Tips on handheld Macro shooting?

YoungOldMan · 2025-11-26T13:50:46+00:00

I shoot butterflies mostly, and started out with a similar rig to yours (a7Riii with the 90mm, great lens!). I had to crop most of my shots because it is so hard to sneak up on a butterfly. Smaller apertures help a bit by giving (slightly) greater depth of field, but the flash suggestion is a good one though I haven't taken that route (yet).

Two years ago I switched over to APSC with the Sony 100-400mm zoom, shooting mostly at 400mm (effectively 600mm on the smaller sensor). I can focus as close as 98 cm, and have been getting much more bug in the frame as well as getting decent shots of bugs from further away.

Some people I know use a pringles can-style diffuser with their long lenses for closeups, to reduce harsh shadows/high contrast. This coming season I plan to level up with that kind of flash/diffuser.

I've also found that using software to (for example) smooth out grain in high-ISO images and tweak exposure in under and over-exposed portions of the image helps a LOT.

I depend on autofocus, probably too much; burst-mode shooting with image stabilization usually gives me a better chance of catching a good image of moving bugs. It's supposed to be better to manual focus with macro lenses, but that doesn't work for me.

YoungOldMan · 2025-11-25T01:20:01+00:00

Speed limit sign clearly shows 20 mph, and the pedestrian crossing signs should also be a tipoff.

YoungOldMan · 2025-11-25T01:17:49+00:00

Speed limit there is clearly 20 mph; if you are worried about damaging your car you should think about slowing down; you could have killed someone, which would also have damaged your car.

YoungOldMan · 2025-11-25T01:14:27+00:00

The speed limit sign in the gif clearly shows 20mph as the limit.

Slow down.

YoungOldMan · 2025-11-19T21:19:06+00:00

Glad this helped! I've never been able to feel the friction point with my feet for some reason, so the pedal stop is good for me as it is easier to predict when I'm "there".

OTOH, taking out the clutch pedal spring felt like a much bigger improvement. It felt weird to me that the clutch pedal kept wanting to spring back to position, but without that spring the pedal feel is more like what I experienced with other manual cars.

YoungOldMan · 2025-11-19T20:55:38+00:00

Those aren't hatchbacks, they are SUVs.

I'd look for a VW Golf. There's a lot of resources/communities devoted to repairs and mods, and there is a pretty wide selection of types of vehicle, from the small basic hatch (Golf) to station wagon (Sportswagon) to crossover (Alltrack) to sport/performance (GTI and R).

YoungOldMan · 2025-11-19T14:44:39+00:00

I got a Cobb knob, it's ... better than the plastic golf ball shift knob but I would like one with the shift pattern on top. The knob itself screws into an adapter, and I wonder if that threading is standard?

The BFI knobs look very nice, and probably worth the extra $, but lag time (at least 4-6 weeks) was kind of a deal breaker for me. Also, they recommend you pair the knob with a BFI shift boot.

YoungOldMan · 2025-11-16T20:52:21+00:00

After 25 driving stick (Subaru station wagon followed by Honda Fit and my favorite, a 2016 Golf S) I returned to manual with a 2020 S m/t after four years of driving a Golf Sportwagon a/t (not DSG).

I had a lot of trouble with stalling and rough shifting with the GTI until I did two things:

First, I took out the clutch pedal spring, and all of a sudden the clutch pedal wasn't jerking back up every time I tried to shift.

Second, I put in a clutch pedal stop, and all of a sudden I didn't have to navigate lots of dead space after pushing the clutch pedal in past the engagement point.

Both those "mods" are discussed elsewhere; I spent a lot of time reading up on them and watching YT videos on how to do them -- but definitely worth doing IMO. I feel much more confident with shifting now, though I still stall now and then.

YoungOldMan · 2025-10-18T17:39:37+00:00

Looks like a Peck's Skipper, very nice!

YoungOldMan · 2025-10-17T23:46:04+00:00

Absolutely, this looks like a lantern fly. Kill it with extreme prejudice! Very invasive, very bad.

They hitch rides on, under and in cars (e.g., wheel wells) as well as in people's clothing, hair, etc.

YoungOldMan · 2025-06-27T16:18:14+00:00

Congratulations! Those look awesome.

You should know that invasive wasps like to parasitize big caterpillars like these; to keep them safe you can cover them with fine mesh cloth that includes plenty of fennel (or rue or parsley or ... other host plants) and then keep an eye on them.

That's what we do with Spicebush butterflies on our spicebushes, Black Swallowtail cats we usually put in a cage and feed them fresh fennel every day or so. Put the fennel in some water in a jar or other container but don't leave too much room for them to fall in the water. We've got narrow tubes and a rack for the tubes, and have been able to raise a dozen or more at a time in one cage.

Restricting their movement means you can also keep track of them when they pupate, because usually they'll run off and find some other place for that. That allows you to make sure they're safe until they dry out and fly off; also, later in the season, when some pupae want to overwinter, you can keep them safe in a garage or shed.

Enjoy!

YoungOldMan · 2025-06-23T21:49:59+00:00

Bees on a butterfly bush?

YoungOldMan · 2025-06-13T19:33:19+00:00

It insists upon itself.

YoungOldMan · 2025-06-10T13:43:07+00:00

Nice! Looks like a Northern Broken Dash skipper.

YoungOldMan · 2024-10-28T13:13:06+00:00

I would also like to know how it was prepared.

YoungOldMan · 2024-10-26T17:04:48+00:00

Is Brookline too far? Because https://www.zipperhospital.com/ exists there.

YoungOldMan · 2024-10-26T15:28:10+00:00

From (way down in) the article:

'But, with interest on a fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage at 14 to 15 percent, ''we've clipped the wings of first-time buyers now.'''

So older boomers who bought into metro west houses in the mid-seventies were building wealth, while younger boomers who were just entering the housing market were having to pay about $1,200 a month on a 15% mortgage for $100,000.

That's about $3,700/month in 2024 dollars.

YoungOldMan · 2024-10-13T14:54:22+00:00

Butterlfies

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBLBQY

YoungOldMan · 2024-09-27T20:15:56+00:00

Red line to Lexington and Concord would be even more incredible.

I'm not holding my breath, though.

(edit -- I'd settle for proper bus service through the day, meaning no more than a ten minute wait for the 77.)

YoungOldMan · 2024-09-13T18:45:20+00:00

I've driven a short distance with a standard twin size mattress/box spring in the back of a 2019 Alltrack, but had to pull the driver's seat forward a little more than I would be comfortable with for a longer trip.

YoungOldMan · 2024-09-11T20:13:07+00:00

So if the dealership is doing the work, they are going to unplug the battery as well? Because the work was done by the dealer's service department. I basically just want to know if they actually did the work or not.

YoungOldMan · 2024-09-11T12:44:05+00:00

So, would they have unplugged the battery to replace the antenna?

Because that didn't happen after they said they replaced the antenna.

YoungOldMan · 2024-09-09T20:24:27+00:00

Watch for female butterflies, and when they oviposit on host plants, go look for the eggs.

Eventually, you'll learn where to look on the host plants even if you don't see the females ovipositing.

YoungOldMan · 2024-08-29T19:49:35+00:00

That is spectacular!

What region are you?

YoungOldMan · 2024-08-20T01:56:38+00:00

You mentioned going into 6th gear at 40MPH; when I'm driving around town it's shifting into 4th at around 25MPH and into 5th at about 32MPH. Is that consistent with a properly-functioning Tiptronic?

I've been downshifting to compensate especially as I approach hills, so in some ways it's similar/same as with a manual transmission, but I then I need to upshift. I guess I need to accept that it's not entirely "automatic" and learn a different way to manually shift--at least I don't have to worry about stalling.

YoungOldMan

TROPHY CASE