Insect Macro Photography - Episode 6

[@ggwildlife]

Great video Jamie, these are never long enough for me, could watch them all day, look forward to the next one.

[@JamieSpensley]

Thank you! I might try to make longer episodes at some point

[@ozymet]

Hello again. I'm glad you're still making videos and taking us on photo trips with you.

[@JamieSpensley]

Plenty more to come

[@sage_anubis]

I enjoy taking photos of insects .. love your videos

[@JamieSpensley]

Thank you!

[@bnielsen44]

Impressed by the colored towel techniques.

[@ThomasP525]

8:04 this is a Six-spot Burnet Moth. (Cinnabar moths have a long red stripe down the wing, as opposed to spots).

[@JamieSpensley]

Thanks for the ID 👍

[@nbaker01]

Great video as always Jamie. The orange & black caterpillars are Cinnabar caterpillars and are usually found on Ragwort plants.

[@JamieSpensley]

Thanks! Ahh, that makes sense with the large amount of cinnabar moths about

[@CelloSonataCH]

These are by far the best macro shooting sessions on this platform. It's a shame KZbin didn't recommend your channel on its own and it had to be another macro photographer who redirected me to your channel.

[@JamieSpensley]

Thank you so much! Who redirected you to my channel?

[@goku445]

Congrats! I like the respect you have for the insects.

[@JamieSpensley]

Thanks! Gotta respect nature

[@motivatedoutdoors]

I felt your frustration as that damsel fly began flying away. 😂 Glad you still got a photo of it. Like usual, lovely video!

[@JamieSpensley]

Thanks! Luckily it didn't fly too far 😂

[@adambennett2840]

Amazing images Jamie, you’re inspiring me to get a raynox and one of those diffusers to give this a try. I’d be really interested to learn what focus differential you use for the bracketing (I too use the em1 my 2 and 60mm lens) and how you focus on the subject matter, as you make it look so easy

[@JamieSpensley]

Thank you! I use a focus differential of 2 for 1:1 shots and a focus differential of 1 for 2:1 shots (with raynox on). And I start my focus just before the eyes of my subject while staying as still as possible

[@fupston824]

Definitely looks like a Cinnabar moth caterpillar (Tyria jacobaeae) at the 5:57 mark (and again at 9:00), especially as it seems you photographed its favourite host, the ragwort flower (Senecio jacobaea).

[@silvanotrettel7709]

Grazie.

[@JamieSpensley]

Thank you so much :)

[@fupston824]

The beetle at 3:15 with the hairy golden-orange body looks almost certain to be Lagria hirta. Possibly male but can't be sure because the ends of the antennae are out of focus.

[@MannyScoot]

Thanks brother..... I'm in Arizona and to find a single bug in summer I have to walk 10 miles in 115 degree Fahrenheit temperatures.....

[@d.k.1394]

Lol

[@JamieSpensley]

Damn! It's like 12-16 degrees Celsius here and lots of rain

[@andrewchild1592]

Excellent content as usual. I see your flash is recycling quickly, what did you reduce it's power to please ?

[@JamieSpensley]

Thank you! I typically use 1/32 to 1/64 flash power

[@debbieross5836]

Hi , the blue spiky plants are called sea holly . Love your videos you make it look so easy

[@JamieSpensley]

Thanks! Hours of photographing and editing in a 10 minute video 😅

[@fupston824]

Although the true bug at 10:36 (et seq) seems to have very distinctively banded antennae and legs, the best I'll hazard is that it looks like an anthocorid bug, aka. minute pirate bugs. (An overhead view of the body and wings can look a bit boring as a photo but they're quite useful for insect identification.)

[@janvangastel6763]

I think the bee with the hairy forehead is a feather foot bee. I photographed one a cou[le of weehs ago.

[@d.k.1394]

Weee

[@JamieSpensley]

Looks like it. I was thinking it may be a Lithurgus chrysurus

[@fupston824]

​@@JamieSpensley: ​Lithurgus chrysurus is unlikely because that's a Mediterranean species. In fact, the whole Lithurgus genus is Mediterranean. Yours could also be an Osmia (mason bees) species but their body tends to be metallic green or blue, so perhaps the one at 3:26 and 3:50 was more likely a Megachile (leaf-cutter bees) species. In fact, given your location at the time, the coastal leaf-cutter bee (Megachile maritima) has to be a candidate.

[@RodneyGracia]

So cool to see what you do. Instant subscribe!

[@JamieSpensley]

Thank you!

[@MariusCicu]

Hello, I appreciate your every video and I like the macro photography. I'm interested in what camera and lens you use. I live in the UK but I can't find that diffuser anywhere. Where do you buy it from?

[@JamieSpensley]

All my gear is listed in the video description. And my diffuser is the Cygnustech diffuser. To buy one, you have to direct message Cygnustech on Instagram.

[@Harris_Fountas]

Great video!!!May I ask…The IS (image stabilization) is ON when you execute focus BKT? I use OM-D EM1 Miii

[@JamieSpensley]

I usually have it turned off I think. But it doesn't make much of a big difference when shooting flash because the flash is what freezes the motion

[@sulagnomukherjee9840]

Just curious, why do you carry a tripod?

[@JamieSpensley]

I don't usually. I was here because I was doing some landscape photography before I started this video

[@Mafu-ue8kq]

After watching your video I got an OM-1 and a 60mm macro. I don't have a strobe and diffuser yet, but I'm practising macro photography. Thanks for showing me a very fun world. If you don't mind me asking, what are your standard camera settings? (e.g. single shot, bracketed shots) *Sorry for the poor translation.

[@JamieSpensley]

That's awesome! Burst mode if the subject is moving a bit, with a shutter of 1/250 and if the subject is very still, I will use bracketing and that limits my shutter to 1/50 because it uses electronic shutter and that is the flash sync speed of the electronic shutter. ISO is always 200 and aperture between f/4 and f/8 usually

[@Mafu-ue8kq]

@@JamieSpensley Thanks for your comment! You answered my question exactly and I understood it. If one day I get a macro shot that I'm happy with, I'll post it on Instagram! I look forward to more videos from you.

[@CrashEd1664]

Fantastic video and amazing images Jamie! Daft question - where did get the background cloths? Fantastic idea and very portable! I need to raid ikea or somewhere similar!

[@JamieSpensley]

Thank you! I got them off amazon. They are just coloured microfiber cloths

[@CrashEd1664]

@@JamieSpensley thanks mate - I’ll take a look 👍

[@speedeurXJR]

Thx for your job Jamie. You make a lot of focus bracketing ! But how you Can have a serie of 60 shoots without any Moving error when you compile the pictures ?

[@JamieSpensley]

I stay very still. I do this by resting my arms on my knees and hold the object the subject is on so there is little movement. I'm not perfectly still so sometimes I might miss a frame here and there

[@mintysingularity]

Every time I watch you taking photos it makes me think you're throwing a rave for your bug friends. 😁 Doesn't the shutter sound bother them?

[@JamieSpensley]

A free rave and free fame 😂 Some bugs are bothered by the sound but on a rare occasion. I'd say butterflies are the most skittish

[@fupston824]

Leaf beetle at 1:12 looks like a chrysomelid but I can't do much better than that. The Chrysomelidae are a big group, and can be difficult to identify.

[@HenritheHorse]

Awesome pictures!

[@JamieSpensley]

Thank you!

[@AnaaNis1233]

Got the same setup and a new v350o. But after 10shots, the flash slows noticeably down. I wonder if I got a faulty unit.

[@JamieSpensley]

Possibly. If you are using a flash power of 1/8 or higher then it is likely to slow down. But I usually use 1/16 to 1/64 and it barely slows down.

[@janvangastel6763]

Jamie, if I remember correctly, you are using the OM-1. When focus stacking with this camera one has to enter the number of steps and the focus differential. Do you know how large one focus differential is? I can find this information nowhere. It would be nice if it was the same as the DOF for a certain setting of aperture and distance to subject, but I don't know if that's the case.

[@JamieSpensley]

I don't know the exact measurements. But my rule is a differential of 2 when shooting 1:1 and a differential of 1 when shooting anything more magnified

[@udob.4117]

Another great video and it looks so easy to get cool shots. But I know that isnt easy 👍. The bee looks like a little punk 😄. Do you allways use the raynox?

[@JamieSpensley]

Thank you! I keep the raynox on most of the time and take it off if I want less magnification or a subject is quite large

[@TheJackPodt]

What do you use as the diffuser?

[@JamieSpensley]

Cygnustech

[@mark1hancock]

What focus differential are you using Jamie for your stacks?

[@JamieSpensley]

Usually 2. But if I'm extremely magnified, I may use 1

[@MorningDriftwood]

9:37 is a cockroach nymph. Dunno the species, tho.

[@JamieSpensley]

Ahh, that's what it is. Thanks for the ID 👍

[@fupston824]

Looks like it could be a female of the lesser cockroach, Ectobius panzeri, which are mainly coastal on sandy ground. Plus the females of E.panzeri have those unusual, highly truncated forewings even as adults.

[@angelathomas2117]

Watching you do the focus stack you camera and flash go fast when I do it its slow not sure what I am doing wrong

[@JamieSpensley]

I'm using a high drive mode of about 10fps and my flash has a very good recycle time because of the lithium ion battery

[@mr.inkognito1454]

Stackst du manuell? Oder nutzt du ausschließlich den Focus Bracketing Modus?

[@JamieSpensley]

I use bracketing mode and then stack on my PC using Zerene Stacker

[@911Polini]

could u tell more about the settings..Auto or Manuell Focus...

[@JamieSpensley]

Manual focus and I move closer or further away from my subject to select focus

[@user-ub9tu3xr78]

Sorry, I didn't understand: do you use automatic focus bracketing or manual focus? Is the stacking process the same inside the camera?@@JamieSpensley

[@davidf6326]

They're Burnet moths. The caterpillars, on the other hand, are Cinnabars.

[@klaustomasini]

Maybe: Ectobius lapponicus, dusky cockroach

[@stephencarmickle]

I always see awesome shots of damselflies but they never cooperate for me.

[@JamieSpensley]

It's hard! Go out just after sunrise as bugs are still around this time. Midday, damselflies are almost impossible to get portraits of

[@MyMultiforce]

when you are firing away to make stack are you rocking in and out to focus or what is your method? love your stuff

[@JamieSpensley]

If I can get still enough, I will use automatic focus bracketing. But if not, I rock back and forth while taking photos.

[@MyMultiforce]

@@JamieSpensley automatic is only 15 shots in camera on the om-1

[@kennyk4134]

What settings do you use on the flash and flash camera settings when your stacking .

[@JamieSpensley]

I typically use 1/32 to 1/64 flash power

[@kennyk4134]

@@JamieSpensley if I remember you use 0.2 sec flash recharge .I couldn't get a godox v350o so got the hanel modus 360rt .I think its a v350o clone .if I set the recharge to 0.2 would that make the flash fire fast for stacking.

[@JamieSpensley]

@@kennyk4134 Yes, 0.2 seconds is fast. I actually have started using 0 seconds and it works fine

[@kennyk4134]

@@JamieSpensley thanks for the help only been doing macro for a few weeks and your videos have really helped. Maybe one day I can produce some of the excellent shots you do .

[@d.k.1394]

Insect is like: WTF

[@ukaszbanaszkiewicz8328]

I know it's your style but these backgrounds ruin everything... you make great stacks but if you learn to use natural backgrounds it would be perfect. Those colorful cards, cloths etc look very bad. Regards