New Macro pictures

Over the weekend, I picked up a new lens and a couple of attachments, and yesterday I got a chance to try them out. I'll be posting more images soon.

I purchased a 15mm wide lens for my Nikon D500, and a couple of Raynox magnifiers that fit most of my lenses.

Lens: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A9V8ZOC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Raynox 150: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007KS7D0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Raynox 250: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A1SZ2Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got some tips from Michael Vargas, who takes stunning images daily.  One of my irritating issues that bothered me was when I'd upload an edited image, it looked so dark on social media. I use a 27" iMac to edit, and set my screen brightness at 50% before I edit. Since it's a 5k monitor, he pointed out I needed to lower the brightness to about 25%, then edit the pictures. Hopefully I won't be uploading darker images any longer.

Another habit I have is watching the scale at the bottom of the Nikon's viewer. I adjust f-stop first, then rotate the shutter speed so the tick-mark is as close to centered as possible. Michael suggested I stop worrying about that, and just shoot what works.  (It's like working with a cook that never uses measuring tools!) 

ISO is another one I stick to, but he suggested I expand my imagination. I've always considered 100 ISO to be best for fixed objects, 400 ISO for darker settings, and 800 ISO for moving fish. He encouraged me to use much higher ISO settings, and not worry about the pixelations I'm seeing on my monitor.  After all, what I'm editing is a huge file on a bigger monitor, but what I share is for web-viewing. If I was printing images, that would be different.  Higher ISO will allow more light in, again helping with my 'darker' image issue. 

In the coming weeks, I'll be trying out new settings, as well as my new purchases.