Macro – Up Close And Personal

Covid Times

26th Mar 2021 awendesLeave a comment

So, Covid has definitely affected my photography. We’ve been in lockdown and I can only really have a photo mooch when we walk the dog. Now, this has been interesting as it’s really forced me to focus on what I’m actually walking passed. Thankfully there are plenty of walls with plants growing up and around them where we live. I used to pay more attention to the little things photographically and this has definitely come round again.

Nikon Z6, Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S, 18mm & 11mm Extension Tubes, Exposure X6, Silver Efex Pro 2

That said, I’m very much looking forward to getting to the beach again. I bought a Bronica SQ-A during covid and really want to put it through it’s paces soon. I bought it as more of a walk about camera, despite how heavy it is! Looking forward to getting back into film photography again too. More photos to follow soon, I hope.

Nikon Z6, Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S, Exposure X6, Silver Efex Pro 2

A Bit of a Square

21st Jan 2021 awendesLeave a comment

So, a lot of the time now, I’m using a square crop with my digital images. I think that may stem from scanning all the old shots taken with my C330.

Nikon Z6, Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S,
Exposure X5, Silver Efex Pro 2

I do find the square crop very pleasing and I think it offers plenty of opportunities for composition.

Before the current lockdown, I was starting to experiment with street photography and I found some of those shots worked in square format too.

And let’s not forget colour images working in square format too.

Nikon Z6, 18mm Extension Tube, Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S,
Exposure X5, Color Efex Pro 2

Nikon Z6, Lensbaby Composer Pro II, Sweet 35 Optic,
Exposure X5, Color Efex Pro 4

Close and clicking

28th Aug 2020 awendesLeave a comment

So it’s been another while since I’ve posted here. Lockdown contributed to this, as I became quite bored with photography. This eventually passed and I’ve been snapping away again.

I’ve also got the film itch again, so once I’ve developed some film, I’ll be putting the resultant shots up here.

For now, here are a few macro shots I’m quite happy with.

A Capture (26/5/20)

26th May 2020 awendesLeave a comment

Not much going on with me when it comes to photography at the moment. Not really in the mood. That said, I took this shot of my wife’s delphiniums today.

Z6, 11mm + 18mm Extension Tubes, FTZ, Tamron 90mm Macro Lense.

Up close, in the rain

28th Apr 2020 awendesLeave a comment

Just a couple of photos today. Not the right weather for making cyanotypes, but I may make headway on the self-assemble camera!

Both taken with Nikon Z6, 11mm + 18mm Extension Tubes, FTZ and Tamron 90mm Macro Lense.

Z6…

27th Dec 201928th Dec 2019 awendesLeave a comment

….or how I learned to stop worrying and love mirrorless, full-frame cameras.

A Kniphofia, found on a dog walk. Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 S

So, I’ve been using my Nikon Z6 for a couple of months now and it’s a fun camera to use. It’s also quiet, and has an even quieter silent mode if you need it. You can even use your DX lenses with it, you just need the FTZ adapter and need to be happy with your full-frame sensor acting as a crop sensor.

What I believe to be a buddleja, surrounded by succulents. Petzval 55mm MKII

That said, even the 24-70mm f/4 S kit lense is nice, with crisp focus and not bad bokeh. As I’ve been posting of late, I’ve been using the Petzval 55 MKII lense quite a lot, at the expense of the kit lense. But no more. I’m using them both now and enjoying them equally.

Lots of little black berries. Petzval 55mm MKII

As for the performance of the camera itself, the extra megapixels are nice and the camera itself is easy to use. I do occasionally change a setting without realizing it, or changing it and then not knowing how to change it back! This is however solved by a trip to the hefty manual.

As always, I will keep experimenting with this camera and I’ll start using the FTZ adapter with my currently abandoned lensbaby optics!

Up Close and Petzval-y

3rd Dec 2019 awendesLeave a comment

So, I said previously that I’d experiment with using extension tubes with the Petzval 55 MK II lense. I was slightly disappointed to find that the swirling bokeh associated with this lense is mostly lost in macro. That said, the bokeh itself is so soft and silky, irrespective of swirl and that it’s a joy to use. Even shooting at f/1.7, in macro, there’s a nice crispness to the areas that are in focus.

While it may not always be my first stop for macro work, it’ll definitely be in my arsenal for the future!

A succulent, my first experiment with extension tubes on the Petzval lense

A slightly more abstract shot of my Haworthia, again with spider webs on it.

d20. Taken for macro Monday on flickr, for the theme of red.

Back in the saddle again…

16th Nov 2019 awendesLeave a comment

So, it’s been a while since I wrote a blog post. I hit a bit of a rut and wasn’t taking many photos. Even now, I’ve not been in my darkroom for ages. But still, I’ve finally started taking more photos and I’ve started another 365 project, which is pushing me a bit. It turns out I was missing the need to take photos every day. It gets the old creative juices flowing!

Some berries, sliced with the Edge 35 Optic.

A slice of autumn, with the Edge 35 Optic.

The stigma of a hemerocallis, or day lilly.

Up close, with a phone

16th Sep 2019 awendesLeave a comment

So, I bought another set of MPOW clip-on lenses for my phone, having lost the last set. I decided to take them camping with me, rather than taking a camera. This was a bit hit and miss, especially when trying to capture the sunset. However, I got several good photos with the 20x Macro Lense, all taken whilst just messing about. All edited in Exposure X4.5.

Captures of the Week (so far) : (28/08/19)

28th Aug 2019 awendesLeave a comment

Not much to say in this blog post. I went through a spell of not being in the mood to make pictures, which meant that now I’m photographing again, I had to catch up with my – nearly finished – 365 project. This involved going round the flat, trying to make interesting macro photos with my ring-flash! Here follows a selection of the good ones, along with a couple of others.