View allAll Photos Tagged amazing_macro_
to you..if you have been through valleys or hard places. i believe the heavens cry with us or for us..and in every teardrop there is a sparkle of new hope..
2010 © All rights reserved
Thank you for all commentaries and invitations (be critical if you think so, it helps).
Explored [Front page] - 19 December 2010
Fresh out of the box this morning! A well known flickrite who lives in Melbourne but who shall remain nameless (is that OK Dave?) has a highly productive Jade plant that seems to support many different types of insects. And he takes some amazing macros on the Jade. Mine seems to repel them but it does have a Crocus in the same pot and the time has arrived for the brief annual flowering. Brisbane suburbs.
This started simply enough: the idea that an orange Gerbera Daisy with a black center and a Prairie Smoke wildflower seed bent into a semi-circle on the surface of water might appear – if properly aligned – like the accretion disc around the event horizon of a Black Hole. Or maybe, the artistic depiction of such a thing.
Many attempts were made. It didn’t quite turn out that way; in the end, it became its own thing. I still believe it lives up to the name “Event Horizon” which was the original inspiration.
This image was tricky to set up, specifically to get a near-perfect semi-circle from the Prairie Smoke wildflower seed. Not all seeds bend that way, and it was clamped just below the surface of the water hoping to achieve this geometry. Here’s the “behind-the-scenes” image, this time annotated: donkom.ca/bts/_1090420-annotated.jpg . We’ve got a classic refraction/reflection setup here with the Lumix S1R in high-resolution mode and excessive cropping, no focus stacking required to do amazing macro work with this camera and kit lens! Lighting provided by the Platypod Max Macro bundle, currently available at a discount here: platypod.com/tripods/max-macro-bundle . “Third hand tools” readily available on eBay or Amazon. If you happen to be driving by an industrial park in Calgary AB, you might find some puffy balls of seeds along a fence line. That’s where I found these seeds.
The hardest part about water droplet refraction photography isn’t the photography. The bigger challenge is creating a subject worth photographing. When I teach workshops in this area (2020 dates are now posted, by the way: www.donkom.ca/product/macro-photography-workshops/ ), the photographic process is easily learned by everyone, almost like a simple magic trick. Beyond understanding lighting angles, alignment and focus, it becomes realized that you’re an artist on two fronts – first a droplet sculptor, then a photographer.
There were many attempts at this. Some I didn’t quite like because the droplets didn’t behave perfect, the symmetry was off, the seed wasn’t perfectly flat to the focal plane, there was some movement, etc. You’d be surprised how quickly these seeds move – they animate when wet, and even while the “spine” is clamped, the hairs will still move, constantly changing. For fun, here’s a four-up of my attempts prior to getting this one to work. Not bad images, but they didn’t meet what I had envisioned: donkom.ca/bts/event-horizon-attempts.jpg . Those were just the attempts I cared to take a closer look at. Each of them has merit – and some features like distorted reflections that I find valuable. Maybe it even makes a good image on its own, showing four views of the same concept.
“Prairie Smoke” is the same wildflower used in my image “Essence of Reverie”, which was selected for the cover of my upcoming book on macro photography, where I share all of my secrets: skycrystals.ca/product/pre-order-macro-photography-the-un...
My old 'Paid' stamp. I've had this one for more than 20 years and I'm surprised that it still works well. It's a self-inking press stamp where the ink pad section is fixed within the stamp housing behind the die. When you press the stamp down, the 'pad' compresses down and ink seeps through the rubbery die to stamp out the word. It's tricky to add more ink to the felt pad and I'm sure you can imagine the mess that it makes of my fingers. It's a great stamp that sits in my desk drawer waiting to be used and it never fails me. I've not taken its photo before, so this is a first
Another macro shot of a lily taken at a neighbor's garden. Here, I really focused on the stamen of the flower. If you view a full size image and look at the anthers, they look like tiny pieces of jewelry. Nature is really amazing. Macro photography really opens up an entirely new way of looking at the wonders of nature.
Shot with a Nikon D850 and a Lensbaby Velvet 85 with stacked closeup filters of +6.
Thanks for viewing my photos. Comments are always welcome.
====================================
Copyright Reid Northrup, 2021. All Rights Reserved, Worldwide. Please don't use my photos in any way without my written permission.
When we go on short nature walks around Darwin we are often targeting a group of animals, be it birds or insects, which require different camera gear. Due to weight restrictions and the scorching heat of the Northern Territory, we often only either carry our telephoto lens or macro gear.
Of course this means on dedicated birdwatching walks we always encounter amazing macro opportunities that never present themselves when we are carrying macro gear, such as these two butterflies!
Luckily, the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM is a very versatile lens and with a steady enough hand can be used for smaller subjects! I was pretty impressed with the results
April 25th, 2023 12:00PM
High of 70 degrees Fahrenheit
Low of 48 degrees Fahrenheit
61 degrees Fahrenheit at capture
After work I decided to visit a series of small pocket glades near the jobsite. On one Southwest-facing glade, near the lower perimeter I flipped a mating pair of these snakes under a large, flat rock surrounded by tall grass and fallen cedars. One of the snakes was in shed and I immediately released it, opting to photograph this one. It was very flighty upon capture, as the rock was in direct sunlight, and quickly took off under its rock after photos.
Maries County, Missouri
Los odonatos constituyen un orden de insectos cuyos elementos son voraces depredadores, abarcan a las libélulas (Anisópteros), y a los caballitos del diablo (Zigópteros). Los primeros son más grandes, y mantienen la posición de las alas horizontaltes en reposo, mientras los zigópteros lo hacen en posición vertical. Tienen un excelente sistema de visión compuesta (onmatidios), con grandes ojos laterales que no son envolventes com en el caso de las libélulas. También cuentan, como la mayoría de los insectos, con ojos simples (ocelos), en numero de tres, ubicados en el centro de la cabeza.
El ejemplar medía 3.5 centímetros de largo.
Soundtrack // Bande-son: GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS ("Quiet Your Mind"): www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX688Zplid0
"When you try to close your eyes... And put yourself in a dream...
Sleeping and then dreaming... Means that you are truly free... It's the best thing that you can do... As far as I can see... Oh, QUIET YOUR MIND... Oh, quiet your mind..."
"An amazing macro shot." (REYK / www.flickr.com/photos/re-yk/)
"Superbe et un bien joli bokeh rose :-))" // "Great with its lovely pink bokeh." (FLORENCE.V / www.flickr.com/photos/flo59/)
Just chilling... This is one of the smallest bees I have ever seen, around 7-8mm, Super cute. makes me want to cuddle with her for the night.
6 pictures stacked.
Sorry my friends but i'm going to have this photo here for awhile because it is winter here and currently I have no other photos to post, but i will try my best!
.Thank you my friends for 1000+ comments!!!
This is another photo taken with my new macro lens!
Taken with my Sony a300 with my Tamron SP AF60mm f/2 DI II LD (IF) 1:1 Macro Lens
Have a great week my friends!
Hope you guys enjoy the photo!
Please consider joining my new group Flickr's Bronze Trophy Group and try getting up to all of the 3 levels!
Here is the link..
I made the mistake of watching an interview with the photographer Alison Pollack last night. They do amazing macro photography work and I was so inspired by I had a hard time sleeping. I went out to the woods today with the plans to attempt to find slime molds like they photograph. I didn't find many exciting slime molds, but I did take the chance to practice focus stacking. My favorite image being this little mushroom growing out of this decaying sweet gum seed pod :)
Balãozinho Abutilon striatum (Malvaceae) ainda se abrindo. São sempre bonitos... Floresta da Tijuca.