View allAll Photos Tagged macro_magic
Now that's a look! Did you know that flies can perceive movement six times faster than humans? This allows them to instantly react to danger and avoid predators. Thanks to these unique abilities, flies are some of the quickest insects around
Celebrating 10 Years of Macro Mondays with Flickr. Although I only joined the group a couple of months ago I wanted to join sharing the macro magic. HMM
Saw these gorgeous orchids, on our way back to Curitiba yesterday, in an open air market in Morretes, PR, Brazil.
Have a Happy Easter and thanks for dropping by.
This image was fun to create, and as usual involves some interesting science. It reminds me of a tiny universe, just born, in the center of a flower. View large!
The droplet in the center, and the tiny specs of light around the image are not the work of elaborate Photoshop techniques or composites. These are created by invisible ink, and illuminated with a special flash that only emits ultraviolet light. When the light hits the ink it fluoresces and glows, but the UV light itself cannot be seen until it interacts with the droplets. The invisible ink then effectively becomes the light source in the image, making magic.
The light from the flash was positioned on top of the flower, very close and slightly behind the main droplet in the center. This allowed it to glow brightly, but also made the front of the droplet to fluoresce less (since the effect is created through reflectance, and the light source is positioned slightly back). This adds extra magic, because this part of the droplet is not completely over-exposed, and turns into an orb of stars when the surrounding tiny droplets reflect off the surface, creating a universe.
The center droplet was put in place with a hypodermic needle, and the surrounding droplets were sprayed from a mist bottle. Based on this experience, I don’t recommend you fill a spray bottle with invisible ink and use it indoors!
Also: for those interested, I have two workshops coming up this month! A full-day macro workshop with I promise will be awesome on May 29th in Barrie, ON (www.donkom.ca/product/full-day-macro-workshop/ ) and a post-processing / Lightroom / Photoshop workshop on May 26th in Toronto, ON (www.donkom.ca/product/post-processing/ ). Most workshops still have room, but space is limited!
For a week I rented the Nikon's legendary macro lens, the Nikon 200mm f/4. It has no VR, so for close macro work it almost requires the use of a tripod or mono-pod. Of course I immediately broke that 'rule', preferring as always to shoot handheld. That means many more pictures need to be taken in order to get a sharp shot, and it usually means higher ISO's due to a faster shutter speed to offset the motion of my hands as I shoot.
The next series of shots will feature results from this lens, all handheld and in natural light. In the end, I liked its color rendition, contrast, and the ability to work macro magic with a bit more distance to the subject, helpful especially with subjects like bugs and bees. The closest focus distance is about 19 inches to achieve the 1:1 ratio. For a hand-holder like me, I would much prefer VR (vibration reduction) on this lens to offset my hand motion.
But for most people who do proper macro technique with a tripod setup, this is no big deal.
All in all, it is a great lens, and I can see why the design has not been changed for over 20 years. It is still being sold brand new by Nikon despite its age and 'old' technology!
Please enlarge for a more immersive view...
For a week I rented the Nikon's legendary macro lens, the Nikon 200mm f/4. It has no VR, so for close macro work it almost requires the use of a tripod or mono-pod. Of course I immediately broke that 'rule', preferring as always to shoot handheld. That means many more pictures need to be taken in order to get a sharp shot, and it usually means higher ISO's due to a faster shutter speed to offset the motion of my hands as I shoot.
The next series of shots will feature results from this lens, all handheld and in natural light. In the end, I liked its color rendition, contrast, and the ability to work macro magic with a bit more distance to the subject, helpful especially with subjects like bugs and bees. The closest focus distance is about 19 inches to achieve the 1:1 ratio. For a hand-holder like me, I would much prefer VR (vibration reduction) on this lens to offset my hand motion.
But for most people who do proper macro technique with a tripod setup, this is no big deal.
All in all, it is a great lens, and I can see why the design has not been changed for over 20 years. It is still being sold brand new by Nikon despite its age and 'old' technology!
Please enlarge for a more immersive view...
Shot with extension tubes, this close up of a mimosa flower looks positively pink and glowing. Who knew the tips of the stamen have four little yellow squares of pollen?
© 2013 - Brian Xavier Photography
Photo taken: Sunday, February 24, 2013
Do not use my photos on websites, blogs, or in any other media format without my explicit permission.
More macro magic with milk and red food colouring on glass over blue card. Amazingly this was my first shot!! Taken with my Nikon D3100, Nissin di622 mark 2 flash to the left of the photo and my new lens I got for Christmas and Birthday a Tamron 60mm Macro which I love and can't put it down.
original size will exercize the 'oh' response.
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Nikon D300. 1/250th @ f/16. 180mm. EV = +1/3. WB = flash. Manual Mode. Single Point AF. ISO 200.
This Elephant Ear, "Taro" (colocasia esculenta) Heart, is used as food. The roots from this herb makes lumps that you can eat.
The fun thing about macro for me is that this time of year there are so many different subjects just crawling about. Especially in the morning with the dew drops. I used to really struggle this time of year with photography because I live in an area that is not very picturesque. I would long for the mountains, lakes and oceans. But now I at least have my little macro world.