Macro Photography – What equipment do you require?

There are a number of ways to get into macro photography ranging from inexpensive to outrageously expensive. Tough decisions to make, especially for someone that doesn’t make their living from photography. If you decide you want to explore macro photography you have a number of options. I have listed these options starting with what I […]
Pacific Northwest Jellyfish

I’m certainly not a jellyfish expert but I have always been interested in these strange animals that we see floating around our waters. These are a few recent sightings from Portland Island and Sidney Island. Identification may come later, stick with me!
The Lowly Dandelion

A strange thing happened a few days ago. I was riding my lawn mower in my precise and efficient cutting pattern and started looking at the wildflowers that were growing right in front of my blades. A few seconds later they were history, all but a memory. It occurred to me that before I mow […]
Macro Photography and Depth of Field

There are a couple trains of thought about the use of depth of field in macro photography. One camp insists that one should stop the lens aperture down to gain the most depth of field so that the entire image is as “in focus” as possible. The other camp insists that a very shallow depth […]
Cowichan River Flowers

In the previous post I mentioned that I spent time today shooting both wildflowers and whitewater kayaking. These are two very different types of work, it was interesting to do both within a few hours. For those that are interested, most of my close-up photography of flowers is with the Sigma 150mm macro lens. This […]
Sigma 50mm f2.8 D Macro EX

I’m beginning to feel like an equipment junkie having purchased a couple new (used) lenses recently. One of these, the Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye I have mentioned a number of times in previous posts (A few more 180’s from the Nikkor 10.5mm Fisheye Lens and Fisheye Views). The other lens I recently purchased was a Sigma […]
Spider

This cute little fellow is hanging out by my front door. I looked up at him (her?) and thought the Japanese plum added a bit of life to a possible image. Nothing fancy here, shot with the Sigma 150mm macro.
Sigma 150mm f2.8 APO Macro review

I haven’t owned a macro lens for a number of years since making the move to digital. At that time I was using a classic manual focus 105mm Nikkor and thoroughly enjoyed it. About a month ago I got the urge to shoot up close and personal again and after a little research decided on […]
Mushrooms and other fungi

If you get down low and look really close the forest floor has amazing plants and animals to view. Having just bought a new Sigma 150mm Macro lens I decided that it was time to explore this small area of the world again. What a joy!It’s that time of year up here in the Pacific […]