birdied

Very nice photo. Nice depth of field, focus on the eyes and wonderful use of light.

Thank you , Peter

Very nice shot with good use of light, depth of field and good focus.

Very nice picture. Love the composition and lighting.

Thank you Rajinder, appreciate your kind words and time.

Nice depth of field, sharp and good composition.   Very nice shot, Rudy.

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

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!

Lovely shot!  Delicate , sharp and beautiful composition.  

Peter,  love the color contrasts , use of light , and sharpness.  I know that we can not control the position on the flower, but  find the flower in the foreground competing with the butterfly.

What you have is a damsel fly.  Beautiful colors, great detail, sharp, good use of light.  

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

Great shot, focus on the eye , great dof, very nice

Very nice shot.  I, too, like the composition on this one .  The focus is on the eye, you also see more detail in the "face" of the butterfly.

Unique capture, very nice.

Excellent macro, with great depth of field and the tones are wonderful

Nice composition , sharp and good detail.  Nice shot.

Very nice capture.  Image is sharp, great depth of field and use of lighting.

Very good depth of field , sharp and good use of light.  Very nice capture

Very nice shot.  Would like to see more of the rising column in focus.

I like doing water drop shots myself.    What is your shutter speed and f /stop .

Did you use an external flash?

Roberta

Composition is very nice and nature is amazing 

Agree with Charles about the  focus as well as a bit more light.

Depth of field is always an issue with macro work :)  Maybe a closer crop to draw attention to the drops that are in clear focus.

Very nice depth of field, sharpness and use of light.  The clarity on the water droplets is excellent.  Very nice work.

Wonderful shot -  great detail and lighting.

Lovely composition, light and detail .

Very nice.   I see  I am not the only one who let a mosquito feast , while I took a picture.  Nicely done.