Tag: Nature

Flower Photography – Macro Lens Mount Adapters

DSC01081-edited

f/2.8; 1/100 sec; ISO-1250; 60mm – Sony a6000 and Canon 60mm macro lens.

Recently, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and purchased a Sony mirrorless camera. You could label me as “brand loyal” when it comes to Canon cameras. I know how they work, am very comfortable with settings, menus, etc. My motivation – we do a lot of traveling and am tired of lugging heavy camera equipment. 

To my surprise, the Sony menu is not very user friendly, and the learning curve for me was very time consuming. But, I must say it takes an incredibly sharp photograph for the price point.

The one component I didn’t research very well was the expense and availability of Sony lenses. Do your homework on lens availability before you buy! The next best option for me was to find a lens mount adapter to allow me to use some of my Canon lenses with a Sony camera. Although the adapter doesn’t work with all of my Canon lenses, it works with the ones I use most often. It arrived today and given it was 7 degrees outside, I decided to do a quick shoot in my kitchen using the Sony camera with a Canon 60mm macro lens.

 

Flowers – Photographing Indoors

Purchased flowers provide a great opportunity to creatively practice your photography skills during the winter months. Anything in your home can be used as background. To my surprise, the insect in the bottom photograph hitched a ride on one of the flowers I purchased!

TULIP2-WPcrocusfinalwp2Lily-WP2.jpg
stinkbug

Birds – Sometimes You Just Get Lucky!

Bird & dragonfly.jpg

I was testing a camera lens for distance. So I decided to shoot this bird that was perched on a branch near the top of the tree. When I got home to view the shots I took that day, it was an unexpected surprise to see the dragonfly on the tip of the top tree branch. 

f/14; ISO 400; 1/1600; 250mm

Patio Flowers

All of my photo processing is done using a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop Elements. I also use the NIK Collection which is a plugin that can be used in both programs.

Purple-Pincushionf/9; 1/15; ISO-100; 135mm; +0.3 steps

IMG_3466-Edit-Editf/8; 1/6; ISO-400; 60mm

Lily pistils-WPf/4.5; 1/80; ISO 400; 60mm

Comments are always welcome.

 

Bleeding Hearts

Bleeding Hearts wp.jpg

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched… they must be felt with the heart” Helen Keller

f/8; 1/100; ISO 100

Daisies – Fun with Mylar

Reflective Daisies WP

“You use a mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul”, George Bernard Shaw. 

The Chicago Botanic Gardens offered an abstract photography class. I didn’t take the class because I am particularly fond of abstract photography, I enrolled because I had heard that the class material challenged students to look at the subject matter from a different perspective and creatively shoot.

The photograph above of two placed daisies was shot on a piece of mylar film. 

f/7.1; 1/80; ISO 800.

Comments are always welcome.