Posted by Robert Dayton on February 12, 2009 at 3:58 PM
I photographed the Red Maid (Calandrinia ciliata)
a few springs ago in the California foothills.
It's a tiny plant probably with a diameter of less
than a dime and standing only but a few inches off
the ground. I took some liberties here with the
hue/saturation in Photoshop Elements 2. The original
color is not so red. Because it's so tiny and close
to the ground I opted not to use a tripod. With two
extension tubes and a 50mm lens, plus a shallow DOF I
hand held.
Canon 10D
Canon 50mm Lens
no tripod
two 25mm Canon extension tubes
approximate aperture: 1/8 to 2/5
Robert, the colors are really super on this image, but as with many very small macro shots and using 2 extension tubes to boot, the DOF can be extremely narrow. As a result when I try to focus on things it causes me to wonder on the image a bit too. However, the items in focus do provide some very fine details. Looking at this does bring back fond recall of the 35mm format Nikon 60mm f 2.8 macro lens I had years ago. It made fantastic closeup shots like this also.
Posted by Robert Dayton on February 13, 2009 at 9:49 AM
Thanks for the supportive comments, Paul.
Posted by Lon Overacker on February 13, 2009 at 2:22 PM
Robert,
I love the colors here and is indeed amazing what we can do with closeups. I'm only wishing that the tallest and central stamens were the ones in focus. No big deal and as Paul pointed out, the extremely narrow depth of field makes these choices difficult. For a while, back when I did 35mm and macro, I had a focusing rail which made things more controlled. But then it was always a pain to try and position a tripod in such close proximity of tiny little things like this flower.
Anyway, love the colors, the comp and also the soft pedals.
Lon
Posted by Benjamin Glatt on February 15, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Awesome colors and composition. I just wish that more of the flower was in focus.
Discussion
4 repliesa few springs ago in the California foothills.
It's a tiny plant probably with a diameter of less
than a dime and standing only but a few inches off
the ground. I took some liberties here with the
hue/saturation in Photoshop Elements 2. The original
color is not so red. Because it's so tiny and close
to the ground I opted not to use a tripod. With two
extension tubes and a 50mm lens, plus a shallow DOF I
hand held.
Canon 10D
Canon 50mm Lens
no tripod
two 25mm Canon extension tubes
approximate aperture: 1/8 to 2/5
I welcome your comments.
I love the colors here and is indeed amazing what we can do with closeups. I'm only wishing that the tallest and central stamens were the ones in focus. No big deal and as Paul pointed out, the extremely narrow depth of field makes these choices difficult. For a while, back when I did 35mm and macro, I had a focusing rail which made things more controlled. But then it was always a pain to try and position a tripod in such close proximity of tiny little things like this flower.
Anyway, love the colors, the comp and also the soft pedals.
Lon