There's More Than One Way to Wash a Dog

In case you were wondering about the title of this blog it has to do with there is more than one way to skin a cat. To be precise it means that there is more than one way to do something and some are better than others. I figured it would be better to call it, "There is More Than One Way to Wash a Dog, than the other choice of, "There is More Than One way to Skin a Cat", which many people would find offensive especially the cat lovers amongst us. Last night I lay in bed thinking of the soap bubble photography I had done that morning and how challenging it had been to get a good consistent image. Many of the images were unusable due to a bright specular light that had to be cropped out.To get rid of a specular light you need to have a larger light source close to the subject. I had been using a speedlight flash shot through a piece of white foamcore. As I lay there I thought "What really I needed was a larger light source!". This morning I grabbed a monolight studio flash and a large rectangular soft box. I placed it about eight inches above the soap bubble. As soon as I flashed the first image I knew I was onto something good. i stopped the lens down and dropped the ISO. I was immediately rewarded with some really nice images. When one way doesn't work try another! Remember there is more than one way to skin Err wash a dog. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron All of the images images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera with a Tamron 180mm macro lens. Lighting was provided by a Alien Bees 1660 monolight studio flash fitted with a 2' x 4' soft box. The camera settings used were Manual mode, ISO 200, F 20.0 at 1/20th of a sec.

Hidden Worlds Beneath Our Feet

This morning I set up a bowl of beach sand in the early morning light next to one of the sunny windows on the east side of our living room. Next I grabbed my tripod, trusty camera, a macro lens and a set of extension tubes. After setting up the camera I placed the bowl on a chair. Then I ran upstairs and picked up a piece of white foam core to bounce some light onto the sand. It's amazing how cool sand looks close up. There is an incredible world hidden right beneath our feet! This image was created with a Canon EOS T1i camera and a Tamron 180mm macro lens along with a a set of Kenko Extension tubes. It was supported by a Manfrotto Tripod with a Bogen ballhead. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F11.0 for 2 seconds. #TeamCanon, #WithMyTamron

Once Again Playing With Macro

This morning found me wandering around looking for macro subjects. I'm still getting comfortable in using my new Tamron SP DI 180mm Macro lens and testing out what it can do. My first subject was a wasp nest from the underside of our picnic table. No wonder we had so many wasps on our deck this summer. It's a wonder we never got stung while eating there! My second subject was a fish fossil that I received as a gift when I was a young lad. It's from some fossil beds somewhere in Wyoming. I was really pleased with the sharpness of these images as they were hand held and braced.I'm quite pleased to add this lens as another tool to add to my photography. God's blessings upon your week, chris Both images were created with a Canon EOS T1i camera and a Tamron 180mm SP DI Macro lens. The camera settings varied but I was shooting in AV mode at and ISO of 800.#TeamCanon,#WithMyTamron

Marvelous Macro

I enjoy many types of photography. Macro photography being one of them. I really like macro because it opens up these little worlds that you don't often see so close up and in intimate detail. Yesterday I received a new (used) macro lens. It's a lens that I have wanted for many, many years. I purchased a Tamron 180mm macro lens. I have owned several 100mm macro lenses over the years but I have always wanted a 180mm macro lens because it gives you quite a bit more working distance from the camera to the subject than the 100mm macro. For a 100mm macro the working distance is just over 10cm. With the 180mm it jumps all the way up to 25cm. That's a really huge difference if you are trying to photograph nervous insects. This morning was the first time I got to try the lens out and I was very pleased with my purchase. The lens has a good solid feel. It seems really well made and it came with a lens collar and a deep lens shade. It's actually too deep for my big hands as I have to take off the lens shade to get access to the lens cap. This morning I used it to photograph the sunrise through a crystal ball and later in the day I photographed a honeybee and a Skipper butterfly. All of these were handheld and I can see the need for a tripod to make the images sharper. I'm looking forward to putting this lens through its paces in the future. God's blessings upon your upcoming weekend, chris #WithMyTamron All of these images were created with a Canon EOS T1i camera and a Tamron 180mm macro lens handheld and in AV mode. Exposures varied