Post your macro photos here

blackstar

Senior Member
2024-07-05_18-27-15(2)ZS PMaxGsT.png
 

Blue439

New member
I venture very carefully in this thread, as there are many macro-photographers here infinitely more qualified than I am (I hate spiders and there are quite a few of those shots above I don’t want to look at! :eek:)...

I vividly remember taking the photo of the Christmas candle below. It was one of the very first I took with my brand new D3 in December 2008. It was a test of the much-touted low-light capabilities of the camera, and as this was shot handheld with a stabilized macro lens, I must say that camera didn’t disappoint. It still holds its own in 2024!

Nikon D3, Micro-Nikkor 105mm, ƒ/2.8 G VR macro lens. handheld, natural light.

50904457922_f1874153f5_o.jpg
 

Blue439

New member
An unfortunate dead bee I found on the terrace one morning. The original photo is about 4:1 and was achieved with the use of a bellows. The depth of field I required was extremely difficult to obtain, owing to the reproduction ratio, and was reached by tilting the front and back ends of the bellows, just like in a view camera, and combining that with some focus-stacking which I had to set by hand using the focusing rail system supplied with the bellows. The result is far from perfect, but it was so difficult for me that, at some point, I admit I gave up and declared myself reasonably satisfied.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 105mm, ƒ/2.8 G VR macro lens, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, artificial lighting. Novoflex BALPRO T/S bellows.

51312625986_e523ac5e87_o.jpg
 

Blue439

New member
This is one of the most difficult macros I ever tried to take (I admit I am very far from being a specialist), and it is not really very sharp. It is not an ice cube but a crystal of fleur de sel salt from Guérande in Brittany. I photographed it using my bellows almost fully extended, so we’re at an 8–10× ratio here (the background is a sheet of paper, so you can have an idea of the magnification by looking at the fibers). I thought it would be white and was very surprised to see that “fleur de sel” crystals are almost transparent –and thus, of course, even more difficult to light. I estimated the size of this as perhaps 1.2 millimeters.

I would have loved to be able to do better, and perhaps I will try again in the future. I could have lit it better for a more spectacular result. I took 4 focus–stacked exposures, setting them manually using the Novoflex Castel XQ–II focusing rail under the bellows, as the macro lens was manual focus only. I use the Laowa 2× for the extra magnification it would give me. The stack was, as usual, processed with Helicon Focus.

Nikon Z7, Z-mount Laowa 100mm ƒ/2.8 2× Ultra Macro APO lens. Gitzo GR3543XLS tripod with Arca–Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Novoflex BALPRO T/S bellows on Castel XQ–II focusing rail. Artificial lighting.

51165336906_2174418ce8_o.jpg
 

Blue439

New member
More product photography: this time, my lovely German bellows. The nicest feature is that it is Z-mount and retains the electronic communication between the lens and the camera on both ends of the bellows —that’s what the black coiled cord does. Unsightly but very efficient, and that’s what matters.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 60mm, ƒ/2.8 D macro lens, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Artificial lighting.

51314567516_a97766c555_o.jpg
 
Last edited:

Blue439

New member
This is me venturing again (more or less successfully) into the realm of extreme macrophotography: those are grains of uncooked basmati rice shot at about 8:1 reproduction ratio with the bellows. For this one, I took 36 focus-stacked exposures which I had to set manually using the focusing rail. The bellows does transmit exposure information but the automatic focus-stacking function does not work with it. I processed the stack as usual with Helicon Focus, method A. I figured that, if the photo came out actually OK, I would do it again with a more artsy-fartsy setup and better lighting, but I never got around to it. Shame on me.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 85mm, ƒ/1.8 S lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head with Novoflex BALPRO T/S bellows. Natural light.

51314568131_afd4eb1a29_o.jpg
 

Blue439

New member
Another bee on lavender... The background is way too cluttered for it to be any good, but I upload it because of its technical interest: it was taken with a 135mm general photography lens on an extension tube. The ratio may not be quite 1:1 but it is close enough to show there is no need to invest in a dedicated macro lens if you’re only an occasional practitioner of the genre... Of course, that lens was not stabilized, only the body was.

Nikon Z7, Sigma 135mm, ƒ/1.8 Art lens, FTZ adapter, Fotodiox Pro 15–mm extension tube, handheld.

51317267389_fdfe844d91_o.jpg
 

Robin W

Senior Member
This is me venturing again (more or less successfully) into the realm of extreme macrophotography: those are grains of uncooked basmati rice shot at about 8:1 reproduction ratio with the bellows. For this one, I took 36 focus-stacked exposures which I had to set manually using the focusing rail. The bellows does transmit exposure information but the automatic focus-stacking function does not work with it. I processed the stack as usual with Helicon Focus, method A. I figured that, if the photo came out actually OK, I would do it again with a more artsy-fartsy setup and better lighting, but I never got around to it. Shame on me.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 85mm, ƒ/1.8 S lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head with Novoflex BALPRO T/S bellows. Natural light.

View attachment 409531
Your photo convinced me to buy the software Helicon Focus. I have 3 months to decide if I want a lifetime subscription. So far, it has improved my photo stacking capabilities. Now I need to improve my technique. Thanks for letting us know about this software.
 

Blue439

New member
Your photo convinced me to buy the software Helicon Focus. I have 3 months to decide if I want a lifetime subscription. So far, it has improved my photo stacking capabilities. Now I need to improve my technique. Thanks for letting us know about this software.
I had to do some serious market research and hands-on testing when I convinced myself that focus-stacking was a must for what I was trying to achieve. The fact that the D850 (which was the camera I used at the time) had a built-in stacking function, carried the decision. Since then, I learned to stack focus manually, but at the beginning I wasn’t too sure of my ability to do that. So, I looked around and first went with Zerene Stacker, which is also quite good. However, I was not entirely satisfied with it and re-touching took hours for unconvincing results. Maybe it was just me being clumsy. Anyway, it was then that I tried Helicon, and I must say I never looked back. I hope you will enjoy it too. Focus stacking is a very specific business that a program like Photoshop, for example, doesn't handle well (if it even does at all, which I do not recall at the moment: I never use it to do that).

Photoshop is excellent for stitching panoramas, sometimes even better than dedicated software like PTGui, but focus-stacking must be a different ball game entirely.

Anyway, keep us posted and make the most of your trial period.
 

Robin W

Senior Member
I had to do some serious market research and hands-on testing when I convinced myself that focus-stacking was a must for what I was trying to achieve. The fact that the D850 (which was the camera I used at the time) had a built-in stacking function, carried the decision. Since then, I learned to stack focus manually, but at the beginning I wasn’t too sure of my ability to do that. So, I looked around and first went with Zerene Stacker, which is also quite good. However, I was not entirely satisfied with it and re-touching took hours for unconvincing results. Maybe it was just me being clumsy. Anyway, it was then that I tried Helicon, and I must say I never looked back. I hope you will enjoy it too. Focus stacking is a very specific business that a program like Photoshop, for example, doesn't handle well (if it even does at all, which I do not recall at the moment: I never use it to do that).

Photoshop is excellent for stitching panoramas, sometimes even better than dedicated software like PTGui, but focus-stacking must be a different ball game entirely.

Anyway, keep us posted and make the most of your trial period.
I bought the one year subscription and will probably buy the lifetime subscription but I will wait awhile. I found a video of a man named, Stewart Wood, he goes over his process using Lightroom, Denoise, Helicon Focus and photoshop to stack his photos. I found his video very helpful and I already had everything but Helicon Focus and now I have all of them. It is much easier than trying to stack in photoshop alone. He had a lot of good tips. In case anyone is interested here is the link to his video, Stewart Wood video.
 

Blue439

New member
I bought the one year subscription and will probably buy the lifetime subscription but I will wait awhile. I found a video of a man named, Stewart Wood, he goes over his process using Lightroom, Denoise, Helicon Focus and photoshop to stack his photos. I found his video very helpful and I already had everything but Helicon Focus and now I have all of them. It is much easier than trying to stack in photoshop alone. He had a lot of good tips. In case anyone is interested here is the link to his video, Stewart Wood video.
Thanks a lot, I will watch that video. I’m sure I still have tons to learn about Helicon and focus stacking.
 

Blue439

New member
A super-macro shot of a burlap fabric (the one I used for background in the World War I photo I uploaded to the Tabletop section a few days ago), using the Novoflex BALPRO T/S bellows and two stacked extension tubes with a 50 mm lens. The reproduction ratio I estimate at 12:1.

I thought I would never have enough power to light this without having to pose for minutes! I remember I had to use my two Indra500s at full power (that’s a whopping 1,000 watts/second! They say decent cobra flashes put out between 60 and 100 W/s), and quite close at that, in order to have enough light to reach the camera sensor, buried as it was at the end of the very long and dark tunnel of the tubes and the bellows, fully extended... I wouldn’t budge from my base ISO setting of 64 for a shot like that. ;)

Composite shot made of 8 focus-stacked exposures, set manually using the Novoflex Castel XQ II focusing rail. Stack (very complex stack, with all those bits flying around!) processed with Helicon Focus. Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8 S lens, Fotodiox Pro extension tubes (15 and 35 mm). Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Artificial lighting.

51318778568_09b0175792_o.jpg
 

Robin W

Senior Member
I think this was 4 photos stacked. What really amazes me about this photo is that the bee held still long enough for me to take 4 photos of it. Helicon B method.
2024-09-03 08-25-23 (B,R8,S4).jpg
 
Top