# Another Fly Shot - getting better



## NateS (May 13, 2010)

Starting to get the hang of these guys.







crop of above shot





2 image stack






I think this stack turned out even better than the first.  Oh and that black dot was actually on his eye...not dust or anything on the lens.


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## icassell (May 13, 2010)

Oh, my .... a fly with a black eye ...


These are great, Nate.  I'm not sure I would want to be known among my friends as the expert in fly photography, but the images are outstanding.


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## flea77 (May 13, 2010)

Excellent, really like #2.

Allan


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## Derrel (May 13, 2010)

Wow! What can you tell us about these hand-held focus stacking shots??? Until fairly recently I had never heard of people being able to do focus stacking on shots that were not tripod-mounted. So, what's the story? Has the software become that much better at aligning shots that are not in perfect register?


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## NateS (May 13, 2010)

Derrel said:


> Wow! What can you tell us about these hand-held focus stacking shots??? Until fairly recently I had never heard of people being able to do focus stacking on shots that were not tripod-mounted. So, what's the story? Has the software become that much better at aligning shots that are not in perfect register?



I'm not sure I can tell you much....I've honestly only been doing it for about 3-4 days.  Here's a list of things I notice about it...keep in mind I've never focus stacked via tripod so I can't compare.

1.  I shoot anywhere from 10-30 shots of one position and choose 2-3 shots where the fly didn't move and the focus is on various parts.

2.  I am very careful to not change my position as I don't want to change the angle of the shot since that would mess up the alignment.

3.  I don't worry about composition at all...I just try to get the insect near the same part of the frame each shot (usually center).

4.  When I stack, I stack using the align option first then I combine with the "Do Stack" option (using CombineZP)

5.  I crop the shot for composition after they are stacked.  The borders usually get stretched and distorted after the stack due to the frames not matching...I crop these sections out to focus on the insect.

6.  I do any final editing back in CaptureNX2 (on the final jpeg) I actually do any further editing including the crop of the stacked image in NX2.



That's how I do it.  I'm not sure if it's the normal method, but it seems to be working well for me so far.



Oh and thanks to all three of you for your kind comments.


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## mbcreate (May 13, 2010)

That's a very crispy shot ( #2), good job!:thumbup:


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## bigboi3 (May 13, 2010)

tasty... im mean the shots. haha.


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## Speed JUnkyz (May 15, 2010)

So these shots film or digital? I really want to get into this type of shots... What size lens?


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## Maxim01 (May 15, 2010)

What kind of lens did you use, and i love #2.  The eyes are just amazing.


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## Speed JUnkyz (May 15, 2010)

yeah lets go spill the beans lolol


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## NateS (May 15, 2010)

Thanks guys.  These are all shot on digital.  It's with my D90 and a Tamron 180mm f3.5 macro lens.


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## Speed JUnkyz (May 15, 2010)

thats great....I better start saving hahaha


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## altitude604 (May 15, 2010)

those are really cool! nice work!


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## NateS (May 15, 2010)

altitude604 said:


> those are really cool! nice work!



Thank you.


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## camz (May 15, 2010)

OMG! Nates you need an apprentice for your macro work?  I nominate myself!! lol good job on these...

Very inspiring since I've planned to get into macro.


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## NateS (May 15, 2010)

camz said:


> OMG! Nates you need an apprentice for your macro work?  I nominate myself!! lol good job on these...
> 
> Very inspiring since I've planned to get into macro.



I'd be happy to let you follow me around and show you what little I actually know.    I have gotten the hang of it pretty quick.  The shots in this post are the result of about 5 minutes of shooting while the rain let up up briefly during a thunderstorm (though it was still sprinkling).

The worst part about it is the chiggers and ticks.  Got 2 ticks (and haven't had any in years prior) and a few chigger bites the first couple of times.  Now I spray down with OFF pretty good and try to take a shower when I come back in or shortly after....seems to have helped.


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## Speed JUnkyz (Jun 4, 2010)

Hey would you be able to help me the equipment names that I would need to shoot like this?

I have a minolta 70 Film. can you help me figure out what I need with this camera?


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## NateS (Jun 4, 2010)

Speed JUnkyz said:


> Hey would you be able to help me the equipment names that I would need to shoot like this?
> 
> I have a minolta 70 Film. can you help me figure out what I need with this camera?



Honestly probably not.  I know absolutely nothing about Minolta and very little about film other than what I've read about (obviously shot it in the past but nothing major like an SLR).

My only suggestion would be to research what lenses are availabe for your camera.  All of the following are sharp lenses and should be able to do what mine does

Sigma 105mm f2.8
Tamron 90mm f2.8
Sigma 150mm f2.8
Tamron 180mm f3.5
Sigma 180mm f3.5

among many others, but those are the third party offerings I can think of that you might be able to get.  You'll also need some type of flash and something to diffuse through as it is hard to get a fast enough shutter speed at f/13 or so unless you are using harsh direct sunlight (not good).


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## ghache (Jun 4, 2010)

wow buddy! these are stunning!
so much details in the eyes! almost looking like carbon fiber! its insane!


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## gooiool (Jun 4, 2010)

Nice set of photo's . I like @ the best .


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## NateS (Jun 4, 2010)

ghache said:


> wow buddy! these are stunning!
> so much details in the eyes! almost looking like carbon fiber! its insane!





gooiool said:


> Nice set of photo's . I like @ the best .



Thank you both.  It is really amazing how much detail that flies have when shot up close.


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## Micah (Jun 4, 2010)

Great shots. I'm pretty close to you if you ever want to do some shooting together. I still have tons to learn, but surely we could help each other out.


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## NateS (Jun 4, 2010)

Micah said:


> Great shots. I'm pretty close to you if you ever want to do some shooting together. I still have tons to learn, but surely we could help each other out.



Hey, we should do that sometime.  That would be a lot of fun.  We usually stay at the Fulton Drury Inn (the one on I44 and 141) when we make trips to the St. Louis.  It's about an hour from us and right on the edge of everywhere we like to go.  Can't make that trip again until after our baby is born on the 21st, but a month or so after that I should be able to get away for a day.

I've been wanting to go to the Butterfly House up in Chesterfield.  Ever been there?


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