some nature shots

surfn · Jun 8, 2007

so, i was having alot of trouble getting shots in focus with my new Sigma 150mm macro lens that i got about a month ago.

i talked to B&H, and was sure it was defective as i couldnt get any shots in focus under 1.5feet (1:1.5), although the min focus distance is 1.24feet (1:1).

i sent it back last thursday, and it just got here today. so i decided to take it out to the park about a block from my apartment. all i gota say is WOW!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER!! ;)

this little flower is one of those weed like things you find amongst your grass

some cropping action

this is one of those tiny little butter cup flowers, bit smaller than the size of a dime. i got wicked lucky when that little sweat bee dropped by for a visit.

its alot harder to shoot bugs than it looks, NOTHING HOLDS STILL!!! lol:hammer:

mr. blue jay decided to join me in the bug hunt....i took this with my canon 70-200mm telephoto L-glass lens.

snapping turtle in the pond

one thing i've noticed that when i'm shooting in auto mode, with either my telephoto lens or my kit lens in the BRIGHT outdoors, is that the pictures are still coming out dark. i look in the settings and ISO is already at 400. should i be using a different setting when shooting scenary outdoors?

surfn · Jun 8, 2007

doh, i just realized i had all my fstop set at f22 for all my macro pics....i imagine the quality would have been better if i had it down to f9-f12

MarvinsReef · Jun 8, 2007

wow.. awesome shots Al.. :)

Nikon_Guy · Jun 8, 2007

surfn said:
doh, i just realized i had all my fstop set at f22 for all my macro pics....i imagine the quality would have been better if i had it down to f9-f12

Yup! Nice images though. Glad the replacement is working well for ya.

surfn · Jun 8, 2007

Nikon_Guy said:
Yup! Nice images though. Glad the replacement is working well for ya.

i haven't used it much yet, but i'm CERTAIN now that the last lens copy was bad. i could get all the way down to 1:1 now with no problems with the focusing.

coralnutz said:
Wow... cool shots. That turtle one is awsome. If you wouldnt' have said what it was I wouldnt' have known. Looks like some crazy beast.

it was one weird looking turtle, it was huge, bout the size of a beach ball. and it had a huge tail over a foot long....and the shell was more like a egg instead of round. so thats why we thought it was a snapping turtle.

the pic was taken from about 15 yards away, and a tiny bit of cropping. i'm amazed at the detail, you can even see a tiny bug to the right of his nose