Friday, March 7, 2008

Day 68 POTD Raspberries and a Fountain

This is just a little photo of a little "serenity pond" I have. It has a very soothing sound, and adding a little humidity to the super-dried air in these winter climates is quite welcome. I used my 18-135 mm lens at 120 mm, custom white balance, RAW, ss: 1/13; f/5.6; ISO 400, levels adjusted. I liked the look of the water with the slow shutter speed. My elbows were my tripod.





This picture may be technically horrible, but it's very exciting for me, and this is where my groveling will start! This was shot with my brand new, just received, I am such a lucky person, 105 mm 2.8 Macro lens!!!! I am so excited!!! But I can use any and all suggestions for learning to shoot macro images. One basic thing I realized after taking this picture is that even though I set this dish of raspberries next to the window for the light, it does not work well to shoot toward the light; I need to rearrange furniture tomorrow so that the light will at least be coming from the side. It seems like somehow, I need both diffused light, but bright light. Maybe.

Please share with me any and all suggestions you might have for Macro shots! Thanks!



105 mm lens, ISO 400; wb: cloudy; manual mode; manual focus and tripod; f/22; ss: 8".

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the way you captured the water. Yay for you and your new lens. I am going to be waiting to see everything you shoot with it. Ahh I just saw your scrap page on the car accident. I freak out with stuff like that. So glad he is uninjured.

cherie said...

nice shots. really like that second one.

Donnah Ciempka said...

Great job on the water. I know so little about the technical side of taking shots, but I do know it is hard to get water - well done. The rasberries look delicious.

Anonymous said...

I love the first shot...I don't know anything about the technical, but I think it looks really cool.

Kristina said...

The raspberries are pretty! Makes me want to eat some. I know nothing about macro photography. Thanks for sharing what your learning, though. If I ever get a macro lens, I'll have learned some things already!

Jeanne said...

The fountain is cool! I can just hear the water trickling! Great shot!

Those raspberries look scrumptious. Like the others who have posted before me, I know next to nothing about technical photography stuff. 'Bout the only thing I know with the auto modes on my camera is to switch to backlight mode when the light is coming from behind. Probably not a heckovalotta help though, huh?

You sure find some awesome things to photograph!

Kelly said...

Love that idea. I have a few of those fountains around here somewhere. I may steal your idea so I can practice capturing water.

Rasberries look wonderful also

Lauren Hartman said...

Yay for the macro lens :) Have fun!!!

As far as lighting, you can backlight, just diffuse the light a bit so you don't get blowouts. Sidelighting is great for bringing out texture in the subject, but be sure the shadowed side isn't too dark. Use a reflector, or even a white piece of paper to bounce light back to the shadowed side. When I first started with macros, frontlighting was easiest for me.

If you have a flash, once you get the hang of things try using it too, both off camera and on, it can make a world of difference!

Betterphoto.com has 2 macro classes. I took the advanced one last spring and enjoyed it.

Ann said...

Beautiful work. I have no suggestions. LOL you are way ahead of me with the photography.

Tera Fraley said...

Like your fountain, looks very peaceful! Congrats on the macro, Im dying for one!!

Becky said...

Ooh, it has arrived. Yay! Looks like you're already doing what I'd advise: I use a tripod and manual focus. I also use a remote shutter release (used the timer before I got that) to minimize shake that much more.

Unknown said...

I am officially deeply jealous of you right now. I really want a macro lens as well. Right now I have to rely on the P&S and that, as you know, is not as fun since the quality of the photo never is like one from a D80.

Great shots!