A Little Brag... If You Don't Mind

[MasterJack]

I live in Rosenberg, Tx and it's been a while since I posted on this board (my bad). I just wanted to get back on board and let you guys/gals know I am having one of my photos published in Poplular Photography (May 2005 issued under the "You Can Do It" artilce). The picture is a close-up of a fly (below).



This was shot inside my house so technically it is a Houston Area fly... :D

I really do hate to brag but I am pretty excited about this.

Thanks for looking.

MasterJack...aka John

[Hogleg 44]

Congratulations!

You deserve to be proud and excited. It is a remarkable picture!

[Bill Huber]

Man you can brag all day long with that news.

And the image is just awesome, outstanding !!!!!!


But now you have to tell us what you used and how you took the shot.

[Jim]

Man!! That's closer than I've ever been to a fly! Great shot!

[MyKey]

AMAZING SHOT!

And I agree

But now you have to tell us what you used and how you took the shot.

[LoungeLizard]

Incredible...beautiful. The colors and detail are great. It's no wonder it got published! Congratulations.

Now...details, please.

[Abel]

:shock:

welcome!! thats a great image.. i also want specs!!! hehe

[swanny338]

wow awesome shot, congrats on gettin published

[Sheldon]

This image is truely AMAZING!! All I can say is....WOW

[MasterJack]

My goal was to fill up the frame with the head of a fly. I knew I could not do that with my 100mm macro (even with extension tubes). My father had an old Pentax bellows. Having seen some of the shots that could be taken with a bellows I set out to find one for my Canon D30. I priced a new one and found that I could get one for around $650 dollars. I did not want to spend anywhere near that. I set out on a hunt for a used bellows. After much looking, I finally found an older Canon FD mount bellows for $75 – that was a match, price that is.

My next hurdle was to find a way to mate this bellows to the newer Canon EOS mount. I checked around the internet and found a Canon FD to EOS converter. I purchased that for $45. Next was the lens. I could have put practically any lens at the other end of the bellows but, I needed something that would allow me some room around the lens and still allow me to get close. I remembered from my Black & White darkroom days that I had a good quality enlarger lens. It’s been around the family since the mid 70’s, so I was not sure of its condition. It is a Schneider-Kreuznach Componon 28mm f/4-f/16 lens. I purchased a threaded mount that allows it to attach to the other end of the bellows.

Hunting Season

Now that I had the equipment and it all matched up nicely I set out on my safari to catch a fly. Living in Texas finding a fly was not a problem. As much as I would have loved to take the shot while the fly was alive, I knew I would either kill it out of frustration or it would successfully escape my miniature studio. Next step was to figure out a way to kill the fly without deforming it. No one wants to see a photograph of a fly after being squished. I thought of freezing it but I knew one of two things would happen – I would have it focused perfectly 1 second before it would thaw and that was the end of that, or it would be obvious that he was frozen in the photograph. I decided to kill it with rubbing alcohol – cheap, quick and odor free once it dissipates. Once the dastardly deed was completed, I had to figure out a way to hold the fly in place.

Posing My Subject

I could not place the fly on a flat surface since the lens would have to be so close to the fly and that would not allow light to reach it. I needed to elevate the fly somehow so as to leave room around it for lighting. I found a pushpin and inserted it into the underside of the fly. I then flipped it over and put some double-sided tape on the edge of the table and secured the pin/fly. This would allow me to get very close to the fly and have light hit the fly from several sides. Ah yes, I need light…..

Lights, Camera – No Action

My subject was sitting still, posed and ready for action. The first step was to adjust the magnification of the bellows and the distance from the front of the lens to the fly – yes I had to focus. This was perhaps the most difficult of the entire shoot. I of course had the camera on a tripod and the bellows had adjustments to increase/decrease the magnification as well as distance to my subject. I would have thought that that was all I needed. I turned the camera on, I looked through the eyepiece and it was as black as night. I did not take into account that with the bellow’s length and smaller than average lens – a LOT of light is lost. My overhead light in that room was not powerful enough so I took out my trusty 1,000,000 candlepower flashlight, set it next to the fly (which also helped evaporate the alcohol). This amount of light, along with opening the lens up to f/4, allowed me to focus. This took some time and patience. Any slight movement and I would loose the fly from my view. Even getting close to the tripod legs on the carpet threw it out of focus. Finally I had it where I wanted it.

In A Flash

I, of course, could not use an on-camera flash. The lens was only about ½� from the fly and the light would never reach it since the lens would cast a shadow. I have an infrared transmitter, so I put that on the camera and set the flash on its side about 2-3 inches from the fly (90 degrees to the lens). I then wanted some light to kick back onto the other side of the fly’s face. I set up a business card on the opposite side of the fly from the flash. I set the camera on MANUAL and shutter speed at around 1/160. I used mirror lock-up and a cable release. I took a few test shots. They were overexposed but that was ok since I had the lens set at f/4. Once I liked the composition I carefully rotated the lens to f/16 and shot it again. Voila! We have a fly’s head on the LCD screen. I then shot about 20 photographs or so varying the distance from the flash to the fly and distance from the business card to the fly, etc.

Concluding Thoughts

Well I must say that it was well worth the effort. The pictures you see of the set-up were re-created, since I only had one camera at the time I took the original photograph, but as you can see the setup is not complicated and can be achieved on a tight budget. If I had purchased the $650 bellows I would not have done anything different and I’m sure the photograph would not have looked any better.

Thanks again for your interest....

John

[Bill Huber]

Excellent write up and I really appreciate it.

I have a bellows for the E1 and I have played with it some, I think with this shot you have inspired me to get it out and get back to it. I love macro photography like this, and when it is as good as your shot well that just makes it that much better.

Again. Thanks for the write up, it sure helps us all to learn.

[bburton]

for the detailed explanation. Your hard work and diligence really paid off with a unique photgraph. I cannot wait to see your next project.

[LoungeLizard]

Excellent writeup. Your perseverence and patience paid off - and for us with that detailed writeup.

[rphoto]

Congrats for a very nice shot

[ndsimm]

mama always said "if it's true, it ain't bragging" great shot and thanks for the info