Valentine Wish

[parrotmomma]

A Happy Valentines day! I finally invested in a good tripod (Slik ballhead) and have been having much better results with macro. I'm looking forward to Spring and getting down with the flowers! I took this photo this morning, using a black skirt as the background. This little cherub is a tiny paperweight, that I've had for years. I just love it, the detail is amazing. It's only about 2" high. I used the built in flash on the lowest setting, and underexposed by 2 stops. It only took about 4 shots to get it right.

[rab3rd]

Good shot, yes a tripod will certainly help with stagnet objects but in the field you are better off if you can learn how to shoot hand held and use the rocking focus method. You miss things when you take the time to setup a tripod.

[jfoureyes]

This is very nice and happy Valentines day! I tried to get the Exif and no luck...what f stop were you using? I shoot from a tripod 100% of the time with natural light in the field and it takes some practice to get the hang of it, but I prefer natural light over flash except for flash fill some times, but both techniques will work fine...it's the shooters choice. Do all your practicing before the flowers bloom and it could save you some frustration in the spring when you get in the field of flowers and start working. the other tip I can give is if you work in natural light go early and late in the day when the wind isn't as bad. Most of all have fun!

[parrotmomma]

Jim, it was f~11, 1/10 sec, ISO 400. I used a Sigma 50 mm macro lens. I tried using natural light, but there just wasn't enough in my kitchen, and I love the cherub too much to take it outside and risk dropping it. I also took some shots of candy hearts, glass hearts, and my grandfathers pocket watch... as long as I was all set up. I'm pretty pleased with how they came out. The tripod proves to be a good investment!

Rob, I can't seem to find anything explaining the rocking focus method?

[jfoureyes]

Originally Posted by parrotmomma

Jim, it was f~11, 1/10 sec, ISO 400. I used a Sigma 50 mm macro lens. I tried using natural light, but there just wasn't enough in my kitchen, and I love the cherub too much to take it outside and risk dropping it. I also took some shots of candy hearts, glass hearts, and my grandfathers pocket watch... as long as I was all set up. I'm pretty pleased with how they came out. The tripod proves to be a good investment!

Rob, I can't seem to find anything explaining the rocking focus method?

Usually if I have the time I'll shoot every subject from wide open to f32...that's the great thing about digital it's cheap to experiment with different f stops focus points on a subject...the ones that don't work get deleted and I keep the ones I like.