This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 45mm f/2.8D PC-E, also known as PC-E Micro Nikkor 45mm f/2.8D ED, a special purpose normal-angle lens designed for architecture, commercial, macro, and nature photography. “PC” stands for “Perspective Control”, but I will refer to this type of lens as “tilt-shift” in this article.
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Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Review
Frequently overshadowed by their more versatile brethren, macro lenses rarely receive much fanfare upon their release. Nonetheless, it is their function as close-up-photography specialists that makes them essential for a range of photographic pursuits like product photography, print reduction and close-up photography of living subjects. This role has made macro lenses a vital element of a camera manufacture’s lens catalog. Their niche design means that that new macro lenses are released rather infrequently, but all major manufactures have at least…
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How to Use a Teleconverter
When using telephoto and macro lenses, it is often desirable to get tighter framing on a subject that is being photographed. One of the main reasons is to magnify the subject and improve its detail in order to show it best to the viewer, but another reason could be related to improved framing and composition – by focusing tightly on the subject, it is often possible to remove the visual clutter surrounding the subject, which ultimately simplifies and enhances composition.…
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Everything You Need to Know About Macro Photography
Many photographers today want to know how to take macro pictures, thanks to a growing number of beautiful images online of small plants, animals, and insects. Macro photography is not always easy, especially for beginners, but it is one of the most rewarding genres of photography you can do. With the right skills, you will be able to capture amazing images even in your own backyard. To learn macro photography from start to finish, you should begin by reading the tips…
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Sigma Announces Two New Art Lenses
The CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show starts Thursday, which means it is announcement time across the photography world. Next on the list of new products is Sigma, and they’re debuting some very interesting gear – chief among them, two new lenses for Canon, Nikon, and now Sony mounts (more on that in another article). Introducing the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro Art and the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 Art! The macro lens is Sigma’s first Art macro lens, going up to 1:1 (life-size)…
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How to Focus in Macro Photography
If you’re trying to photograph the small world of plants and bugs, you’ll face plenty of challenges along the way. Macro photography is a difficult genre — you’re pushing up against the physical limits of depth of field, diffraction, and motion blur. Naturally, focusing in macro photography isn’t an easy task, but it’s a crucial one. How do you optimize your focusing technique for capturing small subjects? The answer depends upon exactly what you’re photographing.
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How to Photograph Dragonflies
In this article, I would like to give you some tips on photographing dragonflies with minimal gear. I’m an amateur landscape and wildlife photographer from France. I graduated in ecology (biodiversity management and biology of conservation) last year before I decided to leave to New Zealand for a one-year trip. I discovered landscape and astrophotography in this beautiful country, but I feel like I sometimes need to get back to wildlife photography which is what I was first interested in.…
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Hand-held Close-Up Photography
Many photographers enjoy exploring the world around them with macro and close-up photography. The basic difference between these similar genres of photography is the amount of magnification achieved, with a 1:1 magnification generally accepted as an example of macro photography. Images at this level of magnification also have more details than are achieved with close-up photography. The camera gear used for macro photography can be quite specialized and costly which can be a barrier for many photographers. This article features a small…
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Aquarium Macro Photography of Ornamental Shrimp
“There’s such a thing as ornamental shrimp?” This is the typical response of family and friends when I speak to them about my recent hobby of keeping ornamental shrimp. Believe it or not, there is growing interest around the world about breeding and keeping these little freshwater critters as pets. In some countries, their popularity even rival traditional fish keeping! What once used to be considered another algae eater in tanks has quickly become an object of interest for aquarium…
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Using Extension Tubes in Strong Wind
As photographers we often try to anticipate the weather when planning to capture specific images. Sometimes Mother Nature cooperates, and sometimes not. I was out today using some extension tubes to capture a few images of insects and flowers. Ideally I would have preferred a nice calm day, rather than the strong winds I faced today.
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Wildlife Photography at Your Doorstep
I am an amateur photographer and have had a DSLR for approximately 10 years. It is only in the last 2 years that I have started to get seriously interested in wildlife photography. I feel like I am in the early days of building a portfolio of images. Living in the middle of a small UK town, like most urban locations, there is a surprising amount of wildlife around. Unfortunately, with a full time job and a small baby I…
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Aliens Among Us
Photographers have the power to reveal the origins of alien life on earth. All we need do is grab a camera, lens and some extension tubes (or a macro lens or close focusing filter) and ‘the truth’ will be revealed! (more…)
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And a Few More Flowers
I know flower posts have been submitted here before and I surely have nothing original to offer but they do make a versatile subject, allowing an appreciation of colour, texture, form and placement. These were all taken inside the Walled Garden at the stunning Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire just before my Eastern/Central/Somewhere In Europe trip. The vivid specimens are a fitting testament to the diligence and vision of the team of gardeners there who braved the heat to maintain the…
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After the Rain
One of my favourite times to photograph garden plants and flowers is first thing in the morning after a fresh rain. All of the colours and textures seem richer after the rain dapples them with water droplets.
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Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Macro Announcement
Along with the SP 85mm f/1.8 Di VC USD, Tamron also released the SP 90mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Macro lens. Unlike the newly designed 85mm f/1.8, this one is an update to the existing 90mm f/2.8 Macro lens that has been manufactured for a number of years now.
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Bolt VM-110 Ring Light Review
When I wrote my Macro Photography Lighting Tutorial, I had the opportunity to test a fairly popular product for my section on ring lights: the Bolt VM-110. I was happy with the quality of light from the VM-110 ring light, but I was unimpressed with its low strength. Since ring lights are so commonly-used for macro photography, I decided that it would be worthwhile to review the VM-110 and share some of my thoughts about how well it works for macro photography.
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Focal Length in Reverse Lens Macro Technique
Macro, Landscapes and Seascapes are my favorite genres in photography, but as I don’t travel much, I tend to shoot more macro in my backyard. Last time, I wrote an article on high magnification macro photography on a budget, where I pointed out the fact that I use the reverse lens technique in order to achieve high magnification macro shots. The technique really works great if you give it a try and the good news is that you do not…
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Macro Photography Lighting Tutorial
For our readers in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s that time of year again — days are hotter, nights are shorter, and the air is stuffier. With the changes in weather, two different creatures are beginning to emerge from their deep winter slumbers: the insect and the macro photographer. As macro photography grows more popular, a key question arises: what is the best way to light a bug’s picture?
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Venus Optics KX800 Macro Flash Review
Macro photographers tend to struggle with two crucial variables when lighting their subjects. First, high-magnification macro photography usually involves apertures between f/16 and f/32. To use an aperture this small, you need a high-powered flash — especially if you want to use a diffuser. The second major issue is that many macro photographers work with just one on-camera flash, meaning that the lighting can appear flat and dull, even when diffused. So, when Venus Optics announced their alien-looking KX800 dual…
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A Ribitting Morning
The Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington Ontario (Canada) recently hosted a display of frogs from around the world. Frogs: A Chorus of Colours was an interesting, educational exhibit as well as an opportunity to capture some images.
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