Comments on: Macro magic 2

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:46:47 +0000

Thanks for the tip Jason, I can see how that could have helped me to increase the exposure time now

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:40:32 +0000

Something I’ve read about and not had a chance to try yet: To get the long exposure effect your were after for the fountain shot, try a neutral density filter. By cutting the light reaching the lens, you can decrease the shutter speed in bright conditions without changing the aperture.

The same filter can be used to keep the aperture wide for shallow depth of field portraits in sunny settings.

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:21:00 +0000

I don’t think it was those ones, although they are very nice too. If I find them I’ll post the link here. Very cAPTcha

By: n3r8d

n3r8d — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:02:52 +0000

Maybe this is it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/sets/72157594201844069/

I love those! And always wondered how they are done???

…or close.

p.s. – I thought the captcha was very cathedral appropriate: “keeps prayer”

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:18:43 +0000

Hi Daren, thanks for the compliments and great HDR tips, and I look forward to learning more about it soon.

A few months ago, I remember seeing some amazing surreal-looking cathedral interior photos using HDR, but I can’t find them any more… they looked stunning!

HDR is definitely an area I want to explore.

Cheers,
Simon

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:47:09 +0000

Thanks, the Metz flashes do seem to be very competitively priced compared to the Nikon-branded ones! However, I already own Nikon SB-400 and SB-600 flash units… I expect I could have saved some cash if I’d known about the Metz range. Oh well

By: n3r8d

n3r8d — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:05:20 +0000

Nice Photos.

One thing I learned to do for HDR photos:

Take two photos on tripod: one photo metered for the light areas and one photo metered for dark areas. Granted, then you have to do some manipulation but after four or five I got the process down and now use it all the time for shots of sunsets and landscapes where I really want to capture good detail of both sky and land or any photo with very high contrasting areas where I want detail of both.

I first used this technique photographing some striking examples of Datura (Datura wrightii):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Datura
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura

…When I could not get metering right. I’d either bloom and wash out the macro detail of the stunning white flower in the early morning sun (when it’s open) or metering on the flower, the leaf background was too dark to see veins or any good detail.

Thanks for sharing your great photos (and the ZFS stuff too)!

best,
Daren / n3r8d

By: paurullan

paurullan — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:51:19 +0000

For a flash, take a look at Metz: the make Nikon compatible machines, cheaper than the SB-xxx.