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Two more from my trip to the Karapur forest range.



This fella was way too far away and I guess a 400mm would have gotten me the reach I wanted. However shot with a borrowed el-cheapo Sigma 70-300mm APO DG Macro lens.

if that question was for me, I am so confused

thanks mobike :)
pm'd you

@torqueguru

Sir, your photos are very inspirational and top quality. keep them coming.

Riju nice pictures, had u been to JLR Kabini?

Aah yes Dilip, was a real quickie over a weekend. Beat this, a jungle safari exclusively in a vehicle for your family for about 4 hrs. We never stayed there, just drove from Mysore to JLR at Karapur.Hopped into a Tata 207 or whatever at 2pm and was driven around till 6pm in the jungle.

Spotted 2 leopards,one dude was sitting atop a tree the other had a stomach fulla meal and was lazing around.
Was taken by surprise when an elephant came outta nowhere behind our vehicle and makes the trumpeting noise(if its called so) to warn us.

The driver told us this and I was outta my wits when we spotted him rite behind the vehicle.My hands were still shivering (I am pretty sure even the driver went into freeze mode for a few secs) when the pachyderm walked away from behind the behind the vehicle. My better half clicked this

Here are a couple of pictures I have taken recently

Bandra-Worli Sea Link

Thanks to Rocky_balboa and guyonblackybx, I got a taste of macros.

A few of my first attempts :
Rs.2 coin super macro



Dancing Bunny


Flowers



The red ant.This fella was two fast to manual focus,somehow managed a blurry shot:


Normal macro of the bunny above:

A noobie query, how can we switch of the flashlight when clicking in the macro mode in a DSLR? when you click a pic with the dial switched to macro?

Deetee,

Macro shooting is extremely challenging, because we need to take care of so many things. Despite having a good macro gear I seldom manage to get a good macro, I probably get one good macro shot a year.

Macro is shooting is not just about magnification, you also have to get your composition spot on. Composition is the most difficult and most important aspect of macro image.

This is one of my rare good macro shot. A stalk of rice.



It is easier to shoot macro in P&S than dSLR, but if you can do it with dSLR, nothing like it. These are the challenges in macro shooting.

1) Composition: You need a really creative mind to consistently create good compositions. I often throw away every shot after a 2-3 hour session.
2) DOF: The macro lenses offer DOF in millimeters, which means you have to shoot with really narrow aperture, basically F-stop in double digits to get even an inch worth of DOF.
3) Speed: High F-stop means you have to compensate using low shutter speed. That means hand-holding is out of question, you have to use tripod. Even clicking can induce a shake, even the mirror slap can induce a shake. So you have to lock the mirror before clicking, and also use remote release to avoid touching the camera.
4) Conditions: Shooting that lovely flower in the garden? Pick a time when there is no wind, say early morning. If there is wind, the flower will keep moving in and out of your DOF and even the entire frame. Since you are forced to shoot low-speed, you can't afford even the slightest shake.

After all the precautions you have taken with the conditions and technique, you will still find almost all your shots very ordinary if you can't get the composition right. That is why photomacrography is one of the most frustrating experience. But it can also be very rewarding if you can get it right. There is a guy in PAAI named Image (Ram) who gets it right most of the time. A macro done right, can blow your mind away.:)

Samurai sir, I agree with every bit of what you said w.r.t photomacrography. Now, after a neck and eye straining hour long session of trying to get macros of flowers, I can understand the skill and pain need to be endured to get a good macroshot.
Esp the narrow d.o.f is very frustating. To top it ,the early morning breeze was continously swaying the subject out of focus. Tripod or no tripod ,such situations are very tricky. With some practice and perseverance I hope to capture better. And about composition, i need to learn a lot. that would be my priority. Thanks a lot for the tips.

my D60 doesn't allow me to do that. I just have to make sure that there is enough light so the flash doesn't go off. or try it on the P or A mode.

my attempt at macro

@disco, though a lovely shot, that isn't a macro by a long shot!

Why do we need to use the macro mode at all, in a DSLR? We can get the same stuff in Manual mode with flash turned off right? As far as I understand, you need to have a macro capable lens, and you just need to control the zoom,focus,shutter speed and stuff like that manually. I have never used the macro mode in my Dslr.

@Experts, please correct me if I am wrong, my understanding is that macro mode in a DSLR does not provide extra magnification or capability to focus very near or anything. It all depends on the glass you use...

I remember my old P&S focusses on very near objects only when put in macro mode. I wonder how it is done, with the same lens which is incapable of doing that in other modes. By increasing the distance between the lens and sensor further, may be?


@disco: Good control over the DOF, as you got the entire flower in focus..

I use the regular 18-55mm kit lens so what mode should be used to take good close-up shots? I try only with A mode or pre-configured macro setting which is an icon.

When i use the icon, the flash always goes off and most of the times flash is not required for macro photography unless your shooting in very low light, thats my understanding.

As I understand, the 18-55 mm kit lens is not a macro capable lens. For a lens to be able to take macros, it should provide good magnification of the subject, at least at its max zoom level. For good macros, the image of the subject projected on the sensor and the real subject should have a size ratio of at least 1:2 or better, like 1:1 :) The regular kit lens doesn't even have 1:4 magnification at its max zoom.

My feeling is that, you can get the same shot you wanted in macro mode by using the 'A' or 'M' mode - of course without flash.

In a DSLR, there is no such thing as "Macro Mode" per say.
Now what is Macro. Macro means being very close to the subject.
Now your hands can move the camera 1mm from the object, but if your lens can focus only 100cm minimum, it will be of no use.
So to do Macro on a DSLR, you need a "Macro" Lens, the lens which can focus even when 1cm away from object. There are special macro lenses for this purpose.

From a DSLR angle, you can either use the viewfinder, or use live view. When camera is mounted on a small tripod, using viewfinder may not be possible always, so you need to use live view often, and when using live view you can use Contrast Detect Auto Focus.

Some DSLRs may allow live view only in "Auto modes", but I think thats rare. Live view can be used in manual modes also in many DSLR.
So all you need to do is go to manual mode, set shutter speed and apperture approximately,
For example if you are in bright sunlight, with F-16 you need a Shutter speed of 1/100 at ISO 100.
This is called sunny 16 rule.
Indoors, the shutter speed required will be slower.