On the edge!

Love the soft background and the snail is really sweet (I love snails...go figure !!) :o))

Hi Sandra,Thank you for looking in and for the appreciation.I used a macro lense on these little guys and it gave me good backgrounds but also some blurr on parts of the snails.I'll have to negotiate another session with these guys to try out another lense.Salutations-Laurent

Hi Laurent,

These are interesting shots- good composition. Let me give you some suggestions on using a macro lens for these types of shots. You can get much better close up shots with great clarity using the macro, but, a couple of things. At least with mine (100 mm canon 2.8) there is no stabilization, so a tripod is a must. And since you are getting close to the subject, you need to have a fairly high F stop- minimum 14 to 18 in order to get any dof. If there is any movement of the subject, the shutter speed has to be fairly high too, at least 1/500 to 1/1000 , depending. This means the iso has to be high too anywhere from 500 to 2000 or whatever your camera can handle without getting too noisy. You just have to experiment, keep at it- we look forward to seeing more.

Hi Greg and Verena.Thank you for looking at this and for the helpful pointers.I have this fancy tripod but somehow I just can't get myself to use the thing,but I will experiment with the F-stop/speed/ISO if the little creatures show up again before it gets too cold.I had my hands full in the last shoot between arranging the Maple leaves for a colorful base and directing the slow-moving guys on the edges for some striking poses....and then trying to focus-in their ever-moving antennas.Then,I tried to get some of them to become ''friends'' and that did not go over very well and however slow these are,they wanted to leave and I managed to lose half of the foursome I had gathered.When I finally called it done and dowloaded the lot,the % of salvageable shots was rather low and those which were had to be retouched....extensively,but it was fun.Salutations amicale-Laurent

It ain't easy, but it is worth it. I get solace from an interview we heard with a Nat. Geographic photographer who said on one shoot he shot 50,000 images- and got one good one! Any dig. image will need a little (at least) post processing- just the nature of the beast.

Ready for snow??

Greg and Verena,...Guess you are right.I thought the little guys would show up again but I guess they feel the cold moving in and have headed out for cover.Have not been so active with the camera as just lost mom-in-law who had been living with us for the last 12 years...she was 93.Ready for snow....nope as always wishing it will not come!!!Salutations-Laurent