[pennabilli]

I've been taking photos of insects for many years. I used some of these photos as models to decorate mostly the small boxes and belt buckles that I make.
Some scenes could be used as models for netsuke. As soon as spring comes I'll start again photographing small beasts, but will shot them from every angle and not only from the best one.

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[Joe Aimetti]

I like the beetle on the snail on the flower. Im going to try that one if you do not mind.!

Thanks for the ideas

[Janel]

Amazing close in photos Mario!

My apologies for not commenting when you posted these. (Busy few days then.) I also have a fascination with the close in minutia of the world, and the recent acquisition of a macro lens will open a new world for me with the camera. Thank you for sharing these views on the small world!

Janel

[pennabilli]

I like the beetle on the snail on the flower. Im going to try that one if you do not mind.!
Sure I don't mind, I'm flattered instead.
There's another view of the beetle, I was following its movements, it shows the back of the flower.
Other small beasts are well suited to be used as models, I like caterpillars and spiders mostly.
Have a good time.
chow
mario

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[Don Barnhill]

WOW, great shots. I've been putting off getting a digital SLR with a macro lens because of the costs involved. Can you hear me whining about how I want one. Thanks for sharing the photo's.

[Sergey Makarenkov]

Photos of spiders and insects, my favorite topic!
Some crabs serve as models to me.

[Sergey Makarenkov]

A little more of my photos of animals.
Unfortunately, I often take pictures of insects, as their work

[jjdon]

Nice shots! It reminds me of this site: http://www.insect-sale.com/ for any who are interested. Thousands of photos of thousands of insects, and for sale, too. Sergey's are posed, which is better of course. BTW - the photos in the site are not save-able. No right click. If you want that, you'll need screen capture or something.....

[Naomi Oliver]

dear folks ,
as you may know I am a newby to this forum,
so I've been cruising thru old discussions.
everybody is so supportative , and showing your photos of closeups of insects is brilliant for making netsukes.
Did you all use macro lenses?

As an update Janel, what was the outcome to the "2005 post" of purchasing a new camera.

I bought an eos 1000slr digital, in 2004 and it has been a great artistic workhorse for me,
on closeups of all my artworks
. I did purchase a macro lens, and tripod,
and do agree that it is
difficult to manually work out depth of focas, and background lighting of small artworks.

The eos has both a eyeball veiw finder and a delayed digital viewfinder,
and ofter I switch to automatic to assist me with the above issues, then tweek the settings on manual.

it would be great to see some netsukes produced from these images. Can brilliant colors like on the beatle ( on the snail on the flower) pennibilli
sent in, be produced duing netsuke art?

I see these brilliant blue/ green/ yellow beatles at christmas time in australia. I collect the deceased ones every year, hoping to
know the secret to depict them one day,
how is it possiblefolks?

another wish of mine is to sucessfully carve ants, with their legs so spindly it has always put me off.

seeing your netsuke/miniture carvings give me inspirations folks.
it totally unglogs my creativity, now to just practice, practice practice, and learn, learn, learn.

thankyou to you all.
happy new year.

Naomi

[Janel]

Hi Naomi,

You have asked a lot of questions!

I don't recall the post from 2005, but in that decade I purchased a Nikon Coolpix 4500 and really enjoyed its ability to focus at very close range on tiny things. For a while it was great for shooting images of my work, but eventually I wished for better edge quality when shooting a light subject against a dark background, finding a chromatic aberration along the edge between dark and light. In 2008 I acquired a used Nikon D200 DSLR, and have two lenses, one for all things except close in (sorry don't have the name or details just now) and a macro lens which I use for shooting my work. In time I will take it outdoors for fun photos. Lighting options are the current exercise, between speed lights and 5500° Kelvin fluorescent bulbs. Each piece requires a different configuration, and I am trying to decide which technology works best for the small subjects.

Perhaps the best way to reproduce brilliant colors would be to learn how to use lacquer and metal powders, since the brilliance of the bettle wings often seem metallic.

Ant legs or other small creatures are sometimes depicted by silver or other metals, created by carving, metal fabrication or casting.

Janel

[Naomi Oliver]

dear Janel,
thanks for the reply to my questions.

I shall check out metal smithing courses and lacquer and metal powders application techniques.

good to hear about your purchased camera, having old posts on this forum is a good way to learn , for us newbies.

great to chat again. Janel.

bye for now
Naomi.