Macro Photography

[jdesigns]

I finally got a few minutes to just play, so I broke out my Nikon PB-6 Bellows and mounted my Nikon D100 to it and a 50mm f1.8 on the other end.

If you don't know what a bellows is, it is an attachment that allows high magnification photography.

First example is the side of a dime on the edge of my dining table. In order to really get a feel on how close this is, go grab a dime and take a look for yourself. The front of my lens was within 1/2" from the dime, in full mid-day sunshine and my exposure was still only 1/10th of a second. When ever you increase the distance of the lens from the film/sensor plane, you must compensate for the loss of light, hence the longer shutter speed.

Keep in mind that the higher the magnification, the less or shallower the depth of field. The lens was set at f16 to produce maximum depth of field.

Anyone actually following what I am saying?

The second photo is of a few resistors on a video capture card. I used a toothpick to show scale. Pretty cool, eh?


I should point out that this is full frame, no cropping involved!

[jdesigns]

I have to say, this is a lot of fun coming up with things I can shoot up close. I didn't figure that it would be that much of a challenge to come up with interesting subjects, but it kinda is.

Here is one of my Henkels Steak knives with a toothpick again. Again, no cropping.


I used a white piece of paper to reflect the sunlight to some of the shadow areas.

[jdesigns]

Ok, one last one.........Staples!

[Sukhoidave]

I follow what you are saying Justin. I used to do a bit of macro photography - taking photos of wildflowers. (back in the day) I never had a bellows but I know what it is and how they work. As always your work is awesome.

[jdesigns]

Originally Posted by Sukhoidave

I follow what you are saying Justin. I used to do a bit of macro photography - taking photos of wildflowers. (back in the day) I never had a bellows but I know what it is and how they work. As always your work is awesome.

Thanks Dave!

I will say that it's WAY easier to shoot with the Digital. No more guessing on exposure or wondering if the shot was sharp.



Here is a shot of, you guessed it, a used dime!

And a shot of my bellows at full extension. The camera goes on the right side. :P

[Dede]

Wow! My favorite is the first picture of the dime's edge and how you can see the raised lettering on the dime.

Awesome pictures!!! Very inspiring! Wish I could shoot pics like that with my little Canon Elph.

[PhoenixRising]

Dang it. You rule.

Now, I have to find a camera that does cool things.

[Toad]

cool shots. If i had a nice camera nad nifty lenses, i'd have no idea what to do with it.

[squeebug]

wow those are awsome! your sure have some furry tooth picks

[callisto9]

wow! very cool photos justin (as always!). me likey. i wish i had the time / money / talent to take photos like that! good job!

[Oyveychris]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: You take a mean photograph!

[jdesigns]

Originally Posted by callisto9

wow! very cool photos justin (as always!). me likey. i wish i had the time / money / talent to take photos like that! good job!

Thanks Erin!

Yes it does take time to learn how to do this. But to be honest, some of this was just playing to see IF I could shoot these things.

Do you need a deep knowledge of how shutter speeds and apertures (f-stops) interact? Not really.

Do you need a professional camera for this type of photo? It helps, but not required. If you wanted to shoot Nikon (Which I have for about 13 years now) I would say go get a Nikon D50, Digital SLR (Meaning you can change lenses) and a cheap, but not bad quality Nikkor 50mm f2 or faster like f1.8, and a bellows attachment and away you go. The D50 just had a price drop so it's running $550 at B&H Photo, the bellows is $240 through B&H but eBay is going to be cheaper, and the 50mm can be had for about $60 or so. the total, not including a storage card for the camera $860 or so, whereas I spent a heck of a lot more mainly because I shoot with a Nikon D100 that I got for $1300 a year and a half ago.

It does take a bit of time to learn the controls, but a lot of it is just experimenting. I wasn't 100% sure my exposure was correct, but I shot and checked the image on the display. If it looked good, I changed the exposure a little bit and took another shot. After a dozen or so, I put them on the computer and took a closer look.

What I am getting at is with a digital SLR, the learning curve is greatly reduced for these kinds of shots. I am not saying that you don't need to understand the basics of photography though. It is a lot of fun once the inital shock of the investment is over.

[EVZBUG]

Wow! Cool photos! Do you also have a lens-mounted ring flash? I have always wanted to get a macro lens for my Leica, but at a thousand bucks for a USED Leica macro lens...well, I've been holding off. You can't buy other lenses for a Leica because they won't fit. Even aftermarket lens caps won't work, and used Leica lens caps can fo from 20 to 50 bucks!!! But anyway, did you or anyone else check out the post that I posted about the car photography book?

[callisto9]

thanks for the advice justin. i use a 3MP digital camera...and for the most part, it takes pretty good shots. i am starting to learn more about aperature, shutter speeds, etc. i know WHAT they are, just not how to use them to get a good photo.

i really want to upgrade to the canon S2-IS soon, but that will happen when funds provide. however, i've heard (and i believe) that film is stil the way to go for the best shots. do you think that's true?

i have an old minolta (70s perhaps?) that i should fire up some time. however, i don't think the 1/60 shutter speed works.

[jdesigns]

Originally Posted by callisto9

thanks for the advice justin. i use a 3MP digital camera...and for the most part, it takes pretty good shots. i am starting to learn more about aperature, shutter speeds, etc. i know WHAT they are, just not how to use them to get a good photo.

i really want to upgrade to the canon S2-IS soon, but that will happen when funds provide. however, i've heard (and i believe) that film is stil the way to go for the best shots. do you think that's true?

i have an old minolta (70s perhaps?) that i should fire up some time. however, i don't think the 1/60 shutter speed works.

You are welcome Erin! I started a thread on Aperture and Shutter Speed to help explain a bit of what they are and how they affect the photo.

As for my opinion on the film is better than digital debate, let me just say that I sold all of my film equipment early last year. I firmly believe that digital is the way to go. A lot, but not all, professionals have moved to digital. Most of the pros that haven't made the move to digital are folks that don't want to take time to learn about the benefits and processes associated with digital imaging.

Am I saying that film is dead? Not at all. There is still a big market for Fine Art made with Film. Kodak recently announced that they are discontinuing their B&W photo paper because the demand has fallen dramatically. That should say a lot about the health of the film market when the biggest maker of B&W paper is calling it quits. (There are still a few other makers of B&W paper like Agfa, Ilford, etc...)

So to answer your question which is better, digital is definitely in my future.

[callisto9]

justin, you rock! i will definitely be giving those a good study later today. thank you so much for posting that information!

i've always liked digital better than film because of the flexibility and cost savings it offered. plus, i love technology, so anything i can tinker around with is great.

i know i am limited with the photos i can take with my little 3MP. i hope to upgrade in the next year. but even before that, i need to get a handle on aperature and shutter speed. oh yeah, and ISO.

again, thank you justin!

[squeebug]

I second the D50. I have one and it is super fricken awsome for the price

[jdesigns]

Here is one really close up and a far away to give an idea how close it really was. This is on the inner ring of a CD with a 0.5mm pencil lead to give an idea the size. The other pic has the 0.5mm mechanical pencil to show scale as well.

Yes it is dusty, but take a moment to realize how small the dust really is!

[jdesigns]

Here's two shots of Starburst jelly beans, bit in half.

The other one is a Grape and Strawberry pile of Nerds!

[xscribe]

great close ups! I now have a reason to get some Nerds!