Macro Images - Bugs!

A few warm days last month, and like any self-respecting photographer with a macro lens, I was waiting impatiently for the bugs to come out.  A month later and lots of cold weekends, and I've finally had enough of waiting.

My son said "Mummy", lets go to the butterfly conservatory to take photos."  Well, I was out the door and driving toward Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory almost before he could grab his point-and-shoot and hop in the car.

We were rewarded for our gloomy-day jaunt with a steamy day in the greenhouse, and a few great pics.  These were all taken with my Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x Macro Lens, mostly at 1x magnification and without a flash.

Go directly to my macro gallery, or check out the Zoom-Foto gallery for more of my images.

Trip of a Lifetime - Photo Cuba Workshop 2012

A sample of favorites from my wonderful trip!

Links:
My Photos of Cuba
Article: 'Love and Fiestas - Chivirico, Cuba'

Take one long cold February, one bedraggled and disheveled mother of two, and far too many months without even a semblance of me-time, grown-up time, down-time, or any other kind of time.  Add to that Trina Koster's Photo Cuba Workshop, a new lens for Christmas, a spare $50 bucks in my pocket, and (this one is essential!), a kind husband who is willing to lend the balance.

Now you have the makings of a 'Trip of a Lifetime'.  So said the email header from one of my fellow travelers shortly after the trip - and it could not have been said any better.  Every element of this workshop came together like a thoughtfully composed photograph. 

My fellow photographers were, each and every one of them, as mad about photography as I.  Envision, if you will, our typical evening relaxation - a few hours by the pool, mojitos and fantastic live Cuban music ... and our laptops - editing and sharing the days photos.

Our morning lectures were like those elements of a photograph that you just can't take your eyes off.  You take it all in, and then you are left wanting more.  We looked at inspiring photos by masters, learned about Cuban surrealist art, culture and politics, and had our own work critiqued.  An hour in a darkened room on a beautiful Cuban morning was absolutely worth every moment.

Then there were the wonderful Cuban people.  Their warmth and kindness is something I have just never experienced before.  And I'm sure you can't find so many photogenic subjects anywhere else.  Children smiled and showed off, and followed us in giggling rowdy groups, old guys posed with their dogs, chickens, brooms, men everywhere blew kisses, and everywhere, people were out on the streets just going about their lives.

Now I'm back home - still bedraggled and disheveled - but I have this snapshot in my mind of a beautiful place, some wonderful new friends, and a thousand new pictures to remind me of that fantastic week of inspiration.

Gracias to Trina, Laura, Scott y German for bringing together all the elements of a really fantastic Photo Cuba Workshop!


Links:

• My Photo Cuba Workshop Gallery
• Photo Cuba Workshop

                  Instructors:

• Trina Koster - Trina Koster Photography
  Head Instructor and Founder of the Photo Cuba Workshop
  
• Laura Taylor
  Co-Teacher and lead translator, Photo Cuba Workshop
  
• Scott Mooney  www.scottmooney.me, www.coachwithscott.com
  Co-Teacher, Tech and Logistics Support, and Graphic Designer, Photo Cuba Workshop
  
• German Portundo
  Artist, professor of art at two universities in the Santiago region of Cuba, Director of the Chiverico Art Gallery, and Co-Teacher, Photo Cuba Workshop

                   Some of my fellow photographers:

• Alan Dunlop
• Giovanna Gatti
• Liz Hughes
• Pat Gardner / Blog
• Ron Head 

• 'SNAP' - Local paper report - Photo Cuba Workshop 

Macro Images - Still Life

 

So you'd like to be a photographer, and you'd like to be a geek, but your real dream is to be a bit of both.  Here's a great project I recently undertook.  It gave me the opportunity to hone my photo-geek skills and forced me to develop makeshift solutions to resolve some tricky setup issues.

Gear

Canon EOS Rebel T1i

Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo Lens

Reflector

Tripod

Laptop with: EOS Remote Shooting Utility, Photoshop CS5

Not cool gear:

• CD's and CD cases to manage distance from lens - a sad workaround for my as yet non-existent cool and very expensive focusing rail.
• Incandescent point lights - yet another sad workaround as I was not yet lucky enough to own an external flash at the time of this project.
• Mister - No dew was falling in my kitchen during my photoshoot, and I had to cheat.  I've heard that glycerin creates rounder drops although I have yet to try this.

Snap that photo

1. Set your lens pointing down similar to a microscope.  I found this by far the easiest for composition and focusing for still life.
2. Set your macro lens to the desired magnification before focusing as this is the easiest way to achieve your intended composition.
3. Now apply that highly technical technique of focusing your subject by adding CDs or CD cases below to adjust distance to lens.  (Wouldn't a focusing rail do a beautiful job of that if I had one!)
4. Adjust depth of field - the tiniest adjustment affected whether a dewdrops surface was in focus vs the reflection inside the dewdrop.
5. Adjust lighting - shadows are magnified just like subject detail
6. Snap your shot via EOS Utility installed on your laptop.  This is easier by far than viewing through the camera eyepiece or LED, and the remote shutter release avoids camera shake. 
7. Use your favorite editing software to lighten highlights and reduce shadow if your lighting system was not sufficient.

Comments and gripes

Well, you know my gripe by now.  I'm in the market for a 4 way focusing rail - or any setup that does not involve CD's and CD cases.  But hey, I got some good shots with some not cool gear - see above for the end result.

I also have to gripe about the lack of macro subjects here in the winter.  Finding a bug to photograph is a real challenge, and flowers must be acquired at the local florist instead of the garden.  Bring on the summer!

Gallery

Follow these links to see my photos:

• Macro
• Zoom-foto
• Kitchener-Waterloo Olympic Hockey Team Shots
• People 
• Other

Follow these links to see images of my travel adventures:

• Travel: Photo Cuba Workshop 
• Travel: Iceland 
• Zoom-travels   

Florabella Collection: Photoshop actions, textures and frames

As an avid photographer I could not help but become also an avid digital editor.  Mix in a little of the perfectionist and some minor control issues, and I could easily while away the whole night transforming and tweaking until the latest photos fit the picture in my mind.

Photoshop is my trusty partner and Photoshop CS5 is a dream!  Double that sentiment when I discovered Photoshop actions.  This simple concept allows you to record actions and apply to one or multiple other digital images with one click. 

Naturally, as any self-respecting Photo Geek would do, discovery of Photoshop actions led to googling into the wee hours.  And naturally, this led to the discovery of Florabella Collections.   This site is a true inspiration with a wide choice of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements actions, textures and frames.  Sample before and after shots are a visual feast with creative composition and stunning transformations.

You will realize, as I did, that being the new owner of one of the Florabella Collections is a worthy cause, and a very good reason to get out your credit card.  I am now the very satisfied owner of the Florabella Luxe II Photoshop Actions collection ... and the proud owner of some once drab photos that now look quite stunning!

Photoshop CS5 Tutorial: Blurred Vignette Border

Watch Tutorial:

Instructions:

1 Choose Layer > Duplicate Layer/Group to Duplicate the selected Layer(s) or Group(s).

2 Make the background layer invisible

3 Minimize the Layers palette

4 Select a Marquee Tool to create your border

5 Draw a border around your photo

6 Open the Layers palette and select the top layer

7 Click Add Layer Mask

8 Click the Layer Mask Thumbnail

9 Minimize the Layers palette

10 Click Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur

11 Select a blur radius

12 Click OK to accept selections

Note: This is a Photoshop CS5 Tutorial

Photoshop CS5 Tutorial: Stroke Style: Draw a border around your text

Watch Tutorial:

Instructions:

1 Choose a layer containing text that you wish to add a border to.

2 Click Layer > Layer Style > Stroke...

3 Click Stroke and adjust size.

4 Click OK

6 Alt-Click the stroke style under your selected layer.

6 Drag and drop to other layers you wish to apply this style to.

Note: This is a Photoshop CS5 Tutorial

Photoshop CS5 Tutorial: Render Lens Flare: How to add lens flare to your photo

Watch Tutorial:

Instructions:

1 Choose Layer > Duplicate Layer/Group to Duplicate the selected Layer(s) or Group(s).

2 Click OK to apply the changes.

3 Click on the eye next to the Background layer to make it invisible.

4 Click Filter > Render > Lens Flare...

6 Adjust point, brightness, and Lens Type

6 Click OK to apply lens flare.

Note: This is a Photoshop CS5 Tutorial

Photoshop CS5 Tutorial: Healing Brush Tool: How to remove an object from your photo

Watch Tutorial:

Instructions:

1 Choose Layer > Duplicate Layer/Group to Duplicate the selected Layer(s) or Group(s).

2 Click OK to apply the changes.

3 Click on the eye next to the Background layer to make it invisible.

4 Click to select the Spot Healing Brush Tool

6 Click or Shift-Click and drag to remove.

Note: This is a Photoshop CS5 Tutorial

Macro Images - Water Drops and Water Drop Reflection

 

My latest project gave me lots of opportunity to challenge my photo skills and more than enough opportunity to test my patience.  Make sure you have nothing in your schedule for a while, and a fair sized glass of wine beside you when you undertake this project.  Then settle in  - your time will be rewarded with some incredible images!

Gear

Canon EOS Rebel T1i

Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo Lens

Canon Speedlite 580EX II

Reflector

Tripod

Laptop with: EOS Remote Shooting Utility, Photoshop CS5

Not cool gear:

• water bag :-(       (Also, check out the amazing Time Machine and Drip Kit)

Snap that photo

Here's what I did to get my shots:

1. Hang a bag with a drop-size hole in one corner.
• a tripod will make height and distance adjustment easy
• small clips will allow adjustment of the hole size and drip speed
2. Put a large flat dish below the bag to catch overflow;  Place small dishes inside to adjust height and to catch drops
3. Choose your background.
• The first image is backed by Christmas wrapping paper.  The lens flare is caused by sparkles on the paper.
• If using a flower as the background, ensure it's far enough away from any hot lights so it doesn't wilt too quickly.  Note the sparkles on the background in this case are caused by drops of water on the flower.
4. Adjust clips to start drips
5. Set your camera to Manual mode to maintain control over both a fast shutter and the level of detail in your background.
6. Hold a pencil in front of your lens.  When the point is in focus, you have found the direction and focus location.  Adjust the bag so drips meet up with this location.  Alternativly, hold the pencil point where the drops are landing, and adjust the lens so it's direction and focus location meet up with this location.
7. Using a fast shutter will make the view too dark (until the flash goes off) to determine the focus location as indicated above.  In this case, switch to aperture priority temporarily with a large aperture to make adjustments.
8. Use your cameras remote shutter release software to view your image and snap your picture for maximum control and to eliminate camera shake.