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View Full Version : Get Down Tonight Baybee



Julie Kenward
04-16-2009, 07:47 PM
I ordered a set of extension tubes for my macro lens a few weeks ago and played with them on some flowers but things weren't really clicking. I got some decent images but nothing that made me happy to have spent the cold hard cash that I did to get them.

Then, tonight, while out in my front yard photographing a tulip, I got down prone on the ground of my front yard and made a couple of images of some violets with the 20mm tube attached. Suddenly, the grass popped out and I knew I was on to something! I added the 12mm to the 20mm and got back down flat on my belly and the shutter went wild.

And, yes, the midtown Metro bus did go by my home with a busload of commuters getting off work while I layed there, backside in the air and nose in the ground...but that's life as a macro photographer right?

Can I get an Amen sistah?

This is the first image of the series on grass. :D I may never cut the lawn again...

Canon 40D, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens & 12mm & 20mm extension tubes
EF 4.5 @ 1/40th, ISO 400
Manual mode, manual focus, pattern metering
Sunny WB, no flash, late afternoon sun, plants backlit.
Processed in ACR & CS4. Slight levels adjustment and noise reduction. Small cloning and crop.

denise ippolito
04-16-2009, 09:41 PM
Julie, That's so cool!! I love the lines and the vibrant color. I think you should name it chopsticks!!

Christopher Miller
04-17-2009, 08:57 PM
Very nice, Julie! The selective focus is perfect, and love the diagonal lines. I have taken similar photos of pine needles, will have to dig some of them up. Nice work, and yes lying down on the ground is definitely part of life as a macro photographer. I've done it myself many times! :)

Ed Vatza
04-17-2009, 09:12 PM
Any excuse that works for not mowing the lawn, Jules.

Very nice detail on those blades of grass.

I dunno, I've tried tubes on my macro and haven't really been enthralled with a proctologist's view of an insect on a petal of a flower. On the other hand, they do work better for me on a "regular" lens. I have used the tubes with a 50mm prime as well as the 70-200 and the 300.

Anita Bower
04-20-2009, 08:12 AM
Good job, Jules. I especially like the softly focused blades contrasting with the shaprly focuse ones, and the crossed blades. I'm glad you discovered a new world with your extension tubes. Often, when I get a new piece of equipment, I go through a period of not liking it, before it starts to work well for me. I enjoyed your description of being prone while people drove by. Yesterday, I was doing the same at a nature preserve--there was mud, but no people. Not sure I'm that brave yet.