“Macro photography”

While this is a painting-blog, I feel as though it’s also got a minor in being a photo-blog. I’m taking photos of models, so while I can have the most beautiful model on the planet (still working on that part…), if the photo I’ve taken of that model is crap then the output will look like crap. Which means that the subject of photography is entirely on-topic :).

With the new camera (Panasonic GF3), now I have some options. Buuuuut the macro lens that I’m looking at is $1200 new…(one on Craigslist for $650, but that’s still a little much >.<), so I was looking at other options.

Two things I found. First, you can get “extension tubes” which go between your camera and any regular lens. When you pull the lens away from the camera, it brings the focal point closer to the lens, which means you can get much closer. I’m told that the optics suffer slightly, but if I could find an inexpensive tube it might be worth the trouble. Right now, the best option is to buy an M4/3->X adapter and then buy a cheap X-mount lens and use that. I’m not a huge fan of this…since the expensive part would be the lens, but I really only want the tube!

Reading some more last night, I found another idea…but it’s not a good idea for general-purpose photography! Apparently you can take your lens off the camera and switch it around and it will act very macro-y. So I gave it a try to see what that looked like – very cool! (A few warnings: you have to hold your lens in place, you can get dust on the insides of your lens or mirror/sensor of your camera. Don’t do this if you’re paranoid about those things).

[You can click on the photos to open up larger versions. Be warned – they are LARGE versions – 4000×3000]

I also like how in some of these photos, I’m close enough that you can see the “bubbles” of paint – this isn’t good, you want a smooth finish :).

I took a few of these face photos. Each time, my hand moved a little bit and so the depth-of-field changed slightly. Each photo has something entirely different in sharp focus.

I switched to the 14-42 in the reverse position and then moved the zoom to it’s longest extension. This let me get a little further from the model, so I could get more light onto the model so I could step everything else down.

I turned up the aperture on the camera for this one, as well as the exposure value, to make it a little brighter. If the aperture is actually adjusted on the lens…what does the aperture setting do when the camera can’t talk to the lens?

I tried first with the 14mm. An issue was that the lens had to get so close to the model that most of the light was blocked.

This is the closest that my 14-42mm lens can get in the normal configuration while still having the entire model in focus. Also, this model was just sitting on my desk – not the best paint job (but not bad either :)).

Close up of my lens cap. 14mm F2.5

Thanks for reading!