Sunday, November 29, 2009

the process of shooting macro

Getting photographs of tiny things can be difficult. Especially if you are trying to blow them up really large to the point where they are completely out of proportion. I have a film camera setup that can do a reasonably good job of getting close to objects and capture them well.

2009-11-26 10.07.00 shooting a fly with an elephant gun

Here is my Mamiya RZ67 with an extension tube on the front, and a 65mm lens mounted on that. I was trying to get as close as possible to the berries that are almost touching the lens, so I extended the focus bellows to their maximum and then moved the camera in to find the point where I was closest and in focus. I have a fine thread plate that moves the camera very precisely and allow me to carefully move the focal plane. Here is a Polaroid of the photo that you see me taking above:

091126_04 the hunted

It is a little dark, I have to admit. With the berries so close to the lens, there is very little light on the lens side. I shot these with B&W film as well, I will add that to this post when I get it developed.

Here is a tiny flower that I captured the same way:
091126_06

I will post the film shots of this as well.