Close-up Photography

To pick up on yesterday's post, the next step in my own learning was starting to take close-up photos.  You can do this several ways in terms of equipment, but in my case my wife bought me a macro lens for one of those BIG birthdays!  (It was expensive, but only a fraction of what her last sewing machine cost, so I don't feel guilty).

I have to admit I've used the macro lens right here in our own garden and meadow for the most part.  But it's allowed me to get really 'up close and personal' with a lot of flowers.  You can also use settings on a good digital point-and-shoot camera, or extension rings for close-up work.  Whatever you choose, it opens a whole new world of beauty if you're interested in capturing nature through the seasons.

I quickly learned that both focus and depth of field was very important to get good close-ups.  I often revert to manual focus, and take numerous pictures to get one that's satisfying.  Getting out early in the morning before the breeze picks up helps.

The way this Foxtail Lily blossom unfolds means that you want a very large dept-of-field to keep as much as possible in focus, so you need to set the aperture down to a high f-stop, like f16 or even higher.  This forces the shutter speed to be slower, in order to get enough light, so you need a tripod for a shot like this.

This was when I broke down and went and bought a good tripod.  for some types of photography it's just as important as getting beyond the 'Auto' setting.  The adjustability of the head of the tripod is most important.  I can adjust this one up and down, back and forth, swivel it and tilt it with the two handles.  The only thing better would be a ball and socket mount, but i really like this one.  Most good tripods are quite heavy (and therefore more stable), but I chose a light weight one, because the other place I use it is for photographing waterfalls at slow speeds.  I'll be carrying it hiking with me, though I use it in the garden all the time.

It's not just for the garden though, and not just for flowers.  Here's the 'flower' of a grass in our meadow, another mark of the seasons.  Catching these with no wind is the challenge.

And here's a dandelion seed head.  A tripod helps a great deal in keeping something like this in focus.  When you need exact focus, a hand-held camera may just move too much to give you the results you want.  On a tripod, you can play with the camera focus until it's just right and know it's not going to move.

The pattern of sori (clusters of spore cases) on the back of fern leaves is an important way to identify species; this is a leaflet of a Goldie's Wood Fern.

You don't use a tripod all the time for close-ups though.  I spend hours stalking butterflies around the yard, like this Swallowtail on a Lilac blossom.

 Or crawling through the grass to get this Praying Mantis!

Tomorrow - how I branched out to start taking new types of pictures, a little.