Hi all
This is my first post on this Forum. I publish my shots on polish Pentax Forum (Pentax.org.pl), and macrophotography forums. I'd like to share my photos with You
All pictures were taken with Pentax K100D with Tamron 90/2.8 and extension tubes.
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5. Pentax K100D+Tamron 75-300+extension tubes

[Slowpoke Rodriguez]

What fantastic macro work!! Your macro work versus my macro work is like the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing a bullet. Outstanding!

[ChipB]

This is some of the best, most amazing, macro work I've ever seen! What skill!! Thanks for showing me (us) what can be accomplished with time, patience, knowledge and the right tools. I have a serious case of envy!

And, welcome to the forum!!

[KrisK10D]

Speachless!

Those here that know me can tell you that doesn't happen often I wondered why all your flies looked like they just steped from the shower. I might try that myself one day!

Your shots are fan-bloody-mazing!

[metroeloise]

Thank you. And you bet I will try this soon. Let see if I get this correct.

Extension tubes. Flash with a tube set up. Does this have a Fresnel Lens on it?

Work flow:

Wake up early, set up some tea water to keep me going.

Put spray bottle in the freezer to get good and cold. Do yo use salt to get colder but not freeze?

Go hunting for bugs. Spray them down with cold water.

Set up lighting.

Shoot!

What's the keeper rate? How long is a shoot? You mentioned a hour to get the dragonfly.

Thanks for the pictures and the generous answers to question posed...

And Welcome.

[grzehoofr]

First of all thank You for Your comments.
metroeloise my macro setup last season was, as shown on photos below:
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I used 2 or 3 extension tubes, Tamron 90/2.8 in lifesize position, and internal flash with homemade diffuser. Almost all of my pictures were taken using following parameters: ISO 400, f10(most often, in good weather conditions) - f16 (in sunny days), 1/60-1/160sec.
Internal flash power +1, spot metering area. Thats all
It is important to put aluminium foil inside diffuser. To achive a good result and to get soft light on the object i used carbonpaper outside front side of the diffuser.
You asked about water...Water is cold, but I don't put it into freezer. If I run out of water, I use water from lake or river. That's cold enough.
Waking up early is a very good idea, because insects are very slow, or they don't even move. It is easy to use then all the blendes, made of white paper, reflective backgrounds- to avoid blackening (I have green, camo, plastic which I put behind the bug), and mirrors- for lighting up all the parts of the insect. It is possible to shoot with use of natural light, and shutter times 1/15 and slower (there must be no wind at all). Natural light allows You to get images more 3D. For me it's the next level in macrophotography, which I'm still learning
To get really big closeups I use 2 sets of extension tubes (6 rings - total 130mm long), Tamron 90/2.8, Tokina teleconverter 2x, Raynox DCR-250, external flash Metz 48af with a huge diffuser, attached with a synchro cord to a body. This is really good stuff It's easy to take pictures like that:

This is full frame, there is no crop at all
External flash allows to use apertures from f16-f22
And the final answer...the time...I think that patience is the most important in macrophotography. Sometimes I have great pictures after only few minutes, but this happens so rare, that I guess it happens by accident
Sometimes after 3-5 hours I get nothing sensible.
Average I spend 2-3 hours on taking photos
I think that would be all
Regards

[maxwell1295]

Wow! These images are nothing short of amazing. The combination of sharpness and DOF control make for some very striking images.

I'm floored...

[grzehoofr]

a pair of butterflies in love

[metroeloise]

Thank you, Thank you. Thank you!

[MCR]

Sometimes after 3-5 hours I get nothing sensible.
Average I spend 2-3 hours on taking photos
I think that would be all
Regards

Grzehoofr - wonderful pics and well done !

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In polish : Polak potrafi - nieźle to sobie wykoncypowałeś. Super.

[grzehoofr]

n polish : Polak potrafi - nieźle to sobie wykoncypowałeś. Super.

Thanks a lot
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In polish: No ba...warto pokazać, że u nas też się foci Dzieki raz jeszcze
Wasp climbing grass
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"Who's gonna hug me?"

[grzehoofr]

Dragonfly...early in the morning

Big brother is watching

[oatman911]

Simply brilliant. I've always loved bug pictures, you've given me something to strive for.

How do you capture the "bugs in flight" shots, with the dragon flies so crisp while flying?

[Barcel36]

These are among the best macros I ever seen. The dragon flies in flight make me speechless. Do you had submited some of your work to the Pentax Photo Gallery?

[grzehoofr]

How do you capture the "bugs in flight" shots, with the dragon flies so crisp while flying?

It's no so simple to answer Your question. Taking pictures of insects in flight is not that kind of photography You do everyday with great results.
I spent a lot of time learning dragonflies habits. They fly on the specific territories stopping from time to time. A key to success is to find out where they fly most often, and where they stand still.
Autofocus is useless, the only way to take a good, sharp picture is to use manual focus. I use the extension tubes to get closer to a dragonfly (lower focusing distance, but the lens can't focus to infinity)
Summing up there is no such a tutorial that can be used in every situation. Everything depends on a observation and the patience But it's worth to try...
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Do you had submited some of your work to the Pentax Photo Gallery?

Yes, a long time ago I submitted two pictures. Both were accepted. Check out artist name: Grzegorz Cywicki

[creampuff]

You're the Pentax equivalent of Lord V on Flickr. Just superb.
We all owe you a big thank you for your inspiring photos.