Life

Rosebud

In this shot, the fine details of this rosebud are clearly visible. A larger depth of field would add to this shot but it was a windy day and I had to opt for a high shutter speed, especially since I used the 180 mm macro lens. Using a fill in flash simply made the photo less natural.

Photo by George J. Reclos

Shooting data:

Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO200
Shutter speed: 1/250sec @ f/5.6
Flash: no flash used.
Image: JPEG processed in Photoshop CS, unsharp mask filter, curves to reduce the highlights and resized.  

Procyon I (Dahlia hybrid)

The opening flower of this dahlia would be a temptation for every photographer. The flower is large enough to be photographed with a normal (non macro) lens while it offers the possibility of interesting close ups. The colors of the flower make it an eye catcher, while the symmetry will lead the eye to its center. A very small aperture was used to increase depth of field.

Photo by George J. Reclos

Shooting Data:

Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/16, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and resized.  

Rudbeckia hirta or R. laciniata (common name: Black eyed Susan; Cone flower)

This shot was taken in the University of Massachusetts campus (Amherst, USA) during the NECCC meeting we attended with Ken and Roy in July 2005. Being there with 1200 other photo enthusiasts, carrying more than 1500 cameras and literally thousands of lenses was a really interesting experience. No matter where you were, you would always hear the sound of a shutter. The campus was full of flowers which are always a good subject to shoot. When I saw this cone flower I lowered to get at the same level with it but then I saw that the background included a pylon, part of a building and a car. I took the first shot with ambient light (1/125 @ f/5.6) and then decided to get rid of the background by stopping the lens down to f/32 and using the flash. At that distance (less than 30 cm) the illumination of the flash (thanks to i-TTL) was only enough to light the flower but not the background.

Photo by George J. Reclos

Shooting Data:

Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron SP AF 90 mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/32, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and resized.