Starting My Journey into the World of Macro Photography
In the blog this week I finally head out with the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro and start my journey as a macro photographer!
First Steps
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you may remember that I tried macro photography for the first-time last year. You can see some of the results here. Regardless of the quality of those first few steps into the world of macro photography, I was sure of one thing and that was I wanted to do more of it!
Just over a year after that last blog post I’ve finally given it another try. Why wait so long I hear you ask. Having used a dedicated macro lens for those first few attempts I knew that I also wanted my own dedicated macro lens. As with many of my purchasing decisions I needed to wait until I had sufficient funds to cover the purchase cost. As I had many other commitments around that time, I decided that the purchase could wait until early 2020. That way I would have the new macro lens just in time for spring.
Around September 2019 I changed from the Nikon DSLR system to the Nikon Z mirrorless system. If you want to know why then check out this blog post here. As part of that change I decided that wherever possible I would only purchase a new lens if it was a native Z mount lens. As the Nikon Z lens line up was and still is limited, my options for a macro lens were extremely limited.
Common Blue, Berry Head, Devon - Nikon Z7, Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro, 1/500th second at ISO 500.
Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro
The Nikon Z mount lens roadmap does include a 105mm macro but with no release date that was not going to be an option. Then I heard that Laowa were going to make a native Z mount version of their well rated 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro. Though the lens is manual focus it can be purchased for a reasonable £469. I thought given the price, focal length, native Z mount and the good reputation of the lens I was worth pre-ordering it.
It was originally due to arrive around mid-March but then the world started to suffer from the coronavirus pandemic. Not that the delay in the arrival of the lens really mattered anyway as I wouldn’t have been able to go out and use it because of lockdown.
Fortunately for me the delay in the lens wasn’t that long and it arrived in April. I tried it out by shooting various still life subjects in the house, but I really couldn’t get passionate about photographing flowers in my office.
Common Blue, Berry Head, Devon - Nikon Z7, Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro, 1/160th second at ISO 200. Please note: While I placed and setup my own camera for this shot, the original composition was thought out by Neil Burnell. Neil is a super talented photographer and if you want to learn how he works his magic then be sure to check out his 1-2-1 sessions or workshops here.
Returning to the Outdoors
As soon as the UK Government started to ease the restrictions on being outside, I decided that one of the first things I was going to do was try out my new macro lens. As I’d had so much fun last year at Berry Head photographing the butterflies, I thought this would be an excellent place to start.
I contacted my friend and fellow photographer Neil Burnell as he is a bit of a local expert and super talented macro photographer. We knew we could still maintain good social distancing and as we were in a wide-open coastal location, we felt it was safe to meet.
Small Blue, Berry Head, Devon - Nikon Z7, Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro, 1/50th second at ISO 1000.
We were both incredibly pleased to find Berry Head full of the expected small blue and common blue butterflies. Neil soon got to work doing what Neil does best I got on with the job of just trying to get things in focus!
Lot’s to Learn
Throughout this blog article you’ve seen the images that I took that evening (and some the following week). Sure, they won’t win any awards, but they are enough to remind that I made the right decision with the purchase of a macro lens and this is an area of photography I wish to develop my skills in.
Small Blue, Berry Head, Devon - Nikon Z7, Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro, 1/125th second at ISO 400.
There’s a lot to learn but this is also what makes it so exciting. I will at some point make a video of my experiences of macro photography but for now I need to concentrate on the job at hand. I’ve got a plan on how I will increase my skills and I will share my progress here on the blog.
I hope you enjoyed the images in this blog. Are you a macro photographer? Are you thinking about taking up macro photography? Let me know in the comments below.
Small Blue, Berry Head, Devon - Nikon Z7, Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro, 1/250th second at ISO 1600.
Beautiful Blue Butterflies at Berry Head
In the blog this week I’m out again taking macro photographs. This time it’s butterflies and I had no idea how beautiful these creatures are!
More Macro
In the blog last week I talked about Discovering the Joy of Macro Photography. This was my first real attempt at macro photography and I have to say, I really enjoyed it! Yes, it was challenging, but it was a very rewarding type of photography.
From that experience I knew that this was a genre of photography that I would want to do again. So when friend and fellow photographer Neil Burnell said he was heading out to photograph some butterflies and would I like to come, there really was only one answer I could give!
Common Blue #1, Devon - Nikon D850, Zeiss 100mm f/2 at f/3.5, 1/400th second at ISO 1600
Beautiful Bokeh
One of the challenges I have with doing macro photography is that I don’t actually own a macro lens. I borrowed a Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 when I shot the banded demoiselles last week and I was going to have to borrow again for this shoot. Fortunately for me Neil offered to lend me his beautiful Zeiss 100mm f/2 Makro-Planar lens.
As soon as I started using this lens I noticed what a different experience it was from using my Nikkor lenses. The focusing can only be described as buttery smooth! It made precisely focusing the lens a real joy. That didn’t necessarily make capturing the images easy as the subject could still move because of the gentle breeze but at least when it was still you could be confident with the focusing. Couple that with the D850’s focus peaking in live view, the job of focusing was at least made a little simpler
As a landscape photographer I’m not that concerned with bokeh. Most of the time I’m trying to get front to back sharpness so I rarely use wide apertures. In this instance though I very much wanted to create some lovely bokeh in my shots. I’d been looking at Neil’s work in this area but it soon became apparent to me that even though the Zeiss lens could create some lovely bokeh, putting the subject and the other elements all together to create the look was more challenging than I had originally thought!
Common Blue #2, Devon - Nikon D850, Zeiss 100mm f/2 at f/3.2, 1/800th second at ISO 1600
Easy To Miss
As with my previous macro adventure, having someone along with the relevant knowledge was key. Neil knew exactly where to find the butterflies and identify which species they were. The thing that got me though was how small they were! Both the Common Blue and Small Blue that I photographed were tiny. They were about the size of a thumbnail and could be easily missed.
Being so small it’s hard to see all the beautiful detail in these wonderful creatures. This is where the joy of macro photography gets me. Put a macro lens on your camera and suddenly you can see all the tiny details from the stripes along the antenna, the hairs an the thorax and the striking patterns of the wings. A macro lens really does open up a whole new world of natural beauty.
Small Blue, Devon - Nikon D850, Zeiss 100mm f/2 at f/2.8, 1/160th second at ISO 2000
These last two trips out with the camera to do macro photography have really opened my eyes on how I could capture the “landscape” in a different way. Yes, I love taking those big landscape photographs but I’m also quickly learning that there is a whole other world of photography down at my feet.
Just before I finish up the blog, I just want to thank Neil again for inviting me out. Without his local knowledge I would have been a bit lost! As I’m finding out with macro photography, knowledge of your subject is as important as being able to use your camera gear. If you’re looking to develop your macro photography and then definitely check out Neil’s 1-2-1 close up tuition page.
I’m not sure what will be in the blog next week, but one thing is for sure, if there is a chance to do more macro photography I’ll be taking it!
Are you a macro photographer? What is your favourite subject to photograph? Let me know in the comments below.