Getting serious about flower photography - advice?

[Biddlybee]

Cid/mauvis - cheers for advice on lenses. I'll get myself down to a shop soon.

Had a search in this forum for a decent camera shop in London but got no results - so might post a thread here or in London forum - always prefer getting recommendations to ending up at loads of crap shops.

 

[editor]

Maybe this book might be useful?
http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/bookreviews/bookdetails.cfm?ibookid=214

 

[5T3R30TYP3]

I went though a period when I decided I was gonna start taking pictures of flowers, but then I realised I was being a right pansy. However, I still absolutely love this picture however un-masculine that makes me.

Anyway that's what inspired me to make myself broke by buying a 100mm macro lens - seeing awesome close ups of flowers and wanting to do them myself. I don't take pics of flowers with it anymore, I use it for everything as it's so bloody sharp and useful for looking at stuff really close-up.

I'd definitely recommend getting a 100ish-mm macro and a film SLR to start with, then move up to a digital SLR. The reason I say this is because a film SLR and a lens is gonna cost you beans compared to a digital SLR + macro lens. You can always sell it on eBay if you decide to get a digital SLR later as well.

Good to see you have a tripod as you'll bloody need it. Try getting a non-blurred flower using ISO 50 Fuji Velvia at f/4 on an overcast day in the shade while the wind's blowing ffs it can be hard enough *with* the tripod...

Anyway once you've got the slr and the macro lens, you might want to get a reflector as this can make the lighting softer or more interesting. The reflector can be useful to help block the wind on a windy day, helping to stop flower heads blowing about...

Perhaps think about getting a flash that you can use off-camera such as a Metz 45-CL4, you can pick one up in decent condition for about 70 quid secondhand, to add interesting highights to your subject.

So there you go...

35mm SLR
100mm Macro lens
loads of Fuji Velvia 50 or 100
Tripod
Reflector
Flash

 

[editor]

I'm still a long way from having mastered my present camera, an Olympus C-5060WZ, but I'm starting to study up with the aim of doing so before it becomes obsolete or dies.

If you want to see what your camera is really capable of, check out the amazing pics taken on Olympus C-8080, C-5050 and C-5060 cameras by award winning war reporter Rob Galbraith

 

[Cid]

Cid/mauvis - cheers for advice on lenses. I'll get myself down to a shop soon.

Had a search in this forum for a decent camera shop in London but got no results - so might post a thread here or in London forum - always prefer getting recommendations to ending up at loads of crap shops.

Tottenham court road is a camera shop

Kingsley's and a lil one at the north end called something like camera world are the ones I use most, but the Jessops on New Oxford st isn't bad - it has a pro advice and materials section downstairs and great deals. There're two good shops near the British museum too (small square to the south of the entrance), one is an old/classic camera specialist (this may actually be owned by Jessops, but it really isn't anything like their normal shops - lots of camera porn in there) and the other is a lil independent store... I got my lens there (about £20 cheaper than Kingsley's). kingsley's can be a little expenssive but is very reliable and the staff will give you excellent advice (although tbh most of the small indepent shops do too). There's also a Leica specialist in the lil square iirc - but that's just something to drool over.

 

[Biddlybee]

Tottenham court road is a camera shop

Right. It's pay day on Friday, I'm there on Saturday! (after taking a few shots for consumer culture assignment)

 

[Cid]

see edit for more detail. Oh yeah, don't go to any of the ones that look vaguely like newsagents or the big shops with tripods in the window (standard Tot Ct electrical goods place)

 

[Firky]

If you want to see what your camera is really capable of, check out the amazing pics taken on Olympus C-8080, C-5050 and C-5060 cameras by award winning war reporter Rob Galbraith

James Nachtwey is better! </<derail>

 

[Biddlybee]

Nice one. Not found a Jessops with decent staff in it yet - tend to use them for buying new stuff on the price match they do - but I'll check that one out. As well as the other lil ones.

There's also a Leica specialist in the lil square iirc - but that's just something to drool over.

Might have to bypass this one though... it'll make me cry
Maybe one day

Firky - think it's me that derailed from OP

 

[Cid]

Here's a lil quotation on that yard:

If you're interested in Leicas or collectible cameras, visit Pied Bull Yard off Bury Place across from the British Museum. This courtyard contains The Classic Camera, a Leica-only dealer, and Jessop Classic Photographica, with a fine collection of old rangefinder and twin-lens reflex equipment.

There's also another shop there that sells newer stuff at decent prices. I think I may be repeating myself now so I'll get me coat.

 

[Bernie Gunther]

I went though a period when I decided I was gonna start taking pictures of flowers, but then I realised I was being a right pansy. However, I still absolutely love this picture however un-masculine that makes me.<snip>

That's an amazing picture. I think you had a couple more like that I saw on the 'in the detail' thread?

 

[Leica]

My twopence: The macro/supermacro settings are perfect for photographs of flowers, plants, insects etc. With the supermacro setting you can take a sharp picture of an object as close as 3 cm from the lens. There is also a supermacro setting with manual focus that allows you to focus exactly where you want.

A white sheet of paper used as a reflector of light is a good idea, as the lens sometimes can cast a shadow depending on the angle. Flipping up the monitor while you try different angles will help with this too. You can avoid using a tripod by using shutter priority mode (S) and setting the shutter to 1/60 or faster. Also, if you would like your central subject to stand out from a darker background you could experiment with setting the light metering method to Spot (a rectangle with a dot in the middle). The automatic exposure lock (AEL) is useful too for framing.

I would recommend reading the manual for more thoughts, I think your Olympus is an excellent camera for what you want to do.

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Ah. Just had a play with spot metering. Always wondered what that was for. I'd already discovered the wonders of the AEL button. Thanks Leica.

Another question if I may. The macro mode on my camera seems quite powerful, yet people with SLRs pay vast amounts of money for dedicated macro lenses, some of which are fairly large objects. What are they getting from those things, that I'm not getting with the smaller lens on my camera?

I'm guessing it's the ability to shoot at a similar scale from greater distances or more light through the aperture or something like that.

 

[boskysquelch]

or more light through the aperture or something like that.

that's near the mark...it's todo with the physics of lenses and the transmission of light through a medium; the asccuracy of placement of focus versus the choice of depth of field; ... blahblahblablah.

 

[5T3R30TYP3]

That's an amazing picture. I think you had a couple more like that I saw on the 'in the detail' thread?

'tis the same one aye. I think I might have used a polariser as well, can't remember though. If I did it means I had to increase exposure by 1-2 stops, not really ideal as my shutter speed was slow enough and I would have preferred more depth of field on that pic. You might want to invest in one, it can help during bright sunlight as it increases colour saturation and removes/reduces some of the direct reflections (so you see colour rather than white areas where the sun is reflecting off the flower).

I wish my mum had some better flowers in the garden I feel a bit silly taking pictures of flowers but they look cracking when they come out

 

[Leica]

dedicated macro lenses, some of which are fairly large objects

Don't forget that the lens on the Olympus looks small because it is retractable.
I'm not really into equipment wars but if the C5060 is the same as the C5050, the lens is a respectable F1.8 which is very bright even for slr standards. In other words, the lens you have is very good.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Yes macro lenses are big because the lens needs to be further away from the film plane than a standard lens in order to give the extra magnification.

One simple way to achieve macro magnification with SLRs is to use extension tubes with a standard lens.

Hocus