What's YOUR macro technique for insects?

[gardener]

Are you a:
Follow the little buggers around with camera at the ready and mostly try to sneak up on the flying ones (moths, butterflies, bees/wasps)?
or...
Do you find a good spot to stand / sit / lean near food sources, whatever those may be such as other insects, tasty young plant sources, flower blossoms, etc., and just wait for the critters to come to you?
Use a tripod?
Use flash?
What's your technique or perhaps "style" might be a better term...

For insects, I'm a flash 75-80% of the time (regardless of time of day), camera on tripod, sit and wait person... Painful lower back, bad knees, arthritis in the hips and joints make getting up and down a trial after the first few minutes for me so I usually find a good spot to park myself and start looking for itty bitty things that move or look out of place. That is not to say that I don't move to other spots on a regular basis, I typically just don't move very far...
For my shots, current gear is typically a Canon 50D (rarely use the live view), RRS B-87 bracket holding one 580EX, 150mm Sigma macro or 180mm Canon macro on manual focus, and B-40 ball head mounted to a well worn Manfrotto 3021 B-pro tripod (the flip lock legs allow quick height adjustment so I'll just stick with it for now). I occasionally shoot RAW but typically shoot jpegs most of the time simply because it's easy and processing shots on the computer is definitely not my favorite thing to do.
I've found that as bare as some landscapes are, there is still a wealth of tiny wildlife in any given spot once you learn how to look for it and oddly enough, you'll have just about as many subjects in your own back yard as opposed to heading off to parts unknown umpteen miles away.
Just curious about how other shooters approach the medium so thought I'd ask.
Thanks for any comments you may care to leave and wouldn't mind getting together with another macro shooter or two in the DFW area when scheduling allows to trade tips and shoot a few tiny critters.
Steve W

[rab3rd]

I follow most of the time. SItting and waiting drives me batty. I gotta hunt em...

[jeffclow]

I've done both techniques....waiting and chasing. I find that often one will find something when they least expect it, and so my Nikon D700 always has a Sigma 105mm macro lens attached and waiting in my home office so I can run it at a moment's notice and be back outside.

Since dragonflies and anole lizards are such fast movers, I don't use a tripod at all. And if I can get either to sit still for a second, I'll shoot off a half dozen quick shots in the hopes that one or two will be in focus.

I always focus on the eye and I will rock back and forth on my heels to get the focus just right. I shoot RAW+jpeg and often use the jpeg since I'm not a fan of spending a lot of time processing an image.

And sure - I would enjoy shooting with you someday down the road.

[tukaniray]

Originally Posted by jeffclow

I always focus on the eye and I will rock back and forth on my heels to get the focus just right.

Aside from the macro photography here ... I like this comment and technique.

Just never thought about it.

Great tip, I will remember that for other types of shooting outside of macro photography.

-Ray-

[KobraCarry]

Do you most you guys to ETTL (Canon term) for your flash setting or do you use manual flash? If manual, what setting do you find effective? I'm using a 430 EX II

[rab3rd]

I hand hold and rock too, its the most versatile method to use in the field. For flash, I go manual. Takes sometime to get a feel for what the settings need to be but a few outtings and you get thehang of the flash you are using. I use a 24ex ring flash so I cant give you an answer on the 430.

[KobraCarry]

Do you find settings like 1/1 or the other end 1/64 are better? Just looking for a starting point.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by KobraCarry

Do you find settings like 1/1 or the other end 1/64 are better? Just looking for a starting point.

It is totally going to depend on the situation and the settings.

[gardener]

I often try the rock to focus technique and while it's a grand way to increase your mobility, I generally end up on my butt or stumbling onto the ever present supervisory cat... Not too steady in my old age. Bummer...

I set my flash manually and move up or down the scale as needed. As Thomas indicated, much depends on the situation, amount of available light. distance from the subject, and so on. I generally waste a couple of images to start out to find a setting that works then it's just a matter of adding or subtracting "clicks" as I move or the subject moves. It really doesn't take long to get the hang of adding or subtracting stops without even looking at anything except the histogram and checking for blinkies.
I also have a 430EX but find the 580EX easier to adjust without actually looking at the numbers displayed so that's the one normally on my camera.

I did realize something last evening though (and should have known it long ago). Was trying to take pics of itty bitty flies (gold ones, irridescent blue ones, and nifty red ones) on the althea and never could get stationary pics. Came in and finally realized that said itty bitty flies are so ADHD to start with that they were reacting to the pre-flash thus, in the split second between the pre-flash and the main flash, the buggers were already airborne...

[todd_a]

I don't do any real macro photography yet, but when my subject is a flower or something small and I a, up so close that I am on the edge of not being able to focus with my 50mm f/1/4 lens, I use the rock method to get the focus right. Only problem is that some times the rocking movement might cause movement blur. I didn't think about using the flash in sunny daylight to light it up more though - might be able to up the shutter speed doing that and get a clearer shot more often.

[kpflounder]

My first and only macro bug shoot was a class yesterday. I have a spider fear, so my technique was quite simple. I prayed the spider would not jump on me, then tried to move in for the shot. I did not use skill, as a beginner, I don't have any yet. I did get over some of my fears and managed to get really close to getting a shot. However, I need more practice with macro to decide if I like it and want to save for a good lense.

[spazoid1965]

Another technique is to use dead ones. They are more willing to pose than live ones.

[brad]

Aquanet

[humminboid]

We had a Praying Mantis as a houseguest the other P.M. How it got in, we'll never know. I kept it in an old CD container till morning, then took it to the patio for a photo session.

I moved it gently to various positions, then stuck my Nikon 6T close-up lens on my 28-105, mounted my SB 600 with bounce card and diffuser screen deployed, and had at it. Working distance ~ 2 inches at~ f/16.

TTL all the way, -.05 exposure compensation.

Cool temps so the beastie couldn't go anywhere very fast. It stayed on our fence till it warmed up, then was gone.

I wish I could post the results: I am pleased. A definite learning experience!

I would like to have a true macro lens, but what I have does bettter than I thought it would!

[Fireball]

Brad, tell me you're joking. Hairspray?!