Refractions,macros,and water drops..oh my!

tlee

I still need to practice on my refraction shots...but, I'm pretty pleased with these.

emmalou

My jaw has hit the floor.........:encore

pathfinder

Nice series, tlee.

Would you care to comment on your techniques, lenses, lighting to shoot this type of shots? If you haven't described this previously somewhere.. If so, a link would be appreciated.

tlee

emmalou wrote:

My jaw has hit the floor.........:encore

Thank you---you are too kind:D.

tlee

pathfinder wrote:

Nice series, tlee.

Would you care to comment on your techniques, lenses, lighting to shoot this type of shots? If you haven't described this previously somewhere.. If so, a link would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I used a Canon 30D (I have to admit, I used the auto macro setting), a 100mm Macro lens, manual focus, hand held, and natural light. It is very windy here (Kansas!), and I had to be patient to wait for the wind to stop/subside. Best place to check out good techniques for these kind of images, and to see some awesome ones, is to check out Lord V 's sight/posts.

Lord Vetinari

Excellent series - congrats
Brian V.

tlee

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Excellent series - congrats
Brian V.

Thanks!!:D

Skippy

tlee wrote:

I still need to practice on my refraction shots...but, I'm pretty pleased with these.

These are excellent Tlee I'm sure your pleased as punch over this lot.
very nicely done indeed .... thanks for sharing..... Skippy
.

schmoo

tlee, beautiful work, especially as they appear to have been done very au naturel!

My favorite is the second to last, the upside-down flower. But they are all crisp and lovely.

Serrator

Very nice stuff!

ShepsMom

You need to practise??

tlee

Thanks, Skippy,Schmoo, and Serrator.

tlee

ShepsMom wrote:

You need to practise??

Always!! ---Have you seen Lord V's ? Thanks for the comment!

Awais Yaqub

Beautiful !

UP N MTNS

Simply stunning


Thanks for sharing

tlee

Thanks!:D

JillG

Beautiful shots. so... do you rely on finding dew drops or do you keep a watering can in your camera bag?:D

Jill

Van Isle

Handheld?

I thought they were really sharp! But a tripod would probably make them even sharper... And for #1 and #2 I'd like to see just a little more DOF. Great colours and great subject and composition!

Merci bien!

VI

tlee

JillG wrote:

Beautiful shots. so... do you rely on finding dew drops or do you keep a watering can in your camera bag?:D

Jill

A watering can in the bag.....mmmm....

I actually got these after the misters from my sprinkling system watered my garden. Thanks for your comments!:D

tlee

Van Isle wrote:

Handheld?

I thought they were really sharp! But a tripod would probably make them even sharper... And for #1 and #2 I'd like to see just a little more DOF. Great colours and great subject and composition!

Merci bien!

VI

Allo!---not sure if that is spelled correctly, my french is very rusty (I tried to say hello)!


Anyway---yes, using a tripod would have been better. However, the angles, and small area I have to work in, does not accomodate a tripod well (sometimes a mono pod works). So, I try to sit on the ground (when I can), and put my elbows on my knees to steady the camera. I definitely have room for improvement doing these kind of images--I just need to practice, practice, practice!

Thanks for your comments!:D

Debboggy

I think all of these are fantastic, but I absolutely love the first one. The colors and composition are very nice and I love the sparkly feel of it.

You say these were hand held with only a 100mm macro lens? You didn't use anything else, like extension tubes or anything? I've tried soooooo many times to do this and can't even get a crisp drop shot, let alone the refractions you got. But knowing you used the same lens I have gives me hope and motivation to keep trying!

:ivar :ivar :ivar

PS

What settings did you use on the camera?

tlee

Debboggy wrote:

I think all of these are fantastic, but I absolutely love the first one. The colors and composition are very nice and I love the sparkly feel of it.

You say these were hand held with only a 100mm macro lens? You didn't use anything else, like extension tubes or anything? I've tried soooooo many times to do this and can't even get a crisp drop shot, let alone the refractions you got. But knowing you used the same lens I have gives me hope and motivation to keep trying!

:ivar :ivar :ivar

PS

What settings did you use on the camera?

No extension tubes. I still need to get me some! I have tried and failed many times to get images like these. As for my camera settings----I decided to give my brain a rest, and put the camera in auto macro. I did ,however, use manual focus, and rocked back and forth (one of Brian's tutorials at the top of this forum page explains this method better) till the refraction/drop was in focus. Most of the images were shot at 1/500 and f5.6, with varying ISO's.

Thanks for your comment(s)!:D