All taken with the Panasonic 14-140 mm (28-280 equivalent) "travel" zoom. This lens has fantastic closeup capabilities. Not quite macro, but close to 1:2 equivalent...though even that was not quite necessary for these images.
Showing posts with label tulip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tulip. Show all posts
4.27.2013
Behind the Scene: Back-lit Tulips and Crocuses
During the last weekend of March I made my first 2013 spring visit to Tower Hill Botanic Gardens. This is where I get most of my flower photos.
Inside, I was attracted to a few tulips in containers. But because the light was very bright and harsh, I just didn't get the shots I wanted; there were too many dark shadows.
But tulips do well as back-lit subjects. Too, because the colors are often soft, I think they look good in pictures when areas are purposely left out-of-focus.
To get the tulip pictures displayed below, I got down low and aimed upwards into the back sides of a few tulips. The tiltable LCD of my Olympus E-M5 made it easy to get the camera low and aimed upward, without me having to crawl around on the ground.
The lens I used was the kit 40-150mm lens. The first image was shot at 123mm and the other two at 150mm. At 150mm this lens focuses at about 3 feet and will zoom out to capture a 4"- 5"object. I usually shoot my flowers at F8 and at this lens setting I find the lens to be very sharp. The price was good, too. I paid $100 brand new during a one-day "gold box" sale at Amazon. It's has a plastic lens barrell and plastic lens mount, so is obviously a consumer level lens. But I find the sharpness to be outstanding and the lens weighs only 5 ounces.
These were my favorites from my March visit to Tower Hill:
They have beautiful indoor displays of container planted flowers during the cold months. Some of the containers are two feet in diameter and contain plants that are 10 to 15 feet high. Outside, the gardens are vast but there were just a few crocuses popping through while I was there.
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| A fresh Crocus with a second one ready to follow suit |
So, this was an in between time of year. Outside, the snow was barely gone and there really was not much to photograph. In addition the sun was bright and the sky cloudless, resulting in very harsh and unattractive lighting.Inside, I was attracted to a few tulips in containers. But because the light was very bright and harsh, I just didn't get the shots I wanted; there were too many dark shadows.
But tulips do well as back-lit subjects. Too, because the colors are often soft, I think they look good in pictures when areas are purposely left out-of-focus.
To get the tulip pictures displayed below, I got down low and aimed upwards into the back sides of a few tulips. The tiltable LCD of my Olympus E-M5 made it easy to get the camera low and aimed upward, without me having to crawl around on the ground.
The lens I used was the kit 40-150mm lens. The first image was shot at 123mm and the other two at 150mm. At 150mm this lens focuses at about 3 feet and will zoom out to capture a 4"- 5"object. I usually shoot my flowers at F8 and at this lens setting I find the lens to be very sharp. The price was good, too. I paid $100 brand new during a one-day "gold box" sale at Amazon. It's has a plastic lens barrell and plastic lens mount, so is obviously a consumer level lens. But I find the sharpness to be outstanding and the lens weighs only 5 ounces.
These were my favorites from my March visit to Tower Hill:
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| The focus point on this image is about 1/3 down from the top and 1/3 in from the right. |
3.31.2012
Macros: playing with shallow depth of field ... and a flash
Shallow depth of field occurs when just a very thin slice (or plane) of the image is in focus. The rest of the image is blurred. It is an effect that some people like and some people don't. It's one of those "your mileage may vary" things.
The effect is easily obtained with high magnification (as with macro lenses) and large aperature openings. In this case I used a 105mm macro lens set at F2.8, which is the largest aperature I have on this lens. I focused on the tip of one of the tulip buds. It is the tip closest to the camera. The result is that essentially everything but the tip of the bud is out of focus. Nevertheless I find the blur appealing, as the background now seems to be more about color (pink and green complement each other nicely) and less about image detail. Again, your mileage may vary.
This is the best one of about a dozen pictures I took this afternoon.
(Actually, my intention was to fool around a bit with the my Olympus 36R flash, using it for macro shots. It worked perfectly, even when using my old Nikon 105mm lens on a Panasonic camera. The TTL auto feature kept the flash from overpowering the exposure, even at the 12" focusing distance.)
The effect is easily obtained with high magnification (as with macro lenses) and large aperature openings. In this case I used a 105mm macro lens set at F2.8, which is the largest aperature I have on this lens. I focused on the tip of one of the tulip buds. It is the tip closest to the camera. The result is that essentially everything but the tip of the bud is out of focus. Nevertheless I find the blur appealing, as the background now seems to be more about color (pink and green complement each other nicely) and less about image detail. Again, your mileage may vary.
This is the best one of about a dozen pictures I took this afternoon.
(Actually, my intention was to fool around a bit with the my Olympus 36R flash, using it for macro shots. It worked perfectly, even when using my old Nikon 105mm lens on a Panasonic camera. The TTL auto feature kept the flash from overpowering the exposure, even at the 12" focusing distance.)
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| Panasonic GH2, Nikon 105mm macro, 1/250th, F2.8, ISO 160, Flash in hot shoe at -1EV |
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