Telephoto Macros

I was at a BBQ at the weekend so whilst waiting for the food to be cooked I experimented with my new telephone lens and the macro adapters for the 450D.

It will not focus with many of the adapters but does work pretty well with the +1.

Here are a couple macro shots that I took of lillys.

First Picture With Telephoto

Been a little preoccupied with looking for work recently so haven't been able to take as many photos or blog as much as I'd have liked so apologies (again) for the lack of updates. Luckily, I have been offered a job today and start next week so normal service will begin to resume!

I was out doing a bit of shopping the other day when I came across a 2nd hand lens in a used electronics shop. After seeking some assistance I was told "we don't sell camera accessories, the lens comes with the camera"! After explaining to the shop assistant that there was no Canon camera on display, just the lens he dutifully went and got it for me. It was in excellent condition and in full working order (so I was told) so I handed over the cash for this bargain (over £75 off the RRP).

Pleased to say that the lens tested OK and is in full working order so I'm now the proud owner of a Canon EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS telephoto lens.

Haven't had much time to play with it so far but here is the first random photo that I took with it whilst testing out.

Making a Splash

I finally found some time to time to play around with my new flashgun. I wanted to test it out taking some water splash / drop shots.

Not a particularly fancy set up - just filled a pint glass with water, placed in the kitchen sink and got the tap to drip. I used a sheet of A4 paper behind the bowl for the background.

As you can see in the picture below, the result was ok but was not what I was aiming for as the background was all wrong.



So, I then reset the tripod to put the camera at the same height as the top of the glass and tried again. This was better (although the focusing was off) but still not what I was looking for.



So, I then added a blue Rosco photo gel filter (another recent purchase) to the flashgun and tried again. I was a little happier with the results. The focusing could still be better and I was using the built in camera flash to trigger the flashgun which was off camera to the right which is why there is a mixture of white and blue light plus the white streaks and shadows with the drops in the last 2 shots. Still a lot of work to do to get some results that I'll be really pleased with but not too bad for a first attempt with a basic setup.

Sack the Weatherman

At the start of the week the forecast for the weekend was pretty dire saying it was going to rain. This worried some friends of mine who were off to the Isle of Wight festival.

Anyway, luckily for the festival goers and little old me it looks like the weathermen got it wrong again as the weekend (today especially) were great weather wise.

I always like clouds in landscape photography as I think they add a more interesting depth to the shot.

Infrared With Canon EOS 450D - Part 3

Right, here we are with the final installment of infrared photography with the Canon EOS 450D.

Here I will cover the questions that I've been asked on this topic.

Q: I'm playing with IR too but I having problems with noise?
A: If your ISO level is set to automatic I would manually set it down to something like 100 to help reduce noise.

Then try taking a shot with a smaller aperture / slower shutter speeds. It will take some experimentation but should reduce noise. I always use a tripod for IR shots due to the long shutter speeds.

Your photo editing software should have something like a digital noise reduction filter which may also improve the image but sometimes this may also reduce the clarity of the image.

Q: I'm pulling my Hair out trying to do some IR photography. No matter how hard i try it doesnt work at all.... i just get a horrible red and black image.
A: Sounds like a white balance issue. Follow the suggestions in Part 2 which should help to correct this.

Q: My images are coming out very blue and overexposed?
A: When using slow shutter speeds in sunlight it is important to cover the viewfinder to stop extra light entering through to the sensor.

Q: Can you take IR shots in cloudy weather conditions?
A: Cloudy weather can work with IR too, it just may mean longer exposures and larger apertures (lower f/ numbers) to allow more light in. Here is a shot on flickr which inspired me to get an IR filter. As you can see, I've still got some way to go!

Q: Would you suggest a modification of the Canon EOS 450 to remove the factory shipped IR cut filter?
A: I have seen the process to remove the factory fitted IR cut filter on sites like ghonis2.ho8.com but it is not something that I would carry out on my 450D at the moment.

With some experimentation, you can get some good results on the 450D without the modification.

Q: Do you have any other tips?
A: I've found that looking at other IR photos can be of help (especially when you can see all the camera settings that were used). There are some good IR shots in these Flickr groups....

www.flickr.com/groups/infrared
www.flickr.com/groups/55027594@N00

Also, some other good tips can be found here





Please use the links below for the other 2 parts of this topic.
Part 1
Part 2

Architects of Air

Last week I stopped off in Salisbury Cathedral close for a spot of lunch and to read the paper. What I found was a large inflatable in front of the Cathedral.

On further investigation I found that it is called Architects of Air and is a visual arts exhibition which is part of the Salisbury International Arts Festival.

According to their website...."Enter and be amazed...Drop in at any time and immerse yourself in an environment of saturated and subtle hues through labyrinthine tunnels and cavernous domes." At the time I just thought it was an elaborate inflatable kids playground!