Wonders in the garden

[eNo]

D90 & AI-S 55mm micro

@f/5.6


@f/2.8

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Eno,

You've certainly got an eye for spotting the almost abstract with your 55mm micro lens and you also do quite well with keeping the backgrounds free from too much else.

Unfortunately, despite that, with both I find myself wishing for a little more DoF I'm afraid, I don't know how others feel (I may be the odd one).

As a matter of personal interest, do you get metering with that lens on the D90?
Or is exposure trial and error with aid of histogram of previous shot?
Not that I'm saying there is anything amiss with exposure btw, they look fine.

Regards,

[crisscross]

Unfortunately, despite that, with both I find myself wishing for a little more DoF I'm afraid, I don't know how others feel (I may be the odd one).

I think that it is more a matter of getting DOF and the main subject working together rather than against each other.....might be worth spending a little more time on getting good record shots right, then branch out into personal style

PS I do practise what I preach, have a look at my galleries starting from
http://www.pbase.com/crisscross/may for 'record'
(only I do not have a macro lens, just careful use of 18-135 & 80-400, the latter with Canon D500 close up ring for quasi macro)
or maybe http://www.pbase.com/crisscross/image/109101314 for near where you seem to be heading

[eNo]

Thanks, guys. Yes, I am still grappling with the "how much DOF" and the corresponding "where to focus" questions. For these, more DOF was impractical unless I was willing to buy adequate shutter speeds with higher ISOs. I was trying to stay below 400 to preserve detail: even with the D90, it's great noise performance up to ISO1600 doesn't mean you don't lose detail... and these shots are about detail.

Dave: yes, no metering, no AF with that micro on my D90. It was sunny, so I can pretty much land within a 1/2 stop by memory, then adjust from there.