First I'll start with the some pictures, then I'll tell you how I did it.
OK, so I don't own a Macro lense. And these pictures are not simply 100% crops. I was cruzin' around on YouTube and stumbled onto an interesting video.
Here:
I used my new Canon 40D and a 1.8 50mm lense. It has the required 52mm filter mount to do this. I was totally shocked to see this work out so well. And with a little more practise I think this could really be fun!
I set the lense to it's greatest DoF, f22 and used the on camera flash to make exposure. I think shutter speed was 1/60th.
Here's a quick shot I took with the 50mm lense mounted normally and as you can see, the effect is dramatic.
I was only a few inches away from the flowers. I had to be careful not to breath too hard as I could make the flowers move around. And ofcourse being that close means lighting can be an issue. You also need some other source of light falling on the subject so you can focus. Oh, that's done by moving the camera and lense in and out untill it looks right. It's a touchy thing, small movements make a huge difference. I think I took 33 pictures to get a couple nice ones.
Here's a funny one I tried with another orchid. With my naked eye I didn't see the ultra fine spider webs on the lip of my Blc. 'Rustic Spots'. but in this image the show up! I'm hoping on this site you can see them too. I was using my very nice comp. monitor and PhotoShop to see them.
Here's a picture from the other day using a 70-200 f4 L lense. At around 180mm I could get the whole flower. And I had to stand back at least 1.2 meters to get focus.
If you have a camera with a DoF button and a lense with a 52mm filter thread-in front, you too can do this!
Macro Photo, But I don't have a Macro Lense
Threaded Mode
