It works - Blowfly illustrated

Here's some samples of what I've applied thus far.  A fairly weak number of keepers from the set of 150+.  There are more, but why be repetitive?

First tries ..this is incredibly more difficult than I thought it would be.  After a few tests, I can see that hand holding a 100mm macro lens is almost impossible.  I tried some flash photography with the on board flash, and the hoverfly was my subject.  I realize these are poor outcomes for such fancy equipment, but that's what I'm going to work on.

Setting the Stage

The moment of truth has arrived.  I'll be posting a picture here any day now from the new equipment.  My new Canon http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/753760-REG/Canon_5169B001_EOS_Rebel_T3i_Digital.html is a learning experience to say the least.  I had no idea it would be so complicated, but the light bulbs are starting to go off after a few days with it.  I made some additional purchases to get some remote functionality.  My OTG cable was purchased for $3 including shipping from Monoprice www.monoprice.com.  That arrived, and I hooked up the Nexus 7 tablet to the camera successfully.  Thanks to the folks at Heliconsoft, I was able to try out the whole interaction between Pad and camera from the comfort of my armchair.  Many of you may want close coupling with your devices, but I'm trying to be cognizant of my lower back issues, thus this ability was a key decision point for me, and it worked flawlessly.  I may not even progress to the DSLR Controller software package if this continues to work out.  Working through the Canon manual, time permitting with work and all, and experimenting with various feature functions as I go.  I've already build a flash diffuser, first one out of paper that I cut and folded as instructed on a web site, and the next one will be a little more hi-tech.  Once that's finished, I'll be glad to share with the audience.  I'm hoping to finally getting around to taking a few pictures as soon as possible, but since I want to make an impression, there's no point in rushing.  Please stay tuned for the next developments.

A new twist

After years of hemming, hawing, and procrastinating, I have finally pulled the trigger on some current level macro equipment. I evaluated every possible permutation of equipment and decided on the following setup;
Body: Canon T3i
Lens: Canon 100mm macro

Evaluated prior to pulling trigger:and
Full frame digital
Micro 4/3
P&S
Film and transparency

I will explore reasoning as to why all other avenues were shut down so that you can learn from my analysis.
I wanted this to be a continuing experiment, thus it didn't make sense to start out with the best possible solutions, nor the most expensive.  While I had made the pilgrimage to B&H photo www.bhphoto.com in early May to try my hand at the newest full frame Canon 6D and the Nikon equivalent, spending a couple of grand plus lenses while in the experimental phase seemed a bit much.
After reading a lot of material www.photomacrography.net and dpreview.comon the potential benefits of the APS-C or "cropped" sensor, it was decided that at least FF could be ruled out.  The cropped sensor will evidently provide greater reach, and narrow down the angle of view for a particular focal length.  My new 100mm macro lens will actually provide a focal length much like a 150mm lens.  With a more restricted angle (about 8 degrees less) at the same distance from the subject, it seems like the elimination of background material would be a benefit of using this sensor size.
Micro 4/3 was a very tempting route to take.  The technology is great, the ability to use legacy glass (non 4/3), and there was a lot of back and forth on this subject.  The Wifi interface is there, and it's a great all purpose solution for anyone wanting to change lenses in the field.  My reason for not using this method was purely financial.  I'm still taking baby steps, and spending 1K for a body alone, that may not work out seemed a bit steep.  Part of my reasoning being if I could buy both components to further the experiment for 1K, if it didn't work out, the most I would lose would be a couple of hundred bucks.
Using P&S has been a less than satisfactory method of pursuing this endeavor, as the backgrounds were always distracting, the approach to the subject essentially covered it, and frankly, with my older hands, the camera just was too miniscule.
Visits to the local camera store and big box stores were somewhat unrewarding.  The local camera shop is filled with pixel peeping snobs, and the big box stores are unable to comprehend the requirements for the field of macrophotography.
The whys of Canon were relatively simple.  The primary requirement was to have live view aperature reflected changes.  This was evidently not true with Nikon cameras.  The viewfinder will largely not be used in a macro world, at least not for this old bird.  Far better to accommodate a comfortable body position and let the tools work for us.  So the requirements become:
Live View with Aperature Control
Flip LCD screen
Ability to be used by DSLR Controller www.dslrcontroller.com.  This way, once the camera is mounted on the tripod, moved into position, theoretically the rest can be controlled from my Nexus tablet.  This remains to be seen, but things that don't work can always be returned.  Since cost was a factor in the proof of concept stage, the relative bottom of the line in terms of being fairly current became self evident.
There's a lot of information to be learned, reviewed, and implemented.  While waiting for the package arrival, I've tested lots of free focus stacking software, such as EnfuseGUI, DeepSkyStacker, and CombineZP.  These can be evaluated using existing hardware as I continue to wait for the package arrival.  My resolve for a solution that can accommodate a reasonable posture strong.
Interested in hearing input from others on Tripods, however, I've narrowed this choice down to Vanguard 263AT, Oben 2350, and one or two others.  Since the macro rig will not be traveling with me, the option of having a lateral arm is more important than the weight factor.  I will sacrifice the 2 lbs weight difference for the cost, which is close to $100 per lb difference in the Aluminum vs. Carbon Fiber class of same tripod functionality.
Thanks and props to this group at the Close Up Project : thecloseupproject.com, who provide a continual stream of information and practical macro advice.

Recent Photos

The incredible world of lichen

A long hiatus

Time to replenish the material. Lots of things got in the way. Too much to go into. However, the fruits of my labor and thought process are shared for your comments. I have investigated FOV stacking, focusing rails, bellows, and other things macro. To that end, I purchased another classic piece of history, a 20mm F4 Nikon lens. This lens, reversed on a bellows, will give a 12X magnification of the subject. Substantially more that the 1:1 ratio I currently have with the Kiron. Of course, not a heck of a lot of subjects can be captured with this apparatus, but those that can, will be. I took a sidetrip into exploring the capabilities of shooting ultra-wide, doing this like star trails and other things landscape. I'll publish a few samples for instructional review at some point.

Next Equipment Decisions

Next on the list of purchases that are necessary to support this experiment is a good tripod. A tripod that will allow for horizontal traversing of the camera, a tripod that will get down low, and one that can potentially travel light. Without breaking the bank, I've come across two good candidates. The Benbo Trekker or Classic Models seem to be perfectly suited for these requirements, however have received some level of criticism in regards to the legs being controlled by a central locking mechanism. The other tripod that is in top contention is the Manfrotto 055. I'm leaning more towards the Manfrotto, since it accomplishes everything the Benbo does, without the flailing leg issues. If you have any experience with either model, or would like to share your opinion, drop me a note.

Back to the future

In an effort to learn more about the world of macro photography without spending the big bucks, I resurrected my Nikon FM from 1978 and purchased a Kiron 105 f2.8 lens from ebay.  Stay tuned for some samples from the first try.  I was frankly blown away with the results, at least on print. After scanning, there was some image degradation, as you can see.  Here they are: http://tinyurl.com/3rgs2a3

Some samples of LX-3 based macro photography

You will begin to see the difference as the blog develops between these early experiments with the Point and Shoot technology and the more current examples. The journey begins here: http://tinyurl.com/3pr3mav

Macro Photography

I will be doing a deep dive exploration into the world of macrophotography. For the past few years, this venture has been limited to the world of P&S cameras. I have several of these units, each one an improvement on the other, but I was left unsatisfied. I purchased my equipment from B&H.com. This is the best source for what I've been looking for, and the service is fantastic. My main purchase in 2009 was the Panasonic Lumix LX-3. I found it had a wide variety of applications, with the exception of it's limiting optical zoom. However, it did allow me to learn a lot about the differences between fast lenses and typical P&S lens options. I will be creating a gallery of macro shots taken with this camera so you can see the results. Although the results are aesthetically pleasing, they were not the ultimate in macro viewing. Of course, the small sensor of a P&S made enlargement rather useless, as the image began to pixelate.

Panasonic Lumix LX3 Results

I've been shooting with the LX3 since October 2009. My initial impressions are mostly favorable. Although having a better zoom feature might eliminate the need for me to carry multiple cameras, the LX3 F2.0 lens provides options not found on any other P&S camera. There are several improvements that could be made; as others have pointed out before me, the lens cap is problematic. I've turned on the camera multiple times only to have a warning message flashed reminding me that I forgot to take off the lens cap. Another interesting problem is the location of the tripod socket. I thought that using a JOBY tripod would make difference in shooting in both a lightbox and the field. However, the tripod socket on this camera is all the way to one side, therefore attaching the tripod is awkward, and then, the camera seems to swing on it's own axis rather than lock up tight. Pictures are incredible though, and for the weight savings with the multitude of options available, I have no regrets overall. I own a LX3 and ZS3, and wear 1 on each hip. The combined weight of 1lb provides me the ability to shoot under all conditions from macro to telephoto, and the combined price of the two cameras was less than a cheap body in the DSLR market.

Photograph Post Processing

Best tools of the trade (in my humble opinion):

Gimp - free and very powerful

Picasa - free and moderately powerful - great organization features

Adobe Lightroom - somewhat user friendly, fairly powerful

Adobe CS3 - most intense, rich features

If you haven't tried all of them, you won't know what you are missing. All of my experiences with these have been on the Windows platform. There are ports for them on the Unix/Linux platform. Experiments have revealed that Adobe CS3, and therefore CS4 is the richest featured product on the market.

Camera - Panasonic LX3

I'm going to be covering my new Panasonic LX3 extensively on the this blog.  Several years of research went into the selection process that led me to this decision.  I will explore the factors that led to the final product.  In this way, you will understand why certain features are important from a photographic standpoint.  Having the ultimate control in a miniauture camera is the holy grail.  Stay tuned for a lot of information, photos, related articles, and important links to outside locations.

New Technology

I'm pretty interested in several new technologies, one being ubuntu linux which can be seen at www.ubuntu.com. You should check it out. It's very impressive.
Also, Nikon came out with a new camera, the D90. My favorite web site for viewing information on cameras is www.dpreview.com.

Let's talk about what is going to change the direction of the outcome of our economy. I'd like to hear your thoughts about what it's going to take to make things happen for the better. If you think it's going to get worse, let me know that too. What's the next big thing that will jumpstart the US output to something sustainable. For all those shoppers out there, consumerism, which drives 75% of our economy, is not sustainable. What can we make here in the US that will be of value to our world partners?

After a long summer

Well, here it is, another day in paradise. Most people would think this was great, being here in sunny Florida, but it really stinks. It's too hot to go outside.

I didn't really know this until I was through the first book, Don't Stop the Carnival, then moved onto others. A really good work of his was Youngblood Hawke.

Just wanted to say that an author that everyone should read is Herman Wouk