Elemental Imaging

Here is a studio shot:

Shot handheld with my D300

• Nikon D300s
• Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro-Nikkor
• Studio Lighting
• f/11 - 1/250s - ISO 200
• Autofocus
• VR On

Macro Thoughts

Most of my macro photography library and most web commentary emphasizes stationary techniques.  And, in general, I agree, for macro photography, tying yourself to a tripod gives the best results and opens up a range of techniques that are just not possible any other way.  Without a stable platform, there is no practical means of using bellows, focus stacking, or tilt/shift techniques.  And, frankly, without absolute stability you cannot achieve the maximum sharpness of your setup-whatever that may be.

So, why then do I shoot most of my images handheld?  It all comes down to timing, patience and what you want the image to convey.  For me, there are three distinct types of macro image:

1. Depicting the object or creature in all it’s detailed glory.  Great examples of this (thousands on Flickr) are bug eyes and flower parts.  As artistic as these can be, images of this type are truly taxonomic—reveling details and structure not visible or apparent to the human eye.  Timing is not critical, but patience is—I fiddle with everything until perfection.
2. Capturing the “moment”.  These images show the best expression, pose or behavior—think of the spider with it’s fangs buried in a fly.  Detail is important, but secondary.  Extreme depth of field is sacrificed to get the right depth of field (eyes).  Timing is everything, peak action lasts a fraction of a second, no potential for fiddling.
3. Capturing motion.  Motion and the ”moment” are distinct but related.  Here again, extreme depth of field is sacrificed, as appropriate parts (wings) of the creature are blurred through shutter speed and/or panning. Again, no time to fiddle.

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As a compliment to the Honey Bee Launching from a couple of days ago, here is one on landing approach:

Shot handheld with my D300s, which has a bigger buffer and can be better than the D7000 for tracking bursts in the field:

• Nikon D300s
• Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro-Nikkor
• Nikon SB-600 (shoe mounted).  Manual.
• f/11 - 1/250s - ISO 400.  Manual.
• Autofocus
• VR On

Probably my favorite macro subject are simple, common honey bees.  Because they are common, shooting bees lacks the thrill of discovery.  However, their ubiquity and somewhat predictable behavior makes them the perfect subject for experimenting with equipment and techniques.  When conditions are right, I can shoot a thousand bee images in a day-all in the quest of the perfect bee image.  This is one of my current favorites:

Shot handheld with my current favorite field setup:

• Nikon D7000
• Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro-Nikkor
• Nikon SB-600 (shoe mounted)
• f/8 - 1/200s - ISO 320
• Autofocus
• VR On