macro flowers

[brewmaster15]

100mm macro F3.5 " Phoenix" Macro ... Very economical 100 mm macro , super lightweight. A basic generic macro lens that can really make some nice pictures.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7704/17133934076_bbaee1d4a6_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/s74TEu)IMGP0083a1 (https://flic.kr/p/s74TEu)


50 mm Pentax FA 2.8 AF lens.. an older lens from the film days, but one of my favorites... built like a tank...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7687/16972105468_8b18b3c4e3_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rRLtE5)IMGP0094al (https://flic.kr/p/rRLtE5)


The flower is an african violet, dwarf even for them! But very unique colors.

al




ps.. Ricardo, did you get the notice... It should be working now,:)

[Discus-n00b]

Cool Al, like the colors and the purple speckling. I wish the lighting had been hitting the flower head on.

[brewmaster15]

Cool Al, like the colors and the purple speckling. I wish the lighting had been hitting the flower head on.

Thanks Matt,

Unfortunately the window sill where its on limited me there!..

Theres actually a neat aspect to these flower petals that have a translucent look.. almost like clear plant cells, or water cells.. The backlighting shows these.

al

[Second Hand Pat]

Al, african violets are a favorite of mine. Is this one variegated?
Pat

[rickztahone]

Love the bokeh of that 100mm. Great color rendering as well. Much pp on these?

[brewmaster15]

Love the bokeh of that 100mm. Great color rendering as well. Much pp on these?

Not much at all Ricardo, very little sharpening needed.

[brewmaster15]

Al, african violets are a favorite of mine. Is this one variegated?
Pat

Just the flowers Pat.:)

[brewmaster15]

Okay Matt, Ask and you shall recieve..(at least this time) The suns moved and created a nice sun patch on the couch...so I can change the lighting direction now..


100 mm Phoenix macro... (EXIF data says 400mm... its not! I have to set that on a manual lens and didn't)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7648/16541077143_32fd4edf7f_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rcFkXe)IMGP0453a1 (https://flic.kr/p/rcFkXe)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7597/16541081523_2f572ca43f_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rcFnfK)IMGP0452a1 (https://flic.kr/p/rcFnfK)

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8820/17160626921_f5d527ee48_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/s9qGvX)IMGP0456a1 (https://flic.kr/p/s9qGvX)


50 mm Pentax Macro

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7672/16973733120_390bd4b686_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rRUPv3)IMGP0475a1 (https://flic.kr/p/rRUPv3)

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8771/17160657781_bbd0c48a48_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/s9qRG2)IMGP0472a1 (https://flic.kr/p/s9qRG2)

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8794/17161223505_26b539a9cf_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/s9tKRT)IMGP0461a1 (https://flic.kr/p/s9tKRT)

[Ardan]

Very cool!:)

Ardan

[Second Hand Pat]

Really shows that flower nicely. I took some easter lily shots today and was curious as to the f-stop used Al. :)
Pat

[brewmaster15]

Pat my flickr account is public..you should be able to see all the Data there. I try and stop down the aperture as much as I can with macros because you really need as much depth of field as you can get..but sometimes wide open works as well.

[Second Hand Pat]

I already checked Al :D

[rickztahone]

Pat, generally you want to stop down to f/8 or smaller

[SMB2]

Nice Al.
Great use of DOF to control the background, especially in the last one. The first two are a little bright and contrasty, maybe a diffuser would have softened the light.
The lighting is much better in the second group.
So at the risk of being a little picky..... In the second group, the first three have a distracting flower on the L and stem on the R. Those bright areas draw your eye away from the subject flower. I like an out of focus flower, (shadow subject or "echo) in the background as long as it is not brighter than the subject. The second three are better. Watch that you don't clip the pedals, or if you mean to, maybe a little more symmetrically. You can do that with a slight crop as well. That is why to my eye the last one works the best.
I was taught that when shooting flowers, first find a nice specimen, look for contrasting colors, then study the background, moving the camera and adjusting the f stop to get the most pleasing uncluttered background. I know several pros who carry black and sky blue velvet cloth with them to use if all else fails! And work the flower, trying lots of settings and compositions, just like you did with this group. So many people just take one or two shots and move on. Maybe that is one good thing about a tripod. It anchors you in one place and lets you make minor adjustments.

I saw your post this morning and it spurred me into getting out the camera and go hunt for some spring flowers. I will post some shots here (no highjack intended and you can move them if you like). Maybe we can turn this into a flower show and tell.
The shots were not with a macro lens. I used a 70-200 2.8 lens at 200mm with 25mm extension tube (+/-) a Canon 500D filter diopter for magnification. All on a tripod. It was a bit breezy so some are not as sharp as they could be and the day was overcast (a god thing!) and I used a gold reflector on some to add a bit of warm light.

86469

86470

86471

86472

86473

[Discus-n00b]

Excellent, love the colors even more now Al! Though seeing the small cells is pretty cool.

Nice ones Stan!

[brewmaster15]

Stan,
Thanks for the feedback here and suggestions! Definetly appreciate it ! I have absolutely no problem with you or anyone else posting their flower shots here.It would make a great thread and be a good way for people to learn a little more about macro work. The way I see it whats learned here may one day help someone take better picture of any subject...even their fish. Nice use of extension tubes..I was going to try to put up a few images using extension tubes,closeup filters, and reversing rings as well just to show the various ways we can take macro/closeups of subjects.


Matt...thanks!

Al

[SMB2]

Just noted a typo. (a god thing!) should read (a good thing!):confused:

[DiscusOnly]

Very cool Al. I purchased a bunch of macro gear for my Nikon about 2 years ago for playing around with my CRS tanks. Never got the time for it. Someday..

Stan: Thanks for posting details of the equipment used.

[dagray]

Now you did it Al

Venus Bee Trap (Nasturtium and Honey Bee) taken with Pentax K3 and Tamron 70-300 with macro (lens was broken as it had to be pushed or pulled for focal length and auto focus wouldn't work.... a casualty of my son putting the lens away in the camera bag in the macro position ... lens got squished).
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb277/lizardman_u/Bugs%20and%20Macro/VenusBeeTrap_zpsd0af5944.jpg (http://s211.photobucket.com/user/lizardman_u/media/Bugs%20and%20Macro/VenusBeeTrap_zpsd0af5944.jpg.html)

Honey bee on English Lavender (in my front yard)
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb277/lizardman_u/Bugs%20and%20Macro/HoneyBee_zpsbbcf19f3.jpg (http://s211.photobucket.com/user/lizardman_u/media/Bugs%20and%20Macro/HoneyBee_zpsbbcf19f3.jpg.html)

and a little devil aka Lucifer (Crocosmia Lucifer. a variety of day lilly)
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb277/lizardman_u/flowers/Lucifer2013_zpsc75ab584.jpg (http://s211.photobucket.com/user/lizardman_u/media/flowers/Lucifer2013_zpsc75ab584.jpg.html)

[brewmaster15]

Venus Bee Trap (Nasturtium and Honey Bee) taken with Pentax K3 and Tamron 70-300 with macro Love that shot! my african violet macros were also done with the K3 . Great images!

[dagray]

Thanks Al :) I have plants in my front yard that encourage the honey bees. I am trying to find a combination that brings in the butterflies, and I feed the hummingbirds.

[SMB2]

Nicely done. Love the green and red in the first one. How was the last one processed? For the last one, maybe a diagonal composition that does not clip off the end of the plant?

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Al :) I have plants in my front yard that encourage the honey bees. I am trying to find a combination that brings in the butterflies, and I feed the hummingbirds.
Do you guys have Butterfly bushes out there?
al

[dagray]

Yes and no. Yes there are some still around, but no because they are on Oregon's invasive specie list making them unavailable for purchase from the local nursery and many mail order nurseries.

I could go across the river and buy one in WA, but I think it best to just use other flowers.

I have milkweed seed to plant as that is supposed to attract the Monarch butterflies (the only flower they lay on and eat).

[dagray]

Nicely done. Love the green and red in the first one. How was the last one processed? For the last one, maybe a diagonal composition that does not clip off the end of the plant?

Thank you. The last one was originally shot in RAW with an old 40-80 PK mount with macro lens, then edited in Photoshop, and then run through Topaz Labs plugins (Topaz Adjust 5 using the "spicify" filter and then the HDR filter).

I wanted to catch the one group of flowers with the sand as a backdrop as out here the soil is sand.

[brewmaster15]

I agree! Milkweed is a great choice and will attract some really interesting beetles as well..I have it planted here. You may also want to look into butterfly weed...its a good one also similar to the milk weed.

[dagray]

I agree! Milkweed is a great choice and will attract some really interesting beetles as well..I have it planted here. You may also want to look into butterfly weed...its a good one also similar to the milk weed.



we also have honey suckle growing. I might try to talk my wife into letting us get bee balm.

[rickztahone]

Great shots guys. Keep em coming

[brewmaster15]

Dave,
I have the old pk 40-80 mount.I have seen some amazing shots with it .. .. I havent played with it much ...seems to get very mixed reviews. How do you like it?
al

[dagray]

Dave,
I have the old pk 40-80 mount.I have seen some amazing shots with it .. .. I havent played with it much ...seems to get very mixed reviews. How do you like it?
al

I picked mine up in a camera shop that sells old used equipment for about $50.00 a number of years ago. For aquarium shots, for flowers, for insects it is wonderful IF you can have the fine motor control to make the minute adjustments to focus the subject. So While I love the photos I can produce using that lens it is a royal pain in the kiester at times to use.

I do like it as it is a fairly fast macro. But I love my Sigma f3.5 180mm macro. And for some real fun the sigma 600mm mirror for macro can give some very cool effects (boka is ring shaped).

[SMB2]

IF you can have the fine motor control to make the minute adjustments to focus the subject.

One solution for that can be a focusing rail. They usually allow micro adjustments with more tolerance in the "focus" knob.

www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1055225&gclid=CjwKEAjw3sKpBRDJ7rDqzsyuhDASJACZAikiFtjat3gL e_8eaY2laE54_OanepupYYn1yoBe20I2zxoCbDXw_wcB&is=REG&Q=&A=details
http://www.adorama.com/mcfrs1.html

As with all things camera they can be expensive but used ones are usually easy to find.

[dagray]

This lens has a push pull as well as a twist for focus. the push pull changes magnification and is easily knocked out of adjustment.

I know what you are saying about a rail :)

I also know that on a tripod this lens would be easier, but when I do flowers or fish I like the freedom to be able to move around my subject. Most of what I do is hand held.