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Great, as the others in this gallery too. But how did you manage to keep the drops in place? Given thier size and weight, they should have fallen down.

Perfect, if the blade of grass would be sharp. But hard to achieve, I know. Also, I would be interested in information about your equipment. Which macro lens do you use?

Peter,

Thank you so much for the kind words.

On this particular shot, I rotated it in photoshop   :).

I use a D300 with either the Nikor 60mm micro or the 105 micro (vr).

On some of the shots I also use a kenko extension tube.

I use the SB900 diffused with a Opteka Medium soft box.  The speedlight is generally off camera .

I literally lay in the grass and use a bean bag to steady the camera/lens.

I move the flower behind the drop until it is reflected .

I use manual mode.  I shoot in raw.

On this shot it was ISO 200 f/15 shutter 1/50 EV +.33 spot metering .  This one was taken with the 105.    I don't recall if this had a extension tube, but I think I has the 12mm extension tube on also.

I hope this helps,  if not let me know as I am always willing to try and share and help.

Roberta

Thank you for the most interesting insight in your working techniques ;) I too crawl in the grass to shoot pictures of butterflies.

Just one thought. An exposure of 1/50 might not be enough to elimate movement unsharpness with a lens of 105 mm (DX = 150 mm). (I don't know, how the extension tube affects this.) -

What do you think of this one? http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=12145673

That was in my garden and I didn't have to crawl because it sat on my lavender :)

Peter,  your butterfly shots are wonderful.  I am most fond of this one

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=12125011

Something about how delicate the  flower is  and how the petals are folded back  and the wings of the butterfly are also folded back.  Just like the symmetry and how delicate it all feels.

I see you use the 60mm micro also. I must say that the 60 is my favorite lens.  Do tell, how do you get so close to the butterflies with the 60 ?

All of my butterfly shots are with the 105.  Just can't seem to get close enough with the 60.  The dragonflies and the damsel flies will let me close, but not the butterflies!

I do not know the mathematical formula of how the extension tubes affect the shutter speed.  What I do understand is  they increase the distance from the sensor and the further the lens is from the  sensor, the closer the focusing distance, the greater the magnification, and the darker the image for the same aperture. 

I use the bean bag to steady the lens and camera to hopefully reduce camera shake since I have to reduce the shutter speed with the tubes on.    

You have a wonderful portfolio.  I of course am most fond of the butterfly and the flower shots!

Merci beaucoup for your kind words :)

On my homepage, I have a whole collection of butterflies, but photo.net doesn't allow me to send the link :(

They also forbid links to Flickr where I wanted to point you to a gorgeous collection of butterflies by a French woman...

Regarding the distance, there are species that are not so shy like the Meadow Brown and species that are most shy like the Swallowtail. Well, I move very carefully and try not to cast a shadow on them. Sometimes I stretch my arms with the camera in direction of the butterfly.

With this one it was possible to even pick the branch it was sitting on! http://www.eisenburger.de/Garten-Galerie/Schmetterlinge/Blaeuling/blaeuling.jpg

Hi Peter,

If you click on my name you can send me a email with the links as I would love to see them.

Macro butterflies are something I just started shooting this past summer.

Well actually I just started shooting macro anything about 1 year ago.  I have a lot to learn !

Roberta

I will do so. Thank you for your offer.