Help with a head-shot

[divindk]

So here's my ill-fated blue-banded goby. I don't like the limits of a 100mm macro (or the price) so I like to shoot my small stuff with a 60mm.

Anyone had any luck with these little guys using a 60mm? I can't seem to capture the facial detail, even when the fish is cooperating. Since this guy was well tucked into his empty scallop shell, I was going for that "glowing" head look. I shot at 1/320 on f22 using my (single) strobe at full TTL and used an LED focus light to help the auto focus work. The downward angle of the strobe and the high f-stop gave me the black bottom and lit up the goby head really well, I thought. I took a about ten of these shots (yes the little bugger stayed there getting flashed over and over and over!) but I couldn't get the detail to come out in the face. I did a bit of bracketing, but I wasn't sure if someone might have a better idea about how to bring out that detail. I've seen some other stuff of bbgobies with a 60mm and you can count the teeth in the mouth. Any ideas on what I could have done differently?

Thanks for any ideas.

DK

[maggieD]

Hi,

I think the first thing I would do is go to a larger f stop (lower number). Or maybe bring your strobe closer to your subject. It doesn't seem to be well lit to me. What are you shooting and what strobe are you using?

Margaret

[jlyle]

Hi,

I think the first thing I would do is go to a larger f stop (lower number). Or maybe bring your strobe closer to your subject. It doesn't seem to be well lit to me. What are you shooting and what strobe are you using?

Margaret

Margaret,

Changing the DOF will not give Doug more detail in the image.

Doug,

What ISO are you shooting? Were you at the minimum focal distance for the lens? Some gentle adjusting of contrast in PS might help. Some lenses are just sharper than others.

[sluglover]

hey doug,

Is this with the canon 60mm lens? is the photo cropped at all?

I'd like to see a crop of just the head/mouth area. you photo is too small to see the details. what kind of details are you looking for? teeth? fin blades? I'm not sure how much more detail can be shown in your photo in the area of the fish you lit up.

To get good details with this fish, imho, the exposure has to be exactly right, not too dark or light, and it helps to have the lighting slightly from the side. It's easy to blow out the red color on this fish.

you will get more detail in a photo at larger apertures, you loose a little detail due to diffraction at F22, but you wouldn't be able to notice it in the size of the photo you posted, only at closer to 100% crop.

Below is a couple I took with the nikon 60mm lens, F22, and F7 for comparison. Both photos are cropped somewhat. do you think mine has more detail?

Of course getting closer will give you more detail, but that's hard with a blue-banded goby and a 60mm



goby, F22



goby, F7


Scott

[divindk]

Thanks all

yes, that photo was cropped, but only slightly. I shot it with my Canon 60mm f2.8 and used my Ikelite DS50 at ISO 100

jlyle and maggieD, I think you were right about a larger f-stop and I should have got the lens closer to the little bugger.

Scott- I was going for something like the detail in the f22 version... teeth and such. I actually made about 10 attempts at the shot and I thought some of them were going to be really cool because I was able to shade out the lower portion of the scallop shell altogether and what I ended up with was a glowing head in the black. I had planned on cropping out the shell totally and just using the head, but the glowing heads weren't sharp enough.

The other limit is my camera, which I can't fix. I shot that with my Canon 300D (digital rebel) which only outputs to 6.1 mp (in raw). Usually, that's fine, but I wonder if a higher mp camera would allow me to crop out a tiny portion of the image (like the goby head) and have it still be sharp.

I've always been a fan of "less strobe" and tend to shoot mostly wide-angle. I've even been known to try close-up stuff withoug the flash; I'm still learning the lighting issues associated with this macro stuff. I posted successful Moray from Anacapa on Friday that worked well with the lighting.

Thanks again!

[vetdiver]

Hi, Doug -

Canon users, activate!!!

I have been off for work stuff and am just getting back - I, too, shoot with a Canon (a 20D), and I use the Canon 60 mm lens. I agree wholeheartedly that this is a great lens for local macro - allows you to get close enough on our undesirable-vis days, which aren't uncommon!!!!! I have a 100 mm lens, and I have used it twice locally. I am saving it for Indonesia, and if I am not a fan after that, I might sell it.

I think your shot is fine, but for more detail - it isn't about cropping primarily - it is about being close. The thing is, those guys are skittish and hard to get close to - do not beat yourself up over getting closer, it isn't as easy done as said!!! One thing you could do is get a teleconverter (I am after one, but I have spent such an obscene amount of money on camera stuff this year that I might wait a few months). Alternately, the ideal opportunity will present itself if you keep in mind on your dives that you are after a face shot. I also think it is possible to get amazing shots with a single strobe, but the DS-50 is not very powerful - at some point, you might want to consider getting a slightly more powerful one.

This is a goby shot with the same lens you're using - F16 - 2 strobes, but I maintain you could do something very nice with a single strobe. This is cropped to make it vertical.



Keep shooting! You'll get the shot you want.

[Trace]

Hi Doug,
This one was shot with a Nikon 60mm, with no cropping. The day was very clear and I noticed the Gobies would get used to me and return to the same spot time after time.
Trace