Hi, Hank - Really nice colours and pose from the bee. Your larger image is fairly blurred, unfortunately, andlacking much DOF.
These types of macro shots are very tough. To get good DOF and frozen motion, you need a high SS and F stop. I am usually set at 1800-2500 SS and F18-22 for bees/bugs. Then, of course, the ISO must be high too, which presents a challenge regarding noise. (I use Topaz or Nik’s DxO, and Neat image is another good NR product)
Your previous landscape shots are excellent, and that sweet clematis too. Moving things like bugs and bees just take a lot of practice and patience!
@SandyR-B is right about the very small f/stops you will need for high magnification. For subjects like this that are very 3D, you have to be resigned to having some elements out of focus, but for them to be pleasing requires some difficult artistic compromises. You will get a little more DOF if you shoot from a farther distance and crop in post. And you need to cope with finding BGs that are distant enough to be pleasingly soft.
Flash for subjects like this is not simple, as it will give very hard-edged shadows. You want a diffusion screen on a flash for soft light. (The same if you were shooting this subject with just sunlight – a diffusion screen gives much more pleasing light, and the closer it can be held to the subject the better the light quality.) Even if you just want a little fill light, you don’t want it to give harsh shadows. And you generally want to shoot flashed subjects in the shade, so the flash is not overpowered by harsh ambient light.
A big issue is that flash units need to synchronize with the shutter, so they fire when it is open. The fastest shutter sync speed I’m aware of, which is for the beefy external units, is 1/180 sec. And at full power those units are only giving an effective flash duration of about 1/250 sec. (Faster at lower power settings.) Check your manual for your pop-up flash. I assume it must synchronize on its own.
There is a high speed sync function for external Speedlites that lets you use faster SSs, but I doubt you have it for your pop-up flash. It fires a burst at lower power, but you get less light from it.
And in bright light if you are using ETTL the flash may not be doing anything but giving you a catchlight – if it is syncing. Explore M mode, if you have it.
Hank: Good advice from Sandy and Diane and I will add that when you are shooting macro critters the eye is almost always the place for your POF. A dull or blurred eye can be a deal breaker. I routinely start exploring with my ISO set at 400. I get very little or no noise at that ISO. At ISO 400 your SS would have been 1/640. Shooting at f11 for more DOF would still give you 1/320. It can also be tough using a short macro on bugs since you have to get pretty close. A lot of folks use 90-100mm macros and there are a few of us who use 200mm macros. Unfortunately Sony doesn’t make a 200mm macro but I think Canon does for the 7D or there are used 180mm lenses around. Great to have you aboard here and looking forward to more. >=))>
Hank, I am so glad that you have a macro lens and are delving into the universe of small things. I find it to be very rewarding yet challenging. I am always amazed when I bring the little critter up on the big screen and see the details in something that seemed very small to photograph. Even bees like this one, you don’t see all of the details in it with your eye in real life, but when you get to see it on the computer screen it reveals so much more.
You have received some good advice. Canon, which is what I shoot with too, only lets our shutter speed go up to 1/200. That though should be plenty because the flash stops the action. The f-stop number being at f-11 to f-16 for more DOF and keeping the focus on the eye I find most important. And some of the little creatures are so little seeing the eye in the viewfinder can be difficult.
For bee shots like this one, you can use a longer lens without the flash to get a macro shot. Dennis Plank just posted one that he shot with his 200-600 lens. It is just fun to experiment. The macro category doesn’t have to have all the expensive equipment. I spent more than I should at the beginning. In hindsight I made some good buys and some not so good buys.
I am looking forward to seeing more of your work, especially in the macro area. I haven’t been able to get out much lately myself but hope it won’t be as long as it has been.
Thanks for all the good advice, I will put it to use, the bees love those onion flowers. Cropping is not a great option for me, my old 7D just doesn’t have the pixels for it.
I can see now there is a big learning curve for this little lens
