Another walk to Volunteer Park today, this time with a 50mm F/2.0 macro lens, adapted to Sony E-mount with an ~2.5cm improvised extension tube. Gaff tape fixes everything!
Extension tubes reduce minimum focal distance—and increase magnification—at the expense of focus at infinity. In this case, maximum focus was around 4cm.
Depth of field was also a challenge. Although this lens is fast, shooting wide open usually resulted in an illegible subject. For this reason, most photos were shot between F/8 and F/16.
On this trip, I focused on insects. With a little patience, they can be found almost anywhere.
The bees were out in force today too, but are harder to photograph because they move so quickly. As such, I only got a few clear photos.
Finally, plans on their own can make for interesting subjects.
Lessons from today:
- Shooting in direct sunlight generates very harsh highlights and shadows. It would be better to use a flash.
- Choosing an interesting angle is important. See this boring example shot from a human eye line vs better example.
Alex Weeks 