MacroPhotography: For the Off-Season?

[Melanie Kern-Favilla]

An oldie-but-goodie...

 

[Paul Hadfield]

Meant to post these here long ago but don't think I ever did. One can see some pretty cool things with a macro lens, high ISO, and some good zaps(static).

http://www.extremeinstability.com/09-1-17.htm

The "almost zaps" still fascinate me. Blue puffs off things if you are careful enough.

Man I wish I would've known about this thread. I've come a long way this year with true macro. All of your shots are amazing and as for you Melanie, I am having a hard time typing with one hand as I scrape my jaw off the floor with the other! So anyways, rather than start a new thread, I searched for your post Mike about the static macros because I decided to give it a shot last night. I was at work so I couldn't really go all out but below was my best attempt. Postworthy simply because it is not easy at all and I would encourage anyone looking for a challenge to give it a try. More on my blog and speaking of true macro, check out what I caught at work about two weeks ago!

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Nice work Paul. The ones I got, well, were really nasty discharges. To the point you about didn't like to do it lol. So it's really important to find out a way to get them to have quite the kick. I should have taken a picture of my shoes for that, as I am really thinking they were the biggest factor in letting me get the zaps I was getting. They were Nikes with the rubber sole rather extended, with many holes going through the sides of the rubber, and one large gap/hole/spacing under the heal in it. I gathered all that air gapping and surface area down in the "drag zone" and the distance it kind of kept me off the ground/carpet was really building things up. I could feel my pant lengs move once I'd touch my finer for the zap. Even the almost zaps that weren't complete discharges were bright as they would flicker. At the same time I had no real problem grabbing the plastic cable release to take the shots. Of course cold and dry brutal winter conditions will also help, but I know the biggest thing helping me get those big, sort of scary zaps, was just how my shoes were made. I couldn't get anything near that good with socks or other shoes on.

 

[Paul Hadfield]

Nice work Paul. The ones I got, well, were really nasty discharges. To the point you about didn't like to do it lol. So it's really important to find out a way to get them to have quite the kick. I should have taken a picture of my shoes for that, as I am really thinking they were the biggest factor in letting me get the zaps I was getting. They were Nikes with the rubber sole rather extended, with many holes going through the sides of the rubber, and one large gap/hole/spacing under the heal in it. I gathered all that air gapping and surface area down in the "drag zone" and the distance it kind of kept me off the ground/carpet was really building things up. I could feel my pant lengs move once I'd touch my finer for the zap. Even the almost zaps that weren't complete discharges were bright as they would flicker. At the same time I had no real problem grabbing the plastic cable release to take the shots. Of course cold and dry brutal winter conditions will also help, but I know the biggest thing helping me get those big, sort of scary zaps, was just how my shoes were made. I couldn't get anything near that good with socks or other shoes on.

LOL! you got that right! It was not easy staying focused on the task at hand while basically performing self torture. This pic was one such discharge after which I was like "yowza!" I found too that if you shuffle over areas where you had already walked, you didn't generate a significant charge so with each pass I sought a different path. I was moving between two rooms, one being carpeted and the other tiled. It seemed that the tile floor was more conducive to generating good charge versus those passes from exclusively on the carpet. I'm surprised that touching your release didn't ruin your discharge? Touching the button set off the discharge which is why I used the timer. Per your experiment, I was wondering if you took a clear acrylic box of pins and set up like you did with a contact and ground point leading in and out of the box, when you touch the contact will you be able to record a release jumping from multiple points within the box? The way you had those pins configured gave me a few creative ideas involving geometric shapes and use of other props. Again, I would love to see others give this a shot if not just for the sake of getting past the "shock value"

 

[Mike Deep]

I have a ton of new close-up shots since I last posted here... Gotta pick just a few.

 

[Paul Hadfield]

Mike your color and clarity is incredible! If I had to pick a favorite subject for this year, it was the amphibians I was fortunate to document.

Baby Cricket Frog >1/4"

Toadlet on my Knuckle

Froglet still in tadpole stage and roughly the size of your fingertip

 

[Dan Robinson]

Those of you with the nice fast macro-capable lenses should see if you can do something with blanket sparks, the epitome of winter SDS:

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?p=93303

I personally am afraid to get my camera close to them, since it's really awkward to get a camera set up in a small space underneath a blanket - while you're simultaneously pulling it over your head. If I just totally weirded you out by that sentence, just read the linked thread and you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

[Mike Deep]

Paul that last shot is really something - Usually shooting longlegged flies by themselves is an exercise in frustration.

 

[Darren Addy]

This is a cropped shot of handheld macro (no post-processing... just in-camera JPEG). The fullframe shot can be seen on my Flickr Photostream. It was a handheld shot at f11 (S-M-C Takumar Macro 50mm f4 at maximum 1:2 magnification).

My neighbor's Magnolia Tree is clearly confused, as it is budding out again on a warm November 1st day.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

This was cropped from a 50mm on a reverse ring flashed in the dark... I would really like to try the 135mm/50 MM back to back macro on this.... Need a ringed light source. Click for a larger shot!

 

[Paul Hadfield]

Paul that last shot is really something - Usually shooting longlegged flies by themselves is an exercise in frustration.

Thanks Mike, just now seeing this as I noticed Jim's most recent contribution... Way to go Jim!

Some of you remember this from elsewhere the other day but for those who don't... "Got a Little Captain in You?"