Bee

Nikon D7000, 300mm (75-300), 1/80, f/11, ISO 200, cropped

Every spring the bumblebees return to the tree in our front yard. And every year I shoot some pictures of them (assuming I catch them during the brief day or two when they’re here).

This year I used a 75-300mm zoom with macro focus to get in way closer than I’d actually care to with a shorter lens. While the bees are working, the whole tree hums with their busy buzzing. I don’t care to find out what would happen if I upset them by trespassing on their space.

At this focal length, shooting conditions are fairly unforgiving. The field depth is paper thin, so only the bee is in clear focus. Thanks to the bright sunlight, I was able to close the aperture down a bit and thus widen the field a little. However, I needed to keep the ISO low so I could “blow up” the images without making them look grainy.

With so many factors in play, many of the photos in the set ended up with technical problems of one kind or another. Still, all I need for a blog entry is one good one.

Battleship

Nikon D3000, Lensbaby Scout with fisheye optic, 1/60, no f-stop, ISO 1600

Sticking with photos of small objects (and using Lensbaby lenses to accomplish the feat), here’s a different approach. This is a shot of a battleship model taken with the Scout with the fisheye optic installed.

In addition to more standard fisheye effects, this optic allows you to get within a half an inch of the subject and still retain some focus (though the depth of field is quite small at this distance). At this distance the distortion produces some interesting effects, including this other-worldly mess of shape and line that looks little like the actual subject.

For comparison, here’s a shot of the same model taken with a typical macro lens:

Nikon D3000, 300mm (75-300), 1 sec., f/8, ISO 100

And here’s what a map looks like when shot with the Lensbaby fisheye. Note how quickly the lens loses focus away from the center of the shot.

Nikon D3000, Lensbaby Scout with fisheye optic, 1/40, no f-stop, ISO 1600

Seal

Nikon D3000, Lensbaby Scout single glass optic with bellows, 1/100, no f-stop, ISO 100.

I first worked with a macro lens many years ago, shooting pictures of a friend getting a tattoo. I fell instantly in love with the ability to shoot extremely close-up shots. Sadly, I haven’t had many occasions to do much macro work since then.

One of the toys I got for Christmas was a bellows attachment. It looks like this:

The bellows works with any lens (though some work better than others). It increases the focal length (the distance between the lens and the image-recording chip in the camera), which permits close-up work.

I took the shot at the top of this post with the bellows and a Lensbaby Scout with a single-glass optic in place. The lens produces the soft focus effect and allows in enough light to get a good exposure even with the bellows in use.

For size reference, the subject – a small seal made of yellow glass – is around the size of a thumbnail.