…I took 46 images in 15 mins…
I switched off auto focus, as the camera was wearing itself out trying to pick a point to focus on. I also had a vase of flowers by the patio doors at roughly midday on a gloomy afternoon, with an ISO setting of 200. I was in Aperature Priority.
Next step was to view the images blown up large on the computer and then delete the blurred and boring ones! That first delete got rid of 11 images. Then I repeated the process with a more critical eye. That left me with 19 images. Now I’m not saying those 19 were perfect in any way, far from it! However, I liked them enough to save them. That’s where I left it, to ensure the next time I looked at the photos, I had a fresh eye.
Tools used: Macro tube 31mm & a 50mm standard lens.
Oh, and a camera, of course!
This image bugs me. It was almost good, if I’d got the focus point in the right spot! It has a really shallow depth of field. Just a fraction of the pollen is in focus, but not quite the right fraction. But I love the leading line from the Lily stamen and I like the backdrop colours, almost like a watercolour.
And so that leaves the final few images. Some of them you can’t really tell what I’ve taken. However, I’ve included them in this album because I like the colour and movement in the photos. They aren’t necessarily the greatest macro shots ever, but they’re ones I like. Ultimately, that’s the important bit, I think.
…Although, having said that, I hope you like them too!
UPDATE
I tried again with these shots, before the flowers officially past their best. This time I used a tripod.
I must admit, with the tripod, I struggled to achieve the same angles as the previous hand-held shots. I tried putting the vase on something taller, but I couldn’t quite hit the mark. I know there are whizzy tripods out there that can pretty much get to ground level, but this is what I have to work with. Top tip – make sure the camera is properly fastened to the tripod base, or it will fall off (like mine did – thankfully caught the camera millimetres from the ground!).
Here are the results after using a tripod: