Bee - Macro Beginner

Hey Everyone,

Its Echo here posting another image to have critiqued. I took this today out by the lake. Please let me know how I could improve this. PP work was done in Lightroom and border/sig added in Photoshop CS5.



EXIF Data:

Camera Model Name : NIKON D5100
File Type : JPEG
MIME Type : image/jpeg
Exposure Time : 1/60
F Number : 8.0
ISO : 200
Flash : Auto, Did not fire
Focal Length : 35.0 mm

Hi, mean looking bee. A few things come to mind. The main thing you could have done is to place the bee a little more to the left. It seems to be standing almost in the middle of the frame. I like the diagonals the wood grain makes, it takes my eyes right to the bee.

The other thing I would have done is to use a higher iso. I'm not sure if you had a tripod, but 1/60 is slow for macro work. Even with a tripod, these little critters can move just enough to make the shot look blurred.

And the focus seems to be a little behind the bee's back which IMHO should be the center of interest.

Remember that only practice makes perfect. Keep enjoying yoiur Nikon.
!

Thanks Marcel. For this shot, it was not on a tripod. Was going freehand and actually setting up for a sunset time lapse when I almost put my hand right on him! I will keep in mind the shutter speed. What ISO would you recommend shooting during the daytime? Thanks for all the suggestions presented thus far and I am loving my Nikon!

th33ch0 said:

Thanks Marcel. For this shot, it was not on a tripod. Was going freehand and actually setting up for a sunset time lapse when I almost put my hand right on him! I will keep in mind the shutter speed. What ISO would you recommend shooting during the daytime? Thanks for all the suggestions presented thus far and I am loving my Nikon!

Click to expand...

The iso number by itself is not that important, but you can bring it up to 1600 WHEN YOU NEED IT. What is the most important in my opinion is that you make sure you have a fast enough shutter speed to get the sharp shot. Sometimes iso 200 will be fine, other times you'll have to bring it up to 800. For macro shots, anything under 1/125 is risky (you can get great shots but you'll also get a lot of rejects because of camera movement).

Have fun learning.

Good try. For macro, it always good to add flash and bring up your f stop to at least 12 and above. My first encounter with bee, I took more than 20 shots but none is close to what you have achieved! I was so excited I forgotten all the theory.

So, like all other photography, it is all about practise. Good luck