Hello and regards to all. This is my first post. I am a beekeeper, active internationally, and I've just returned from a decade in the South of Africa where I missed out on much technology.
I get requests for bee pictures, and I give out what I have, even though I know it's subpar.
I have a Canon A40 with a titanium macro, and I am stuck at a certain level.
I would appreciate brutal advise. Spending 2000 dollars for a D10 with goodies is an option, but like many of you reading this, I'd prefer techniques and software as a first choice.
Here is a link to some of my pictures, and I would be indebted to anyone here who is willing to give me ideas to improve my shots.
I always thought apiculture would be very rewarding. If I manage to move out of the congested suburbs someday, maybe I can do it as a hobby. Anyway, I have (almost) the same camera, and I was just posting gripes abou the focus ability yesterday. Depending on how large you need the final product, you could set the photo size (on your camera) to the largest, and the finest (S) resolution, take the photo from a bit further out, and crop off the excess. Thats about it from the camera end I think.
The book by John Shaw, Closeups in Nature is possibly useful. It has a lot of info on macro techniques and lenses and general equipment choices. It is mostly focused on using SLR cameras though.
My parents are bee keepers, and i'm planning on taking some shots in the middle of next week on the arrival of a new camrea. If I find some useful techniques i'll give yo a bell.
Great tutorial here: //www.mplonsky.com/photo/article.htm Also the book: Paul Harcourt Davies - 'The Complete Guide To Close-up Photography' [IBSN: 0-7153-0800-9]. Good luck...btw, I thought your shots were great...perhaps a perspective from a different angle...and diffuse the light a little if you can.
Thank you very much, all who replied. I put my set of Hoya lenses on top of my titanium macro lense today, and I'm getting much better shots.
The next time any of you who post here are in San Luis Obispo County, California USA, drop me an email! So I can organize you with some Blue Lable Honey!!
Thanks for that link. I see I didn't even have my settings close to right. Here is one I just took, and it's starting to make more sense to me. Thanks again.
