Top 15 Tips to my Macro photography

I have just had a comment on a previous post asking what gear I use for macro photography, so I thought it would be a good idea to share that here with a couple of recent pictures I have taken.

Remember, I am not a pro and all that I have learned is from trial and error.
The Kit I Use - I think this is essential kit for better shots

1. Nikon D90
2. Nikon 18-105mm vr kit lens
3. Screw on macro lens kit - +1, +2, +4, +10
4. Manfrotto 190cx3 Tripod and 804rc2 head
5. Nikon ML-L3 remote
6. Nikon SB-600 Flash
7. Large white artist canvas
8. Spot Light

Why I use it:

9. The d90 and 18-105mm - Have you used one - need I say more???? A great camera and excellent lens. Get one now!!!!

10. The screw on lenses are great for getting up close and personal with your subject. It shortens the focal length and magnifies the subject. Allows some interesting pictures and they can be used in different combination's to get differently framed shots.

11. The screw on lenses mess up the auto focus and also make the focus area tiny. Shooting handheld is very difficult, unless you are as stable as a statue. You need a tripod and a decent one at that. One that is easily adjustable in all directions. You need to get up close to the subject and can mean weird angles.

12. With the margin for error being so small, the act of pressing the shutter release, can mess up your shot. So a remote is essential. Set the shot up, get the focus right, press the remote button and viola!!!

13. Now, the lenses also make the kit lens slower and cut out a lot of the light. I must admit I do not use this too much for my macro. When attached to the flash shoe on the camera, it will probably sit too high to be of use when you are really close up. The built in flash is not great. I have not yet worked out how to use it off camera and that is where it will come into it's own.

14. Unless you have a lightbox or mini studio - it is on my wishlist - your backgrounds are going to be either dark, or messy. Using an artists canvas allows a nice, clean, white background and has the added benefit of reflecting more light onto your subject.

15. If you can get your flash gun to work off camera, you have a mini studio then no need for the spot light. If not, then an adjustable spotlight is needed. This will focus plenty of light onto your subject allowing you to get some great detail.


Well that is it for now, here are some recent shots I have taken.

Back on the net

OK, I am back online. It has been frustrating but also quite nice to be offline for a while. I have not had my laptop out of it's bag in 2 weeks, other than at work.

Anyway, as promised here is the first pano that I have taken of the view from my balcony. I am going to refine the art of taking night time skylines and will post some better ones later, but here is one for now.

Enjoy!

How not to break your lens, soak your camera, break a vase!

So, sunday was a quite afternoon after a hard mornings packing up for our move next week. I am quite excited about the move as we are moving into a two bed flat in the city of london. It has awesome views - to be photographed later - and an extra bedroom, which is going to double as my "studio".

Anyway, on Sunday evening as the snow started to fall over South West London, I took the opportunity to set up my tripod and do some macro work. I got the nikon D90 on my new Monfrotto tripod - which is great by the way - and attached my nikon 18-105mm vr. I have a set of +1, +2, +4 and +10 screw on macro lenses which I made use of in various combinations.

I switched off the overhead lights and just used an adjustable spotlight to light my subject - a vase of flowers from Sainsbury's. If you are planning on giving this a go I suggest the wireless remote for the nikon d90.

The two shots at the bottom are two of the shots I managed to get. The rest weren't that great!

Anyway, I was packing up, and as I was unscrewing the macro lens, I fumbled and dropped it on the floor with an almighty crack. Not great!!!

In my rush to pick it up, I managed to bump my tripod, camera still attached. It fell over, crashing into the vase, which fell over onto the table, spilling water on my remote and on my camera.

I am happy to say, I was able to repair the lens, and dry off the camera and remote. Everything is working, but I am yet to test the remote. Fingers crossed.

Moral of the story, hold on to your lenses!

Nikon 50mm f1.8 - What a great Lens!!!!

I have had this lens for a while now. I bought it mainly to use on the D90 for the video function. I have had it on the camera to take some pictures, but have always found it a bit restrictive with the set framing. Well, yesterday I put it on the D90 and off I went on walkabout around London's East End. This lens is fast and really handles low light well. I now love it. I suggest you get your hands on one of these. Dirt cheap and good glass.

All of these were taken hand hold with no flash.

More moon shots - My monfrotto and sigma 120-400mm combo

This time these ones were taken in South Africa. I had two opportunities on my trip to take some moon shots. These two were taken in Johannesburg on my new Monfrotto CR Tripod, using my d90, sigma 120-400mm lens and the nikon remote control. I was able to get a much more stable platform to take the shot from and I really like the results.

Back from holiday

I guess you all thought I had gone and left you again......

Oh no, I was just out in South Africa trying to wear that shutter button down. And boy did I try. Having deleted all of the ones I messed up on, or didn't like and I still managed to take 1500 shots.

Now, I am not going to bore you with all 1500 of the shots but am going to post a few of the ones I like.

First up, a depth of focus shot taken at the dinner table of some christmas decorations. I love the feel and the colour and it really reminds me of a great dinner with friends

















Next a picture I snapped whilst sitting outside at my parents drinking an ice cold Miller.





Both of these were taken with the 18-105vr nikon on my d90. It really preformed very well on this trip.
















The last shot was taken during a lightening storm in Durban on the 22nd of December. I have adjusted a few levels in this shot, but only in iphoto, no photoshop.





I hope you like. Check back soon for some more shots.




BTW I am posting my best shots from the trip to SA on Flickr here and will be adding a best of 2008 set and a best of all time set, so please head over there and have a look. Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Off on Holiday

I am off for a month to travel around South Africa and hopefully get to wear the shutter release button down on my Nikon D90. I will get an opportunity to use my sigma 120-400 in a wildlife setting - my favorite type of photography. I will also get to play with my new filters and my new car window tripod. I wll be posting my results soon.

Here is a shot I recently took at a party.

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