Friday 1 July 2016

The Macroism

A Macro is generally a magnified version of anything, usually tiny.

Off late I have been experimenting on this particular genre of  photography (the summer heat was also too much to go out). To see the little objects being enlarged is really interesting.

One needs particular equipments to click macro photographs such as extension tubes, macro lenses, reversed ring lens adapters, macro glass filters or dioptre filters etc.

Macro lenses always produce superior images and provide more ease of use compared to any other equipments but they are costlier as well and hence may not be affordable to all. The other options, however, with practice and patience, produce amazing results. I, myself have used an extension tube and a reversal ring for all my clicks.

When using an extension tube or a reversal ring, since usually there are no electrical connection between the lens and camera body, the shooting has to be done manually using manual focusing techniques. Also the Aperture becomes the lowest (f00) with perhaps the shallowest depth of field and can not be controlled because of no direct connectivity between the lens and the camera.

One needs to get too close to the object while shooting. It is advisable to use a tripod or a gorillapod as the slightest movement of the camera would mean losing the object in focus and readjust the camera. In case of a live object, the pain of shooting also gets magnified along with the object. But generally the results should complement the perseverance.

I reiterate (and emphasize) that a lot of practice and patience are required if you don't use a dedicated macro lens for clicking Macros. Even for Macro lenses, practice is a must as for good results, you have to invest time.

Specifications of the equipments that I have used:

Camera Body: Canon EOS 1100D
Lens: Canon EF-S Kit Lens (18 - 55 mm IS II) [For better results 50 mm prime lens is recommended]
Extension Tube: Diameter - 58 mm and Length - 49 mm (Make: Fotodiox)
Reversal Ring Lens Adapter: Diameter - 58 mm (Make: JJC)

All the photos were shot in RAW mode and post processed using Canon's proprietary Digital Photo Professional software.

Here are some of the results from my experiments, with the EXIF details (for all cases shooting was done with manual mode using manual focusing technique):

The Cell:

The head of one AAA battery.
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 100
White Balance: Auto


The Chivas Regal:

Water droplets formation on a chilled bottle of the famous scotch.
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 400
White Balance: Auto



The Circuit:

My Android phone's SIM Card slot.
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 200
White Balance: Auto



The Cumin Seeds:

Cumin seeds from the kitchen.
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 200
White Balance: Auto



The Charger:

iPhone Charging Port.
Shutter Speed: 1/25
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 400
White Balance: Auto



The Jack:

Standard 0.5 mm Jack of headphones/speakers.
Shutter Speed: 1/20
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 400
White Balance: Auto



The Macro:

The picture says it all.
Shutter Speed: 1/20
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 400
White Balance: Auto



The Queen:

The Queen of Hearts from a deck of cards.
Shutter Speed: 1/25
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 400
White Balance: Auto



The Screen:

This is how our computer screens look like.
Shutter Speed: 1/20
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 400
White Balance: Auto



The Cube:

Suger cubes from the Kitchen.
Shutter Speed: 1/20
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 400
White Balance: Auto



The Match Sticks:

Ready to burn in the fire of life..hutter Speed: 1/25
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 400
White Balance: Auto



The Mosquito:

The house mosquito.
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 125
White Balance: Auto



Windows:

Windows 7 Tag from my Laptop.
Shutter Speed: 1.6
Metering Mode: Evaluative Metering
ISO: 200
White Balance: Auto



That's all for today. Will come back with another episode with the Macros.

5 comments:

  1. These are some good pictures Saugata. If I may, I want to add one small point (you may already know that).

    "When using an extension tube or a reversal ring, since usually there are no electrical connection between the lens and camera body, the shooting has to be done manually using manual focusing techniques. Also the Aperture becomes the lowest (f00) with perhaps the shallowest depth of field and can not be controlled because of no direct connectivity between the lens and the camera."


    This above issue can be partially resolved with great practice when shooting through Nikon lens by using the aperture control lever. You have to use the lever manually while shooting to control the aperture.

    In case of a canon lens there is no aperture control lever, what you have to do is first attach the lens to the camera in a proper way then adjust the aperture to your desired value and use a very slow shutter to take a photo and before the shutter release is complete remove your lens from camera. The aperture will stick to your desired aperture value.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You can refer to this article for images and detailed instructions

    http://photo.blogoverflow.com/2011/07/take-macro-shots-like-this-for-less-than-the-cost-of-a-pizza/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks mate. Awesome points. Will surely try the method you described.

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