Macro flower photographs

[Letrow]

These taken with an old Minolta MD 50mm macro lens set at 1:2 attached to an Olympus E510. Probably set at f5.6....

Pretty sharp and nice bokeh. The colours are a bit subdued maybe, but I like the overall effect.

[Cogito]

Pretty sharp and nice bokeh. The colours are a bit subdued maybe, but I like the overall effect.

Thank you, Peter. Don't forget it's manual focus - plants in a breeze. Colours are PP and my monitor

[Letrow]

Daucus carota in Thijsse's Hof. I like the tender, little flowers on this one.

[Letrow]

Malva alcea in Thijsse's Hof

[Letrow]

Caltha Palustris

[Nix]

rose

Hi Peter

I'm really in awe of the depth of field that you've achieved with your flower photos - especially this rose. It looks as though it's in 3D. Would you mind sharing the settings that you used?

I've just started playing with macro photos, especially flowers, and my 100mm Canon L series 2.8 IS lens arrived late last week - what fun but ohhhh sooooo frustrating at times. As soon as I feel confident with the standard of my images, I'll start posting them!

Thanks very much!

Kim

[Letrow]

Hi Peter

I'm really in awe of the depth of field that you've achieved with your flower photos - especially this rose. It looks as though it's in 3D. Would you mind sharing the settings that you used?

I've just started playing with macro photos, especially flowers, and my 100mm Canon L series 2.8 IS lens arrived late last week - what fun but ohhhh sooooo frustrating at times. As soon as I feel confident with the standard of my images, I'll start posting them!

Thanks very much!

Kim

Kim, thanks for the compliment.
For these macros it is usually manual settings, 1/250s and F/11. I shoot handheld mainly, so my light needs to be good. I don't use flash while shooting macro (makes the camera too heavy), so the light is from the sun, preferrably direct sunlight on the subject.
In this case the focus has been on the little yellow stamen.
Try for good light and shoot a number of photos when you do handheld. Some of the shots will be out of focus, but there should be some keepers in there. If you use a tripod, you should be fine, as long as you get your focus right.
Try out a few techniques and after a while you should find one that works best for you.

[Nix]

Hi Peter

Thank you for your advice. I think I've been shooting with too shallow a DOF, so will give F11 a go over the weekend, and then I'll post something (I must be brave!!!). The macro lens certainly opens up a world that although I realised was there, I hadn't spent much time exploring it.

Thanks again.

Kim

[Letrow]

For macro you need a smaller aperture for sure. You can go smaller than F/11, but you'll probably need a tripod then.
Looking forward to your experiments.

[pinakibaidya]

Flower of TEA Plant (camelia Sinensis)

[ThinusM]

A few snaps with my Canon 1100D with 18-55mm kit lens. C&C welcomed!

[geordie01]

Pentax K-r ,100mm DFA.f18,20 sec.iso 100

[kris]

Nikon D300 + Nikkor 35mm f/2.0, 1/800s f/8 ISO 200


Nikon D300 + Nikkor 35mm f/2.0, 1/200s f/5.6 ISO 200


Nikon D800 + Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 Micro, 1/1600s f/5.6 ISO 400


Nikon D800 + Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/25 ZF.2, 1/40s f/10 ISO 400


Nikon D800 + Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/25 ZF.2, 1/500s f/13 ISO 400

[Letrow]

A few snaps with my Canon 1100D with 18-55mm kit lens. C&C welcomed!

Good photos Thinus. The second one is best I think with the center in focus and nice DOF. The first one is sharp on the focus point as well, but is not totally sharp throughout. It might be your angle of shooting that causes that.

I like your name, sounds like Dutch origins. The first name would be written as Tinus over here, but nowadays it is rare in Holland.

[Letrow]

Nikon D300 + Nikkor 35mm f/2.0, 1/800s f/8 ISO 200


Nikon D300 + Nikkor 35mm f/2.0, 1/200s f/5.6 ISO 200


Nikon D800 + Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 Micro, 1/1600s f/5.6 ISO 400


Nikon D800 + Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/25 ZF.2, 1/40s f/10 ISO 400


Nikon D800 + Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/25 ZF.2, 1/500s f/13 ISO 400

Love those lenses Andrea, great results. What is that little insect in the first photo, a small white spider?
Is the Zeiss lens AF or manual?

[ThinusM]

Good photos Thinus. The second one is best I think with the center in focus and nice DOF. The first one is sharp on the focus point as well, but is not totally sharp throughout. It might be your angle of shooting that causes that.

I like your name, sounds like Dutch origins. The first name would be written as Tinus over here, but nowadays it is rare in Holland.

Thanks for the feedback, Peter - much appreciated!

Well, I'm Afrikaans, which is a language which originated from Dutch. I can follow Dutch/Flemmish, not because I have been exposed to it, but because it is very close to Afrikaans!

My dad's name is actually Marthinus, commonly known and spelt as Tinus. My name is a shortened version of Marthinus...

[kris]

Love those lenses Kris, great results. What is that little insect in the first photo, a small white spider?
Is the Zeiss lens AF or manual?

So do I. The 35mm and the 25mm are the lenses I use most. The 105mm is used mostly by my wife.

The Zeiss Distagon is manual focus, but the mount ZF.2 has some interactions (CPU) with the camera for metering. In principle it is wide-angle, but it can focus at so small distances that you can use for steady close-up.

The little insect is a spider, I do not know its name. Maybe I can ask in the thread on spiders.
It is amazing how it is so perfectly adapted with the colour of the flower, a Camellia I think, even if I am not expert on this. I took this photo in Giverny, north of Paris. The original idea was to take pictures of the flowers, but then this small spider showed up...

[Franci]

This hairy flower remains nameless, but I like it!
Nikon D7000+ Nikkor 105 mm

[Letrow]

Thanks for the feedback, Peter - much appreciated!

Well, I'm Afrikaans, which is a language which originated from Dutch. I can follow Dutch/Flemmish, not because I have been exposed to it, but because it is very close to Afrikaans!

My dad's name is actually Marthinus, commonly known and spelt as Tinus. My name is a shortened version of Marthinus...

Funny...my middle name is Martinus and my uncle's name was Tinus, so that is why I asked.

[Letrow]

So do I. The 35mm and the 25mm are the lenses I use most. The 105mm is used mostly by my wife.

The Zeiss Distagon is manual focus, but the mount ZF.2 has some interactions (CPU) with the camera for metering. In principle it is wide-angle, but it can focus at so small distances that you can use for steady close-up.

I have used the 12-24mm for this purpose as well. With the 12mm you can focus pretty close as well and it is a beautiful effect with the background if you take the right angle.
Still, for macro work I mostly use the 105mm nowadays, I really like the DOF on that lens. Seeing your wide angle shots though...I have to spend some time with the 12mm once more.