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Leaf on the Forest Floor

T

Tom Robbins

Member
Ice is a favorite subject of mine, but there's been little of it in the middle of the US the last couple of years. So, just to keep from going stale until the next freeze, here's a poor ol' Sycamore leaf just beginning its journey to decomposition:

72435295.jpg


Canon 180mm macro lens with off-shoe flash. Not a true macro, but hope it can be enjoyed nonetheless.

Tom
 
M

Mike Spinak

pro member
"Not true macros" are also welcome on this forum. I do enjoy it. Your use of the flash looks good. Please share with us your specific settings, placement, and technique with flashing the leaf. Thank you.

Mike

www.mikespinak.com
 
T

Tom Robbins

Member
Thanks Mike,

Camera was a Canon 5D
ISO: 160
Aperture: f/9
Shutter: 1/80
580 Flash Comp: -0.6
Tripod, mirror lock-up, and etc.

Used a couple of off shoe flash cables in series to make it easy to move the flash around. Sycamore leaves have big veins, so I knew the best angle would be very close to side lit to bring out detail, but didn't know which angle (12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, etc.) would work best. After getting flash distance and setting figured out, I then took about 15 shots with the flash positioned at slightly different increments around the frame.

This is not an efficient M.O., but it usually works for me.

Tom Robbins
 
A

Anita Saunders

New member
Well done

This is really a beautiful photo; subtle lighting, fabulous details, oozing the atmosphere of 'seasons' both in terms of weather and of life cycles too.

I love it and imagine it would make a fantastic print!
 
T

Tom Robbins

Member
Thanks Little G,

Finally got some cold temps and ice recently in the midwest. Used the Canon 180mm macro with 2xII extender and 25mm extension for this shot of frost on one of my garage windows -

73423789.jpg


There's a loss of acuity due to the old window glass and dust on the pane (shot from inside the garage) but those were the circumstances.
 
Cem_Usakligil

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
Hi Tom,

This is a very intriguing -and nice- image. You say that it was on your garage window. What is it actually, some ice crystals or something like that? How big was the original?

Cheers,
 
T

Tom Robbins

Member
Hi Cem,

It was just some morning frost on an old window. I don't clean the garage windows often, and I think this helps the frost form. Unfortunately, a dusty window results in a dusty image. :)

Actual area photographed was about 2 inches (~5mm) on the long side.
 
A

Anita Saunders

New member
Tom, the close up of frost is wonderful! There does seem a little fall off in focus at the edges (reminiscent of my microscope photos actually), but this is quite minimal and I don't think that noticeable. You did well with your chosen lens and extenders, but I am curious as to what happened to the focus bottom left in particular? Usually this would occur on a 3D subject and I haven't seen it on a flat subject with lens held parallel to the subject before. It can't be the dust you mention as it covers just that patch of corner (a smaller region also at top left I notice). Perhaps being very old glass, it may be slilghtly warped (or even quite a lot) - which would show in the focussing at this magnification range.

Please tell me how far the lens was away from the subject?

I have to say these two photos have really inspired me - cheers for posting and sharing!!
 
T

Tom Robbins

Member
Thanks Little G,

The loss of focus you noticed was probably due to my not being quite parallel to the window pane. The shot was a spur of the moment sort set up after a spending the morning photographing river ice outdoors. I have a large work bench (the top came from a section of old bowling alley) in front of the window as well as some rakes and shovels. The pattern of frost I wanted was a bit higher than camera level, and I was too lazy to adjust things. I should be ashamed of myself, but it is too late to do anything about it now. :)

I don't know how close I was to the window pane. The 180mm lens has a rather long minimum focus range, and while the 25mm extension tube reduces it somewhat, I can't say offhand just how much, sorry. I can tell you the light falloff from the 2x (2 stops) and extender (1 more stop) was significant at the viewfinder. Maybe that should be my excuse - yeah, that was it!

The lack of depth of field with the combination became very obvious to me when I experimented with it earlier at home. In the following image of my watch, the oof second hand is maybe 1/64 of an inch closer to the lens than the numeral one underneath it.

73017841.jpg
 
A

Anita Saunders

New member
Tom Robbins said:
The pattern of frost I wanted was a bit higher than camera level, and I was too lazy to adjust things. I should be ashamed of myself, but it is too late to do anything about it now. :)

I can tell you the light falloff from the 2x (2 stops) and extender (1 more stop) was significant at the viewfinder. Maybe that should be my excuse - yeah, that was it!

The lack of depth of field with the combination became very obvious to me when I experimented with it earlier at home. In the following image of my watch, the oof second hand is maybe 1/64 of an inch closer to the lens than the numeral one underneath it.
Click to expand...

Too lazy? Oooer. I must confess I've been there before myself. Still a good photo though, and surely will inspire you to try some more.

The sample demonstrating the effect of just 1/64 of an inch closer is ample evidence that the slightest movement or angle (not parallel) will have an impact. That's why macro is so difficult to produce a sharp result. I think you did remarkably well but do please try the frost again if you have the opportunity - with a little less laziness ... it's all about precision precision ... good luck :)
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Ger Dukes said:
Too lazy? Oooer. I must confess I've been there before myself. Still a good photo though, and surely will inspire you to try some more.

The sample demonstrating the effect of just 1/64 of an inch closer is ample evidence that the slightest movement or angle (not parallel) will have an impact. That's why macro is so difficult to produce a sharp result. I think you did remarkably well but do please try the frost again if you have the opportunity - with a little less laziness ... it's all about precision precision ... good luck :)
Click to expand...
Unless you use stacking software!

Asher
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I have a macro rail that I use just for getting the optical center for my panoramas.

However, Manfrotto and Really Right Stuff has a variety of Macro plates to choose from. Mine is ftted with a quick release plate for the L of the 1DII camera.

I do not have a macro bellows.

Asher
 
E

Edward Bussa

Member
I don't think I would've thought of using a macro rail ( is there a difference between a "rail" and a "plate"? ) to help with panoramas.

Panoramas are a bit of a mystery to me yet, I've done an amateurish one but am stuck there. I couldn't decide if it was the software I used (the program that came with my S3 IS), or my technique. It sounds like it was my technique.

I'll have to do some research on that. Would that be a good subject for a Meta.editorial? =)
 
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