 

[Scott Murray]

Ok, well the 90 tamron is a true 1:1 macro, so you really wont get much DOF at those apertures. Your subject is too big, so stopping down is only ever going to get his eye + perhaps his eyebrow in focus

With a big subject, close range, and true macro lens, you'll have to start focus stacking to get any kind of decent DOF. In reality this means a tripod, a macro rail to make things a lot easier, and a subject that doesnt move for each shot

Hmmmm ok, but if I reverse my 50 or 85mm will that help lol. I dont want to focus stack.

 

[Pierro]

No Scott - it wont help. If you want to reverse a lens, you'd be better of with a 28mm, but you aren't going to cure the DOF problem. DOF is about aperture, subject size, and distance to subject

 

[Scott Murray]

Ok so I will need better light, and a wider aperture so that I can gain full detail. Please check out my other frog pic as I am hoping that the angle solves the DOF issue.

 

[Rick M]

The crop kills it for me. Some more DoF, maybe f8 and backing off a few inches might help. As you just said, the angle is important, being as perpendicular to the subject will at least maximize any DoF you can get.

 

[Scott Murray]

The crop kills it for me. Some more DoF, maybe f8 and backing off a few inches might help. As you just said, the angle is important, being as perpendicular to the subject will at least maximize any DoF you can get.

Yes I will have to explain to the subject the importance of staying still so I can get the shot luckily I am patient and they are in my backyard lol. Next time it will be with tripod and shutter release to see what I can achieve.

 

[Pierro]

Ok so I will need better light, and a wider aperture so that I can gain full detail. Please check out my other frog pic as I am hoping that the angle solves the DOF issue.

The light isnt an issue till you stop down.. and a wider aperture is the opposite of what you need. Stopping down as far as you can before diffraction sets in will get you more DOF, ( f11 / f16 / f22) ...but the shutter speeds start going down horrendously. So then flash and remote / MLU is the answer there, but with such a big subject, you're still going to suffer from DOF problems unless you stack

Here's a couple of shots from a guy a know from another forum, Zeek. He is fabulous at this macro lark, and simply uses a reverse 28mm lens. But even here you notice the DOF is pathetically shallow, but he frames the subject head on so the lack of DOF behind has no real down side to the shot.

 

[Scott Murray]

The light isnt an issue till you stop down.. and a wider aperture is the opposite of what you need. Stopping down as far as you can before diffraction sets in will get you more DOF, ( f11 / f16 / f22) ...but the shutter speeds start going down horrendously. So then flash and remote / MLU is the answer there, but with such a big subject, you're still going to suffer from DOF problems unless you stack

Here's a couple of shots from a guy a know from another forum, Zeek. He is fabulous at this macro lark, and simply uses a reverse 28mm lens. But even here you notice the DOF is pathetically shallow, but he frames the subject head on so the lack of DOF behind has no real down side to the shot.

View attachment 24985View attachment 24986

Yeah sorry wider is narrower in the way I think lol.... But I agree its a struggle, but honestly do you really need everything in focus or the main part? I quite like these examples as they show enough in focus, where as mine shows very little.

 

[Pierro]

I guess how much you have in focus is down to preferences, but most people find head on shots with shallow DOF much more pleasing than 3/4 shots with shallow DOF

If you shoot tiny bugs, you're chances of getting more DOF in one shot is much better - but choosing a subject the size of a frog is only ever going to get you poor DOF unless you stack, or limit your composition to head ons

Keep going !