Macro Daisy

Daisy

I hadn't used the macro lens for a while so decided to pull it out earlier this afternoon. As usual, I didn't have any particular subject in mind and decided to photograph whatever I found. These small Daisies seem to be all over the place at the moment so I photographed a few of them.

More photographs inside.

Daisy

As usual with macro photography, the biggest challenge for me was composing the photograph while  holding the Canon 430EX II with one hand and the camera in the other. I probably should have gone into the house brought a light stand or a tripod to make life a bit easier.

Daisy

These photographs were taken with the Canon 7D and the 100mm macro lens. For lighting I used a handheld 430 EXII. The photographs were taken at an aperture of around f14-16. The flash was firing at 1/8 or 1/16th. I didn't use ETTL for this shot. I set the power of the flash manually and moved the flash around until I was happy with the level of light. The photographs were taken at 1/250.

Garden Orb Weaver Spider- Sydney, Australia

Garden Orb-weaver Spider (Eriophora transmarina) - Sydney, Australia

I took the macro lens out over the weekend hoping to photograph some spiders in the garden. I found a number of Garden Orb Weavers in the shrubs along the driveway and spent some time photographing them. The fact that they spend a lot of time under their webs made the whole task a lot harder.

More photographs inside.

 Garden Orb-weaver Spider (Eriophora transmarina) - Sydney, Australia

Garden Orb-weavers are common, non venomous spiders found in Australia. They are usually brightly coloured and vary in terms of size, shape and colour within Australia. They are nocturnal feeders and weave their webs in the evenings. One of the spiders I saw over the weekend was actually in the process of weaving its web. It was interesting to actually see how the spider set about creating such an intricate web.

Garden Orb-weaver Spider (Eriophora transmarina) - Sydney, Australia

I had been trying to figure out how spiders actually sets about creating a web across a void when I came found an article which actually described the process. Apparently the spiders use air/wind to spread the initial line across a void. The spider is said to move to a vantage point and raise its abdomen and release a steady stream of silk from it's spinnerets. The wind will then pick up the silk and carry it until it snags on a solid object. Once the initial strand is firmly snagged, the spider will move out along it to build the web.

Garden Orb-weaver Spider (Eriophora transmarina) - Sydney, Australia

Interestingly the Orb-Weavers build a web every night and then remove it at dawn, unlike some other spiders who stay in the web day and night. Apparently the reason for this behaviour is predator avoidance. Although the "orb" section of the web disappears, some of the support lines will be left in place. During the day the spiders "hide" near a location where these support lines meet a solid object.

Garden Orb-weaver Spider (Eriophora transmarina) - Sydney, Australia

These photographs were taken with the Canon 7D and the 100mm macro lens. The lighting was again from a Canon 430EX II fired at 1/8th from high (relatively) camera left. Like with the photograph of the Weaver Ants the strobe was handheld. It's not the easiest thing to do when you are trying to lock focus using a macro lens!

Weaver Ant - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Weaver Ants are one of the most common ant species found in Sri Lanka. I came across a nest in the garden and used the macro lens to photograph them. These ants are known for their skills in building nests by weaving leaves together using larval silk. Colonies can be extremely large and sometimes consist of up to about half a million workers.

More photographs inside.

 Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Interestingly the "worker" ants fall into two categories based on physical size. The major worker ant is about 10 millimeters in length and the minor worker ant is about half that size. There is said to be a division of labour based on the type of worker ant. The Major workers forage, defend, maintain and expand nests and colonies whereas minor workers stay within the nest and tend to the young and "milk" insects within close proximity to the nest.

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

These ants are extremely territorial and can be quite aggressive when defending their territories. Although the ants do not have a functional sting, they are capable of delivering a painful bite onto which they spray formic acid resulting in intense discomfort. Some indigenous farmers in southeast Asia are known to use them as natural bio-control agents.

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

The worker ants are capable of exchanging information by means of chemical and tactile signals, particularly when foraging and defending the colony. When a forager comes across a new food source it lays down a pheromone path to help recruit other workers to the source. These trails are also laid by patrollers to recruit workers to defend the colony from intruders. Tactile communications, such as body shaking, are also used to stimulate activity in other workers.

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Photographing the ants was not easy as I wasn't using a tripod at the time. I had to balance the camera as well as a handheld flash while trying to compose these photographs. The fact that the ants were very active at the time (defending their colony from me) didn't help matters. I used a Canon 7D and the 100mm macro lens for all the photographs on this post. The light source was a handheld Canon 530 EX II.

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

52/52 - Talk to the hand

Talk to the hand

Here's the last entry for the project. I can't believe its been a year but I'm glad that I was able to actually complete it! I used a standard two light setup to light this one. I wanted this shot to have a bit of a cold feel to it so opted to use blue gels on the main light.

Lighting setup after the jump.

Lighting diagram - Talk to the hand

The main light was a Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/32 and zoomed to 105mm, through a full CTB gel. This coloured the highlights on the fingers as well as the hand.

A Canon 430 EX II was fired at 1/64th from camera right (zoomed to 105mm) through a CTO gel. I used a CTO gel to correct the tungsten colour balance on the camera.

I'm thinking of starting another project 52 focusing on Macro photography but not straight away. possibly in the new year.

51/52 - Estée Lauder

Estée Lauder

For this weeks entry I decided to go for a high key (sort of) product shot. I picked up this bottle of Estée Lauder lotion as lighting the reflective lid would be a challenge. I used two lights for this shot but if I did have a third I would have used it to light the background and bring up the white a bit more.

Lighting setup inside.

Lighting setup - Estée Lauder

This was a two light setup but the two flashes were aimed away from the subject. Two foam-core boards were used to bounce the light back onto the subject. Instead of lighting the lid directly, I lit the reflection.

A Canon 580 EX II was fired at 1/32 from camera left at a white foam-core board also placed on the left of camera.

A Canon 430 EX II was fired from camera right at 1/32 onto a white foam-core board placed on the right hand side of the image. 

A piece of glass was used under the subject to create a reflection. A piece of white paper was used to create the background.

50/52 - The Pianist's Hands

The Pianist's Hands

This is the 50th entry for my project. I've got two weeks to go and I'm looking forward to doing something different. Possibly another project 52 focusing on macro photography. 

I used a basic two light setup for this shot. One for the base exposure and a second strobe was used as a key light.

Lighting setup shots inside.

 Lighting setup - The Pianist's Hands

A Canon 580 EX II was used as the main light for the photograph above. It  was fired at 1/8th into  a reflective umbrella which was positioned above the piano. I also used a CTO gel on the flash to warm up the light a bit.

The key light was a Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/32 through a homemade snoot, directly at the pianist's hands. This flash was also fired through a 1/2 CTB gel to cool down the colour of the highlight.

49/52 - They're Alive!

They're Alive!

I have used a number of lighting mods (mostly home made) throughout this project but realised that I hadn't used any gobos to date. So for this weeks shot I used 2! A gobo (derived from "go between" or goes before optics) is something that can be used to block light and control what is lit.

Lighting setup inside.

 Lighting Setup - They're Alive

The main light for this shot was a Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/128 and zoomed to 105mm from camera right. I also used two picture frames as gobos to ensure the light only hit wall-e and didn't spill onto the marbles. I used a third picture frame, which was white in colour, to bounce the light form the 580 EX II on the other side of Wall-e.

The second light was a Canon 430 EX II fired from high camera right. This strobe was fired at 1/32 and zoomed to 105mm. The red gel on this strobe created the "eyes" on the marbles.

48/52 - Cherries

Cherries

This weeks shot is of water splashing off some cherries. The hardest part of this shot was getting a decent splash. I wanted to light the cherries using two lights. I wanted one of them to light the overall image and the second to act as a key light. I could have used one light and the ambient to achieve a similar result.

Lighting setup inside.

 Lighting setup - Cherries

The main light was a Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/4th through a shoot-through umbrella from high camera left.

The key light was a bare Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/32 from camera right.

I used a black foam-core board as the background. I tried a white foam-core board but the water droplets were not as clear.

47/52 - Marble

Marble

This week's shot is a bit late as I was away over the long weekend. I decided to photograph a marble and I wanted the colour to drop off towards the left of frame. I picked a "Sangria" coloured gel to create the background colour. If I were to shoot this photograph again, I would try and get a bit more colour on the right hand side of the marble.

Lighting setup inside.

Lighting Setup - Marble

I used a snooted Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/8 to light the image. I tried firing the stobe in a number of positions, including straight down at the marble, before I settled on firing it straight into the background. I'm not sure how to expose the right hand side of the marble. Should I use another flash or should I just re-position the snooted strobe?

I'll probably end up experimenting with this one after the project finishes. The setup, as you can see, is quite straight forward.

46/52 - Smokin

Smokin

Here's this weeks entry for the project. I know I have photographed a Tennis ball before but opted to use one again for this shot. I wanted to use smoke to give the shot a feel of speed and movement. I'm nto sure if I succeeded but here are the results anyway.

Lighting setup shots inside.

Lighting Setup - Smokin

I used a two light setup for this one (I would have preferred to use three lights but I've got only two!).

A Canon 580 EX II was fired "on axis" at 1/128th and zoomed to 105mm to light the ball. The camera was set to a white balance of tungsten to give the smoke a blue colour. To correct this, I used CTO gels on the 580 EXII.

The second light was a Canon 430 EX II fired from camera right at 1/64th and zoomed to 105mm to light up the smoke. The light from this strobe was bounced back onto the ball with a white foam-core board form camera left.

A black foam-core board was used for the background.

45/52 - Ace

Ace

I was quite sure that the strings on a Tennis racquet could be used to produce bokeh if lit from the correct angle. I decided to test this out yesterday and produced a couple of photographs which doubled up as this week's entry for my project. The main problem which I had to contend with was working out an angle which produced bokeh as well as a half decent composition for the photograph itself.

Lighting setup shots inside.

Lighting Setup - Ace

This again was a two light setup.

The main light was a bare Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/64th from camera left. This light was used to light the closer edge of the racquet. I placed a white foam-core board at a slight angle under the racquet to bounce the light from the 430 EX II back onto the under side of the racquet and create some separation on the black bottom edge. The effect is subtle and can be seen on the bottom edge of the racquet on the right hand side of the "Wilson" sticker. If I hadn't placed the white foam-core board under the racquet, this section would have been black and would have merged into the background.

The bokeh was created by a Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/128th from in front of the camera and slightly to the left. This flash had a CTB gel on it. The light from this flash also created the highlights on the further edge of the racquet.

I used a black foam-core board as the background.

44/52 - Measure

Measure

This weeks entry for my project 52 is a photograph of a set of measuring spoons. I used a slate cheese board as the background as it added a texture to the photograph. I used a two light setup for this photograph.setup shots and explanation after the jump.

Lighting setup - Measure

The main light for this shot was a Canon 580 EX II. I fired it at 1/2 at the ceiling to light the image evenly.

The key light was a Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/64th and zoomed to 105mm from the top of the frame. It created the highlights on the spoons and brought out the texture of the slate plate.

43/52 - Spice it Up

Spice it Up

I raided the pantry cupboard for spices to come up with this shot. I found Cinnamon, Szechuan Pepper-corns, Cardamoms, Cloves, Curry leaves, Chilli Powder and Garlic. Coming up with a decent composition was not easy as all the spices had to be visible and I didn't want to shoot from above.

Lighting setup inside.

 Lighting Setup - Spice it Up

As far as lighting goes, this was a straight forward two light setup.

I used a Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/2 and zoomed to 24mm from camera right. The flash was fired over the spices, at a white foam-core board that was positioned on the left of the frame. The board was positioned to re-direct the light back onto the spices. I used the board so that the entire image was evenly lit.

I also used a Canon 530 EX II fired at 1/128th and zoomed to 105mm (not in setup shot) from camera right as a key light. This created the highlights on the Cinnamon and the Szechuan Pepper-corns.

42/52 - Ignition

Ignition

I've never tried to photograph smoke before so I thought I'd experiment a bit. I wanted the photograph to be a bit more than just smoke and ended up with this. The hardest part of taking this photograph was obviously the timing. Thankfully I invested in a remote trigger sometime ago and it came in pretty handy!

Lighting setup shot and details inside.

Lighting setup - Ignition

Sorry this photograph is a bit dark. Most of the space is taken up with a black foam-core board which I used for the background.

The only flash used for this shot was a Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/64th and zoomed to 80mm.

I used a piece of white paper to bounce light onto the tea-light.

The light at the back of the shot is the TV. I was watching Australia play Italy in the rugby world cup.

41/52 - Idea

Idea

As this project winds down I seem to find it a lot more difficult to come up with ideas for weekly photographs. I guess going out and shooting something outdoors is an option but for one reason or another I have been unable to do so. I've got 11 weeks more to change this!

Lighting setup shots inside.

Lighting Setup - Idea

This was another two light setup.

The main light was a Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/32 through a shoot through umbrella from camera right, in front of the subject.

The key light was a Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/32 from camera left. The strobe was zoomed to 80mm to ensure it only lit the edge of the tiles and created a highlight on the frame.

40/52 - Forks

Forks

I hadn't done a high-key shot for a while so I thought I'd shoot one for this weeks entry for the project. This was a single light setup and the biggest challenge with this shot was to control the shadow and use it to add to the image.

Lighting setup shots inside.

Lighting setup - Forks

The only light used for this shot was a Canon 580 EX II. I positioned the flash above the subject but slightly behind it to light the white foam-core board. It was fired at 1/4th. The light which bounced off the foam-core board lit the forks.

39/52 - Brownies and Cream

Brownies and Cream

I was running out of time for this weeks entry for the project and didn't have any idea as to what I was going to shoot. Coming up with a new idea every week is probably the hardest part of this exercise. I opted to photograph one of the Brownies which my wife had baked earlier in the day. I'm glad I photographed them when I did because they didn't last much longer.

Lighting setup shots inside. 

Lighting Setup - Brownies and Cream

The main light for this photograph was form a Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/8th through a shoot-through umbrella. The umbrella was placed slightly behind the Brownie.

The angle of the main light meant the front of the Brownie was in shadow. To only light this area I used a Canon 430 EX II fired through a grid spot at 1/16th. The grid spot allows you to control the light from a strobe and only light a very small area. The highlighted area in the photograph below was lit by a grid spot.

A Brownie only lit by a grid spot

38/52 - Little Creatures Pale Ale

Little Creatures Pale Ale

This weeks entry for my project 52 is a photograph of the cap of a bottle of Little Creatures Pale Ale. I had to play around with a few different compositions before I settled for this one.  I liked the effect of the condensation on the bottle top (click on the image to see a larger version) and I tried to light it in a way which would emphasise the droplets. Not sure if I succeeded but I like the end result.

Read on for lighting info and setup shots.

Lighting setup - Little Creatures Pale Ale

I wanted to light this from two separate angles so that the photograph had a bit more depth. 

I used a Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/128th through a CTO gel as the main light. It was placed on the left of the camera and slightly behind the subject. This light created the highlight on the left hand side of the lid.

I used a Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/32 through a 1/2 CTO gel and a reflective umbrella to bring out the label on the neck of the bottle and the right hand side of the lid. This light was placed slightly behind the subject on the right of the camera. I used a reflective umbrella because I wanted the image to be lit evenly.

I created some Bokeh by placing a red tea light holder just behind the lid. The effect is subtle but I think it helps balance out the image.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

37/52 - Jeans for Genes

Jeans for Genes

The 5th of August was Jeans for Genes day in Australia. Jeans for Genes is a charity event aimed at raising funds for the Children's Medical Research Institute and is held on the first Friday of August. People are encouraged to wear Jeans on the day and donate generously. 

Lighting setup inside.

Lighting Setup - Jeans for Genes

This was a single light setup. I used a canon 430 EX II fired form the top right of the image at 1/16th. I opted to use a shoot through umbrella to create even light across the jeans. The light was positioned at a relatively low angle so that the folds on the jeans would create shadows and add a bit of depth to the image.

I'd like to find out what you guys think of the end result. If you do have a minute to spare let me know via the comments.

35/52 - Yet another pair

Yet another pair

I've never understood women and their need for shoes. However, with my wife bringing so many of them home I guess it was only a matter of time before I decided to photograph them as part of this project. I went for a black background to make the colour of the shoes stand out a bit. 

Lighting setup after the jump.

Lighting setup - Yet another pair

This was a two light setup.

I fired the Canon 430 EX II at 1/4th into a reflective umbrella. This was the main light and also created the specular highlight on the back of the shoe on the left. 

I used the Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/128th as the key light. It's effect is subtle. The highlight on the shoe on the right and the back of the shoe on the left were created by it. 

I also used a black foam-core board as the background and placed the shoes on a piece of glass to create a reflection.