Musings of a Frequent Flying Scientist

Macro Garden Series – 8

One of the best tips for macro photography is to get on the same plane as the subject. What I mean is – try not to shoot from above or below the subject. This makes for some interesting angles for the handheld shooter, I’m sure some of them are bonafide yoga poses 😀

The other tip is to use Manual or Aperture mode on your camera. When in Auto, the camera generally tries to get everything in focus so it opens the aperture up wide (which decreases the amount of the image that’s in focus – great for that beautiful blurred background, but can interfere with macro shots) or it slows the shutter speed down (which emphasizes the effects of any camera shake or breezes). 

This is a simple flower, but gorgeous in its simplicity.

Shot at Wilson Botanic Park with my Olympus OMD EM5 with my 60mm (120mm equivalent) macro lens.

x desleyjane

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Comments

27 responses to “Macro Garden Series – 8”

  1. Helen Bushe Avatar
    Helen Bushe

    Good advice here. But why oh why does the breeze start up just a split second before I click the shutter? 😊

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    1. desleyjane Avatar
      desleyjane

      LOL exactly!!!!!

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  2. restlessjo Avatar
    restlessjo

    Thank you for the tips x

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. desleyjane Avatar
      desleyjane

      My pleasure! I hope they were useful. I have a whole post on macro tips, I should have linked it.

      Liked by 1 person

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  3. loisajay Avatar
    loisajay

    I am going to have to try manual mode. I tend to stick to Auto, which teaches me nothing about my camera! Beautiful, delicate shot, Desley.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. desleyjane Avatar
      desleyjane

      Thanks so much Lois. I started by switching to Aperture mode for a few months which taught me a huge amount about how the light behaves in my camera. I would switch to shutter mode only if I wanted to do fast or long exposures. Then I took the deep breath and went manual almost two years ago before my trip to New Zealand.

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  4. Heyjude Avatar
    Heyjude

    Pretty Plumbago? Tried Aperture mode today, but my camera was misbehaving badly – kept freezing after almost every shot! I was so frustrated by it. Think I shall have to send it back as I can’t keep using it like this. I wonder if the weather had anything to do with it as it was a warm day, not excessively hot like you guys get though. And it started doing it after only a couple of shots so no time to overheat 😦

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    1. desleyjane Avatar
      desleyjane

      Oh no! Did you try a different memory card? I’ve heard of that happening sometimes.

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      1. Heyjude Avatar
        Heyjude

        I bought a faster card when this started happening soon after I bought the camera. And I used the same card and lens the other evening without any problem at all! Most mystifying and annoying.

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        1. desleyjane Avatar
          desleyjane

          That really is weird. I had issues when it was 0 Celsius with my camera freezing. And long exposures take ages to write to the card but it all seems to be working fine these days. Not that I’ve had time to get out and about with my camera in a while!

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          1. Heyjude Avatar
            Heyjude

            Well it has gone back to Olympus now for repairs(!) so I shall have to go back to the Fuji bridge or the Panasonic compact for a while 😦

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            1. desleyjane Avatar
              desleyjane

              Oh no! But good that they’re able to repair it. So sad without your Oly 😟

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              1. Heyjude Avatar
                Heyjude

                I’m not sure they can – unless there is an obvious fault. It has been so intermittent that I wonder if it will even show up on testing! I’m really hoping that they will replace it.

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                1. desleyjane Avatar
                  desleyjane

                  Ah yes, that would be the ideal solution. Intermittent problems are the worst.

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  5. morselsandscraps Avatar
    morselsandscraps

    And thanks from me too. I’m with Helen about wind woggle – anything on a slender stem suffers badly.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. desleyjane Avatar
      desleyjane

      My pleasure. Wind woggle is the worst! 😋 Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply. Hope you’re well! I saw you met Jo, how cool! Will read about it soon.

      Liked by 1 person

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  6. pommepal Avatar
    pommepal

    Oh yes that dreaded wind, it can be perfectly calm until I zone in on a close up shot. Thanks for the tip.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. desleyjane Avatar
      desleyjane

      My pleasure PP.

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  7. pommepal Avatar
    pommepal

    btw I agree with Jude it is Plumbago (sounds like a pudding!!!)

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. desleyjane Avatar
      desleyjane

      Great, thanks! Yes it does sound like a pudding.

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  8. Faraday's Candle Avatar
    Faraday’s Candle

    The details on the stems themselves is amazing!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. desleyjane Avatar
      desleyjane

      Thanks. Very steady hand was required!!

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  9. Faraday's Candle Avatar
    Faraday’s Candle

    Our iPhriday post. Thank you so much for introducing us to this challenge.
    http://faradayscandle.com/iphriday-to-beautiful-animals/

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    1. desleyjane Avatar
      desleyjane

      What beautiful horses and a wonderful quote from Charles Darwin!

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      1. Faraday's Candle Avatar
        Faraday’s Candle

        It was the Galapagos thing.
        Horses are just such magnificent animals.

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  10. RuthsArc Avatar
    RuthsArc

    Thanks for the advice. Will experiment with that and try to emulate your lovely macro shots.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. desleyjane Avatar
      desleyjane

      My pleasure! I’m glad if it helps. There’s an entire post somewhere of my 5 tips for macro, I should have linked it!

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I’d love to hear from you!