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Picture This!!

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Comments

  • bandwoman1234
    bandwoman1234 Member Posts: 5,913

    Thanks Joanne. The first and last pic are actually of a tulip tree. Not sure what the other one was. I think lookers are allowed here. LOL

    Thanks Barbe. I have taken some photography classes since last year so I understand DOF. Understanding how much out of focus that can happen on a flower is actually what I meant. It is strange that there are seemingly opposite approaches in macro depending on the situation. With a large aperture you get the shallow depth of field but sometimes you need to stop down quite a bit to get everything in focus. I guess knowing when to use what in what situation is where the experience will come it. I can't wait to practice.

    Nancy

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

    I just took this , this afternoon with my regular lens. The teeny tiny monarch caterpillar is in the milk weed buds to show how microscopic it is. No tripod. I use the strap of the camera to form a bit of steady shots.

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  • bandwoman1234
    bandwoman1234 Member Posts: 5,913

    Lisa, with your mad skills you could make great pics from a disposable camera! So that is what a Monarch looks like. Very neat that you get to see the transformation in your own yard. That is in your yard I am guessing.

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

    Nancy. it is my back yard. I am hoping for many more babies this summer

    I took this last summer

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    you might not be able to see how hug he got

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  • bandwoman1234
    bandwoman1234 Member Posts: 5,913

    It must be fun to see the cycle of life right in your own yard. How long are they in the caterpillar stage? I will have to look out for those in my travels.

  • bandwoman1234
    bandwoman1234 Member Posts: 5,913

    I have felt much better today and hopefully this sickness is making it's finale exit. Waiting on lab results but have taken some things into my own hands which has helped. I was able to get some more practicing in with my macro lens today. These were all taken with my cumbersome tripod. I hope to get a new one in the near future. Then manipulating the light will be my next challenge besides the challenge of focus. I have had lots of time to research things. Here are some shots from today.

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  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

    very nice. What fun photos. Loving the colors.

  • bandwoman1234
    bandwoman1234 Member Posts: 5,913

    Thanks Lisa. Today's challenge was working around all the other photographers that were all trying to get their shots in too. It was a beautiful day here and everyone was outside. I went today especially to find those bluebells (?). I had some encounters with bumble bees trying to get on the same flowers. You know I am scared to death of bees. LOL

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    FAB flower shots!!!! I took a photography course once and they told us to let the camera do what you paid all that money for - focus. Find a spot that you want to be in focus and let your camera focus off that point. I used to think the whole point was me turning the lens and looking like I knew what I was doing. Made a difference for me when I finally handed over control to the camera.

    I have a ball-head tripod and just love it as you can easily set it at any angle. I don't always raise my legs to the highest height, either, depending on what I'm shooting. I want views from different aspects.

    Well done bandwoman!!

  • bandwoman1234
    bandwoman1234 Member Posts: 5,913

    Thank you Barbe. Once I get a better ball head it will make adjusting things easier. Right now mine is a pain to use. My setup was meant for a point and shoot camera and my camera and lens are too heavy for it. I have looked into rails which allows forward and back motion but that may be overkill. I find it so hard to get my tripod adjusted then to move forward and backward especially in tight places. I am sure practice will make things eventually come together. My photography classes never covered macro so it is pretty much learning on my own. It is fun though. Can't wait for more things to bloom out. It is still early here in the Midwest for many flowers.

    Nancy

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    Nancy, you CAN zoom in manually to your desired depth but then let the camera do the focusing.

  • bandwoman1234
    bandwoman1234 Member Posts: 5,913

    Got a few more shots in today. Still experimenting.


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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    Just gorgeous!!! Your whites are getting washed out though. Does your camera show a histogram? What you do is set your camera against a gray-scale that brings in the whites and blacks. I have a lens cleaner that is the perfect gray to make my settings against. Then if I take a picture in the sun the whites aren't "blown out". Of course I keep forgetting to do that....

  • bandwoman1234
    bandwoman1234 Member Posts: 5,913

    Thanks Barbe. Yep, I check the histogram after every picture. I am doing what I was taught and that is spot metering. However in post production I like to lean towards the left a bit so it doesn't look overexposed. Just a personal choice.

    Nancy

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    Hmm, I'm seeing a bit of overexposure on the pink one especially. But your clarity is wonderful! Handheld, too?

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

    This is the first year I have tried columbine

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  • bandwoman1234
    bandwoman1234 Member Posts: 5,913

    Beautiful Lisa. I had some Columbine come up volunteer a few years ago. They are fascinating flowers. I have a feeling one of the chipmunks had left me that present possibly.

    Barbe, yes, when shooting towards the sky even though most of that day was pretty gray sky it is hard not to get some hot spots. I am still learning and practicing. I am exclusively using a tripod. I just ordered a really expensive new ball head and waiting to buy a more substantial tripod. Mine was meant for a point and shoot and not sturdy and creeps. Very hard to get the shot composed. It has been quite windy on both days I shot close ups so realizing my need to buy a plamp if I really get serious about this type of shooting which I think I am.

    Nancy

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

    You all are way out of my picture taking. I have declared myself point and shoot ever since I went digital.

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    Nancy, you will LOVE the ball-head!!! It will sit strongly for you at any angle. What is "plamp" a typo or......? Clamp?

  • bandwoman1234
    bandwoman1234 Member Posts: 5,913

    Barbe, i have a ballhead now but not loving it because my equipment is too heavy for it. A plamp is an expensive little accessory which is a plant clamp. In macro photography people photographing flowers can clamp the stalk or branch and clamp the other end to your tripod leg. It can help deal with the wind or help to compose your shot by possibly clamping other unsightly things out of the way. They run around $40 so they aren't cheap and that is for only one. Creative people can make their own but I doubt if I will do that.

    Lisa, in the day of film you had different lens you shot with didn't you? I thought I remembered you saying you got rid of your old lens. You have developed a lot of skill already and with your talent you make beautiful pictures with your point and shoot. Not everyone can get the shots that you do out of their point and shoot cameras. Your Canon like mine can do more than a typical point and shoot but I am still figuring out where all the menus are. I use mine for birds and haven't used it this season yet I don't think. My sister recently bought a Canon 50x zoom and we were talking on the phone and she said I can't find the viewfinder and she said her daughter that looked at it said there wasn't one. We talked on the phone for quite a while and then realized that Canon obviously made another 50x time zoom and it is not like ours and it does not have a viewfinder. Who knew. LOL BTW I have much more photography knowledge than I have practical skills. My skills need to catch up to my knowledge and that takes practice, practice, practice as I told my band students every day of my teaching career.

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

    Nancy, yet I had a bunch of Lenses for my Nikon, 35mm...camera and lenses are gone...I did keep my right angle lens for photos of people on the sly..good on trips..I do use my regular tripods and unipod on occasion. Most of the time I can hold the camera steady if I use the strap as a brace when I need it. Good luck to you..a whole new world out there for you.. You will ace it..

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    Nancy, if your lens is that heavy are you sure that there isn't a tripod attachment on it somewhere? I have a 2-300 x zoom and the tripod goes directly on the lens and my camera hangs off it. Also, lenses don't have view finders...the cameras do so I'm not sure what you were saying.

    Another trick for plants is a black piece of fabric to either hang or have someone hold behind the plant for a clean background. I used to take a lot of pics in a greenhouse and used the fabric then. As for a plamp, why not use a stick or the clear plastic thingy the florist uses to hold the card in a bouquet?



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    With black cloth above and no black cloth below.

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  • Scottiemom11
    Scottiemom11 Member Posts: 1,072

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    Just sharing one of the photos from last weeks Senior shoot. These were done at a local State Park with trails and a river. I will be photographing our Botanical Gardens again on Tuesday. . . this time in the early evening.

    Scottie

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

    what a sweet picture Scottie.

    I just took this at our neighbor's

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  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

    what a sweet picture Scottie.

    I just took this at our neighbor's

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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    GOREGOUS Lisa!!!

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

    Thanks Barber. The thing I like about my new camera is that I can take some pictures, take a rest and send the pictures to my phone

    I am getting lazy.

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

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    This was so cute. The baby was trying so hard to wake up his mother. So he climbed under her to get a reaction. None came. Mom was catching some serious ZzzzzzzS

  • socallisa
    socallisa Member Posts: 10,184

    So he took off

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    And found his own spot

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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    Heart

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