May31-B - 09A_2344_Pyrethrum.jpg
 

Pyrethrum Flower

When I bought these seeds, they were sold as "Pyrethrum; painted
daisy", although I think it may be arguable what they really are. Some
plants have these magenta flowers, and some have pink.

The real point here is that I was experimenting with a screw-on
close-up lens. For macro shots I have long used and liked extension
tubes on a 50mm f1.4 lens that I have, but I read that the close-up
lens worked better on longer focal lengths, and allowed for a longer
"working distance" between the subject and the front of the lens. When
I use ET on the 50mm, the glass has to be within a couple of inches of
the subject to get something like this (and often casts a shadow), but
the base lens here was at 200mm at its closest focus distance of a
couple of feet.

One of the "tricks" for any kind of macro work is to use a very small
lens opening to maximize DoF. Any kind of macro system, even a
specialty lens, produces extremely narrow DoF and to be useful, you
need that small aperture. The small opening means lots of light and/or
slow speeds, so a flash is often needed, but with full sun in this
case, it was without flash. This is un-cropped from my 1.3x sensor.

Canon 1DmkIII; EF70-200mm f2.8L IS + Canon 500D close-up filter;
200mm; ISO-200; f16; 1/200-sec.

May31-B - 09A_2344_Pyrethrum.jpg
 

Hi there John, I googled pyrethrum & came up with Chrysanthemum
cinerariaefolium
I have a plant spray that contains a % of pyrethrum, that I use on my
orchids.
Anyhow, more importantly, I love your closeup & have some questions re
lenses etc.
Is your email addy authentic?
Cheers Wendy

"John - Pa." wrote in message
...
Pyrethrum Flower

When I bought these seeds, they were sold as "Pyrethrum; painted
daisy", although I think it may be arguable what they really are. Some
plants have these magenta flowers, and some have pink.

The real point here is that I was experimenting with a screw-on
close-up lens. For macro shots I have long used and liked extension
tubes on a 50mm f1.4 lens that I have, but I read that the close-up
lens worked better on longer focal lengths, and allowed for a longer
"working distance" between the subject and the front of the lens. When
I use ET on the 50mm, the glass has to be within a couple of inches of
the subject to get something like this (and often casts a shadow), but
the base lens here was at 200mm at its closest focus distance of a
couple of feet.

One of the "tricks" for any kind of macro work is to use a very small
lens opening to maximize DoF. Any kind of macro system, even a
specialty lens, produces extremely narrow DoF and to be useful, you
need that small aperture. The small opening means lots of light and/or
slow speeds, so a flash is often needed, but with full sun in this
case, it was without flash. This is un-cropped from my 1.3x sensor.

Canon 1DmkIII; EF70-200mm f2.8L IS + Canon 500D close-up filter;
200mm; ISO-200; f16; 1/200-sec.