NicoleB Photography

I’ve done a little test shooting yesterday to show you what you can do, even when you don’t get all too close.

I’ve used my Nikon D300 and a Nikkor VR 18-200mm for this shot. I’m getting the hang of it a bit better by now.
Which leads me to the point again: Don’t get frustrated too easy, keep shooting, trying and learning.

Up front I’ve made one big mistake, I didn’t use a tripod, like I suggested in the tip section here. I guess the shot could be crystal clear even after major cropping, if I had done that.

This is the shot I took with full zoom length and getting as close as possible. I still have to get the hang of focusing and framing correctly with this (for me) big Baby, but like mentioned before, I’ll keep trying

(Click on the picture to see a larger version)

This is the shot after serious cropping. Just to show you what you can get out of a shot with small toys on your computer.

You don’t need Photoshop for that. A simple free program will do the trick here. All of them do cropping, most even offer some editing along with it.
Here are the ones I’ve tested:

Picasa (my favorite program to sort my pictures - I couldn’t lay my hands on Lightroom in Kuwait

Gimp

(ouh, there are more, but I forgot - let me know if you know some and I’ll add them)

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List of participants for this assignment:

We finally had a little Thunderstorm last night.
About time.
It was humid and hot for 5 days, rain was predicted since 3.
The clouds of the storm looked what I imagine a small tornado looks like. They were going in a big circle.

I’ve seen that at the lake before, but not here yet. The rain contained a bit of hail again too.

It will not be the greatest weather for Czaba’s namesday party today, but we are all used to “bad” weather at the lake when partying, no big deal. Floyd and I will not stay too long anyway, thanks to Floyd’s cold .

Our neighbors are renovating their house. Since almost two weeks. They are loud. They talk loud and work with loud machines.
This neighborhood starts to annoy us anyway. We live in a little vacation house “village". “Someone is always mowing their lawn” is a running joke between Floyd and me.
But it’s the truth.
The houses are so close together that you can’t help to hear everything, even if what he people do is actually not loud, it sounds to you like a herd of Elephants is coming through.
Oh well, one of these days, we will find “our” perfect paradise.
Until then I enjoy the nature, the fresh air, being able to sit outside with my Laptop, surrounded by grapes and try to ignore the rest.

Have a coffee, chill and enjoy

Last night, while we shut off and unplugged all the stuff in the house, we had some candles lit. I started playing with my camera and a flower on the table with a candle in front.
Not the greatest macro shot ever, but I sort of like it. Next time, try to get it a bit sharper, will ya?

The I switched some buttons on the cam (NO, I HAVE NOT READ THE WHOLE MANUAL YET….) and shot some more. I was wondering about some light in one corner, looked at Floyd, he wasn’t doing anything. Told him about it and tried again. He said “it’s coming out of your camera". Huh?
I pushed the shutter without releasing it and there it is. A tiny little flashlight, built in my camera to help me focus in low light. How neat.
And yes, I should be reading that damned manual. Sigh.

So, I was actually planning on calling everyone to join a macro shooting today. But the weather isn’t exactly great for that.
If YOU go, please post your shots and just point out, that you posted them and I will fly by and link to the post as well.
I will see what I can do today. You never know. If not, I’ll do it tomorrow.

You all have fun today - and don’t forget to shoot some macros this weekend

One more pic from Floyd that I took last night, I like it
A lot

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Die Deutsche Variante, dank google Uebersetzer.
Kann denen mal einer eine Tuete Deutsch schenken, kicher….

Some tips for shooting macros - feel free to add your own in the comments section.
Please also ask any questions you have - maybe I - or one of the others can help
You can still sign up for this assignment - go and check it out!

• Get down on your knees or lower. The bug’s eye few usually makes for more interesting shots than the ones shot from top


• Check out the options for macro shots in the menu of your camera. Some cameras have a macro focus. It helps a lot.

• If your camera allows it, get a macro lens. For low budget users I can suggest raynox lenses. They are not the greatest, but they did work fine for me (most of my posted macro shots are taken with my raynox macro lens and my Casio EX-P505). If you have a bigger budget and your camera allows their usage, check out reviews for lenses before you buy them.
  If you don’t know if they work for your camera, go to the camera brand’s website, check for info there. If you still don’t find it, send an email to customer support. That’s how I made sure, my lenses will work on my camera.

• Watch out for the zoom. Most “Point and Shoot” cameras have a Digital zoom. There’s a little barrier between the normal zoom and the Digital zoom. Your pictures might turn out very grainy if you zoom all the way.
  Best way to test it is to shoot more than one frame with different zoom lengths.


• Stay steady. Either lean on something or hold your shooting arm with the other arm. If you are very low, use a little bean sack to steady the camera.
  Depending on the camera you can also use a little, cheap table tripod, just to steady the camera.
• And like with everything else in taking good shots: watch out how you frame the pictures. What does the background look like? Is it cluttered or clean?
  Try different angles and different framings. Play with different crops on your Computer.

(Sorry for the picture quality, but like you can tell, I don’t have a macro lens for my Nikon yet )