Exploring a New Habitat for Macro Photography - Macro Walks ep4

A late spring macro photography walk with several of subjects that I don't photograph often.
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Gear used in this video:
📷 Fujifilm X-H2
🔎 Laowa 65mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO
🔦 Nikon SB-900 Flash with Cygnustech Diffuser
Filmed on:
📷 Lumix DC-G91
🔎 Olympus 12-60mm f/2.8 pro
Music: 'Lacerta' by Tobias Tinker, used with permission.

[@oliround]

We're literally witnessing the next Bob Ross in the digital photography dimension. Like getting to witness and acorn before it turns into an oak.

[@NEONWAVE3000]

Thats so on point!

[@FredericG.]

:D love everything about this comment

[@cryptowill1611]

So true !

[@RodneyGracia]

That shot at 7:12 is just magnificent. You are so inspiring. Thank you!

[@peterc2248]

I love your work and your relaxed presentation style. Keep it up - many thanks

[@peterbowler6524]

Just great .

[@sabyasachibanerjee124]

Another wonderful video. These are so soothing and therapeutic to watch. Insects and lizards just come alive through your photography and narration.

[@w0lfyovi294]

Your image stacks are absolutely stunning.

[@paulm8157]

Enjoyable video, super images - composition and subject knowledge are impressive. (Clever t-shirt, too😊).

[@IanPhillipsWildlife]

Lizard shots are fantastic!

[@BlitztankYT]

Another awesome video man. This is by far my favorite macro photography series on KZbin. When I first got into photography last year it was mostly aviation / birds, but after following your channel I've almost fully converted to macro photography. Almost every day after work now I circle the backyard for an hour or two and do my own macro walks lol. Keep up the amazing work!

[@drfranke]

Alexis. Great videos. Can you go over your equipment setup? A video on stacking would be great, also.

[@jaimelilley4783]

I love your videos Alexis, they are really so good. I love the way you explain your process, and of course your photographs are just incredible. xx

[@ioiocman]

Yet another facinating moment of meditation for me

[@usernamemykel]

ASMR

[@gregs2466]

You are a very intelligent young man who takes some great photos. If I were your parent, I would be very proud of you.

[@franciscool_4852]

I love the reptile photography! I hope to see more of it in the future!!

[@naturefold]

It's quite rare to see reptiles in my area but I always like photographing them when I do :)

[@Austins0asis]

Love you videos would love to see how you edit 👏

[@lanwyacaere9274]

The name of the moth reminds me "The biggest name in the history of music" sketch by Monty Python :)

[@vajradharacharya9903]

I’ve binged all the videos on your channel. You are excellent! Keep up the good work!

[@sitkitomrukcu]

Hello, amazing work. I would like to suggest having marks where each shot section begins within the video. That would be great

[@GodIsReal]

Fantastic! Keep enjoying God's magnificent creation.

[@usernamemykel]

MOST AWESOME OF THEM ALL ! DAY-Um!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@WILDT_]

The small world on the leafs, wonderful world 😍

[@yanpetit]

Great job, great video, great photography. Keep it up!

[@canadianbacon1088]

U R amazing man

[@natureliker-ww4jo]

Just wonderfull!!! Thank you!

[@TheMickebostrom]

Fantastic, as always!

[@manfredklute9325]

Very nice video with great pictures. See you in the next video for sure: Thanks for your work and for sharing!👍😊

[@adabbleinphotography8721]

This is turning into a great channel, carry on! I also use Fujifilm, I have the X-H2S with a godox flash and the same laowa lens. I can't however get the flash to go off every shot in burst mode. Can you share your settings please ?

[@cryptowill1611]

So great, once again ! I was wondering how many shots you would keep on a regular walk ? What's the ratio of bad, good, excellent pictures you get ? I am pretty sure the expectations are not the same than when you began macro photography. Do you compare them sometime with older shots you made ?

[@naturefold]

Thanks! and sorry for not responding for so long :) How many pictures I take really depends on how many subjects I find, usually it's between 700 and 1500 but on a really good macro walk I'll sometimes take 2 or 3 thousand - the photos really add up when you shoot a lot of focus stacks! Obviously there are often stacks or single shots that don't come out as well, but I would say generally about half the photos I take end up in a good stack. Of course that still usually only means around 10 or 15 final stacks and a handful of single shots. My standards have definitely risen a lot since starting out, and I feel like that's definitely visible in my work. Sometimes it can be fun to compare with older shots, especially if I have shot the same subject a few years apart.

[@FredericG.]

Brilliant again!

[@richpence]

Love these videos! Excellent work!

[@markattardo]

Awesome outing!!!

[@mickparly]

Very, very good work

[@fotomap5865]

You should totally arrange a workshop. Very nice photos well done 👏

[@duringthemeanwhilst]

lovely moment with the lizard. we used to see so many of them here in bygone years, but sadly they are now a very rare sight

[@mycompasstv]

Most excellent work!!

[@LouisaLee63]

Wonderful photos!

[@Lil-Britches]

Great video, I really enjoy these.

[@astrofalls]

Babe wake up naturefold posted

[@hjones451]

Charles Darwin was born in my hometown - What he would give for your knowledge and a camera!😊

[@LaowaByVenusOptics]

Great work Alexis!

[@zandergray4945]

Great video! You’ve inspired me to do some macro photography myself

[@OneLeggedDiver]

this kid has a brighter future than just about all of us

[@gabriesl87]

Great video as always

[@PhilipAusWien]

The way you pronounced Vogelknöterich-Purpurbindenspanner makes me wander if you are/speak german. Btw beautiful video

[@naturefold]

I've lived in Germany my whole life so I speak the language fluently

[@survivalmike]

Thx for your great Videos. Really enjoy them. Subbed 👍🏻 Cheers from Austria, Mike

[@Alien-mu7ex]

Very great 📸 👍

[@derlandfotograf6923]

Great photography! Congratulations! Can you explain why you use this equipment?

[@pierre-gillesandri6207]

Very nice ! From Belgium

[@malonipastroni395]

These pictures are incredible. What software you use to stack your images? It would be cool if you made a video about your post processing routine.

[@watkinsrory]

Your channel doesn't get enough credit. Keep it up and you will get more subs.

[@degreeoffreedom2268]

Wonderful Video as always. May you show us or make a tutorial on how you move the camera during the burst? Thanks.

[@naturefold]

I am planning on doing a full tutorial on manual focus stacking, which would definitely include that

[@marcmarc172]

i n c r e d i b l e .

[@Goosemonk]

This is great work, love all your photos and how you work in the field. What do you use for post processing and what are your video settings?

[@naturefold]

I use Lightroom, Zerene Stacker for focus stacking and Topaz DeNoise for editing. for video I shoot at iso 200 (which is base iso on my video camera), f/2.8 and 1/60th, and either raise my iso if a scene is too dark or (much more often) add a variable nd filter if a scene is too bright.

[@petercoleshaw6030]

Love the pics. Can you please tell me which flash unit you use? I have om1 and 90mm macro.

[@clarasdk]

Nice video, can you camera do automatic focus stacking or are you moving the camera focus manually?

[@geoffstone356]

Great video, What mode is your flash set at, it would appear to be strobe:

[@donriemer]

Greetings, and thanks for the excellent videos. You seem to have an equal command of entomology and photography, no mean feat. I made my own flash diffusor, largely by reverse engineering the Cygnustech product you use. So, I hope you don't mind a question... I'm using a Fujifilm X-T4. I can find no way to set it up for manual exposure for macro shots (low ISO, small aperture, SS set for flash) without the viewfinder going black. The camera is correctly showing me what an exposure would look like if I shot at these settings WITHOUT a flash. But now I can't see anything, and can't frame the shot. I can find no way to provide what used to be called "full aperture metering." It's sort of a dated term in the digital world. But you seem to have found a way around it. Can you offer any suggestions? Thanks again.

[@matthewstone1536]

Amazing video, can you please explain how you focus stack using the manual focus lens? Really want to understand how it shots work, do you just move the subject or your camera, if so any tips?

[@naturefold]

I shoot in burst mode and slowly move the camera forward to change focus between images.

[@TweakMDS]

I love this! Calming, knowledgeable, and a production quality that could easily translate into a program on National Geographic or Discovery. How do you find focusing with the Laowa when it's stopped down? I'm always hesitant to go with full manual lenses because in my experience with macro on dslr's, they became hard to work with after F/8.

[@naturefold]

Any mirrorless camera shouldn't have any issues brightening up the scene in live view even on a fully manual lens.. in really dark situations I use a focusing light sometimes (just a small headlamp that I attach to my flash), but in most cases I haven't had any issues.

[@Arteesemis]

Great shots - which batteries do you use for your flash light - which brand?

[@naturefold]

I use Panasonic Eneloop pro AA batteries for my flash.

[@pepemau5]

hi, love this content, can u post also photo straight from camera without postproces pls? just wondering how it looks like direct in camera

[@naturefold]

Could be a fun challenge to shoot an entire video straight out of camera

[@musiqueetmontagne]

Hi Alexis, fantastic shots as ever. They see to get better and better, if that's possible. Your single shots also appear to have a generous depth of field for f5.6/8 etc. Does that camera have an APS sensor? Thanks for sharing these.😊

[@naturefold]

Yeah the Fuji X-H2 is APSC

[@musiqueetmontagne]

@@naturefold Cool, it's definitely an advantage with macro, thanks.

[@K_P_bI_M]

Hello. You have amazing videos! Today I bought my first Laowa 90mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO macro lens and I'm going out on an insect hunt tomorrow. I have a question. Tell me, what settings do you usually set on the camera: shutter speed, aperture and ISO? Are all settings always manual or can the iso be set to auto? Flash in manual mode more often 1/32 and 1/64 for stacking? Will there be a video on this topic or at least write an answer here. Thanks!

[@naturefold]

I will keep in mind to do a video on macro settings, though it isn't really possible to give one set of "the best settings" for macro since each setup is different. I would definitely recommend shooting in full manual mode so that your exposure is consistent between shots, which is especially important for stacking. I would shoot at the highest shutter speed that can sync with your flash, although it can be a useful technique to use a slower shutter speed to include more ambient light. The best aperture varies quite a bit and you have to test where the sweet spot for your lens is, for single shots I tend to use a higher aperture like f/11, and for stacking I use a lower aperture like f/5.6 or f/8 to get the best possible sharpness. If possible use base ISO to get the best image quality, but I wouldn't worry about dialling up the ISO a bit to compensate for another setting like flash power. As far as which flash power you use that is very dependent on which flash you have. My flash can keep up with burst shooting for focus stacking at 1/16 and I usually shoot between that and 1/32, but that might be different for you

[@K_P_bI_M]

​@@naturefold Thank you. That's about how I imagined it. My 1/32 flash takes about 10-15 frames, and then does not have time to charge and some of the subsequent frames turn out to be dark. How do you make a stack of 20 or more flash photos? I've seen steaks from 50 or more photos, but how?

[@naturefold]

What flash do you have? Some flashes are just able to keep up burst shooting longer than others, I've done 150+ stacks at 10fps but I have quite a powerful flash

[@K_P_bI_M]

@@naturefold That's it, I figured out the flash. Everything is fine. Please make a video from the technical side of the shooting.

[@johnbentley1056]

beautiful photographs. Just one question how do you focus stack without a tripod.

[@usernamemykel]

Carefully!

[@naturefold]

It takes a bit of practice but it's absolutely possible to focus stack without a tripod if you're able to keep steady enough

[@Francesca48]

Thanks great video. Which camera are you using and which lends. I notice you got a stack at 1/200. Are you images displayed cropped at all? Are you using an extender at all if so which one? Thanks again for great videos.

[@naturefold]

I always put the equipment I use in the caption of each video. I do usually crop my images, but not a huge amount. What do you mean by an extender? I don't use any extension tubes or teleconverters if that's what you mean

[@Francesca48]

@@naturefold Thank you. Very helpful.

[@darshantandel]

For focus stacking, Do you shoot RAW or JPEG?

[@KD-bp7xj]

Richtig cooles Video, wo ist dass denn in Berlin?

[@genemcloud4114]

I’m a newbie at macro photography. I have a Nikon D500 but need a macro lens and hood. Could you make a recommendation please? Thanks

[@naturefold]

I've never shot on Nikon so I am not very familiar with the macro lens options, but I'd recommend one of the Laowa lenses, depending on which ones come in Nikon F mount.

[@zimzero1111]

Hi! I'm new to macro photography, and i have a hard time getting the flash settings right. Well i don't really understand how it works. Do you use manual or something else? I can see you shoot in bursts when stacking. If you could explain it a bit, that would be awesome! Like, low iso and flash settings.

[@naturefold]

I use manual mode on the flash if that's what you mean.

[@zimzero1111]

@@naturefold When i try focus stacking in manual mode, i get dark pictures. Is the timing off?

[@naturefold]

What flash power are you using in manual on the flash? If you use too high a power it won't be able to keep up with faster sitting and will sometimes miss frames

[@zimzero1111]

@@naturefold i use 1/256, so it's definitely not high 😁 Could it be the camera settings?

[@naturefold]

@@zimzero1111 If anything 1/256 flash power is much too low, maybe try shooting at something like 1/16 or 1/32 at the lowest? What camera settings are you using? if the shutter speed is higher than the flash sync speed that would create fully dark images, otherwise maybe the aperture you are using is just too high.. I'd definitely try a higher flash power and just experiment with all the settings to try and get a good exposure - I wouldn't worry too much about raising the iso a bit to something like iso 400 either, if that's necessary to balance out other settings.

[@oussamakindo4048]

tell us plz the material used

[@usernamemykel]

Are you using "Auto ISO"? Many thanks!

[@naturefold]

No I shoot in full manual mode

[@usernamemykel]

@@naturefold Thank you!

[@hacks9099]

Not to mention permanently blinding them.

[@lloydlandersz5153]

what is the Camera your using ? for macro photography

[@johneast7987]

it says above: 📷 Fujifilm X-H2 🔎 Laowa 65mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO 🔦 Nikon SB-900 Flash with Cygnustech Diffuser

[@catherinegrimes2308]

@@johneast7987 That lens is very popular for APS-C cameras because it is incredibly sharp. The diffuser is popular as well. However, the flash is unusual with people tending to use the Godox V350.

[@naturefold]

@@catherinegrimes2308 The flash is just what I happened to have before getting into this system and it works, I will likely upgrade to the godox v860iii at some point

[@catherinegrimes2308]

@@naturefold I hope that you didn't think that I was criticising you in any way because I wasn't. I just thought that lloydlandersz5153 might have thought about buying the same equipment that you had and didn't want him to be looking for a flash that is an old model. I know people gradually build up their system and I am impressed with your camera choice. I don't think that I would spend around £2000 on a camera and the weight put me off as well. I have been having a go doing some wildlife photography using my Fujifilm X-S20, the 70-300mm lens and the 1.4X teleconverter. I recently booked a birdwatching holiday in Spain and thought that it would be a good idea to get some macro equipment so that I could photograph some Spanish insects and flowers. I have an old Konica 90mm macro lens that I bought over 40 years ago and investigated some new equipment, mostly by watching KZbin videos. The Fujifilm macro lens was very good, but also very expensive and more importantly very heavy. From looking at the videos, I considered that the Laowa 65mm would be the best buy because of its sharpness. The diffuser was an easy choice and that would be the one by CygnusTech. The flash was more of a difficult choice and I narrowed it down to the Godox V1 and the Godox V350. On asking somebody on KZbin who had a V1 about using it for macro he replied that he uses the V350 and it is powerful enough for all of his macro needs. I considered the V1 to be a better choice than the V860III because the flashgun gave a more diffuse image and somebody thought that the modelling light in the flash head would be better because it pointed in the same direction as the flash light and that would be better for illuminating the subject when focussing. Trying to buy the Laowa 65mm and the V350 was really difficult and I may have bought the last ones in the UK. The Laowa arrived this morning and the flash should arrive in a few days time. Then I will order the diffuser. My macro system will be a smaller version of your upgraded system. Unlike you, I am 67 and have to be careful with how heavy the equipment is. I must say that I am highly impressed with your macro photography, you make focus bracketing look so easy and you produce such beautiful photographs. If I could produce photographs anywhere near as wonderful as yours I would be very pleased with myself, but wouldn't go as far as saying that I would die happy.

[@lloydlandersz5153]

why did you take so long ? I love your macro videos

[@vikymoejoe]

Whats your Name on iNaturalist? I would love to see some more of your pictures :)