Mark Plonsky

Introduction

I am a professor (experimental psychology, not entomology). I had started scanning images back in 1989 for incorporating into my lectures that I projected in front of the classroom. I bought a digital camera in 2000 for family photos and to document dog behavior. The camera wasn't as good as I would have liked for the latter due to the slow auto focus and other camera specific limitations. I like the digital, though, because it makes it easy to try something and immediately see if, and how, it worked. Compact flash is like a continuous roll of film that I never run out of. Given my background, I tend to think of the camera as a scanner that you point.

When I first got the camera, my (then) 5 year old son came into my office one day and suggested I photograph a bug that he had his eye on and we did. It was worse than terrible by my current standards, but it did allow us to see the bug in more detail than we could in real life. That is what got me started and what I enjoy so much about macros. They let you see what you ordinarily cannot. As a scientist, I am quite curious by nature. I kept shooting the bugs, had fun, and my camera was reasonable good at it. I also liked that as I developed skills shooting bugs, all of my other photos (dogs, family, etc), got better too.

The Internet (web) and photo forums have been my photography teacher. Thus, I am especially thankful to those who have given me honest and constructive critiques. I guess my dream is that one day my images will appear in children's books or other educational materials.

I am writing this article because when I post my images on the forums, people often ask how I do it. So I am going to try and tell you. Keep in mind that I am just an self taught amateur who is willing to experiment and has an insatiable curiosity. Thus, the internet acronym "YMMV" applies (i.e., "Your Milage May Vary"). Nonetheless, I hope this information is useful to you and enables you to have more fun taking and creating images.

All information and images in this article Copyright © 2001-3 M. Plonsky
http://www.mplonsky.com/photo

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Philosophy

Most of my bugs are photographed in the natural environment. I don't chill them, or spray them, or glue them, or nail them down. I will sometimes move some blades of grass or vegetation to get a better view. Even less often, I will try to relocate the bug to a new location. Nonetheless, they are always alive and well when I shoot them. Occasionally I will shoot them on a building (white ones especially) or other man made structure.

My goal when photographing the bug is to present it in a positive light; to show it at it’s best. I especially like intimate portraits, behavior shots, and full body shots with clean and smooth backgrounds.

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Camera Equipment

• Canon Powershot G1 (35-103mm zoom) 3Mp digital camera
  Recently upgraded to a Canon Powershot G3 (35-140mm) 4Mp
• Lensemate adapter tube to allow filters to be attached to the camera
• Various close-up lenses (or diopters)
  • Tiffen +10 & +7
  • Hanimex +6
  • Royal & Quantary sets (+3, +2, & +1 in each)
• Tiffen Megaplus 2x Zoom/TeleConverter (2xTC)
• Pentax 50mm F1.4 lens (a fast normal lens)
  • Macro coupler ring (for attaching the normal lens in the reverse position)
• Canon 420ex flash
  • Various Stofen Omnibounce diffusers
  • Kirk butterfly bracket
  • Canon off shoe cord (allows me to mount the 420ex flash on the bracket)
• Tripods
• Macro focusing rail

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Using Close-Ups (Diopters)

A close-up lens (or diopter) enables the camera to focus closer than it normally can. This means that the image will appear larger in the frame because you can get closer to it. In other words, close-ups allow you to magnify the image. A diopter is, in fact, a magnifying glass.

Close-ups can be stacked. When doing this, the highest powered close-up should be the closest to the camera. I have stacked as much as +27. One problem with stacking is that the quality decreases because there is more glass. Another issue is that as the magnification increases the depth of field (DOF) decreases. With really high magnifications, the DOF becomes paper thin.

Still another important issue with close-ups is that you need to get so close to the subject. The distance from the camera’s lens to the bug is called the "working distance". One of the techniques I use to increase working distance is to follow the close-ups with a 2xTC. In addition to the increased distance making it more likely that I can get the shot (by not disturbing the bug), it also makes it easier to get better lighting. A disadvantage of the 2xTC, though, is that some magnification is lost.

I have learned to try various “optical marriages”, because some lens combinations work well together and others don’t. For example, I tried diopters after the 2xTC, but the results weren’t very good. It was a poor "optical marriage".

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Reversing a Lens

While stacking bunches of close-ups gave me some great shots with good magnification, I wasn’t really satisfied with the technique. I found that stacking more than 2-3 lenses wasn’t really worth it, since I rarely could obtain the quality I desired.

I had read about a technique involving reversing a lens to gain magnification in web articles such as that written by Chris Breeze & Guy Parsons, as well as in John Shaw's book "Close-ups in Nature". It is sometimes called "a poor man's macro".

I first tried the reverse lens technique with a Canon 35-80mm F4.5 lens and magnification was great, but vignetting (i.e., a black circle like frame on the image) was prohibitive. So I went to a camera store with my camera to check out the 50mm (i.e., normal) lenses. I wound up buying a Pentax 50mm F1.4 lens. The F1.4 means that it is a fast lens (i.e., it lets in a lot of light). As a result, it gives minimal vignetting (a slight darkening of the corners).  It appears that the increased zoom of the Canon G3 compared to the G1 has completely eliminated vignetting with this lense.

I attach the 50mm lens in the reverse position to the Canon Digital with an adapter (Lensmate) to allow for filters and additional lenses and then a macro coupling ring that has male threads on both sides. Links to where you can find this equipment were presented in the previous section on Camera Equipment.

The reverse lens acts as a powerful (about +25) and high quality diopter. I have to be about 1.5 or so inches from the bug with this setup. Also, I must have my digital on full zoom. I set the 50mm to its widest aperture (in the case of my Pentax it is F1.4) and set the focus to infinity. Then I do the rest with my camera. I should note that sometimes I use a +3 diopter before the reversed lens to squeeze out just a bit more magnification.

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Camera Settings

Here are some tips:

1. Use manual focus. Lock the focus and then gently rock the camera back and forth until you find that sweet spot (where the image looks crisp in the LCD). This takes a lot of practice.
2. Use full zoom. This is especially important in situations were vignetting is likely (e.g., if using a 2xTC after some stacked close-ups).
3. Use a small aperture (large F value) to maximize depth of field (the amount of the image in focus). The more magnification, the less depth of field.
4. Fill flash is usually a good idea. The majority of my shots are at F8 (which is the smallest aperture a prosumer digital camera gives), 1/250 with fill flash.
5. I typically used the F8 trick on the Canon G1, that is, I use Tv (shutter priority) mode and set the shutter speed to 1/640th. Because flash is enabled, it will drop down to the max synch speed of 1/250 with F8. While the G3 doesn't have the F8 trick, it does permit high speed synch (higher than 1/250 with the external flash), which should be useful for fill in bright light.
6. The next most frequent mode I use is aperture priority (Av) with, of course, F8 (the smallest aperture my camera gives). I like this mode, because I can tolerate shutter speeds down to 1/100 or so on a good day (if I have skipped the morning coffee), but I am more likely to have success with 1/160 or 1/200. This helps to get a lighter background than with 1/250.
7. Lastly, I sometimes shoot in manual mode, but the main problem with that is my Canon G1 fires the external flash at full strength in this mode (in which case, I wrap it in tissue as well as the diffuser). Since the G3 gives much more control over the flash, I will probably use manual more often with it.

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Lighting & Flash

Here are some tips:

1. Shoot on bright days so you can get a decent shutter speed.
2. If you can afford an external flash, it really makes a dramatic difference.
3. If you do use flash, it needs to be diffused (e.g., a tissue) or bounced (e.g., off a white card or reflector). Pointing the flash indirectly is another possibility.
4. The 2xTC after the close-ups can help with lighting since it is easier to illuminate the subject more evenly from a distance.
5. A butterfly bracket (and off shoe cord) for the external flash will give you even more control of lighting.
6. Varying exposure and/or flash compensation as well as the position of the external diffused flash, gives me some flexibility here.

The previous section on Camera Equipment has pointers to some of the equipment mentioned here.

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Tripod or Not?

About 90% of my bug shots are handheld, so I don’t often use a tripod. I think this is one of the major advantages of a prosumer digital with a flip out LCD screen.  When I do use a tripod, I like to use a macro focusing rail that allows you to move the camera back and forth in tiny increments without moving the tripod. Given that the DOF is so shallow in macros and that I prefer to lock the focus and move the camera back and forth, the rail is a very useful tool.

As I noted above, most of my shots are handheld. As such, I have become quite good at steadying the camera. I do this in a number of ways. I will often lean against a tree or fence. I keep my elbows in and often squat bracing the camera against my knee/leg. If I can, I will rest the edge of the camera on a log or other available structure. I also either put the camera cord around my neck or in my teeth and push the camera away from me when I shoot. Next season I plan to give a monopod a try.

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How to Get Close

The philosophy I discussed earlier is relevant here. To me, photographing bugs is like hunting big game. You have to work for that trophy and being able to track and stalk the game are skills that the hunter develops.

I especially enjoy dragon hunting. I don't go out at special times and I am not a morning person. I have about 3 acres that are about 15 minutes from a river and there are some marshlands in between. This, I am told, is why I am inundated with dragons at certain times of the year. Water seems to be a key when it comes to the dragons.

Here are some tips for getting close:

1. Go slow. Be patient. Watch the bug for awhile to see how it behaves.
2. Some of the bugs are more tolerant than others (both across species as well as within).
3. Move slow. Try not to caste your shadow on the bug. If the bug takes off, be still and wait a minute or two, it will often return to the same perch.
4. When you find one that lets you get close, start firing that shutter like a maniac. Be prepared, such that all settings are as they should be, because you may only get one shot.
5. As you master the focus and exposure, you can start paying more attention to composition.

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The Digital Darkroom

The more the magnification, the less DOF you get. There is no getting around that. I try to use what little I get as best I can. Furthermore, I try to take the image such that it will not need much “developing” in the digital darkroom. In reality, I find that such perfect images are few and far between.

When working in the digital darkroom, my goal is typically not to alter the image, but rather to improve upon what the camera gave me. Occasionally though, I will alter the image by adding clouds to the sky, cloning away unwanted portions, or in rare cases, replacing the background.

Lately, I have been experimenting with using more than one image taken a second apart that have different planes of focus and compositing them for increased DOF (I am most likely to do this with extreme macros because DOF is so limited there). The milkweed beetle shown to the right is an example.

Here are some digital darkroom tips:

1. Take a lot of shots, trying to vary the plane of focus a bit on each so that you are likely to get a couple that hit the sweet spot so to speak.
2. Get used to deleting most of the shots you take. As you gain skill, the hit rate goes up a bit (sometimes).
3. Rotating, cropping, adjusting the levels curves, saturation, and contrast, as well as sharpening the subject and blurring the background are the basics of developing the image.
4. Masking is hiding areas of the image, so that you can work on other areas without affecting the hidden areas. Typically one might mask the foreground so that the background (BG) can be worked on. I typically do this so that I can give the BG a bit of a blur to remove digital noise (since I don't have one of the high end digital SLR's that are relatively noiseless). Creating a mask can be tedious and can be done lots of different ways. I like the "magic wand" tool that selects similar areas on the basis of color. I typically use that first and then refine the mask with other tools.
5. A tool I find useful in the digital darkroom is a graphics tablet, which allows me to use a pen instead of a mouse to control the cursor. I have a Waucom tablet.

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