My Photo Blog

2012-03-08T01:18:00.001-08:00

Please check this out!!!

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice. HOW TO HELP: Visit: http://kony2012.com

Playing with my new tripod

2012-03-05T11:43:00.002-08:00

Well thanks to my lovely girlfriend I'm the proud owner of a Manfrotto MN055XPROB tripod and a Manfrotto 804RC2 basic pan tilt head. I'm glad to say that the build quilty of this product is higher then I expected for the price tag! Should think this will last for many years to come!

But now having this tripod has allowed me to have my first go at focus stacking!! I thought I would try something very simple first so I choose a pen! I took 7 shots and then tried to stack them with using CombineZM which is freeware, but I couldn't figure this software out!! ahh!! So I went hunting for something else to help and come across Zerene Stacker, which seemed to work very well and here's the result!!!

But also when I had this set up I had a quick play with some oil and water and come up with this:

Used the 70-300mm Tamron and 50mm Nikon reversed with a Nikon D3100

Macro photo stacking software

2012-02-27T04:35:00.001-08:00

Which photo stacking software do you recommend. I have never done stacking before and would like some advice if anyone has one!!

Bug hunt at nursery

2012-02-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

Well Out in the woods today with a group of 18 children. Sorry for you guys that don't know me I work in early years as a forest school/outdoor educator. So anyway a couple of the little ones wanted to so off on a bug hunt. while removing some bark from a

tree we discovered these little guy's, not to sure what a few of them are! So if any of you know what they are please please let me know as I've told the children that I will try and find out for them, as well as let them see what their bugs look like up close!!

These photos were taken with the D3100 with the Tamron 70-300mm lens and the Nikon 50mm reverse coupled, hand held with a little Maglite for extra lighting. Don't think there to bad macro shots for an newbie! Any comments or advice please leave them!!!

Nikon 50mm f1.8 arrived!!!

2012-02-23T03:03:00.003-08:00

Well guys I found the time to collect the Nikon 50mm f1.8 from the post office today and have had just a quick go with it this morning reversed on my Tamron 70mm-300mm. Not really happy with the results but to be fair I haven't use a tripod or off camera flash as I don't have both at the moment. The tripod is on its way for my birthday but if anyone has any advice on a cheap flash for a Nikon D3100 that would be great.
I've taken a picture of the lenses coupled together just so you can see how it fits. Will see later if I have the parts to couple it with the old 200mm prime I got off of ebay and see how they come out!!

Like I said any comments or advice please feel welcome, a newbie can always do with tips and tricks!!

This is a cotton bud with the Tamron 70-300mm set at 235mm

This flower was taken with the same set up just at 90mm

These are normal washing up liquid taken at 135mm

These were taken at 300mm

Using extension tubes Made from loo roll

2012-02-21T14:03:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos taken with Nikon D3100 the HANIMEX 135MM F2.8 M42 PRIME LENS and a set of homemade extension tubes (two loo roll tubes put together).

All were taken with the on camera flash and with the aperture wide open.

I don't think the depth of feild is to bad with having the aperture wide open and these could easily be stacked.

I have just won a Nikon 50mm f1.8 prime on ebay so will have to find a reverse ring to try and pair this with my 70-300mm Tamron to give me a greater mag. This should give me way above 1:1, so give me a couple of days to get some photos and I'll post the results here.

HANIMEX 135MM F2.8 M42 withset of extension tubes

2012-02-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos taken with Nikon D3100 and the HANIMEX 135MM F2.8 M42 PRIME LENS and a set of extension tubes.

2012-02-21T13:21:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos taken with Nikon D3100 and the HANIMEX 135MM F2.8 M42 PRIME LENS

2012-02-21T13:13:00.000-08:00

I have been looking in to buying a macro lens, which as you know is not cheap. So I've been looking at cheaper alternative's. So I've been on ebay looking at some cheap old prime lenses that I could use with some extension tubes. And come up with two old M42 mount lenses, HANIMEX 135MM F2.8 M42 PRIME LENS and Auto Tele Optomax f3.5 200mm and two set's of M42 3 auto Macro extension tubes. Plus I needed to buy an M42 lens to Nikon AI mount adapter in order to mount them to my Nikon. Which cost my no more than £60 for the lot, wouldn't be able to find a prime 135mm Nikon lens for that money so its worth a punt!!! Should go well on the Nikon D3100.
I will post some photos of these lenses when I've got 5 minutes to spare!

2012-02-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

Most of these were taken with my D3100 and an old Kodak 10 mega pixel X10. Some where taken with IR filter.

The begining

2012-02-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

Well welcome to my blog, where you can follow me on my journey in to the world of photography.
I'm not a professorial photographer and to reflect this am shooting with a Nikon D3100 which in all fairness is my second camera and my first ever DSLR.
I have a real passion for wildlife and am just getting in to macro photography. Which I'm hoping to do on a shoe string as a lot of you may know macro lenses cost around £300 plus which is a lot of money in today's climate and having a little one on the way in June.
I will post later what kit I do currently have and at the same time have a look in to what I'm looking in to buying to improve my rig.