Monday, March 11, 2013

A Different Viewpoint



I've been experimenting with wide-angle closeup photography as a way to illustrate the totality of a plant- not just its leaves, its flowers, or its stem in part.  Yesterday's viewpoint was from a very close distance but with very wide 16mm equivalent focal length.  Today's view shows a different clump of crocuses, a clump that was much more clustered together, shot with a 35mm equivalent focal length.  The two styles are similar- I'm able to include an entire plant within the frame with much more depth of field.  With the ultrawide angle of view, I'm able to show the relationship of the plant to its environment- in yesterdays photograph, there is not any question that these crocuses were growing in our backyard.  Today's shot, however, doesn't provide the viewer with that information.  Have you tried shooting wide-angle closeups?

Although I've Incorporated this style of close-up photography before, I was inspired this winter after reading Paul Harcourt Davies and Clay Bolt's e-book, Wide-angle Macro, the Essential Guide.  It's a great read- it will help you see the natural world through the lens of your camera in a entirely different way.

-Tom

3 comments:

  1. This is a great shot. I don't currently have glass in the 20-70mm range so it is (sadly) a perspective I am not used to. I love CFWA and I have tried shooting CFWA with herps a litte bit over the years. I find it very easy to overdo and very easy to do poorly. You really need to make the animal look natural, as well as have an interesting background. It is great when you get it right though... Anyway, I also tried a bunch underwater CFWA, with mixed success. I guess that is a whole other beast though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brilliant shot with the wide-angle close up. Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your blog is awesome. I was searcching for nature pictures and butterflies pictures and saw your wonderful blog. Thanks for sharing all these pictures. Love them all.Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete