Photography Article Fun with Fizzy Fruit Photography|Photography Artist Statement

Bright, high key, fizzy fruit photographs are a fantastic object to move off your photography bucket listing on a rainy (or snowy) day. While they'll appearance tough, you can get wonderful effects with only some simple resources. This publish will walk you via the fundamentals of creating charming fizzy fruit photographs.

Supplies for Shooting Fizzy Fruit

You can shoot fizzy fruit shots with a point-and-shoot camera or a DSLR. If you use a point-and-shoot, you will want to shoot on the macro setting (tulip symbol), which allows you to focus up-close and take detailed shots. If you use a DSLR, you can use a dedicated macro lens, if you have one. If not, you can use your longest zoom lens (zoomed in to its farthest focal length, like 200mm or 270mm etc.) or you can use accessories to turn your 50mm or kit lens into an inexpensive macro lens. (Read specifics on how to use close-up lenses, extension tubes, or a reverse mount adapter for close-up photography.) All of the photographs in this post were taken with a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens with a +10 close-up lens (or a +4 and a +10 stacked together). A tripod and remote shutter release can be helpful, but you can also shoot hand-held if you have a fast lens (wide aperture like f/1.8) and good lighting.

The blur of bubbles adds to the feeling of movement in this shot.

Lighting can be as easy as a bendy desk lamp or pedestal light. You want some thing that you can function without delay in the back of the fruit, so that mild is shining directly via the fruit and into your digital camera. I actually have had excellent good fortune with a easy column mild, proven below, that is only a mild bulb interior a frosted column. A unmarried piece of tissue paper changed into used over the mild to behave as a diffuser and make the mild softer and more frivolously spread out.

Finally, you'll additionally need fruit, a box to hold each the fruit and the liquid, and a fizzy liquid. For a long term, I was harassed while studying peoples' feedback that they'd used lemonade for those kinds of shots. I in the end found out the lemonade in England or Australia isn't always the same as lemonade right here within the US and that a better equal might be sparkling mineral water. I even have also had some good fortune with Champaign, but the bubbles have been not as furious or long-lasting.

For boxes, you need something glass with as a minimum one straight aspect to shoot thru. This is a superb item to look out for at thrift stores, as you can regularly discover old vases for subsequent-to-nothing. My preferred, shown above, is a completely narrow vase with two instantly facets that I found at a hobby shop for less than $10 USD.

As for the fruit, you want something that you'll be able to reduce into thin slices. The thinner you can slice it, the more mild will shine through, making it simpler to photo and seize information. I might estimate my slices were among an eighth and 1 / 4 of an inch. Citrus works mainly properly, however you could experiment with a wide variety.

Once you have collected your resources, you need to set up your mild source so that it is behind the vase or field and could be shining at once at your camera. My pedestal light became massive enough to absolutely relaxation flat at the desk, but you may additionally use a stack of books to prop up your mild to get the proper attitude.

Tips and Techniques for Shooting Fizzy Fruit

Pour in your fizzy liquid, seize your fruit and your digital camera, and you're equipped to move! The largest problem I discovered when taking those shots is that the movement of the bubbles prompted the slices of fruit to bop and spin round in the vase. If you are able to shoot at a brief sufficient shutter speed (like 1/250th of a second or quicker), then this might not be a hassle. Otherwise, you will need to locate a few manner of anchoring down your fruit whilst you are capturing. My improvised approach become absolutely to use my left hand to maintain the fruit steady in opposition to one wall of the vase and then shoot with simplest my proper hand. An smooth alternative would be to installation the tripod for the digicam, keep the fruit with one hand or with tongs, and use a far off with the opposite.

As for settings, I chose to shoot in Aperture Priority with ISO 2 hundred and a wide aperture of around f/1.Eight-3.Five. I used the slightly narrower apertures of f/2.8 and f/3.Five close to the stop of the shoot, when I turned into looking to get a bit extra focus and definition out of the bubbles.

You can also need to don't forget the use of Exposure Compensation to overexpose the photo barely (from one 1/3 to one full forestall inside the superb path on the dimensions). This will assist the heritage end up a more real white and brighten up the fruit as properly. Experiment to look what appearance works pleasant for you.

At +1/3 exposure compensation, the kiwi fruit is still fairly dark in this photograph.

+1 exposure compensation makes the fruit much lighter and more vibrant.

Try for a aggregate of truly near-up in addition to farther returned shots. You may even see variations if you keep the fruit up in opposition to the the front of the vase as compared to the back. If you sense like your bubbles are running out of 'oomph,' let pass of your fruit or leap it around a touch bit, to carry lower back the internal fizz.

You will discover that your depth of discipline (the area of the challenge in recognition) can be very thin, both from using a extensive aperture and from shooting your situation up-near. Play round with having one-of-a-kind components of your fruit in consciousness ? The bubbles in front vs. The bubbles around the sides, as an instance. Even out of focus bubbles make for interesting compositions.

Focusing on the bubbles in front makes the bubbles along the perimeters come to be little out-of-focus dots and bokeh.

Alternatives

There are many different ways that you can setup to shoot fizzy fruit, and this is only one example. The orange, below, was shot in a wine glass against a black tri-fold board backdrop (read more about the humble tri-fold board for photographs ). In this case, the fruit was lit from the front by very bright, direct sunlight streaming through a nearby window. This natural light was enough to even light the fruit and give it a different feel against the dark background.

Don't sense restrained to simply shoot fruit either. All kinds of items can appearance more interesting with bubbles. (I used two of the lamps for the colored pencils, underneath: one from behind to mild the liquid and bubbles, and one from the front to light up the pencils themselves.)

Experiment and feature fun it! See what you could give you, and experience free to put up a link within the feedback to any successes you might have.

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Photography Article Product Review: Close-Up Lens Set|Photography Artist Statement

A near-up lens is a tool for taking pictures close-up or macro pics. This article will overview a particular set of close-up lenses, the Digital Concepts 58mm four-Piece Multi-Coated Camera Lens Filter Set. (Review in quick: I love these close-up lenses and use them all of the time for the majority of my macro and near-up photography paintings!)

If you want to read about how to use close-up lenses in general, check out Inexpensive Close-Up Photography: close-up lenses or read Cheap and Easy Macro: comparisons and recommendations for a comparison of several methods of close-up and macro photography.

Sunbursts from melting frost on a window, focused on a 10x near-up lens

What is a Close-Up Lens?

The name "close-up lens" is a bit of a misnomer. A close-up lens is not a standalone camera lens but rather is a glass element that screws on to the front of an existing camera lens like a filter. The close-up lens acts like a magnifying glass and allows you to focus-in closer on your subject, which effectively increases the size at which you can photograph.

When purchasing a close-up lens, you need to buy lenses that fit the diameter of your lens (or lenses). You can find the diameter size of your lens by looking for the Ø symbol on your lens. The Canon 18-55 mm kit lens, for example, has a diameter of 58 mm, while the Canon 50 mm f/1.8 lens and the Nikon 18-55mm lens have diameters of 52 mm. You can also purchase an inexpensive adapter ring to use larger filters on a smaller lens. I use a52-58 mm step-up adapter to use my 58 mm close-up lenses on my 52 mm diameter lens.

52-58 mm step up adapter shown with10x Macro Lens (close-up lens)

Product Review of the Digital Concepts Lens Filter Set

The Digital Concepts 58mm 4-Piece Multi-Coated Camera Lens Filter Set is a series of four close-up lenses at different strengths of magnification: +1, +2, +4, and 10x. It also comes with a nylon carrying case that has pockets for each of the four lenses, and it currently retails for around $12 USD. Filled, the case is the length of a sunglasses case and takes up about the same amount of room in your wallet or camera case. You can also bring a single close-up lens along, which slips easily into a pocket.

Ease of Use

To use a close-up lens, first remove any UV filter or other filters already on the front of your lens. Then, simply screw the close-up lens onto the front of your lens. You can even stack lenses on top of each other to amplify the magnification. I commonly use the +4 and 10x close-up lenses together.

Cropped photograph of snowflakes, taken with +4 and 10x close-up lenses on 50 mm lens.

One benefit of close-up lenses is that you are nonetheless capable of use all of the features and features on your digital camera, consisting of autofocus. While I endorse the usage of manual recognition while taking pictures macro and close-up snap shots, having autofocus as an alternative is continually useful.

The one problem that I have on occasion skilled is that the close-up lenses can get caught together in case you are stacking a couple of or using a step-up adapter. The solution is similar to any time you get a clear out caught to your lens: use a rubber band. Wrap the rubber band around simply the outside filter out or near-up lens. It will generally come up with enough grip to loosen the stuck one and dispose of it.

Magnification Results for the Close-Up Lenses

All of the following photographs were taken with one or more of the Digital Concepts close-up lenses on the Canon 50 mm f/1.8 lens using the Bower 52-58 mm adapter.

The image below provides a comparison of a mini bottle of nail polish (one inch wide) photographed using each of the four close-up lenses. The graphic on the bottom was created by re-sizing each of the individual items to show what portion of the nail polish and background were captured in each photograph. The closest-in result, taken using both the +4 and 10x close-up lenses, is right in between the actual physical size of a full frame and cropped sensor, which means that it is a "true macro" photograph. (Read more about true macro in the article onTips to Improve Your Macro Photography.)

Comparison of Close-Up Lenses used on a single challenge

Another consideration when shooting macro and close-up photographs is the working distance of the lens. Each of the shots above was taken at the greatest magnification possible, which means that the camera and lens were as close as possible to the subject, while still maintaining focus. For the 50 mm lens alone, this working distance (approximate distance from the front of the lens to the area of the subject in focus) was around 13.5 inches. Adding the +1 close-up lens brought the working distance down to 9.5 inches. The +2 close-up lens focused at a minimum distance of 7.5 inches, while the +4 close-up lens focused at 5.5 inches. The working distance for the 10x close-up lens was 3.5 inches, and the +4 and 10x combined was around 2 inches. This is not much of a concern when shooting stationary subjects, like the bottle of nail polish, but it can make it difficult to shoot a moving subject. Skittish butterflies are not always too keen on photographers sneaking up three inches away from them, for example.

A final consideration is light loss. Because a close-up lens is simply an additional piece of glass on the front of your lens, it does not significantly affect the amount or quality of the light captured by the camera. Each of the photographs of the nail polish, above, were shot in Aperture Priority mode with ISO 100 and f/5.6, using a tripod to eliminate any possible shake. The shutter speed was 1/15 th of a second for the 50 mm shot, 1/20 th of a second for the four photographs with a single close-up lens, and 1/13th of a second for the +4 and 10x close-up lenses combined.

Aperture Results for the Close-Up Lenses

Depth of field (the area of the photograph in focus) is always a concern in macro photography. The closer you get to your subject, the thinner an area will be in focus, even at the same aperture. The shots below of bubbles on a feather were all taken using the +4 and 10x close-up lenses on a tripod. (Want to take this type of shot? Read how in Fun with Fizzy Fruit Photography.)

The impact of converting the aperture is obvious. At f/22 it's miles just about possible to get the bubbles on the front and the back of the feather in consciousness - a complete distance of below an inch from front-to-back. The f/five.6 and f/2.Eight pix really display the narrowing down of the depth of subject, as an increasing number of bubbles fade into heritage blur, which isolates the vanguard bubbles that remain in awareness. By f/2.8, most effective the nearest bubbles stay in focus. Some of the bubbles themselves are too large (deep) that the entire bubble, the front-to-lower back isn't always in focus. This razor-skinny intensity of discipline is a feature of close-up images, no longer simply the close-up lenses, but it's miles critical to maintain in mind whilst taking pictures near-up and macro photography.

Final Verdict

I am a big fan of myDigital Concepts 58mm four-Piece Multi-Coated Camera Lens Filter Set. They are my move-to close-up images accent, and I typically deliver the 10x near-up lens with me while visiting or happening a image stroll. It simplest takes some seconds to seize it out of my pocket, screw it on my lens, and begin taking pictures near-up snap shots. No need to switch lenses outside. Plus, for round $12 USD, why now not attempt a fixed of close-up lenses earlier than allotting $six hundred for a committed macro lens (Canon 100 f/2.8)?

Kiwi photographed with 10x near-up lens

Addendum: Bryan Peterson, in his book Understanding Close-Up Photography, speaks very highly of the Canon 500d close-up lens, which works as a filter, just like the Digital Concepts version. At $90-150 USD, depending on which diameter you need, this is still a pricier investment. Peterson bemoans the quality of cheaper close-up lenses, but I have been quite happy with mine.

What about you? Do you shoot with close-up lenses? Are you happy with your results?  Share your thoughts or a link to relevant pictures in the comments below.

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Photography Article Tips to Improve Your Macro Photography|Photography Artist Statement

What is Macro Photography?

Macro photography is a way of looking at and recording the details and minutiae of the world. A macro photograph allows you to see a subject enlarged beyond life size and to capture subtle details or amazing facets that might be overlooked at a normal scale.

Macro and close-up pictures are associated but now not identical fields. There is real a technical definition for macro pictures, and it is associated with the ratio among the dimensions of the challenge being photographed and its length on the digital camera's sensor. A authentic macro picture will file the difficulty same to (1:1) or large (2:1 or extra) than the real existence length of the subject. For a crop sensor camera with an APS-C sensor, the sensor size could be round 25 x 17 mm, whilst a full body sensor fits conventional 35 mm film, with a size of 36 x 24 mm. This could mean taking pictures a subject at that size sensor for a real macro image.

Close-up images is a extra loosely defined term. A near-up image may even function a smaller difficulty shown magnified, but the problem won't be as small because the actual camera sensor. Since most pix are regarded at large sizes than digicam-sensor-length, including four x 6 inches, it is straightforward to print a close-up picture at a larger size and display off large-than-lifestyles information. All of the recommendations in this text apply equally nicely to macro and near-up images.

Bugs and insects are conventional macro photography topics, but you are not restricted in your choice of topics. Everyday gadgets can take on an surprising appearance while viewed thru the lens of macro images. Other suitable applicants encompass topics with interesting textures or colors. You might be amazed on the possibilities you may discover!

Depth of Field in Macro Photography

Depth of field refers to the width of the part of your photograph that is in focus and is of particular interest in macro photography. The closer you get to your subject, the relatively smaller (thinner) your depth of field will become. If you are focusing on a subject at your camera's minimum focusing distance, it may mean that your depth of field is only millimeters thick. This can make focusing particularly difficult, as any slight movement in the camera or the subject may throw the entire subject out of focus.

Depth of discipline is visible as a narrow slice via this hoarfrost on a chain

Use a Narrow Aperture

One solution is to use a narrower aperture when shooting, such as f/22. This will maximize your depth of field and allow you to get more of your subject in focus. The trade-off, however, is that you will need to use a much longer shutter speed to compensate. This may not be possible if you are shooting a quickly moving, crawling, or flying subject, as it may move while the camera is recording the picture, causing blur. In that case, you will need to open up the aperture or raise your ISO to get a quicker shutter speed.

Use Your Tripod Effectively

If you have a stable subject, such as a still life or a household object, you can use a tripod in combination with that longer shutter speed to keep your camera rock steady and maintain a sharp focus. Use a remote release or two-second timer to avoid adding shake to the camera, turn off any image stabilization on your lens, and consider turning on the mirror lock-up option to completely avoid transmitting any shake to your camera. Read more about How to Maximize Your Tripod here.

Focus Stacking

One post-processing solution to increase depth of field is to utilize focus stacking. Focus stacking allows you to shoot a series of pictures with incremental changes in the location of the depth of field and then combine all those separate regions in focus into one fully in-focus final image. Read more about focus stacking later this month in a full post how to.

Composition: Clear the Clutter

Depending on your subject, you may not have a lot of control over your final composition. A quickly moving insect may not be considerate enough to land on the right flower or at the proper angle. At the same time, if you keep some simple compositional ideas in mind, you will have great success getting the shot you want.

Beware of the Background

Be sure that you are paying attention to the background and not just your subject when shooting. It is always a temptation to zero in on your subject to the exclusion of all else, but you will be surprised at how many flaws you will find later when you review your photographs. Aim for simple, uncluttered backgrounds. Contrasting colors work really well. You want your subject to be the star, not the distracting patch of bright light right behind it. A pattern like a mass of branches can blur into a pleasing background, but a single out-of-focus background branch can pull the eye away from your subject and into distraction. Try to take that extra half-second to survey the background. Often simply changing your perspective slightly can alleviate the problem. Read more about Remembering the Background and Moving Your Feet here.

Try Filling the Frame

Better yet, don't worry about your background at all, and simply fill the frame entirely with your subject. This works particular well for a subject like flowers or a repeating pattern, like rust stains, where you can compose for only a portion of the entire subject. Filling the frame gives your viewer an up-close and personal encounter with the subject and can make for a memorable macro photograph.

Orient for Focus

In general with macro photography, you will only have a portion of your subject (and of your image) in focus, depending on your depth of field. Think about what part or parts of your subject are the most important to keep in focus (think eyes for bugs and insects or the centers of flowers, etc.). Because depth of field is a plane parallel to your camera, you can move yourself or your subject to place that plane in the best place. For insect wings, for example, place your camera parallel to the wing to keep the entire thing in focus.

Improve Your Macro and Close-Up Photography

Now that you have the basics, take the time to try them out and see what works for you! If you are intimidated by the idea of chasing moving subjects (or you live somewhere cold, like I do and think you might never see Spring again), then start with stable subjects like flowers or household objects. Work on getting your focus spot on, extending and contracting your depth of field, and cleaning up your composition. Then you can build your confidence for shooting on the fly (or at least, shooting things that fly).

Looking to get macro-degree images with out highly-priced device? Check out our Cheap and Easy Macro: contrast and recommendations.

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Photography Article Focus Stacking for Macro and Close-Up Photography|Photography Artist Statement

Focus can be a tough prospect with macro and close-up photography. The nearer you're for your subject, the thinner your intensity of discipline (the vicinity of your concern in awareness) turns into. Even if you use a slim aperture (like f/22, read more right here), your widest intensity of discipline is probably less than an inch, front-to-back. Focus stacking is a method for capturing and mixing a series of pics to acquire attention across as lots of your concern as you need.

Close-up flower, photographed the use of 50 mm lens and 10x close-up lens. 3 photos cognizance stacked.

How to Photograph a Series for Focus Stacking

In order to easily blend your series of images, you will want to shoot in Manual mode (M) on your camera. This will ensure that all your photographs have the same settings and exposure. (Unsure about manual mode? Take a test image of your subject first, using whatever mode you are comfortable with ... Av/A for aperture, Tv/S for shutter, P for Program, or even just Auto. Then, look at the settings your camera chose for that picture. Switch into manual mode and dial in those same settings for ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Ta da!)

You may even need to apply guide focusing. You can either determine for your composition and twirl the point of interest ring to your camera lens till your situation appears flawlessly in attention, or you could twirl the focal point ring in your digital camera lens first after which move your body barely ahead or backward in the direction of your situation till it seems flawlessly in cognizance. (The first approach will provide you with precisely the composition you need, at the same time as the second one approach will give you the closest-in cognizance you could get.)

Then, think about your composition and exactly which elements of your problem you do or do now not want in recognition in the final image. Maybe you want every single aspect in focus, or maybe you handiest want one positive region of your subject to be in focus.

2-photograph attention stack of a near-up flower

For this photograph of a flower I knew that I wanted the center of the flower to be in cognizance, but I still desired the petals blurred and out of focus. When I took my check shot, I centered on the front of the flower's center, and I become able to get approximately 1/2 of the middle in cognizance. I then took a second shot maintaining the returned half of the flower's center in awareness. You can see that the rest of the petals aren't in recognition whilst maximum of the center (besides for the very foreground) is in awareness.

Since you are the use of manual cognizance, the movement required among every shot may be very, very small. All you want is the slightest of leans nearer or farther from your problem. Practice searching through your viewfinder (or the use of Live View, if you decide on) and watching the region of cognizance pass thru your situation as you lean in-and-out slowly and slightly. When you are equipped to photo your collection for cognizance stacking, start from either the nearest in or farthest out which you need in awareness. Take the first photograph, move barely to adjust the focal point, freeze and take the subsequent image, and repeat.

Focus Stacking and Processing

Once you have your series of photographs with varying areas in focus, you are ready for the post-processing focus stacking step. These directions and 'how to' images are using Adobe Photoshop. There may be other options available for focus stacking, but this is what I use.

The first step is to open each of the individual images in Photoshop. Then you will copy and paste them all into one single file. Hold down shift and click to select each of the individual layers. Then choose Edit -> Auto-Align Layers. I find the Auto projection usually works just fine. Click OK. This will exactly line up all of the individual images. Since you have to move slightly to take each picture and change the focus, the images will each be slightly off from each other, and this will correct those differences.

After the Auto-Aligning is finished, all of your layers should still be selected. Then choose Edit -> Auto-Blend Layers and choose the Stack option. Click OK. Photoshop will then select the sections from each image that are best in focus and create a composite final image.

Click caption to peer focus stacked image larger on Flickr.

This collection indicates the results of attention stacking three man or woman pics of frozen droplets. The pinnacle 3 photos display the exceptional portions of the 3 images that had been selected for inclusion within the very last, blended, awareness stack image beneath. (You can tell from the final image that I surely needed a fourth photograph, of the ice crystals closest to the digicam, with a view to get them in attention as well.)

Click caption to peer the final image large on Flickr.

This college shows a evaluation of the 4 person photos and the very last, recognition stacked photo. You can see, again, that small sections of the leaf are nevertheless no longer in recognition, due to the fact the area in attention jumped barely an excessive amount of from image to picture (for example, take a look at the middle of the close to-center leaf). The key with consciousness stacking is continually to move very slightly and attempt to overlap the regions in awareness from picture to photograph.

Try Focus Stacking

Focus stacking is a brilliant technique to try while photographing a close-up or macro subject while you want a bigger location of the photo in consciousness. Focus stacking permits you to mix more than one photos with barely exceptional areas in consciousness into one, properly-centered final photo. The hints for a success recognition stacking and blending are to apply manual settings and awareness and to make only minimum moves from image-to-image on the way to ensure ideal attention.

What will you operate awareness stacking for? Share an idea or photograph within the comments under.

Boost Your Photography: Learn Your DSLR is now to be had from Amazon. Get the most out of your camera with realistic advice approximately the technical and innovative components of DSLR pictures so that it will have you ever taking beautiful photographs right away.

Photography Article Eclipse Tonight! and A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography|Photography Artist Statement

You might also have heard that this night (April 14th or the early morning of April fifteenth) is an opportunity to observe and photo a complete lunar eclipse! I even have only been a hit as soon as in capturing an eclipse and am hoping the climate cooperates this night (ha!) for every other.

Please click on at the photo above for greater info and variations of the parent in one of a kind time zones.

Photo reused via Creative Commons license fromhttp://www.Mreclipse.Com/

If you have an interest, right here are some extra useful hyperlinks to get you organized:

• Tips for Photographing the Lunar Eclipse - this article and video will answer all your questions about the specifics of tonight's particular eclipse as well as provide some useful shooting advice and settings suggestions
• How to Photograph a Lunar Eclipse - straight-forward and detailed, this article provides suggestions for the exact settings to try for successful eclipse photographs

Also, if you missed it, I had another guest post this week on Digital Photography School:

• Travel Photography with out the Travel - a study a way to enhance your tour pictures competencies without each leaving town.

And now back to our regularly scheduled "A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography..."

2013:

• Capture the Seasons: Rephotography. With Spring finally arriving, now is a exceptional time to think about beginning a seasonal collection. This put up offers useful guidelines for choosing a perfect place and making the dedication to go back all through the course of the 12 months.

• Photography Inspiration: Found Book Poetry. Found book poetry is a honestly a laugh manner to create and photograph poems, using only the phrases on e-book spines.

• Inexpensive Close-Up Photography: Extension Tubes. This 0.33 article in my visitor put up collection on Photokonnexion protecting inexpensive options for macro photography. Extension tubes flow your camera lens farther far from your digital camera body, efficaciously enlarging the subject as recorded by means of your digicam's sensor.

• Macro and Close-Up Photography: Tips and Tricks. This is the fourth and very last article in my guest put up collection on Photokonnexion. It consists of an outline of tips for intensity of field, taking pictures macro with and with out a tripod, and a way to combine numerous methods to achieve remarkable near-in photographic effects.

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Photography Article Make the Shot: Close-Up Eyeball|Photography Artist Statement

The iris of the eye is sort of a fingerprint - a completely unique pattern that signifies an character. A close-up or macro photograph of an eye indicates off a notable deal of element we would in any other case miss. In this publish, I'll give an explanation for how I took the shot above of my very own eye.

Set-Up

The set-up for this shot was fairly basic: I needed a window with bright light and a tripod. I knew that I wanted to go for an overexposed or high-key style, so I taped a piece of bright white paper to the side of the window, behind my head. Then I secured my Canon T1i on the tripod with the Canon 50 mm f/1.8 lens and a +10 close-up lens for added magnification. (You can read more about close-up lenses and their application here.) I knew that I wanted the entirety of the iris in focus, so I used an aperture of f/7.1 and a shutter speed of 1/100, which my camera's sensor recorded as somewhat overexposed.

Lining up my eye using the string for focus.

My main concern was focus, but I solved that problem with a piece of string and a marker. First, I tied the string around the base of the tripod. Then, I looked through the viewfinder of the camera and held the string taut, away from the tripod. With my other hand, I moved the marker until it was exactly in focus, and then used it to mark the string at that exact point. Now, all I had to do was hold the string up to my eye, and I knew it would be in focus.

Making the Shot

Once I had the settings dialed in, I used the string to guide where to position my eye. Then, I used a remote control to trigger the camera. I usually took three to five shots each time before going back to check them on the camera's LCD display, checking to see that my eye was centered in the frame and in focus.  I also experimented with looking in different directions towards and away from the camera.

Final Steps

I wanted the pure white look of a high-key shot, so I did some quick modifications on the computer. Using the RAW file in Adobe Photoshop, I bumped up the exposure and cropped slightly (the dark spot in the upper right was bugging me). A comparison of the before and after versions of the shot is below.

The eye shot before (left) and after (right) post processing.

So that's all you need to create a stunning close-up shot of your own eyeball. Feel free to link to your own shots taken using these suggestions in the comments below.

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Photography Article Inexpensive Close-Up Photography: close-up lenses|Photography Artist Statement

Wood Violets shot with a Canon 50 mm f/1.8 lens and a +10 close-up lens.

Wood Violets through Archaeofrog on Flickr

Many people count on that macro or close-up images calls for expensive lenses or device, but you can reap macro-level results with a minimum funding.

In the article below, I speak the use of close-up lenses that screw on to your modern-day digicam lens, allowing you to discover close-up photography with the device you have already got.You can examine the object on close-up lenses right here on Photokonnexion.

If fascinated, you can shop for Close-Up Lenses on Amazon.Com.

Part 2 of the collection on Inexpensive Close-Up Photography is set reverse earrings.

Part three of the collection on Inexpensive Close-Up Photography is ready extension tubes.

Part 4 inside the series approximately Inexpensive Close-Up Photography details pointers and hints for the excellent consequences.

Photography Article Inexpensive Close-Up Photography: reverse rings|Photography Artist Statement

Bee photographed the usage of a reverse ring on a Canon 50 mm f/1.8 lens.

Close-up bee photographed by using Archaeofrog on Flickr A 2nd, cheaper way to acquire macro-stage results to your images is with using an inexpensive reverse ring mount adapter. A opposite ring lets in you to mount your digicam lens backwards in your camera frame and get towards the difficulty you need to image. You can examine my full guest put up approximately a way to use a reverse ring for close-up images on Photokonnexion.

If involved, you may save for opposite earrings on Amazon. Make positive you pick a hoop that suits the brand of your camera and the diameter (width) of the lens you want to reverse.

Part 1 inside the collection approximately Inexpensive Close-Up Photography is set near-up lenses.

Part 3 within the series about Inexpensive Close-Up Photography is set extension tubes.

Part four in the series approximately Inexpensive Close-Up Photography info tips and hints for the great outcomes.

Photography Article Macro and Close-Up Photography: Tips and Tricks|Photography Artist Statement

Lego minifigure investigates a water crown. Shot with a 50 mm lens and a +4 close-up lens.

Lego Water Crown on Flickr by Archaeofrog  Anyone can do macro or close-up photography, and my recent series of articles has covered three inexpensive ways to achieve macro results with your current DSLR camera and lens (usingclose-up lenses,reverse rings, and extension tubes). In this fourth and final article, I offer a series of suggestions for macro and close-up photography that are applicable whether you use any of the three techniques above, a dedicated macro lens, or the macro (flower) setting on your point-and-shoot camera.You can read my full guest post about Macro and Close-Up Photography Tips and Tricks on Photokonnexion.

Interested in getting started in macro and near-up photography? These are the products that I use.

Digital Concepts 1 2 four 10 Close-Up Macro Filter Set with Pouch on Amazon

Fotodiox Macro Reverse Ring Camera Mount Adapter for Canon on Amazon

Fotodiox Canon EOS Macro Extension Tube Set Kit on Amazon