Spring & close-up photography

May 6 02:03 UTC 1995

This weekend is going to be great for close up photos of emerging plants,
flowers, buds, etc.  I plan to shoot closeups with a new telephoto and 
I am also going to attach some "close-up" magnifying lenses on the telephoto
and see what I can do.  Anyone else into close-ups?

response 2 of 13:

May 19 01:03 UTC 1995

I shot a few emerging plants and flowers.  I don't have these developed
yet, but last year I got a few outstanding shots of frogs.  These were made
with a telephoto and rings.  The best shot had the camera on the ground 
and the frog was about 2/3 frame.  It looked like a monster because the
camera was looking from "frog height."  This was sharp enough to see the
detail in his eye.

I used Fuji professional 800 speed print film which permits hand holding
even at telephoto.

response 4 of 13:

Jun 12 13:30 UTC 1995

I tried a roll of fuji provia 1600 daylight color reversal film rated for
best results at 1600 asa when processed with E-6P (push process), and
which can also be exposed at 800 or 3200 asa.  I'm testing it indoors for
hand-held closeup work with a FLB filter to corrected fluorescent light. 
I'll get my slides back from Precision Photo this afternoon. 

response 6 of 13:

Jun 21 22:57 UTC 1995

I was well satisfied with the quality of my slides, considering all the
"wrong" methods I was using:  uncontrolled light sources (filtration
and some caution with shadows left me with nice clean, bright looking
slides in the proper colors), hand held macro (1600 speed film does
wonders) and so on.  I've added a lightweight copy stand to my set-up,
which has added some depth of field and better control of the plane of my
film.  I still use the 1600 film because I was happy with the results and
am still working without copy lights.  I have a particular need to be able
to work quickly and travel easily because of limited time and a need to be
able to keep my concentration on something besides my camera set-up.  It's
nice to be able to make a slide transparency "note" about as fast as I can
make a note in my laptop or order a photocopy.

response 8 of 13:

Jan 26 14:43 UTC 1999

This has been quiet for a long time so I thought I'd put my remarks here.

I have lots of pics of spring emergence (one of my long-time themes), mostly
on slides and some prints.  I've used diopters for close-ups and later a nice
quality 55mm macro focus lens.  most important is to get the depth of field
right.  Too deep and you lose the definition of your subject.  Too narrow and
only a portion of your subject is in focus.

Some nice hints on these shots is to have a scissor or pruning shear with you
(to remove unwanted wild grass, etc, from your composition) and, even more
importantly, a spray bottle of water.  A gently misting before you shoot will
provide a more "healthy" looking still life, can add glistening highlights,
and brings out detail of contrast and color that is somewhat obscured by dry
bark, leaves, etc.

My last expedition has been autumn (another long-time theme) and I'm now using
a zoom lens without macro focus capabilities.  There are some great fall
blooming flowers, seed-pods, and of course leaf colors to go for.  I even
found a seedling evergreen (looked like an 8-9" high christmas tree) I was
able to get a shot of.

Same problems with depth of field to keep in mind, so I suggest bracket your
shots both for exposure and depth.  Use a tripod (especially for close-ups)
and go for early or late in day for more dramatic lighting effect.

I now go for the slower films (100ASA instead of 400ASA) and long exposures
for better color definition and penetration, but there is more danger of blurr
due to a sudden breeze.

I hit paydirt on one shot of brilliantly colored trees with a _deep blue_ sky
and a couple of small white clouds...only wish I had taken a few more
compositions at the same time since I'm not as happy with that aspect as I
am of the detail, contrast and color captured.

I probably won't go through these again until the spring, and I hope I have
enough to either make a collage, or blow a few up to hang.

response 10 of 13:

Feb 8 19:47 UTC 1999

Incidentally, I have a set of three supplemental close-up lenses.  +3, +2,
and +1 diopter.  They fit any lens that takes a 49mm thread-on filter.  I no
longer have any lenses that these fit, so if anyone's interested in them let
me know.  They're in good shape, and include a case and instruction sheet.

response 12 of 13:

Apr 25 00:57 UTC 1999

I ended up selling the lenses on eBay.  They went to a guy in Germany.