Nothing Special: Garden update – let’s get really close with the D7000, the Sigma 105, and the Canon 500D

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Garden update – let’s get really close with the D7000, the Sigma 105, and the Canon 500D

I popped outside for a few minutes today at lunch and thought I would grab a few shots while there. The Sigma 105 is a very sharp macro lens that also takes terrific portraits. It is wicked sharp and I bought mine used back around 2006 or so. The Canon 500D is a very high quality achromat, which is a 2 lens corrected close up filter. The two together creates some very close images that are frankly pretty magnificent.

Here is what the junction of stalk and leaf look like on a young Norway Maple.

D7000 + Sigma 105 + Canon 500d 500iso f/8 1/640

I think that qualifies as a pretty pleasing abstract and I believe that I will clean up a few of the minor spots on the image and print it large for my stair well.

I had set the lens to closest focus and I moved the camera gently back and forth shooting when the image was in perfect focus. A rail on a quality tripod is the best method, but for casual back yard plinking you can perform focus bracketing to get what you want.

The 500D was off for this next one. I stood back a bit and captured a single Hansa Rose in the shade. The deeper shade behind makes for the perfect background. Cropping square to eliminate the flash of color on the right might be even more effective.

D7000 + Sigma 105 500iso f/8 1/500

This next one with the 500D back on the lens is cropped slightly and very slightly out of focus I think. Had I nailed it, it would have been mind blowing. Anyway, I am displaying it just so you know how close this combo gets. The real problem here, by the way, was the wind. It forced me to grab the flower stem and try to capture the image with a one handed shot.

D7000 + Sigma 105 + Canon 500D 500iso f/8 1/160

Similarly, this ant was difficult to capture, since he is tiny and was moving violently in order to get around that enormous stamen. At this moment, he was just hanging out in space. Getting the head and antenna in focus was very nice.