Macro Photography, Up Close and Personal

Exploring Hidden Worlds With Macro Photography

Spring is finally here and flowers are starting to bloom, bringing photographers out of their winter hiatus. I just recently returned from an exciting wildflower workshop in Death Valley that I conducted with Karen Linsley and you might have read about it in several previous posts. So I thought in this entry, I would go into further detail with how I like to set up for macro photos of flowers.

The way I prefer to photograph flowers if at all possible is in diffused lighting and with a small aperture of f/8-11 for maximum depth of field.  A small aperture and low light, thanks to the good old laws of reciprocity, equals a slow shutter speed, which makes it all most impossible to hold the camera steady and to focus on the flower.

For the above stated reasons, to me a tripod is essential in photographing flowers or with macro work. The tripod that I prefer is the Manfrotto NA24 with the Manfrotto 3265 Grip Action Ball Head and Quick Release. 

This tripod is light, with a weight of only 5 pounds, 2.26 kg, and lowers to 23 inches, 50.8cm, from ground level.  The Grip Action Ball Head allows me to position the camera with just a squeeze of the handle within a 180° sphere.

 

Having the tripod low to the ground and tilting the head, I can get up close and personal to the flower and also concentrate on where I want my area of selective focus to fall. 

The lens I use most often for closeups on flowers is the Nikon 150mm 2.8 macro. Sometimes when photographing the macro world, you might even get a surprise visitor.

If the flower is on a flat plane and depth of field is not critical or I want to blur the background, I will open the aperture to f5.6 

For my taste with macro and flower photography, I like to isolate a subject so that it stands out against the background and becomes the main subject. In the following photo, it is difficult for the eyes to pick out the main subject.

Photographing flowers with macro photography is like exploring hidden worlds and inner universes.  So many of nature's secrets are revealed. 

A special thanks to Photographers Karen Linsley and Donald Heldoorn for use of their photos in this post.

---

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

---