Another favourite subject of mine, particularly apt in the current self-isolationist climate, is photographing our garden. I love taking the camera outdoors in search for new subjects - and if the weather is good and the garden is growing well, this can be an easy-ish process.
On this day however, it had rained, so I thought I'd take advantage of all those water droplets hanging off leaves and flowers with a Macro lens. The point of this exercise is to try and train the eye to see new things. Photography is, if nothing else, all about the art of seeing. I don't know how many times I have walked out into the back yard, but pretty much each time I see something different. If the garden is in its growing stages, that's a given, but even as it slows towards winter, the light changes, the temperature has an effect, the colour changes - everything is constantly on the move and therefore provides me with a moving feast of photo opportunities...
On this day however, it had rained, so I thought I'd take advantage of all those water droplets hanging off leaves and flowers with a Macro lens. The point of this exercise is to try and train the eye to see new things. Photography is, if nothing else, all about the art of seeing. I don't know how many times I have walked out into the back yard, but pretty much each time I see something different. If the garden is in its growing stages, that's a given, but even as it slows towards winter, the light changes, the temperature has an effect, the colour changes - everything is constantly on the move and therefore provides me with a moving feast of photo opportunities...
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| Ultra close-up of a pale rose renders it in quite a different light (Canon EF100mm Macro lens + Extension tube) |
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| I love the idea of recording flowers at different stages of their lives - even as they lose their perfection I think they still hold a unique beauty. |
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| Have no idea about what type of blue flower this is other than to note it was only about 3mm wide. Again, to get this close I needed the 100mm Macro lens combined with a 25mm Extension Tube (Canon EF100mm lens, f16, 1/100s, ISO800) |
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| Another ultra-close image of a dying rose petal spattered with water droplets from a recent shower. Interestingly this image was very hard to focus because the scene has no distinct contrast. Switching from AF to manual focus solved the issue. (F11 @ 1/100s, ISO 800) |
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| Last shot of the morning - this was another tiny flower, dotted with very industrious ants. Trick here was balancing the need to shoot at f32 (which you can with a dedicated 100mm Macro lens) while avoiding both camera and subject shake or excessive noise from a high ISO setting. Even at this stopped down aperture setting I could not get all the petals and the top of the stamen sharp at the same time. Some things you just can't capture... (Canon EF 100mm Macro lens, f22, 1/40s, ISO 800) |
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