Macro Lenses in the Garden
by: Irma Van Oirschot
My favorite lens for taking pictures in the garden is my macro lens. I have a Tamron SP AF 90 mm f/2.8 Macro 1.1. I use this lens on Canon EOS D30 and Canon EOS D60 DSLR digital cameras.
This lens allows me to get close and personal to my subject flowers. I have had great success with images that I wanted to take. I usually set my camera to manual focus so that I have total control over the subject that I am photographing. With a macro lens, you can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary by focusing on something unexpected and turning that into the focal point. For example, the variegated leaf of a plant that has all kinds of veins running through it makes an interesting study usually overlooked. Macro lenses give you free rein to be as creative and as artistic as you want or dare to be.
Canon EOS D60 digital SLR using F4.5 at 1/45 sec with an ISO setting of 100,
90 mm Macro lens
Just before sunrise is a good time to take pictures of flowers because the light is luminous and, with the sun not quite out yet, this time gives the truest colors to the flowers. Dew is also present at the first light of day offering a special appeal to your pictures. Dew drops are very interesting subjects, especially dew drops hanging of the end of a petal.
Direct sunlight makes even the most vibrant colors appear washed out and pale. Pictures taken just before the sun comes out fully make for ideal lighting conditions for photographing flowers. To get that very rich and deep color associated with nature, do not go out in full sun shine. I like dawn because it back lights flowers with just a touch of dreamy, surreal lighting. The sun just starting to come up makes for a wonderful way to backlight your subjects. You can highlight the hairy leaves of a Donkey's Ear, the stamen of an Iris, the petals of a Pasque flower or a spent Dandelion puff-ball by angling the camera at the fluff just catching the rising sun.
Canon EOS D30 digital SLR using F5.6 at 1/1000 sec with an ISO setting of 400,
90 mm Macro lens
Using the slightly out-of-focus green foliage, you can create a beautiful blurred green as a great backdrop for a yellow or pale purple flower. Similarly, using a backdrop of yellow Yarrow blurring behind the deep purple Iris makes a very striking statement.
Canon EOS D30 digital SLR using F5.6 at 1/60 sec with an ISO setting of 200,
90 mm Macro lens
Close up, you can capture the way the light catches the stamens of the flowers, or you can emphasize the variegated veins in a petal or a leaf. I've given you some examples to see just how beautiful a macro lens can make your flowers look.
Pick a calm day with not too much wind. It is a lot easier to take a picture when your subject matter is still. It is difficult to take a picture of a flower that close while it is being blown around in the wind. You can create a wind barrier by using a screen and setting it around your flower. It can be an elaborate screen or one as simple as taking three garden stakes and pulling a sheet around it.
Canon EOS D30 digital SLR using F5.6 at 1/125 sec with an ISO setting of 200,
90 mm Macro lens
Don't be afraid to try for different angles. Lie down and look upwards through your lens and see what you see. Look straight ahead at the same height as the flower, or look down into the flower. All angles offer different perspectives and some very interesting ones at that. Zoom real close with your lens and then step back stop by stop. Isolate each part of the flower, petal by petal, stamen by stamen. Using a macro lens makes even stems interesting subject matter. The colors schemes are endless and bound only by your own imagination. Let your artistic side come out and capture something unique and interesting.
Canon EOS D30 digital SLR using F5.6 at 1/90 sec with an ISO setting of 200,
90 mm Macro lens
Go out to your garden or a public garden and see what interesting things you can find to photograph. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
