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for the Macro Mondays challenge “Sweet Spot Squared” (September 19th 2016)
I like a little sharp and tangy taste with my sugar, so I chose raspberries ;o)
Finding and shooting the sweet spot!
I've got 3 macro 1:1 lenses now - but when I started out there was only one to fit my new Sony NEX-6, and it was Sony's eMount 30mm/3.5. That was March 2013, and I learned macro work through that lens for the next 2 years. So that was the lens I chose for this challenge.
I shoot macro in Manual, and have never explored the 'sweet spot' before - so I followed Janet's directions and used Aperture mode and shot all 17 F stop settings the lens has on two 2cm raspberries. I scattered sugar granules of various sizes both in front and behind the raspberries, to give me an idea of just how the overall image sharpness changes with the F/stop change.
Comparing the shots I used Janet's direction again: "You will be looking for the shot that has the sharpest details with as little blurring as possible". I thought it would be simple - F22 is the inevitable choice to offer minimal blurring, while keeping the subject in focus.
But I found a puzzling oddity. From F16 through to F22 the sharpness of the background elements increased, but the sharpness of the 'in focus' elements fell off. I repeated the experiment with a strawberry (a much larger subject) and the same result emerged - past F16 the 'in focus' elements of the shot suffered!
I went online to see if I could find an explanation. And the trusty B&H website came through with an article:
www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/content/rules-thumb-finding-...
I needed to compromise and take 2 or 3 stops back from F22 to find the best balance. There was little to choose between F16 and F18. This shot uses F16. And yes - I did then crop the original shot I used, to highlight the main raspberry, and leaving out most of the background sugar 'scatter'.
I hope it hits the sweet spot with you too :o)
Following on from the discussion Where do you draw the line? I've taken an old credit card as my guide, which is 3"x2" and added measures in cm too. I do SO hope that this will become the standard for Macro Mondays! My 2 raspberries are set on this 'new' format for my regular establishing shot in the first comment field
My 2016 Macro Mondays set: 2016 Macro Mondays
My Food and drink set: Food and Drink
Pretty sure this is a sharp-shinned hawk Accipiter striatus, just guessing. Another possibility might be a Merlin, though this bird's head is not quite shaped right, nor does it have any 'eyebrow' mark, as a merlin might (but not always) have.
I just don't see either of them often enough to know.
This little (crow size) raptor has been hanging around my little pond for several days, swooping rapidly from under cover likely grabbing little songbirds.
We first noticed the flickers completely disappeared from our backyard, including the mating pair, as well as an unusual disapperance and silence for long stretches of time, from other songbirds.
Perhaps the result of this bird taking the opportunity to ambush feed on the numerous little songbirds that have arrived.
This was an experiment to see how altering the settings on the camera affected the sharpness of the bee.
Happy Polaroid Week!
Day 1: Photo 1
This is an outtake from my last 12:12 Men Project shoot with Miao Miao.
Date: February 16, 2021
Location: Warfield Pond Park - Glenwood, Maryland (Howard County)
Woodbine
39077_C1
YPD51 rounds the extremely sharp curve just short of the switch to the Steel Bridge on the east side of the Willamette River. This undoubtedly has to be one of the sharpest curves on a major main line in North America today. Trains creep through here at a little more than walking speed.
Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus) male resting on its territory in the "lek" or dancing grounds of the prairie landscape at Camp Wainwright Military base in eastern Alberta, Canada.
3 May, 2016.
Slide # GWB_20160503_0144.CR2
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© Gerard W. Beyersbergen - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use.
Cactus needles viewed from above at the Conservatory
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© All rights reserved
Beyond the sharpness of the wire
Ascending the fields that get higher
Under the skies, where clouds float free
Now does stand an ancient tree
Ruling the Kingdom of the green
Its blooming limbs are now seen
By the eyes that now do look
At this page from natures book
As the fields, climb higher and higher
Where beauty grows beyond the sharpest wire
Photographed at my home while snowing. More snow forecast for this afternoon and tonight. Snow results in large number of birds at my feeders. This bird or perhaps several Sharp-shinned Hawks are frequent visitors to my home. IMG_9052
Green Iguana ~ Grand Cayman ~ British West Indies
Nikon D5100, Tamron 18-270, ISO 100, f/8.0, 270mm, 1/400s
Photographed in my back yard. I was ready for him. I expected him because I have seen him several times recently and Saturday he landed on my birdbath. He arrived a little latter Sunday morning but may have been confused about the time because we went from daylight saving time to pacific standard time. I say this as if the bird knows the time. Maybe he slept in because it was snowing most of the night and early morning. He tried for a quail, junco, and sparrow breakfast but as far as I know he failed. I enjoyed watching him for about 15 minutes while he sat from 15-30 feet from me between trying to catch a sparrow that was in a shrub next to him. He flew around the shrub and even jumped at it 4 or 5 times which was fun to watch. IMG_6342
Accipiter striatus
This morning I woke up early and though I had planned on sleeping in the cool weather outside motivated me to make a run out to Smith Point to see if any hawks were moving. Smith Point is a peninsula that juts out between Galveston and Trinity Bays. The thing that makes it interesting (at least when it comes to birds) this time of year is that, much like Cape May, NJ, it acts as a funnel that concentrates birds that are migrating south. As I headed to Smith Point the weather was looking pretty dreary and I had the strong feeling that I was making a mistake going but I decided to press on and take my chances on the weather. When I arrived I was pleased that it was not raining and there were some raptors moving. Most of the birds I saw were Sharp-shinned Hawks like this one and I was delighted to see a couple come close in the early morning light.
_MG_9682-web