Turns out, getting a real job leaves a lot less time to do fun things like take pictures.
Fortunately, I managed to get out this weekend to a rose garden.
I took my massive bazooka 645 film camera, and my 5Dmk3 with an adapter to use with a Yashica 55mm macro lens from about 1970, if I had to guess. Needless to say, the pictures aren't exactly the sharpest things in the world, and the adapter is pretty janky, to the point where you don't even need to press the button for it to twist off.
Not exactly ideal when you're trying to turn the focus ring (not really a focus ring on this lens, more of a ratio selector) or change aperture.
Anyway, I came away with a few decent pictures.
I think the two types of photography that interest me the most are insanely close-up macro, and insane telephoto wildlife shots.
The telephoto lenses go for 5 grand at the lowest end, and I have a free macro lens. Guess which one I'm 'into.'
These look a lot better on smaller screens with higher pixel density, because like I said before, they're not the sharpest things in the world. I wasn't allowed to use a tripod in the park either, so these are all handheld.
I can't remember what settings I was using, but focusing macro is a nightmare, the focal plane is so narrow that you (see: people who are bad at photography like me) have to use as narrow an aperture as possible to get as much in focus as possible. This means less light, which means either a lower shutter speed, or a higher ISO.
Combine these problems with the fact that all the plants were blowing around, and cutting the roses is frowned upon, making the entire endeavour quite tricky.
P.S. You know all those cool insect macro shots you see where every single detail is immaculate? All those insects have been killed and posed. The photographer then takes a bajillion pictures moving the focal plane along the length of the insect, then stitches them together. Stacking the pics like this ensures the entire length (or however much the artist wants) of the insect is in focus. Not my cup of tea, really.
One of the cool things about going to a rose garden is the sheer number of varieties.
I was even tempted to try growing a rose in my hydroponics setup... But I thought better of it.
What I did buy though, it a fungus branch. It's a bough that's been seeded with mushroom spores. They're edible, so hopefully in about 2 weeks we'll see what's for dinner!
Like, for example, when a bee lands on a flower in just such a way that allows you to take a picture that isn't totally balls.
This is about 1:2 magnification, probably as high as it'll go and in direct sunlight. I can't think that there would be any other way that it would be this sharp (look, I know it's not sharp, but it's relatively sharp).
So we're coming onto the pictures I'm most proud of.
Sometimes you just have to roll with what you've got, right?
And now, onto my two favourite pictures.
I can't decide which one I like more. They're both excellent (in my opinion) for completely different reasons.
The first one is busy. There's pollen everywhere, the colours are deep and contrasty, and the shapes are all over the place. This feels to me like the bud burst open and the flower was just there, exposed to the elements.
This one feels like a soap advertisment. Where the petals are gently unfolding, slowly growing outwards. The amazing thing to me is that they're both roses, but everything from the shape to the smell (you'll have to trust me on this one) were completely different.
Not sure what the next photography outing will be, but I'm all in on macro at the moment. It's just such an interesting thing, seeing tiny stuff all big like.