Using a Telephoto lens to Photograph Flowers

[Discus]

Another option to use when working with small apertures is one or more flashes - I've used that a lot lately and it works quite well. Helps if you can use off-camera flash of course to adjust the lighting somewhat. If you're sneaky, you can light your subject and leave the background relatively so dark that it disappears.

Of course, people will look at you funny if you cart that much photo gear around in public, and spend that much time fussing over flower photos. Of course, if you use something like a butterfly bracket or macro/ring flash, there's a lot less faffing around.

[ronaldhanko]

You are correct that a flash is another option - I use a ring flash also in such situations. One does get a lot of odd looks and questions about whether one is a professional and so on.

[tropterrarium]

Originally Posted by ronaldhanko

You are correct that a flash is another option - I use a ring flash also in such situations. One does get a lot of odd looks and questions about whether one is a professional and so on.

One has to be very careful with tele flash. In theory, exposure with flash is very short (on the order of 1/1'000-10'000s), so is used to get around a tripod and still have sharp images. The issue with tele flash is that a fairly high flash-power is required. For one, the object is usually further away, second, lenses are not as strong light gatherers. It means, that often the flash is pretty much fully discharged. At full discharge, flash duration is more on the order of 1/200 s. This is also the faster of the flash synchronization times (on older/cheaper cameras it is 1/60s).

What's that all about? The issue is that the longest exposure time one can hand-hold without getting motion blur is 1/focal length in mm (for full frame SLR: for APS the equivalents are actually about 1/3 shorter!). So at 200 mm focal length (on full frame SLR), one is just about at the edge for hand-holding full discharge flash exposures, with longer focal lengths, one still needs a good tripod. That also applies with mixed light situations.

Why is the 1/focal length rule only applicable to full frame SLR? It has to do with the angular deviation that are not going outside the circle of confusion on the sensor. As the total angle of the image is narrower due the smaller sensors on APS-C (and half-frame) cameras, the angular deviations are more pronounced at the same focal length in mm compared to full-frame SLR.

The only options would be the few linear flashes. I once had the OM 280, but the issue is that with shorter shutter speeds, the flash power also declines, something that is not often mentioned in the literature.

[tucker85]

That's a beautiful photograph. Thanks for the good information.

[ronaldhanko]

Thanks for looking and commenting, tucker.

[Tindomul]

OK, I tried to do the same thing. The composition of my photo is not as good, but I really like the results of using a telephoto lens. The background is my window screen. I found that the farther away my camera was the clearer the screen came out in the photo. So brought my camera as close as I could to the flowers. The result was a blurry background.

[ronaldhanko]

Nice shot, Tindo. The blurred screen makes a nice background.

[Tindomul]

Thanks! Thanks for the tips.

[RosieC]

Interesting idea. I'm only just investigating SLR's and lenses (don't own one yet just thinking about the posibility) so it's really interesting to see what people are doing.

[tropterrarium]

Here's an example of an Epipactis gigantea shot in Joshua Tree National Monument at the 49 Palms Oasis. It was done with a 300 mm f/4 OM Zuiko lens on an OM4, back in 2002. The background is the skirt of a palm (Washingtonia filifera) that is just a couple of feet behind, but completely out of focus.

5604-1.jpg

Second example is a Chaenactis artemisiifolia shot in Rocky Peak State Park (Los Angeles area). this time with a Canon 300 mm f/2.8 IS at f6.3 on a full frame dSLR (5dmkII). Couldn't get closer to the plant, so used the long tube.

8277-4.jpg

I also use the 300 lens for reptiles, then often with extension rings to get a little closer. Image quality suffers a bit, as the lens errors get magnified with the image, but sure beats getting bitten by a rattle snake.

With those long beasts, it is important to use a very sturdy tripod, mirror lock-up/self-timer/live view, cable release, the works. The 300 seems to be the best compromise between still covering decent distance, but also being able to do close-ups. Notice, that longer lenses get worse and worse closest focus capabilities. Once in a while, I slap a 1.4 converter on there to get 420 mm.

In LF, I have a 720 mm (in the Tele Nikkor tripple convertible 360/500/720 combo), but mostly use the 360 and the 500. The 720 on 4x5" corresponds approximately to a 240 mm on full frame SLR. It's a real pain to use, particularly with movements because of the tele design.