The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I was trying out my new Lawvo 90mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer 2X lens today and this Stink Bug was kind enough to patiently let me get a few shots of him face on.
Specific Feedback
Nothing specific. I was just glad to get an insect to pose for me this time of year so I could try out the camea.
Technical Details
Canon R5, Laowa 90mm f2.8 lens, with Canon Speedlight and diffuser (I think something is wrong with my KX-800 twin flash, it gives out way too much power now even at the lowest power).
All manual settings and the lens is manual focus. I am having a hard time remembering how magnified and what f-stop I used, and LR doesn’t bring that info in. Edited in LR with a gentle calming of highlights, shadows brought up and cropped to removed some unwanted leaves around him.
Oh no about the flash. That’s a bummer. I know you really like that one. But yay for shield bugs and new lenses! They have such weird little faces and you got this one perfectly. Sweet detail and colors. I don’t think we have mottled ones here - all tan or all green are the two I’ve seen. Congrats because I know these guys rarely sit still!
Cool bug portrait!! You amaze me with your hand-held macros with the lighting rig on the camera! (Hope the glitch with it is temporary and fixable.) I like the front view here and the detail and tonalities. It’s nice to feel shrunk down to bug size, sitting on a leaf.
I might burn down the lighter part of the leaf, maybe with a gradient from the corner, but that’s a small thing.
I hadn’t known about this lens but I never feel my macro (supposedly a true 1:1) magnifies enough, even with extension tubes or teleconverters. Should check this one out! Keep showing us its stuff!
Thank you @Kris_Smith and @Diane_Miller I appreciate your concerns for my old flash. I tried it today and it seems to be working okay! It’s on sale so I am debating if I should go ahead and order a new one. I think I have had this for about 7 or 8 years and used it more than any flash I have ever had. Diane, I misspelled the name of the lens (I edited it above, but the correct spelling is Laowa). By the way, I am quite impressed with the lens so far. It goes from 2X to infinity! All manual though. It has 13 blades, so the bokah is really smooth. Price is pretty good. On sale right now at B&H. So is the twin flash.
I’m impressed with both the shot and the lens, Shirley. The detail in the eyes is incredible in the largest version. I’ve been eyeing some of the Laowa lenses, so it’s nice to see that they can produce such a wonderful image. Since I’m almost always in manual focus for macro shots anyhow, that part doesn’t bother me.
Thank you, Dennis, and you are right, most macro shots are in manual mode. The camera doesn’t tell you what f-stop you are at, and so that is something I have to pull the camera down and look to see what it is set on (you can bump it into a different f-stop than you wanted). It is still a learning curve. The focus peaking with the Canon R5 is a lifesaver because the lighting is so low. That is another thing I like about my KX-800 (also made by Laowa), it has a focusing light on it. I just was out using it and it started blasting light again, so there must be some short or malfunction in the inner parts. I think I will go ahead and order the KX-800 this evening when B&H opens. I just like that flash and I think I will be needing it with this lens.
Shirley: A face only a mother could love but superbly captured nonetheless. I’ve always been impressed with your flash results so hope you get this resolved soon. Kudos to you. >=))>
Quite the stinker you presented. Your post processing loos good and the highlights are very reasonable as well. A quick fix is to tape some tissue paper on the flashes which will drop their output. Also check your flash exposure compensation on your camera. It may have been set for higher levels of flash compensation too. Awesome stinkbug…Jim
Thank you, Jim. Actually, my flash (KX-800 twin) works fine for a while, and then it blast my scene so badly that it is almost white. Same settings I just had been using. So I turned them back to as low (1/28 power) and still over flashing. It seems that my old flash has maybe some kind of short in it or something. I have ordered a new one. I ordered a used one from B&H and only one flash worked! So I am returning it (I have already got the RMA label and packed it up). Thank you though, because you are right, diffusion (which I was using) is so important. I like this particular flash because I can use both flashes or turn one off, lower one’s settings maybe for fill light, while using the other one to light the subject. Glad you liked my Stinker!
