Macro Photography tips for Point and Shoot Cameras V

Hey People!
How are you today?

It rained very heavy last night and sent a cool breeze all over but the morning sun made all the signs of last night's rain disappear...just saw a white throated kingfisher and a crow in an aerial fight, ran to grab my camera but it was too late by then. OK, then lets put the personal talk aside and concentrate on the last and final topic of Macro photography.

To understand this discussion today you need to check my last posts too.

Today we are going to discuss the last but not the least topic of our Macro photography discussion.

5.POST PROCESSING

This may seem useless to few but trust me the editing which we do after a shot is equally important as the shot itself, but there are a few pictures which have been so perfectly framed that they do not need any editing at all. Trust me there are not many such pictures.

Now that I'm talking about editing and all do not be  afraid that I'm emphasizing on very difficult editing tools, but rather I'd like to introduce you all to the very basic editing tool by GOOGLE which is freely available and not much explored by everyone. 

Ah! yes, you all guessed it right...I'm talking about the PICASA software. Take my word people this the best laymen photo editing tool available, it does not require technical expertise to do the editing. All the techniques are very clearly written and the thumbnails show the post processing effect and you can undo any thing you have done, is it not very easy people?

You can download the Picasa software here.

Now the most basic adjustment we can do to make the picture lively is to adjust the color, contrsat, brightness etc 

I would like to illustrate what Picasa does to a picture when used subtly

The two pictures above are the same(Very tiny seed dispersal of wild Asteraceae flowers) but the later has been processed appropriately in picasa.

The tools I used here are Tuning and Cropping.

Tuning: I have increased the contrast and the shadow in the picture. Which eliminated the dullness and brought the rich color of the plant and its background but got a bit overexposed due to the usage of flash.

Cropping: The picture has been appropriately cropped to show in the detail of seed dispersal as well as to get the required closeness.

When cropped the picture becomes quite big and the unwanted things in the picture can be eliminated to showcase what we intended to.

While capturing this picture it was windy and I had to use flash which restricted me from going very close to the plant as that would cast a shadow which is very undesirable , hence took the picture from a distance and rather thought of cropping it later to show the parts only in perfect focus.

There are many other modes in picasa which you can explore and this software also allows us to upload and store our picture online with our gmail account or separate picasa account, isn't it a wonderful thing? So, why the delay my dear friends start clicking and have fun editing to give those dramatic effects to your pictures which you have been dreaming of all these days.

Good luck with photographing the best Macro shots ever people.

Keep smiling and Happy clicking

Cheers,
Deepthi Nannam

Macro Photography tips for Point and Shoot Cameras II

This post is a continuation of the last post.

So, we were discussing the various possible subjects in macro photography. Today I will give a few more examples and then will move ahead with lighting.

The other subjects can be Insects which make for interesting subjects only when the focus is at the right point.

Wasp clicked by my husband using Nikon L820
Look at the clarity, even the fur on the wasp is clearly visible

For more of the interesting Insect pictures please visit the following link INSECTA

2. LIGHTING

Lighting plays a very important role in macro photography, in any photography as a matter of fact though.

The best light would be the sunlight, especially early in the mornings and in the evenings when the glow of the sun is soft and is at an angle and sun casts a beautiful glow on the subjects.

Please avoid shooting when the sun is at its peak and the skies are clear because the intensity of the sunlight is very harsh at noon which makes the highlights of the picture to be "blown out". And the natural hues or color of the subject changes.

So, while shooting outdoors white balance should be taken into consideration to capture the real colors and to retain the freshness of the subject. Choose the sunlight option under white balance for shooting outdoors.

Shooting in very harsh light and without setting the white balance resulted in "blown up" image and false colors 

The same flower shot at a different time of the day when it was cloudy and with white balance set to Sunlight

The above two photos were shot using a 5mp Samsung duos phone camera.

But when the subject is being shot indoors, then the flash plays an important role, make sure that the camera is not very close to the subject as the flash can cause a shadow. Select the Fill flash option which is more desirable while using flash.

Flash plays an important role even outside when the subject is constantly moving due to wind, the usage of flash enables us to freeze the motion in other words it eliminates blur.

The following examples illustrate this.

Buds of the wild neem (Melia azarderach), the flash has cast a shadow

By properly distancing the subject the fill flash option can be used to create stunning images

Though these flowers were captured during day light the shadow of the tree, and it was quite windy which made me use the flash. 

This ends the topic of lighting, the post will continue with the remaining topics.

Macro Photography tips for Point and Shoot Cameras

MACROS....oooh!

I kind of like the term and also love clicking in that mode...who doesn't?

I'm neither a professional photographer nor do I own a professional DSLR camera with a fancy Macro lens. (No offense to people with those wonderful Cameras).

Rather I'm an amateur with a great enthusiasm and passion for photography and I own a Bridge camera. But that doesn't stop me from getting some wonderfully clean and crisp macro photos, it shouldn't stop you either.

Today I'm going to illustrate neatly about the steps involved in macro photography with relevant examples.(All the photos in this post are clicked only by a point and shoot camera  by me unless and otherwise mentioned).

First of all...check out for the following flower like symbol on the camera to go to macro mode.

Click on this button, and start clicking, but some cameras like Sony cybershot, etc do not have a special button for macros but rather you have to set your camera in auto mode and get the camera closer to your subject and your camera automatically displays the symbol and you can start clicking.

And before you get close to your subject please press the shutter button slightly which allows you to focus on the subject properly and then in the next click you can start clicking, perfectly focused pictures. And when you slightly press the shutter button then you can know which part to highlight in your picture and the you can blur the other parts.

Important points to remember in Macro photography:

1. Subject

2. Lighting

3. Angle of Photography

4. Steadiness of hands or Tripod

5. Post-processing

And most importantly PATIENCE

All there are interrelated and cannot work without each other.

We come across many interesting things and little creatures in our daily lives which may seem mundane but after careful observation would make for some wonderful SUBJECT..

There is no hard rule, just let your imagination run wild and in no time you will have great pictures. The subjects may be flowers, insects, still life or any thing.

Today I'd like to discuss in detail how ordinary things seem extraordinary in Macro photography. The main focus of the article is upon the FLORA. Check out my Facebook link for other  macro flora subjects

Droplets of rain on a Euphorbia milli leaf with the refraction of the building in the back ground.

These are the flowers of a variety of wild grass which were swaying in the wind, their rich color against the blurry background makes it a good picture.

This is a wild Fabaceae flower(Need help with the ID), The monotonous green of the leaves makes the bright orange stand out

These are the sexual stage of a moss called Funaria, these are very small in size almost a cm or so and go  UN-noticed by everyone

Here the concentration  is on the pollen which being in the same color as the flower stands out cause it has been focused upon.

These are very few examples of what the subjects can be and will discuss the rest in the coming posts. Till then Keep smiling and keep Clicking.

PS: Please click on the images for a larger view.

Cheers,

Deepthi Nannam

Beautiful Lantana

I captured these stunning beauties at Vizag on a terrace. They had grown wild near a tank, thanks to the birds for the seed dispersal.

This variety of Lantana is called Eggs and Ham due to the dominant yellow pink and orange hues in the flowers(hehe nice name huh!),  love the flowers but the smell of the plant is a no-no to me.

I captured Lantanas in many colors check out this link for the other flowers. Lantana camara

No matter how insignificant we are......

Photography 365

Day 9

Milk weed bug on a wild fern

I captured this milk weed bug on the way to cortalim, Goa.

This bug reminds me of the various n number of creatures created by the God Almighty...and I wonder...!! How did He draft such variety? such colors, such patterns and what not...just cant imagine how He managed to draft the blue-print of the creation.

Ranging from the microscopic organism to the blue-whale He created everything. But no matter what the size is, what the color is...and irrespective of how the creatures look...God cares for all of them. HOW WONDERFUL IS OUR GOD!

The same thing applies to us humans...it is written in the Bible...Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (NIV). So no matter How poor we are, how ugly we look or how insignificant we are, or any problem we might be facing...God is with us and he takes care of us, so do not be disheartened or do not worry cause we have the heavenly father.

Leaves and thorns....

He-ya!

Sorry for not posting in 365, my computer was down.

Photography 365

Day 8

I took this picture at my Granny's garden. Captured this early in the morning when everyone in the house was sleeping. Just cant tell you how good it feels to go around clicking pictures when no one is watching..the best feeling ever..its like I'm lost in my own world with no one to other.

Don't the dew drops look heavenly...? What a bliss it was going around and finding the nature at its best...it was as if the whole garden had a thorough shower from the heavenly father...looking fresh and clean..ah! what bliss...Thank you Lord for your wonderful creation.

Green, green and green

Photography...365

Day 5 

Guess what it is?

Green, Green and green...

Here, there and everywhere...

From the grass so lean.....

to the birdie's queen...

From the heart of a seed....

you rise to be a mighty tree...

Our hearts are so happy..

when we see you everywhere...

Author-Deepthi Nannam

Green blow fly (Eega, Eega, Eega.....)

Photography 365

DAY 4

Blow fly (Stapelia gigantea)

Captured this at my Granny's place very early in the morning.

My mom just loathes this insect...so does everyone I guess.....?

But it does make a very elegant model for a photoshoot, Lol.

The royal Blue....

Photography...365

DAY 3

I captured this blue butterfly pea, (Clitoria ternata)  at my home garden in Goa.

Blue, blue, blue.....

From darkest to the lightest hue...

spread across the sky so wide...

reflected in the ocean so deep...

makes my heart merry and glad....

driving away all things that made me weep.

Author-Deepthi Nannam

Pearly drops on a leaf

Photography...365

DAY 2

Rain water droplets on Colocasia leaf

I took this picture at Selaulim Dam...it was raining hard while we went around but when it stopped raining, it looked as if the surrounding had a very good shower.

It was hot and sultry
suddenly it started to rain...
soaked up everything dry
but the trip wasn't in vain...
cause the world became fresh and clean
and vanished all our heart's pain.

Author-Deepthi Nannam

Don't mind my silly poems :P...Am just writing them as I blog by.