Some great advice in this video. This summer I have taken a ton of macro & close up photos. Butterflies are tricky to photo as they fly off when you get to close. So I use a tele zoom 70-300 and crimp in the subject in post. Had some great results using that technique.
Another fantastic video. Where I live in the U.K. we have a lot of Buddleja bushes, butterflies seem almost addicted to them and they are often called "butterfly" bushes. As you say, stay there long enough for them to think you are part of the garden they will ignore you especially as I'm the least pretty flower in the garden so of no interest at all to them. Great tips about the flash and I must admit that although I've used my macro ring for smaller bugs I've never used a flash as you did and your results were perfect. I love the accessibility of your photography, that is if the rain would stop long enough! Thank you
Hi there Mark. Funny you should mention Butterfly bushes because I was thinking of planting one. We'll see about that but I will be planting some milkweed in an attempt to bring some monarch butterflies back to my area. Mark, thanks so much for the nice comments and I hope you get some better weather for your photography. Take care.
I recently got my first digital camera and I’m glad I found your channel, your videos aren't just educational, they are inspiring. Keep up the great work. Subscribed.
Hey Enrique. I'm happy you've entered the world of digital photography and that you've found the channel. I want to thank you for the kind words and I wish you the best of luck and lots of fun. Thank you for subscribing too.
Nicely done Ray. I appreciated the explanations and examples of how you use your fill flash. As an aside I'm a complete failure when it comes to holding the camera and getting an in focus shot. Tripod is great for stability but the loss of 'agility' makes it a tough balancing act. Haven't tried the monopod yet so I think I'll give that a go. Question - what about shooting butterflies in flight? Would a zoom in AI Focus be the best approach?
Enjoy your videos as they are informative and help me learn. Your focus on those butterflies was impressive. You indicated that your dark background was obtained by setting a minus exposure compensation on the camera. Is that correct? Also you indicated that you set a flash compensation. Was that set to a positive number? If so, why is that necessary? Thanks for your time. Keep publishing your great videos.
Hi there and thank you. Yes you are correct. Minus exposure comp on the camera and sometimes a positive flash exposure compensation. It's a mathematical formula concerning inverse variables. I'm not great at the technical math stuff nor is it very important to totally understand it unless it's something that interests you. The important thing is to experiment and find out what works for a particular image. Your settings will change a little from photo to photo depending on what you are trying to achieve. As an example, for some images I'm okay to leave my flash as normal and others I need to pump up my flash compensation to +3. It just depends. Good luck with your photography, have a great day and thank you for watching.
Very informative! Just starting with macro photography so trying to learn all I can. I ordered a couple used like new Canon lens extensions for a reasonable price, the 12mm and 25mm version 2's. I'm hoping to use either my 50mm or 85mm prime lenses with the extensions on my 80D to get started. Eventually I'd like to pick up a dedicated macro lens.
Ray, thanks for all your helpful videos. I use extension tubes since retirement has not let me get the 100 mm macro lens yet. I also use a telephoto lens then crop as you have shown to get my close up but your suggestion will help me make much better shots. Thank you so much..
Hi Jim. For so many years I used adaptors and extension tubes with really nice results so you don’t have to have a macro lens though they can make the job easier for sure. Glad you’re enjoying the channel and thanks so much for watching.
Regarding the flash, are you using it on camera or off to side? And is it bare or diffused? When the weather improves, I need to try the -3 exposure with flash... Great tip.
Thanks, Mr. Ray just subscribed in your channel and greetings from Cebu, Philippines. Your video is very timely for I purchased a Canon 100mm macro lens just this week.
Hey there Romeo in the Philippines. I hope you have a ton of fun with your new macro lens. Thanks for subscribing and in case you don’t know already, I have another channel on TH-cam called MacroWorld that you might just want to check out. Good luck and have a great weekend.
Thanks for the tips, but it really is frustrating sometimes, just when I thought I got it focused then fly away it goes...I like that you mention the apertures.
Hi Carmen. I know what you mean but as is often the case with photography, we have to show patience and perseverance. It can be frustrating but when we finally get it right...Wow...what a terrific feeling. Good luck and thank you for watching.
Hey Gary. I do use servo sometimes and other times I use single shot. Just depends on how I feel and how much motion there is. Hope that helps and thanks.
What DSLR camera / brand would you recommend to use for both action garden shot and microscope set up ? I am small woman with small hands I am wanting to invest in something that's professional quality yet not too heavy for hand held. Thanks for your videos! Your photos are stunning.
Most cameras today are excellent regardless of the brand. At this time, I use a full frame Canon 6d which for this type of camera is relatively light. If you want something lighter perhaps an APS sensor camera would suit you even better as they tend to be a little lighter as far as DSLR’s are concerned. If you are planning to do a lot of macro photography I do recommend a macro lens as their quality is usually very impressive. Thanks so much for watching and for your nice words and I wish you good luck with your photography purchase.
Hi Moises. Thank you very much for the kind words. They are much appreciated. I also want to thank YOU for taking the time to watch the videos. Have a wonderful day!
Colours in your photos looks very great. how was that? all snaps u show r direct camera snaps or post processed snaps.. I am also in problem of out-of-focus shots because of winds but its about practice. Anyways very helpful video. great explanation. thanks..
Hi there Aakash. Because I only shoot in the RAW format, EVERY image I take is processed. I used to use Adobe Camera Raw and now I use Lightroom. They use the same processing module though the interface looks a little different. Yes, winds can be a pain but with practice and patience we can get the images we want. Thanks Aakash and have a great day!
From his explanation, it sounds like he shoots at aperture priority and uses the camera's auto-exposure to calculate the shutter speed (and possibly ISO too depending on settings). Chasing around the little critters is enough of a task, it's better to reduce the amount of variables you have to think about to get more well-exposed pictures IMO!
Hi Jim...For this tutorial I used a Yongnuo macro ring flash for Canon. It's doesn't have high speed sync like the dedicated Canon one but it's about a quarter of the price and works very well. Thank you and thanks for watching.
Actually it's about a fifth of the price which doesn't necessarily mean I won't pop for a Canon ring flash down the road but it would only be because I need the high speed sync feature.
Why not put your flash in manual (take it off TTL) then all you have to do is vary your aperture to make the background lighter or darker. I find this much easier than having to mess around with two things in order to alter the background light.
On those days with a lot of plant movement, it is great to simply use a tripod and adapter to gently clamp the plant to prevent it from moving and that allows you to move around to get a good composition.
I shoot hand held, I use AF-C and take a couple of shots of the subject by holding the shutter down for a bit, for butterflies a macro is not ideal, as butterflies are extremely skittish, I use a Nikon D500 and Nikon 200-500mm. I also don't have a flower garden and shoot in parks.
Excellent video, it's obvious you actually do it instead of just telling others how it is done. I have seen to many videos where people think they know something and they don't they just waste your time.
Hello, Ray! Nice to see your video - another demonstration of tips and secrets from a great photographer! Thank you very much for your valuable lessons. Butterflies are my loving kind of shots in the summer time so it was very interesting to know something new in the process of taking shots. Thanks a lot!
Great to hear from you Anatoly and thank you. I hope your butterfly photos turn out really well. We're starting to run out of summer but I've spotted butterflies even in early autumn so I guess we still have plenty of opportunities this year. Cheers!
Hi Ray, have just found your channel and would like to thank you for all of your advice - I am discovering so much that I like about photography and feel hungry to know more! :)
Hey Jami. I'm really happy you've found the channel and thanks for the nice comment and for watching. Photography is an exciting medium that requires passion. You seem to have that burning hunger so I'm really glad for you and wish you the best of luck with all your upcoming photography projects.
Hey there. I use a Canon 6D with a Canon 100mm f/4L macro lens. I tried using back button autofocus a while ago and didn't prefer it though I know some photographers do. It's strictly a personal preference. Enjoy your day!
Hi Asgaraly. The Canon 6d doesn’t have a lot of auto focus points and only one of the cross hair variety...the middle one, so I focus using just the middle auto focus point. Thanks for taking the time to watch and have a wonderful day.
Great tips!! Thank you. Love the cropping tip especially as I haven’t done it with any of my butterfly photos and can’t wait to try it.
Great video and tips. Just starting out in Macro photography. using a Nikon D500 with Sigma 105mm f.28 macro lens. Enjoying it immensely
.
Some great advice in this video. This summer I have taken a ton of macro & close up photos. Butterflies are tricky to photo as they fly off when you get to close. So I use a tele zoom 70-300 and crimp in the subject in post. Had some great results using that technique.
Hey Tyson. Right you are and your technique sounds spot on to me. Have a great week.
Another fantastic video. Where I live in the U.K. we have a lot of Buddleja bushes, butterflies seem almost addicted to them and they are often called "butterfly" bushes. As you say, stay there long enough for them to think you are part of the garden they will ignore you especially as I'm the least pretty flower in the garden so of no interest at all to them. Great tips about the flash and I must admit that although I've used my macro ring for smaller bugs I've never used a flash as you did and your results were perfect. I love the accessibility of your photography, that is if the rain would stop long enough! Thank you
Hi there Mark. Funny you should mention Butterfly bushes because I was thinking of planting one. We'll see about that but I will be planting some milkweed in an attempt to bring some monarch butterflies back to my area. Mark, thanks so much for the nice comments and I hope you get some better weather for your photography. Take care.
I recently got my first digital camera and I’m glad I found your channel, your videos aren't just educational, they are inspiring. Keep up the great work. Subscribed.
Hey Enrique. I'm happy you've entered the world of digital photography and that you've found the channel. I want to thank you for the kind words and I wish you the best of luck and lots of fun. Thank you for subscribing too.
Wonderful video and great butterfly photos. Thank you.
Thanks very much Robert. Cheers!
Nicely done Ray. I appreciated the explanations and examples of how you use your fill flash. As an aside I'm a complete failure when it comes to holding the camera and getting an in focus shot. Tripod is great for stability but the loss of 'agility' makes it a tough balancing act. Haven't tried the monopod yet so I think I'll give that a go.
Question - what about shooting butterflies in flight? Would a zoom in AI Focus be the best approach?
Enjoy your videos as they are informative and help me learn. Your focus on those butterflies was impressive. You indicated that your dark background was obtained by setting a minus exposure compensation on the camera. Is that correct? Also you indicated that you set a flash compensation. Was that set to a positive number? If so, why is that necessary?
Thanks for your time. Keep publishing your great videos.
Hi there and thank you. Yes you are correct. Minus exposure comp on the camera and sometimes a positive flash exposure compensation. It's a mathematical formula concerning inverse variables. I'm not great at the technical math stuff nor is it very important to totally understand it unless it's something that interests you. The important thing is to experiment and find out what works for a particular image. Your settings will change a little from photo to photo depending on what you are trying to achieve. As an example, for some images I'm okay to leave my flash as normal and others I need to pump up my flash compensation to +3. It just depends. Good luck with your photography, have a great day and thank you for watching.
Very informative! Just starting with macro photography so trying to learn all I can. I ordered a couple used like new Canon lens extensions for a reasonable price, the 12mm and 25mm version 2's. I'm hoping to use either my 50mm or 85mm prime lenses with the extensions on my 80D to get started. Eventually I'd like to pick up a dedicated macro lens.
Sounds like you have a good plan going Jeffrey. Have fun with the extension tubes and good luck.
Ray, thanks for all your helpful videos. I use extension tubes since retirement has not let me get the 100 mm macro lens yet. I also use a telephoto lens then crop as you have shown to get my close up but your suggestion will help me make much better shots. Thank you so much..
Hi Jim. For so many years I used adaptors and extension tubes with really nice results so you don’t have to have a macro lens though they can make the job easier for sure. Glad you’re enjoying the channel and thanks so much for watching.
Excellent video and ideas! Thank you.
You're welcome Eve and thank you.
Oh wow your amazing thanks so much for this video
Hey Chris. Thanks so much and have a great day.
Regarding the flash, are you using it on camera or off to side? And is it bare or diffused? When the weather improves, I need to try the -3 exposure with flash... Great tip.
Hi Michael. I used a macro ring flash which has its own sort of built in diffusion. Have a great weekend.
Excellent! Thank!
You are very welcome and thanks for watching.
Thanks, Mr. Ray just subscribed in your channel and greetings from Cebu, Philippines. Your video is very timely for I purchased a Canon 100mm macro lens just this week.
Hey there Romeo in the Philippines. I hope you have a ton of fun with your new macro lens. Thanks for subscribing and in case you don’t know already, I have another channel on TH-cam called MacroWorld that you might just want to check out. Good luck and have a great weekend.
Thanks for the tips, but it really is frustrating sometimes, just when I thought I got it focused then fly away it goes...I like that you mention the apertures.
Hi Carmen. I know what you mean but as is often the case with photography, we have to show patience and perseverance. It can be frustrating but when we finally get it right...Wow...what a terrific feeling. Good luck and thank you for watching.
Outstanding
Thanks so much Jan and enjoy your day.
On auto focus would you use servo mode ?. Great videos by the way.
Hey Gary. I do use servo sometimes and other times I use single shot. Just depends on how I feel and how much motion there is. Hope that helps and thanks.
Thank you. Very interesting. It would be great to include shot info when you display your work for better understanding of your technique.
Thanks Albert and enjoy your day.
What DSLR camera / brand would you recommend to use for both action garden shot and microscope set up ? I am small woman with small hands I am wanting to invest in something that's professional quality yet not too heavy for hand held. Thanks for your videos! Your photos are stunning.
Most cameras today are excellent regardless of the brand. At this time, I use a full frame Canon 6d which for this type of camera is relatively light. If you want something lighter perhaps an APS sensor camera would suit you even better as they tend to be a little lighter as far as DSLR’s are concerned. If you are planning to do a lot of macro photography I do recommend a macro lens as their quality is usually very impressive. Thanks so much for watching and for your nice words and I wish you good luck with your photography purchase.
Thank you so much. It's so helpful :)
My pleasure and thanks for watching.
Thank you for your tutorials, they are great, good and simply to follow. The shots are great, the back one was superb!
Hi Moises. Thank you very much for the kind words. They are much appreciated. I also want to thank YOU for taking the time to watch the videos. Have a wonderful day!
Colours in your photos looks very great. how was that? all snaps u show r direct camera snaps or post processed snaps.. I am also in problem of out-of-focus shots because of winds but its about practice. Anyways very helpful video. great explanation. thanks..
Hi there Aakash. Because I only shoot in the RAW format, EVERY image I take is processed. I used to use Adobe Camera Raw and now I use Lightroom. They use the same processing module though the interface looks a little different. Yes, winds can be a pain but with practice and patience we can get the images we want. Thanks Aakash and have a great day!
excellent images thank you for your time
Thanks very much and enjoy your day.
As a beginner it would have been nice if you shared the shutter speed & ISO, apart from that, great video.
From his explanation, it sounds like he shoots at aperture priority and uses the camera's auto-exposure to calculate the shutter speed (and possibly ISO too depending on settings). Chasing around the little critters is enough of a task, it's better to reduce the amount of variables you have to think about to get more well-exposed pictures IMO!
It would be interesting to mention the velocity, ISO, etc used...
Thanks 👍🏼
You’re welcome and thanks for watching.
Thank you.
You’re so welcome and thanks for watching.
Muchas gracias.
Denada. :)
Nice tutorial. What flash are you using?
Hi Jim...For this tutorial I used a Yongnuo macro ring flash for Canon. It's doesn't have high speed sync like the dedicated Canon one but it's about a quarter of the price and works very well. Thank you and thanks for watching.
Actually it's about a fifth of the price which doesn't necessarily mean I won't pop for a Canon ring flash down the road but it would only be because I need the high speed sync feature.
Why not put your flash in manual (take it off TTL) then all you have to do is vary your aperture to make the background lighter or darker. I find this much easier than having to mess around with two things in order to alter the background light.
brilliant video thank you so much
Thanks for the nice words Mary and thank you for watching.
Great Video, Are you using off camera flash or just a speedlight ?
Thanks Richard. For this I used a macro ring flash unit. I have used off camera flash in the past with good results.
whenever I get close to any insects they go away😔
were you using a diffuser on the flash?
Hi Gary. The answer is no. Take care!
Nice video. Thanks.
You're welcome John and thanks for watching.
👍✳️👍✳️👍✳️
Awesome
Big thank you!
Are you on flickr?
Hey Rishab. I use to be but not at this time. Have a good one.
Thanks!
Thanks for watching.
Wow! Great shots, great ideas, great explanation. Thanks very much.
On those days with a lot of plant movement, it is great to simply use a tripod and adapter to gently clamp the plant to prevent it from moving and that allows you to move around to get a good composition.
Thanks for sharing. What flash setup are you using?
I shoot hand held, I use AF-C and take a couple of shots of the subject by holding the shutter down for a bit, for butterflies a macro is not ideal, as butterflies are extremely skittish, I use a Nikon D500 and Nikon 200-500mm. I also don't have a flower garden and shoot in parks.
Nice!
Good work!
Thanks Erik and thank you for watching.
Excellent video, it's obvious you actually do it instead of just telling others how it is done. I have seen to many videos where people think they know something and they don't they just waste your time.
Thanks very much and thank you for taking the time to watch. Have a great day!
Hello, Ray! Nice to see your video - another demonstration of tips and secrets from a great photographer! Thank you very much for your valuable lessons. Butterflies are my loving kind of shots in the summer time so it was very interesting to know something new in the process of taking shots. Thanks a lot!
Great to hear from you Anatoly and thank you. I hope your butterfly photos turn out really well. We're starting to run out of summer but I've spotted butterflies even in early autumn so I guess we still have plenty of opportunities this year. Cheers!
Ray I found 2 bees and 2 butterflies. The second bee is on the flower in the back with almost pedals on it..
Indeed! Who knew? You did. Have a good one Henry.
Hi Ray, have just found your channel and would like to thank you for all of your advice - I am discovering so much that I like about photography and feel hungry to know more! :)
Hey Jami. I'm really happy you've found the channel and thanks for the nice comment and for watching. Photography is an exciting medium that requires passion. You seem to have that burning hunger so I'm really glad for you and wish you the best of luck with all your upcoming photography projects.
So informative and delivered in a truly relaxed style - great how you explain the different approaches to try. Thanks again.
Thank YOU and I'm really happy you enjoyed the video. Have a great day!
What camera & len are you using? How about back button focusing?
Hey there. I use a Canon 6D with a Canon 100mm f/4L macro lens. I tried using back button autofocus a while ago and didn't prefer it though I know some photographers do. It's strictly a personal preference. Enjoy your day!
The big secret lol
hi Ray, can u explain me how to autofocus pls with Canon 6D ? THANKS
Hi Asgaraly. The Canon 6d doesn’t have a lot of auto focus points and only one of the cross hair variety...the middle one, so I focus using just the middle auto focus point. Thanks for taking the time to watch and have a wonderful day.
Thx a lot , ur videos are very nice
Thanks for the Tips so much appreciated.
You're very welcome John and thank you for watching.