On this video I problem myself to transferring topics within the woodland, and take my macro pictures to the following stage. Thanks to …
On this video I problem myself to transferring topics within the woodland, and take my macro pictures to the following stage. Thanks to …
At 17:37 I thought you said "im farting away now" lol. Kinda thought it was one of your goofy endings haha
I don’t like gear questions, but I’m going to ask you a gear question. 😊
Are you reasonably satisfied with your flash system choice? And your diffuser/bouncer?
You have a very good channel and presentation style.
Please, french subtitles tank you
Thank you for sharing!
Great video. I sure can relate to it. 😊
Hello,
I can tell you the OM System OM1 mark2 with the 60mm macro is really a nice setup and much lighter the my Nikon setup. so yes it is very nice.
greetings Rob
Awesome work. Keep up all your amazing content, and if you are even on my side of the ocean, let's go and photograph together! Thanks for the shout out too!
Another good video Courtney 👍
How much equipment do you carry with you when you go out into the field?
The trick with insects lies in moving toward them slowly in a straight line: and as early in the day as practicable. If there has been a dew overnight, the water droplets keep them cooler for longer and they cannot fly off. This, in my opinion, also enhances the image. Insect photography can be a long and sometimes frustrating road, Courtney, with much cursing. The OM1 mark II is a particularly brilliant camera for insect photography – especially when using the Pro Capture feature for insects taking off. I use mine with the 90mm f3.5 macro lens, which is a stunning bit of kit. The 60mm f2.8 is cracking lens, much lighter, but does not have the excellent OM Systems lens stabilisation or the magnification of the 90mm. YouTuber Jamie Spensley has some excellent tutorial videos, well worth viewing and he uses the OM1 mark II + 90mm and the diffuser you were using.
I’ve been told Dragon Flies are habitual will and will return to perches. Patience is key with them. One place we had good luck was a place that grew and sold water lilies. An added bonus? The backgrounds were great.
well it's been a while since I have watched and commented, work is way too busy and brain is sludge when I get it so I am catching up! I am so pleased I was a "last minute lingerer" (just watched your latest video prior to this and this phrase made me smile). The main video beforehand was entertaining in it's own right, watching you battle your way with the diffuser kit (I hate mine with a passion, if the inverts weren't flying off or hiding on their own terms they always have the flipping diffuser to knock them off when I hit the vegetation with it! arrrrrgh!) and then seeing the process of you getting frustrated and still continuing etc. My arms shake so much by. the time I have found the beastie in the right place, the unit is heavy and yet more frustration piles on.
I have the OM1 mike with 90mm lens and the AK diffuser with large flash. I much prefer natural light but fell in love with all the beautiful images that are focus bracketed/stacked…..fading eyesight means that it allows me to see the detail I am missing. I would say the set up is still heavy but not as heavy as your Nikon kit and I feel you are much more capable with a camera than me anyway.
I am continuing the vertical learning curve with the flash but the greater flexibility without it is so much nicer.
Getting back to the lingering……..I laughed out loud when you were laying down talking about the newly acquired knowledge of what potentially was crawling on the floor and sat up. Sadly my job means that I know what lurks in nature and laying on the floor now only happens when I face plant into vegetation through tripping over "twigs" or pass out.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!
8:48 I already took note of the warm-up, interesting 🙂
My diffuser arrived today so on a similar learning curve. First few shots filled me with excitement and it’s simply so cool seeing the tiny world in such detail.
Look forward to seeing more shots you’ve taken using the diffuser and hopefully the settings you’ve found that make a good starting point.
Happy snapping
I love your explanations of your progression and interests. such a wonderful video
Nice shots!
Thank god a macro themed video using FF rather than the dbags that use the MFT's which instantly gives that additional 2x magnification to start with. Best wishes from Yorkshire.
Most insects will become more active once the temperature gets above 20 or 22°c. So if you get out quite early in the morning, you might find that insects are a little more sluggish and easier to photograph. The air might also be a little more still early in the morning too.
With regards to dragonflies/damselflies, you may have noticed that they often fly back and forth to the same perch which means if you keep focus on the perch, you might find easier to come away with a shot.
Learning about a species unique behaviours will help too.
Love your work Courtney! 👌
That Sigma 150mm macro is easily the best macro lens I've ever had. That working distance works wonders.
Valuable video. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m wondering if you can set up bait to bring the insects to you. Maybe set up sugar water in a dish with your camera on a tripod aimed at the proper direction and a remote trigger to catch bees? Slice up some grapes to attract butterflies, etc.
❤❤❤ Your dancing is almost at the level of a K-Blackpink idol! 😂😂😂
Lovely. Great results (as if your 1st results would be anything different) 😛. A monopod can help sometimes – help with the weight in the 'down-time' at least.
❤❤👍🏻⋯⋯Good, but try TTartisan 100mm macro anyway 😮, Laowa have no front lens that may suck the dusty👎🏻🐖✋
In the evening sun I usually raise ISO to 3200 and as expected the photos end up being noisy but have crazy colors and contrasts! All different natural lights, angles, wild flowers and bugs… It's very addicting I must say. I'd love to see something like this in your next videos 😏
I always enjoyed your narration alongside your composition sense and detailing in your Macro Photography. I got inspired with Mushroom photography, thanks to your channel.
Good luck with your insect photography as well.
A tripod and a camping chair will help you.
I really enjoyed this. How you captured insects as beings, for one thing. Thank you, ma'am.
You are fun and take fantastic photos. It's inspiring ❤
[pauses the video] You have a dog? What kind is it?
Excellent video! Fascinating photography ❤
The one thing I took away from this is you have a greyhound!! Best dogs ever!! 😊
Your video was very timely for me. I started photographing insects recently and your video gave me some ideas to work with. Thanks for creating this video.
Hi, where did you buy your background colour cards from? Love your videos!
As much as I like your Videos in general, I do enjoy your Dance Routines!
Great photo. I use Nikon Z 6 II and Sigma 105 mm Macro. Before that, Nikon D 750. Photography is different. I guess it's better. How is the depth of field in the Sigma 150 mm Macro? Take photos and show the differences. Greetings from Krakow – Nowa Huta. Poland
Great video, as always 😊👍
My bug set up is Fuji X T30II with 70-300 & 2x converter, no flash
Mirrorless would surely be an advantage here. Focus peaking when in manual, smaller camera and focusing bracketing
If you are worried about the camera setup weight and are using that Sigma 150 mm macro handheld, you could remove that tripod collar from the lens and save some weight.
Very enjoyable, and thought provoking as well. But yes, I think you need lighter kit for hand holding. Maybe a short Gorilla-type mini tripod for extra grip? A monopod perhaps..?
Recently went to OM systems too and fell in LOVE with in camera stacking. You're gonna love it (and the lighter weight camera).
Speaking just for myself, I found that using a long lens works much better on dragonflies. Nice thing about them though…if you do scare them off of a perch, if you hold still (after they take off), they will usually go BACK to that same perch. You can usually get at least a 2nd if not 3rd chance at getting the shot.
Love all your videos, thanks for this upload, it really tweaked an interest for me. On the other hand, if you were to wear your flash hood, you'd look like a Handmaiden!
I am very pleased to see that you are continuing to push your photographic boundaries as well as your natural history knowledge. Avoid creating photography boundaries and safe zones and keep learning. If you stop learning you will stop growing as a person and artist. Keep up the good work. Your creativity is admirable.
Insect repellent… a must have… Especially for the odd nap… lol I was shooting insects in Theodore Roosevelt National Park almost a month ago and, oddly enough, the biting flies and mosquitoes were staying away. I sat down in the grasses shooting bugs and blooms with my Oly (you WILL like the focus bracketing, I assure you, even though wind/antenna movement will continue to make a clean stack challenging…)… Later in the evening, I began to feel the bites itching… Chiggers (little red mites)… The itch is not immediate but usually delayed a few hours. I grew up with such critters down in the US south but thought ticks were the only worry in North Dakota. Nope, they're available for feeding worldwide and even in the cold latitudes. Pffft… lol
Yes, the OM setup is pricey, even when perusing mpb (I've been keeping tabs on the Mark II body to supplement my older E-M1X for in-field work… I am likely coping with similar weights with the current body). I know the 60mm macro is far less expensive but if I'm going to shoot serious macros, I'm going with the 90mm instead. I will then experiment more with dragon and damselfly images, as well… The bird-tracking AF in the OM/Oly world tracks these fast-movers rather well, indeed.
I've always enjoy your landscape/fungi images and will be eager to see your progress with these challenging macro subjects.
I don't do bug photography as the little blighters are to fast to fly away. If your ever up my neck of the woods Northumberland come out with me as I attract mossies', horseflies, ladybirds and other various bugs when walking out with the dog, granted the background will be my arm, neck,T-shirt or ear which may not look a natural habitat to the 'looking at bug' societies, though you may get a clear shot before I swish them away. I never kill them even though some deserve it…. . Add on point, Must be strange to take on something where no tripod is used. thanks for the vid.
Photography is my hobby and my favorite genres are macro photography and birds in flight. I have Nikon D750 and Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark II. So far (I'm not very experienced) I find the Nikon better for birds in flight and the Olympus better for macro. By better I mean my success rate. And I use the Pro capture mode of the Olympus. So far I am using cheap lens like Olympus 45mm with macro extensions and the 12-50 in macro mode. I bought the Olympus 40-150 f2.8. I am yet to test it for macro. Otherwise it's awesome lens yet with the less sharp and very cheap (I bought it for $15 and one screw was faulty but some glue fixed it) Sigma 70-210 f3.5 – 4 5 pump style lens I somehow have better shots for birds in flight. I imagine what will be if I buy pro Nikon lens… The issue is they are not only expensive (The Olympus 40-150 isn't cheap) but also very big. For macro on my Nikon I used Tamron 90mm f2.8. And I am starting to think that this lens is bad. Compared to the Olympus 45mm (equivalent focus length) and I stepped it down to f/5.6 I got horrific chromatic aberrations on the Tamron and flawless image of the Olympus. I have never noticed aberrations using the Nikon + Tamron lens as I never shoot macro that wide. Yet the Olympus shots looked better to me. Depending on the distance you may prefer proper macro lens. The extension tubes limits your focus distance so I prefer to use them on zoom lenses so I can focus by zooming.
Another great video Victoria. Your landscape and macro work is enjoyable always enjoyable and I’m looking forward to seeing your insect portfolio.
That looks like a fun genre!
A thoroughly enjoyable watch (I'm dabbling into macro myself). Nice work.
Hi Courtney, another very interesting video. It's always nice to see the enthusiasm with which you approach a task. And the way you involve me in it. It inspires me to finally work more intensively with my photography equipment, and not just dust it off and caress the camera. Smile.