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As usual a big thanks to Peter for organising, another big thanks to Philo and Matt for tasty food. It was an excellent morning with a nice walk to boot.

I mainly concentrated on using the Macro and with Colin always in the distance pointing out some bizarre plant, insect thing, fungi and the like this was made much easier....

Whilst it is autumn there was plenty of little flowers, orchids, ants, spiders and teh list goes on...

Critique, in particular macro technique definitely welcome.




check this dude out - missing half a leg...



fungi thingy - thanks to Colin.



haha, they are all laughing at me...

Nice work Gerry! Your technique is immaculate!

that 3rd one is great it has a very nice sense of dpeth with that shallow dpeth of field
what macro lens are you using

#1, #3 and #5 are my favourites but #3 is the standout!

The lines leading in and out of the image as well as the great DOF and an interesting subject.

You are really working that 55mm! Did you use a tripod etc with speedlite??

what macro lens are you using

55mm! Did you use a tripod etc with speedlite??

secondhand 55mm micro nikkor, bit of a well used old gal

All shots had the SB600 flash onboard with the stofen diffuser thingybob, no tripod. I did use Andrews homemade softbox on some flower bell numbers with good results..

The thing with macro, with my setup anyway, it an be really hit and miss, I spent a good ten minutes trying to get a spider similiar to #2 and after about 15 shots I gave up, only one of those was barely usable..admittingly it was a bit windy and using only manual focus..

I think the best settings for my needs was f16 @ 1/250 or 1/180 with the flash dialled down just a fraction...

Hey Gerry, How close were you to the ant?

How close were you to the ant?

probably about 3-4 inches...lens hood to subject

I like these Gerry.
The Banksia is very good.

Stunning macros - well done!

Great Macro shots!

This is one of the great things about the meets - you get to see what caught someone elses 'eye'. The photos I have from the meet are completely different!

All great shots, Gerry. Nice and sharp with good colour. My preference would be to tone back the contrast a bit, but that is a personal thing of mine.

Well done Gerry.
#1 I would have liked to have seen more DOF, but it's still good.

#3 Great capture.

biggerry wrote:check this dude out - missing half a leg...

And the rest. This guy has really been in the wars. FYI Insects have SIX legs not four, let alone three and a half.

Sadly most of my photos simply did not work out. Don't know if it was me or the camera, or both. Probably the former.

#2 and 5 are the standouts out for me but all good.

Never gave macro a thought in preparing for the meet but you guys showed there was plenty of subject matter there

My preference would be to tone back the contrast a bit, but that is a personal thing of mine

fair call! thats the kinda stuff I want to hear, when workign from the raw images I can find it hard where that right amount of contrast is...

This guy has really been in the wars. FYI Insects have SIX legs not four, let alone three and a half.

poor old fella..no wonder he was slow enough for me to take a picture of him!

#1 I would have liked to have seen more DOF, but it's still good.

yeah, i was on about f8, I moved up to f13 and higher later on...hence my comment to you about your settings

This is one of the great things about the meets - you get to see what caught someone elses 'eye'

Never gave macro a thought in preparing for the meet but you guys showed there was plenty of subject matter there

hehe, I was gunning for the macro this day - I did the walk many years ago and remember it was a great one for flowers etc..

ta for the commenst and having a look.

very nice macros .. was planing a surprise turn up but.. ah well other things came up.

The Ant is my Fav. 3.5 legs tells a great story and nicely captured! still giving you attitude in spite of the battles he has been through. All nice shots ..

You always use manual focus with macro lenses anyway... Thats one of the challenges. That old 55 is a real classic.!

Eye catching work - very well done!!

Very nice work Gerry, just love the last one and how good is the ant!?!

I love the Ant...trust you to find an ant with character.

The 55 was a lens that I really could have used today whilst lugging the FM2n loaded with Velvia on the Prince Henry Cliff Walk.

Awesome macros! Love the fungi and the Banksia.

FYI, the ant is female. So SHE has been the wars.

Hey mate!

One thing i have to say that isn't a critique from me, no matter what screen i look on, your colors always look great for some reason, it matches the composition really well.

Great work mate!

Ladybird wrote:FYI, the ant is female. So SHE has been the wars.

Your quite right! Male ants have wings dont they?

You always use manual focus with macro lenses anyway... Thats one of the challenges. That old 55 is a real classic.!

yeah, mine is a newer one, has the AF screwdriver, sounds like a power drill full of sand! but still works a treat..shame you did not make it Tobi.. next time!

trust you to find an ant with character.

or it found me

FM2n loaded with Velvia on the Prince Henry Cliff Walk.

nioce, i wanna see scans of those

FYI, the ant is female. So SHE has been the wars.

whoops, replace all previous references with old gal. Is that right that the males have wings?

I learnt so much more about flora and fauna then anything else on the W/E

your colors always look great for some reason, it matches the composition really well.

sweet, thanks!

thats all for the comments and for a great 'educational' day - see, why would more people not want to come along!

INteresting how different images appeal to us differently. I like the #1 best. It's simple, but detailed if that makes any sense.