Got myself a new 105 now what?

Hi everyone

Finally got my new 105mm lens into the water for the first time today, have been shooting with a 60mm for the last year or so

Was a tricky first dive, tried my luck with some yellow headed jawfish but the colors seemed mostly crap and then moved on to some coral polyps but they turned out very flat

Anyone got any suggestions on where i should start with this lens, i realy love shots with black backgrounds but i seem to be messing up with my strobe placements every single shot

Just some starter points swould be great

Oh and i also have one of those woody's diopters as i love abstract macro but again most of the coral polyp shots i was going for turned out rubbish

please help!

Anyone got any suggestions on where i should start with this lens, i realy love shots with black backgrounds but i seem to be messing up with my strobe placements every single shot

please help!

You might want to include some shots for others to see ideas of your situation and to provide suggestions.

I suspect you have the answer in your comment above. From what little I know, its more about the lighting and camera angle than the lens. You are not satisfied with your strobe placement, seems a place to start.

You might want to include some shots for others to see ideas of your situation and to provide suggestions.

I suspect you have the answer in your comment above. From what little I know, its more about the lighting and camera angle than the lens. You are not satisfied with your strobe placement, seems a place to start.

here are two of my photos from today

with the first one i like the shape of the jawhead but the color seems bad and the background is really boring and bland (shot at f13 1/200)

the second one again the colour seems flat and also i really seem to strugle to get the sharp focus in the right area, i just coulddnt seem to get the lens to focus on the eyes with this composition....any ideas (f13 1/200)

Well,

i see no strobe at all.

It may not fire or you point it in a completely wrong direction.

It looks to me that your internal strobe is firing, but the external strobe not.

EDIT: looking again your pictures i see that shadow and a slight red tone on the fish from the strobe,

but it is ways to weak to illuminate the object in a right manner.

You may check the power settings of your strobe, bring the strobe nearer to the subject or check the strobe exposure settings

in your camera.

The 105mm Micro has - as most macro lenses by nature - a small depth of field,

to get a deeper field you need to close your aperture (higher values) but this will lead to lower shutter speeds.

Lower shutter speeds will not produce black backgrounds so you need to use more strobe power to get high shutter speeds

and a closed iris/aperture.

When your strobe - BTW: what strobe do you have - is firing and pointed in the right direction

the power should be more than enough for macro photos with the 105mm

Chris

You might test your strobes to see if they are lighting at the right time. Take a picture into a mirror. Your photo should show the strobes flashing.

As far as I can see, you have not stated what equipment you are using. What strobes and what camera?

What is your focus selection on the camera? Perhaps its not where you want.

Are you using a focusing light? The trouble with the focus on the second one might be aided by a focus light (unless its the focus selection). There are many to choose from and if you search for +focus +light on this website, you should find quite a bit on them. A 105mm is generally harder to focus than shorter focal length lenses, so it seems.

Are your strobes close to the port or do you have them spread a distance away and working to aim them in the desired location?

i have a nikon d70 with a 105mm lens

the strobes are seas and seas 110a's, i think i found one of the problems, for some reason i had turned my strobe power down almost to nothing so i guess thats why the shots dont look like a strobe has fired

i have my camera set to autofocus mode - dynamic area (should i change this to closest subject or single area)

hopefully gonna head to the reef this afternoon for more practice, so will try all suggestions...i do have a ficus light also but it wasnt on the dive with me

I would suggest setting focus to the center only location - still in autofocus. You can lock focus, adjust composure then take the shot.

Using the focus light might help as well. I do not know if your jawfish will accept it however.

i have a nikon d70 with a 105mm lens

 

the strobes are seas and seas 110a's, i think i found one of the problems, for some reason i had turned my strobe power down almost to nothing so i guess thats why the shots dont look like a strobe has fired

 

i have my camera set to autofocus mode - dynamic area (should i change this to closest subject or single area)

 

hopefully gonna head to the reef this afternoon for more practice, so will try all suggestions...i do have a ficus light also but it wasnt on the dive with me

Did you know one of the bonuses of your Nikon D70 is it will sync with flash up to 1/500s? That's faster than most DSLRs, even new top-of-the-line ones.

I would go at least 1/125h on that jawfish, maybe f11; use center spot for focus and for exposure. When I had dual ys-90's I used to set them on about 4 or 5 for macro shots - I think your 110's are bit more powerful; I like having one of the strobes right over the top of the housing and slightly behind shutter plane pointed directly at the subject with the other strobe out to one side and pointed in at the subject, but that's just me. Definitely try out those higher shutter speeds all the way up to 1/500 since your camera supports it.

Actually, the absolute best thing to do with refining your macro is to play in a swimming pool. Our local dive shop lets me go in anytime I want to refine camera technique. I take a weighted plastic milk crate down with little toy fish tied to it with monofilament line and take several hundred shots from all different positions and lighting. I don't like to waste my time on a good dive trying to figure out what works

good luck,

JP

I would suggest setting focus to the center only location - still in autofocus. You can lock focus, adjust composure then take the shot.

 

Using the focus light might help as well. I do not know if your jawfish will accept it however.

how do i do the autofocus lock on the d70 in a subal housing?

Did you know one of the bonuses of your Nikon D70 is it will sync with flash up to 1/500s? That's faster than most DSLRs, even new top-of-the-line ones.

 

I would go at least 1/125h on that jawfish, maybe f11; use center spot for focus and for exposure. When I had dual ys-90's I used to set them on about 4 or 5 for macro shots - I think your 110's are bit more powerful; I like having one of the strobes right over the top of the housing and slightly behind shutter plane pointed directly at the subject with the other strobe out to one side and pointed in at the subject, but that's just me. Definitely try out those higher shutter speeds all the way up to 1/500 since your camera supports it.

 

Actually, the absolute best thing to do with refining your macro is to play in a swimming pool. Our local dive shop lets me go in anytime I want to refine camera technique. I take a weighted plastic milk crate down with little toy fish tied to it with monofilament line and take several hundred shots from all different positions and lighting. I don't like to waste my time on a good dive trying to figure out what works

 

good luck,

JP

thanks john, swimming pool sounds like a good idea, especially since i predominantly shore dive across 100ft of hardpan before getting to the dive sites

I do not know the particulars of your housing but with the shutter release button pressed half way down, the focus will stay in place while moving the camera. My housing parts are sensitive enough to feel that..but I am wearing thin gloves. Maybe your water is colder and feeling it might be harder.

You can try it in the pool and get a feel for how it works.

Actually, you can do that at home with no housing and see how it feels. Then put the camera in the housing and see how it feels. No need to be in water to try it.

Actually, the absolute best thing to do with refining your macro is to play in a swimming pool. Our local dive shop lets me go in anytime I want to refine camera technique. I take a weighted plastic milk crate down with little toy fish tied to it with monofilament line and take several hundred shots from all different positions and lighting. I don't like to waste my time on a good dive trying to figure out what works

What a great idea! Thank you for sharing.