HKY- dang.... :tup: so that's how the pro's do it. :D

im embarrassed to show picts of my umbrella-less ikea floor lamp with twisty bulb as my lighting... :rofl2::wtf2:

Hey ken, we all gatto start somewhere. :tup: And that is a good way to learn about lighting... good and bad.

it's not much... there's nothing wrong with some improv lighting setups tho! i used them for a while with meh success. AB's are definitely the way to go for those with the means

This probably wasn't the best idea for a new hobby considering I'm such a gadget geek. As i found the pro camera store in my area and my bank account suddenly got much much smaller.

Here is the new setup for macro :icon17:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6079/...1245eefc_b.jpg

And now my first attempt at macro. I still have a ways to go but.. ultimately i would like to do some crazy macro videos. All photos taken tonight hand held. I'm very new to this but its really fun!

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6204/...0b4e1800_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6067/...f276854c_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6186/...44798cf8_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6129/...15c81e35_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6061/...62cc6c03_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6072/...e5ca4599_b.jpg

nice shots but use more f-stop for a greater DoF! you should be at least at f/8 or f/11 if not higher when that close! you may need to compensate by bumping up ISO or slowing down shutter speed if possible

Ahhh!! I new i was missing something. Thank you!

^^ what lens are you using for those shots?

AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED with led light ring setup. Im liking the light ring. Not as good as the nikon macro kit but will work for macro videos i plan on making. Can light up on right, left or both sides.

Wonder what that bug was eating haha. I didnt notice till post process.

i wish i could rent light setups hahahaha

anyway guys...it's pretty obvious i'm the rookie of the group now. i'm not too thrilled with how any of these came out, except for maybe the lobster one. but...photodump time. any thoughts or tips would be GREATLY appreciated :tup:

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0856.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0855.jpg
^ this shot was really hard to get for me. i was in a car going 40 km/h, on a bad road, and i'm surprised it came out. granted, it was stuck on a high ISO so i could snapshot it in manual with a quick shutter speed...so i kind of got lucky. and i ran a few noise reduction filters to help out.
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0852.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0826.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0811.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0733.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0707.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...DSC_0698-1.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0664.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0663.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0450.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0400.jpg

bonus lol shots:
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0588.jpg
^ what's so hellaflush about a damn scooter...
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0576.jpg
^ nate robinson, slam dunk champion, reacts to watching the FAIL that is a bunch of asian high schoolers trying to do a slam dunk contest. one guy couldn't even dunk :facepalm:

last one: me playing with lightroom results in...
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0796.jpg

Man Nitex I really want a macro lens!!! Macro looks like soooo much fun. How much was that lens if you dont mind me asking?

i like this shot but IMO you need to bump up the exposure quite a bit and then blast the contrast. give it a shot and see what you think... it looks a bit "cold and flat" (but that may be your intention)

Yes alchemy it is! This lens was $980, but nikon has a 60mm for $599 and the newest to the line up is a 40mm macro for $279. I chose the 105mm because it gives me more room to work with. But all 3 lenses can produce great results!

If you get the 60mm or the 40mm you will just have to put the lens almost on what ever your shooting. May be harder when shooting insects and other live things that may decide to bugoff or attack the giant protruding piece of glass hitting it in the face :icon17:

Phelan! That looked like some tasty lobster :icon17: Some of those shots were great. I liked the squirrel and the beach shot with the car.

The shot of nate was good also hahah. Hes like, Damn..... and they said white men cant jump :facepalm:

Thanks, yeah it's kind of funny how out of all of them...I like a food picture the most :rofl2:

Pat - I purposely wanted to keep it on the 'cooler' side, if that's the right terminology, but I'll have to go back and mess with the exposure / contrast again. I left the exposure purposely down right now to give a better effect on the ground, I felt like bumping it up made it look flatter; but I could have been tweaking the wrong settings :icon17:

nitex- damn... nice camera and lens! :tup: didn't know they had angel-eyes for cameras. :rofl2:

i like that fly shot. :tup: looks great, colors are rich and deep. :)

phelan- wow that lobster and crab looks good. :D are you going to make menu's and restaurant posters professionally or something? :yum: btw, where are you taking these shots? in socal?


beach- yah, i dont plan on spending any more $ on this hobby other than a full sized manfrotto when the current one im using dies. :icon17: what my shots are lacking is experience and experimentation.