The essence of photography

[Shivam]

Thanks for all your kind words.


Two things to keep in mind while shooting macro-

The depth of field is very shallow. Need to use small apertures.
The movement that camera is prone to is 'to and away' from the subject rather than laterally as in all other kind of shots- this basically means that image stabilisation or vibration reduction doesn't work.

I'll surely post some technical aspects sometime soon.

 

[Sumanta]

Shivam, I liked your fine art the most.

I too think luminous-landscape is a wonderful site to learn and see wonderful photographs. I liked write up in theonlinephotographer.com too. Mike Johnston has some wonderful thought process.

 

[ajay124]

gerry the merry

"I guess a dynamic area focus would have helped me snag that bird"

I don't have a telephoto lens and I don't shoot birds but I can imagine the difficulty of focusing on a moving bird using single point focus. I guess choosing the dynamic area mode and AF C will make life easier. But perhaps a better option would be what Shivam has recommended. Using predictive manual focusing. I remember reading that the old masters of street photography used predictive manual focusing (point the focus point where you expect the subject to be at the time you press the shutter).

I find the 11 focus points of D90 severely limiting. They are seldom placed at the exact point where I want them to be. Only the central point is a cross hair type which can accurately gauge both the horizontal and vertical lines. For a few days I plan to lock the central focus point by moving the switch at the back of the D90 to L instead of the dot. Perhaps autofocusing with a half shutter press and recomposing the shot by moving the camera around may yield better results than using the other 10 focus points for still subjects. For street scenes with moving subjects I will try my hand at predictive manual focusing

Which focus mode or point should be used for landscapes? That is a question I am only going to address after I acquire the 24mm 2.8D lens. But perhaps landscape shooters on the forum can chip in with their advise.

 

[Shivam]

For landscapes also I usually use manual focusing. Depth of field preview button is another tool from film days that i still use though not needed in the digital age.

 

[ajay124]

Thanks for all your kind words.


Two things to keep in mind while shooting macro-

The depth of field is very shallow. Need to use small apertures.
The movement that camera is prone to is 'to and away' from the subject rather than laterally as in all other kind of shots- this basically means that image stabilisation or vibration reduction doesn't work.

I'll surely post some technical aspects sometime soon.

shivam

Smaller apertures would require slower shutter speeds. Since VR and image stabilization would not work, I presume a tripod is essential for macro shots? I am planning to buy the 60mm 2.8D or the 105mm 2.8D micro Nikkor. Which one would you recommend? Price would be around 20K for the 60mm and 30K for the 105mm.

I would not mind buying the older series of manual focus lenses as they would be more affordable. But there are none to be found in Chandigarh. A lot of sellers on OLX and Quikr seem to be fly by night operators. So options for finding used lenses are rather limited.

 

[Shivam]

I always suggest buying the longest length focal length macro one can afford. Nikkor 105mm micro is a very good macro lens and that's my choice among the two.

Yes, you will have to get some good support and master holding the lens steadily. Monopod is quite useful. Some people use a ring flash especially for photographing insects but I don't like that much.

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

shivam

Smaller apertures would require slower shutter speeds.

You can try raising the ISO a bit, to restore shutter speed. Haven't tried it in macro since I don't have lenses, though.

 

[ajay124]

Neither do I. But I have been shooting flowers and plants (no bugs!) with my 50mm. It's closest focusing distance is 18". I would like to buy a full frame Nikon and the 105mm 2.8D and 24mm 2.8D lenses when funds become available.

 

[Shivam]

If you have never done macro photography before, I suggest using plus diopter filters (or macro filters) that screw on the lens like a filter.
If you start enjoying macro photography, buy a dedicated macro lens at a later stage.

I have seen a lot of people who buy good macro lenses and then realize that all that was needed was slightly higher focal length or a little close focusing than what they had. The macro lenses then just lie in the camera bag or at home.

 

[anm]

If you have never done macro photography before, I suggest using plus diopter filters (or macro filters) that screw on the lens like a filter.
If you start enjoying macro photography, buy a dedicated macro lens at a later stage.

I have seen a lot of people who buy good macro lenses and then realize that all that was needed was slightly higher focal length or a little close focusing than what they had. The macro lenses then just lie in the camera bag or at home.

that's a great tip!

 

[iaudio]

If you have never done macro photography before, I suggest using plus diopter filters (or macro filters) that screw on the lens like a filter.
If you start enjoying macro photography, buy a dedicated macro lens at a later stage.

I have seen a lot of people who buy good macro lenses and then realize that all that was needed was slightly higher focal length or a little close focusing than what they had. The macro lenses then just lie in the camera bag or at home.

Shivam, Doc are you talking about extension tubes and the like? I donno if its because I am a noob but I found focusing with those a royal pain!

 

[Shivam]

I am not talking of extension tubes but about threaded filters that are screwed onto the lens itself (like a clear or UV filter which a lot of people use). Autofocus works through these filters without any problem.

Extension tubes are available that have electronic contacts to permit autofocus and other data to be conveyed but they are not that cheap. In my opinion, screw on macro filters are the cheapest way to experience macro photography before buying a dedicated macro lens.

 

[venkatcr]

Two interesting articles in the improvements in DSLR designs.

1. Canon silences video AF critics with ultra-quiet stepper motor lenses | ExtremeTech

2. Canon Announces EOS Rebel T4i Digital SLR, New Lenses | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Cheers

 

[iaudio]

I am not talking of extension tubes but about threaded filters that are screwed onto the lens itself (like a clear or UV filter which a lot of people use). Autofocus works through these filters without any problem.

Extension tubes are available that have electronic contacts to permit autofocus and other data to be conveyed but they are not that cheap. In my opinion, screw on macro filters are the cheapest way to experience macro photography before buying a dedicated macro lens.

Shivam, Like Raynox? I have heard its quite good!

 

[Shivam]

Go to a nearby shop that sells photography related stuff and ask for macro filters. Achromatic filters are slightly expensive compared to normal filters.

If you click RAW, you can correct the chromatic aberration while post-processing the files.

 

[ajay124]

Everybody shoots landscapes on holidays. I have shot plenty of them myself. But the pictures never sought to reach beyond their one dimensional picture postcard reality.

I believe a good landscape, portrait or macro shot should penetrate the objective reality of the subject and illuminate it's subjective reality or inner essence. It should take the viewer on a journey into the hidden mysteries of nature....

Tough call. But there is no harm in making an attempt

red dawn | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[cmsajith]

I am using extension tubes with 50mm prime and some times with reverse ring to get macros and the results are pretty decent.

 

[saurabh459]

Hi Guys, I need help on 2 things

a) I want to clean my dslr sensor by a professional coz way too much dust has gone into it, i tried one in Mumbai but that guy made it worse and charged 2k!!! i did send it back again to him but still it was all over my sensor.i gave up.

b)I need a cheap camera strap for my canon 350dslr (service guy forgot to put it back)
..So can anyone recommend a good service shop in Bangalore for my above issues??

Thanxs

 

[arj]

Everybody shoots landscapes on holidays. I have shot plenty of them myself. But the pictures never sought to reach beyond their one dimensional picture postcard reality.

I believe a good landscape, portrait or macro shot should penetrate the objective reality of the subject and illuminate it's subjective reality or inner essence. It should take the viewer on a journey into the hidden mysteries of nature....

Tough call. But there is no harm in making an attempt

red dawn | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

good composition..But Shooting against the sun is something i have never got right..always end up with wrong exposures.

2 attempts by me on similiar lines..
loneliness- at Munnar @ Kerala | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Goa:Mothers Wisdom | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[ajay124]

arj

Nice pics. The 'golden hour' of light beginning from a little before sunrise and the one ending a little after sunset inspires a lot of photographers. It is the only time of the day one can take pictures in the Indian summer. During the day the light is too bright and pitilessly revealing. Everything looks so exposed and without any secrets or mystery.

Talking about composition and visual imagery reminds me of the teachers (i didn't meet any of them in school, college or the university ) to whom I owe an enormous debt for teaching me to how to 'see' the world in a more interesting light.

One such teacher was the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. Reading his collection of stories entitled Ficciones (especially the 4-5 pages of "The Circular Ruins") was one of the big moments of my life. Borges communicates more images and ideas in a page than a hundred films or books.

The opening lines of The Circular Ruins:

No one saw him disembark in the unanimous night, no one saw the bamboo canoe sink into the sacred mud, but in a few days there was no one who did not know that the taciturn man came from the South and that his home had been one of those numberless villages upstream in the deeply cleft side of the mountain, where the Zend language has not been contaminated by Greek and where leprosy is infrequent. What is certain is that the grey man kissed the mud, climbed up the bank without feeling the blades which were lacerating his flesh, and crawled, nauseated and bloodstained, up to the circular enclosure crowned with a stone tiger or horse, which sometimes was the color of flame and now was that of ashes.

I am sure that the original Spanish prose would be far better than the English translation. I remember a forum member mentioning that he had bought a copy of Ficciones in it's original Spanish version. I wonder if he read and what he thought of it