shortly Posted February 21, 2014 Ok the mob is taking me down to country for a few days and the place happens to have a multitude of bioluminescent mushrooms (presumably Mycena sp) and lots of glowworms. All the photography sites i have found are geared toward ordinary macro work in daylight or with a flash. So does anyone have any tips tricks or suggestions for photographing said shrooms, maggots and hopefully the odd fairy with a DLSR camera? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alice Posted February 21, 2014 Try to borrow a tripod from someone. It makes such a difference for those low light shots. A remote shutter release is really handy too. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anodyne Posted February 21, 2014 No idea sorry, but please post your pics afterwards, I would love to see them! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halcyon Daze Posted February 22, 2014 (edited) Using a macro lense? low light is really challenging. It means you need to use a slow shutter speed. If you shake, or if the wind blows, or if the insect moves then your pic will be blurry so use a tripod and take heaps and heaps of pics and just pick out the few that somehow worked out. I also use the 2 sec timer delay so the tripod can stop shaking after I let go of the camera. It's actually very frustrating. You'll end up with a heap of pics that are ruined by blurriness and just a couple of good ones if you work hard for it. Practice makes perfect. With fungi. make sure the cap is perfectly level in your picture frame. They just look sooooo much better when they are perfectly parallel, otherwise they look unbalanced and it stands out like a sore thumb. Also take spare alkaline batteries and a spare memory card. There's a lot that can frustrate your best efforts in photography, but the more you put in the more you'll get out so don't hold back mate, and don't stop clicking that button! Ah also, take a square piece of white card, to reflect some more light onto your subject. Works a treat and just in case you're wondering, flash completely ruins macro pics. Edited February 22, 2014 by Halcyon Daze 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Exogenesis Posted February 22, 2014 Using a macro lense? low light is really challenging. It means you need to use a slow shutter speed. If you shake, or if the wind blows, or if the insect moves then your pic will be blurry so use a tripod and take heaps and heaps of pics and just pick out the few that somehow worked out. I also use the 2 sec timer delay so the tripod can stop shaking after I let go of the camera. It's actually very frustrating. You'll end up with a heap of pics that are ruined by blurriness and just a couple of good ones if you work hard for it. Practice makes perfect. With fungi. make sure the cap is perfectly level in your picture frame. They just look sooooo much better when they are perfectly parallel, otherwise they look unbalanced and it stands out like a sore thumb. Also take spare alkaline batteries and a spare memory card. There's a lot that can frustrate your best efforts in photography, but the more you put in the more you'll get out so don't hold back mate, and don't stop clicking that button! Ah also, take a square piece of white card, to reflect some more light onto your subject. Works a treat and just in case you're wondering, flash completely ruins macro pics. A tripod will solve most of your problems. Once you've got it all setup and composed, the shutter could be open for 10secs and still keep everything in sharp focus - so unless you're packing a really good macro lens and flash system - a tripod is your best bet, and that will also free you up to 'paint in' the lighting separately. When you get there and start to go over how you'll be doing the shot, just remember to bump up the ISO to get a workable shutter speed, and don't stop down your aperture too much. The wider open it is, the more light you'll be letting in - so depending on your lens anything from f2.8 - f4 will be there or thereabouts. It should be a really exciting shoot, so crack on and do your best! Please post the results, good or bad too! It'll be good to talk about them for your next outing. Any questions, ask before you leave! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
irabionist Posted February 23, 2014 ALSO, if you want to get the surroundings in it as well, after you press down to take the photo shine a dull light, from your phone screen or a torch from a distance, onto the surrounding areas around your subject so that it'll capture the environment as well, because i know that somtimes cameras can leave everything black in the background which can suck depending on what you want! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anodyne Posted February 23, 2014 I assume you found this guys pages already, but I'll post the link anyway: Photographing fireflies & Night photography, shows some pics using the "light painting" technique Sabry mentioned. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shortly Posted February 23, 2014 Thanks guys, I used my standard tripod & 28-80mm macro. Cable release lubricated & ready. The one thing i didnt count on was a constant stream of korean terrorists (or was it tourists?) that filed past me. Every single one with their torches & head lamps on Now to get some assistance in attempting to recover something useful from the evenings shots? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Exogenesis Posted February 23, 2014 What do you need? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shortly Posted February 23, 2014 Tips really. Like "take a square piece of white card, to reflect some more light onto your subject" wish i'd read that before i left And"make sure the cap is perfectly level in your picture frame. They just look sooooo much better when they are perfectly parallel, otherwise they look unbalanced and it stands out like a sore thumb" Oh and some more mushrooms (its still very very dry) and darkness would have been helpful. I will be back down there the week after next so as long as they get a little bit of wet stuff i should get another crack at it. After 11:00pm this time to avoid the crowds. Who knew that there would be processions of coach loads of tourists going to look at maggots ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halcyon Daze Posted February 23, 2014 You can find glow worms in tree stumps and tiny rock crevaces in the rainforest. Just go walking around at night and keep a sharp eye out for them. Another tip. You can take a little bean bag to be used in place of a tripod. Sometimes a tripod is just too tall for macros, but a beanbag full of rice does the trick nicely. Also you can get really tiny tripods for like $15 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shortly Posted February 23, 2014 They are all over the upper third of the valley wherever there is a constantly moist microclimate. However stumbling about on uneven ground has become extremely difficult for me recently so stumbling about up along the creek in the dark is probably best left to the young, fit & healthy. A beanbag full of rice would probably be very very sticky quite quickly given how wet the valley can be, but an old sock full of plastic pellets should work a treat Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
