Outer Space or Inner Space

I was setting up my strobes for some updated puppy formals and happened to go out back to bring in the dogs. Spotted a new vine of Hybiscus growing along the fence and the ruby red color really caught my eye. But it was a bit windy so I decided to snip a blossom, bring it into my "studio" which is currently doubling as the whelping room and see what I could get.

I set the Hybiscus on a table with a black backdrop coming down the wall and across the platform. Then I set up my PLM above and slightly behind the flower and a second strobe set up in front but bounced off of the white ceiling. Mounted first my 85 F1.8 and a 20mm extension tube for some close-ups and then changed to the 200 F2.8L with all three extension tubes for some really close views. I was very happy with the results so I thought I'd share a few images.

First up is a shot with the 85/20 mm extension tube but trying to create an image with context.



Next, a closer view with the 200L and 12 mm, 20 mm and 36 mm extension tubes.



And finally, a shot with the 85/20 combination which looks to me to be almost celestial.



I love macro photography and I really love it when you can control all the elements including the lighting. Hope you enjoy the images as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Jim

Hey Jim,

These are lovely!

James

Those are really cool! I hope to one day buy a macro lens

James, thank you. Katie, these were taken with a set of Kenko extension tubes which let you use your regular lenses to be able to focus really close to your subjects. I prefer to use them with my primes: the Canon 50mm F1.4, Canon 85mm F1.8, Canon 200mm F2.8L. I find that if you stop down to F9-F16 you get great sharpness and just enough depth of field.

I'd love to have the Canon 100mm F2.8L IS but I find I can get the images I want with my other primes and the Xtubes. If I get more into macro photography than I am now, I'll consider buying it. Glad you like these.

Jim

Hmm...I have never heard of the extension tubes (although I haven't researched much gear). I am learning so much from this site

Katie,
Kenko extension tube set: $175. Canon 100mm F2.8L IS macro lens: $1,000 approx. Before you make the big investment in a dedicated macro lens, it might make sense to see if the tubes can meet your needs at a much lower investment cost. Comparable prices for Nikon.

Jim

Really nice images Jim!

Nice....very vivid and rich colors.

Enjoyed this quite a bit.

Roman

Thank you Peggy Sue. Thank you, Roman. I have to correct myself: this is actually a Hollyhock which has flowers like an Hybiscus but the plant itself it totally different. Nevertheless, it's just such a gorgeous amalgam of cool colors! Thanks to everyone for liking my impressions of it.

Jim

Jim,

Way cool! So vivid! Your PLM... is it the extreme silver, soft silver or white?

I have some friends who are having a huge orchid show next week and I'm going to go in after the show and practice my macro. The extensions would be a nice touch.

Thank for sharing, Doug

Doug,
I have the hard silver PLM since I use it primarily for dog show formals mated with a regular silver umbrella as a fill. The nice thing about the PLM is that you can position it above and slightly behind for macro work with flowers and get some translucency if you dial down the front strobe. Must admit, I guessed at the level of the strobes and when I viewed my first image I loved the colors and the saturation. So, I left it where it was and enjoyed getting in as close as possible with the tubes. A true macro lens might give me slightly better magnification and certainly a bit more sharpness but the combination of the tubes with very sharp primes works pretty well for me.

Jim