All macro photographers face a common enemy: moving air. The misconception I had about macro photography is that since I wanted a smaller depth of field, I'd be at a wider aperture, and thus a faster shutter speed. Ideally, I thought, this would minimize any blur from minor movements. Reality quickly gave me a wake-up call on that. Since I prefer shooting macro in cloudy and diffuse lighting, that knocks me down about a stop. I also want my macro shots to have as little noise as possible, which means I'm shooting at the lowest ISO I have (currently 80). In general, this gives me an average shutter speed of about 1/50. Not overly slow, especially with a tripod, etc., but slow enough for minor movements to slip in and blur my shot.
To compensate, I usually take a minimum of three exposures (more if it's windier) in the hopes that at least one will have caught the subject in a moment of stillness. But this method isn't failsafe. Here's a photo I took about five times. This was the best of the batch, and even after my best efforts and careful sharpening, the results are somewhat disappointingly blurry.
I know that battle. I read somewhere that people build wind breaks and put them up to try and stop the wind. I did try that once, and it seemed to help.
Hi Andrew, it's Paolo. I suffered the same problem once, trying to take a shot of poppies in a wheat field. I took several shots trying to find the windless moment.... I ended up taking a landscape shot! Looks like a Klimt landscape painting and that's why i love it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/artefice/3591343937
Andrew Broekhuijsen has been living in Utah since the age of -9 months. He enjoys long walks on the beach, and flexing shirtless in the mirror. Oh, and photography. That too.
I know that battle. I read somewhere that people build wind breaks and put them up to try and stop the wind. I did try that once, and it seemed to help.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew, it's Paolo.
ReplyDeleteI suffered the same problem once, trying to take a shot of poppies in a wheat field. I took several shots trying to find the windless moment.... I ended up taking a landscape shot! Looks like a Klimt landscape painting and that's why i love it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artefice/3591343937
Nice shot artefice!
ReplyDeleteAnd Gallow - I'll have to try that out; I've been toying with the idea for some time now.