29 replies to this topic

[TWINSET]

Back out with the camera

Big vicious spider (the 'O' he's next to is nearly 6mm in diameter!!)


Non-biting midges (Chironomidae)






Couple more killer spiders




Hoverfly

[Henk4Focus]

Awesome pics!

[lupogtiboy]

WOW! That is all.....

[Gruntfuggly]

Reminds me of these:

http://www.dailymail...orning-dew.html

[fatboyslim]

what no frog!!

[TWINSET]

Reminds me of these:

http://www.dailymail...orning-dew.html

Yeah, I wish!

There's no frog because they were toads
Think it's too late to catch them now, is easier in the spring when they're 'distracted'

[TWINSET]

Just found some frog pics - apologies for the quality, they're scanned 35mm prints from around 1998

[Gruntfuggly]

Well now theres a frog, we just need a Grasshopper, a Hornet, a Fox, a Falcon, and a Bear Hawk. (Good luck with the last one).

[TWINSET]

Couldn't find a Bare Hawk, will a naked chicken do?

Attached Thumbnails

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[Wandy]

Nice pics. What camera are you using?

I have finally bitten the bullet and got myself into DSLR photography, something that I have been meaning to do for a long time. I'm just taking budding steps though so have bought a Nikon D40, which seems to get very positive reviews as a budget starter camera. One of the main reasons I needed to get one though is so I can finally start taking proper snaps of my Tamiyas and get them in my showroom!

I really want to take some pics of insects and stuff too so I'm guessing I will need a macro lens of some sort? The D40 came with a 18-55mm VR.

[TWINSET]

I really want to take some pics of insects and stuff too so I'm guessing I will need a macro lens of some sort? The D40 came with a 18-55mm VR.

Macro lenses can cost a few quid, my pics were taken with an ebay cheapy lens and an adaptor.

The adaptor allows the lens to be fitted back-to-front which effectively turns it into a powerful magnifying glass

Most lenses have a filter thread on the front, the adaptor screws into that thread - all you need to know is the thread diameter

You don't need a 'Nikon' lens, a lens to fit any camera will do, as you're not using the 'Nikon' mount anyway - the adaptor sorts that out - there are a couple of lenses on ebay at the minute with BINs less than £10, they'd be fine - just avoid any with fungus or mould, as it'll show up far worse!

Charity shops are also worth a look - a 35mm SLR is practically worthless now, for £20 round here you can get a camera, lens and bag when they're having a photo push.


For the adaptor, search ebay for nikon revers* adapt* (as written)
There's no need to spend a lot on one, they're just metal rings, no glass or optics etc.

The focusing doesn't work with this setup though, you have to move the camera back and forth to focus, so get used to holding your breath a lot




Then, all you need to do is turn the camera to manual everything and fire off a few
The built in flash needs to be set to manual too - custom setting menu, item 14 - http://www.kenrockwe...enus-custom.htm
You can set it to fractions of full power - I used 1/16 and 1/32 mostly, but that does depend on how bright a day it is.
You can also adjust the aperture on the lens, this'll brighten or darken the shot slightly without changing the flash settings repeatedly

Lot of trial and error for the fist few shots - practice on flowers - they don't fly away!


Here's my 'setup'

Nikon D80
Yashica 50mm lens
Adaptor ring

Diffuser for flash was a £5 chinese import

Spotter light (LED torch) is held on with a Joby Gorilla pod tripod for compact cameras - it just helps to light up the subject sometimes when it's getting dark.

[Wandy]

Thanks for that...some good tips there.

Seems like DSLR Photography is *almost* as expensive a hobby as Tamiya R/C.

[TWINSET]

More bugs

Just ordered some extension tubes, gonna try and get some depth to em.
First 4 were taken indoors, in the corner of a window - little fella could just about span a 50p if pushed

The rest were all taken in the same shrubbery whilst on hols last week

[TWINSET]

Been toying with getting a ring flash for a while now, when I saw this LED version – for £33 it was a bargain
There's several 'brands' available, Neewer seems to be the most common, although they all look identical (Neewer is available thru Amazon)
It's not a true flash, more of a lens mounted torch – the LEDs stay on until you turn 'em off, they're not triggered by the camera at all.
The box contains the 'flash', a battery holder which sits in the camera's hot-shoe, a mains adaptor and several lens adaptors which screw into the lens's filter thread (49mm/52mm/55mm/58mm/62mm/67mm)
The setup runs off just 2 x AA batteries.
As well as 'all on' either the left or right half of the LEDs can be turned off, of it you rotate the flash 90 degrees, the top or bottom half
The selector switch is mounted to the flash head itself



Attach one of the supplied ring adaptors to the filter thread





The flash head then clips onto the ring


The battery holder slots into the hot-shoe – the master on/off switch is on the battery holder





And you’re ready;


Right hand LEDs lit


Left hand LEDs


All of ‘em lit – no harsh shadowing


‘pro’ ring in the eyes


Great for close-ups without shadows







Still-life setup – rose held in a spring clamp with some black cartridge paper for backdrop


All LEDs


Right hand side LEDs (extra shadowing on left)

[TWINSET]

Just found this little fella in the garage - that's a Tamiya wrench in front of him!

[Gruntfuggly]

Is he a toad? He's tiny - I would be tempted to let him grow a bit and then pop him into a Tamiya Frog as a driver... (for photos only of course)...

[TWINSET]

Is he a toad? He's tiny

Yeah, Garage Toad from now on - I put him back in the corner, dunno if he's looking to hibernate yet but he can always get out under the door
Will have a word about the driver's job, although he seemed a bit shy

[Gruntfuggly]

Garage Toad to his friends - official name, Glenn Morris...

[TWINSET]

Apologies for the big pics, thought I'd stick up some uncropped snaps with the new lens

Nikon D80, Tamron 90mm macro lens
F18, 1/60 TTL pop-up flash, 100-ISO

No idea what the bug is, but it's as dopey as anything - must be the cold.
It keeps buzzing round the light, so holding a sheet of white A3 paper up as a reflector enough to tempt it to land on the paper.
Stays there then for a good ten minutes before if flies off - had 24 mins of snapping so far, just recharging batteries now.

The bug's about 25mm long head-tail, but not seen anything like it that big before

[Champ85]

How do you find such well-behaved subjects that stay still long enough to have their picture taken?
Especially the toad behind the Tamiya wrench. Was he going to use the wrench to fix his "Wild Ride"? (Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, get it? ahh nevermind

[TWINSET]

How do you find such well-behaved subjects that stay still long enough to have their picture taken?
Especially the toad behind the Tamiya wrench. Was he going to use the wrench to fix his "Wild Ride"? (Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, get it? ahh nevermind

It's not so much finding them as realising the potential when you do.
Toads never move too fast anyway and that littl'un was in a cold garage, so a bit more lethargic than normal.
I put my bench lamp on and he was happy just to sit there for a while.

The bug (since found out it's a Short-Tailed Ichneumon) was another victim of the cold I think - everything moves a lot slower at this time of year (me included)

[TWINSET]

Haven't had a lot of RC stuff to do lately, and weather's not been very kayak-friendly, so got the camera out again

Junior tarantula on a 5p piece







Same beast again on a fingertip


And again on my thumbnail



And, a woodpecker on our bird-feeder

[Gruntfuggly]

The spider is cute.

[Skottoman]

Wow, that's awesome. Even close photos of your fingertip would look cool...

[TWINSET]

Cheers

The midges are back, this little fella was on my monitor
Managed to get a sheet of paper behind him for the last two, so he's kinda backlit by the monitor

This a younger (or at least smaller) version of the midge at the top of the thread