MikeScone
Mike - Camera Corner Mod
It's only March 17th, and the temperature today was 70F. For Central New York, that's pretty unseasonable. The crocuses are out really early this year. So, it's time to take pictures!
Groups of flowers provide wide areas of contrasting color:
However, a "macro" lens is designed to let you get closer:
And closer:
At this range, there is so little depth of field that the very slightest breeze or the vibration from your pulse moves the image enough to blur the picture. A high shutter speed helps eliminate blur.
(Nikkor 105mm f/3.5 at 1/4000sec)
And even closer:
(Nikkor 105mm f/8 at 1/500 sec)
By setting the lens at a smaller aperture (larger f-stop number), you can get a little more depth of field, so that the purple stripes on the white petals still show, but are blurred enough so they aren't too "busy":
(Nikkor 105mm - f/22 at 1/125 sec)
Finally, I tried my LensBaby - a rather strange lens I don't use very much, but it's kind of neat for this application. The LensBaby is permanently focused at around 18 inches, and has only a small "sweet spot" which is in focus. The lens is mounted on three fingers, and you can wiggle the lens on the fingers to move the "sweet spot" around the picture. The result is a picture with a small area in sharp focus, and the rest with a marked "motion blur" effect.
If it's Spring where you are - grab your camera and go out and take pictures!
You're welcome to post the best ones to this thread, and tell us how you took them.
Groups of flowers provide wide areas of contrasting color:
However, a "macro" lens is designed to let you get closer:
And closer:
At this range, there is so little depth of field that the very slightest breeze or the vibration from your pulse moves the image enough to blur the picture. A high shutter speed helps eliminate blur.
(Nikkor 105mm f/3.5 at 1/4000sec)
And even closer:
(Nikkor 105mm f/8 at 1/500 sec)
By setting the lens at a smaller aperture (larger f-stop number), you can get a little more depth of field, so that the purple stripes on the white petals still show, but are blurred enough so they aren't too "busy":
(Nikkor 105mm - f/22 at 1/125 sec)
Finally, I tried my LensBaby - a rather strange lens I don't use very much, but it's kind of neat for this application. The LensBaby is permanently focused at around 18 inches, and has only a small "sweet spot" which is in focus. The lens is mounted on three fingers, and you can wiggle the lens on the fingers to move the "sweet spot" around the picture. The result is a picture with a small area in sharp focus, and the rest with a marked "motion blur" effect.
If it's Spring where you are - grab your camera and go out and take pictures!
You're welcome to post the best ones to this thread, and tell us how you took them.