I did some reading and realized that motion also plagues sports photographers. They deal with it by shooting at very fast shutter speeds (1/500th of a second or more). I'd spent so much effort on aperture that I neglected the simple fact that life doesn't stand still.
The down side of shooting very fast shutter speeds is that less light makes it to the sensor. This also happens when you close the aperture. The way to compensate for a fast shutter speed while keeping the aperture/depth of field in a reasonable range is to adjust the camera's ISO setting. ISO controls the sensor's sensitivity to light.
I also happened to read a review about my camera (yes, I read reviews of products I already own), and the reviewer mentioned the D300s's Auto ISO setting. By activating it, and setting a preferred ISO range (in my case 100 - 800) the camera would assume control and set the ISO for each shot.
I used to consider this cheating. But in bug macro photography, like sports, capturing the moment has to be done very quickly. By using Auto ISO, I can think about things like keeping the bug's eyes in focus instead of fiddling with settings.
The results:
Can't help but notice its tongue is as long as its body.
This guy's tongue isn't as long, but it's very pointy.
I find this wasp's eyes fascinating. They have the most incredible pattern.
Another shot of the same wasp. Not sure what those three dots between its eyes are for.
Finally, a non-blurry ant looking at the camera.
Getting more eye detail from these shots and loving it.
I've shot this kind of beetle before, but never facing the camera. Awesome colors.
The sky was very overcast today and the light very subdued. I look forward to going out again and shooting in better light with the same techniques!
© Jeremy Buehler and Bug Noir (www.bugnoir.com), 2010.
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