Flower in the cold

It has been a while since I've last posted to this blog. Needless to say it is now winter over here, so being a winter rainfall area, my photography has also entered a slow period.

The other weekend we had a break in the weather, and even though we were all battling with a cold, we went down to the beach just to get out a bit. While on our trip I spotted this little flower. This photo was deliberately taken at maximum zoom so I can get some of the busy background out of focus.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/400sec at f8, ISO 100, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Itsy Bitsy Spider

Another post from our recent walk in the bush. This time not the best photo on its own if you ask me, but I really liked the detail the lens managed on the minute spider, keeping in mind this was shot hand held in a light breeze. I will let the pictures speak for themselves! PP included some sharpening but very little. As I've been posting mainly photos with no sharpening to date, I've thought it best to post a closer to reality shot, since most digital workflow will include some amount of sharpening.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/500sec at f9, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

100% crop.

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Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD vs Canon 50mm F1.8 MkII

Right, this is a quick test of the Tamron PZD and Canon 50mm f1.8 Mk II. The aim of the test is to show how surprisingly well the Tamron compares at close-up photography.

Everybody knows that the Tamron is not the sharpest lens in the bunch especially at full zoom, but, I am of the opinion that in a real life situation the Tamron fares good enough. In any case to a level that it produces respectable enough images and coupled with its excellent vibration control, you will end up with more "keepers".

Now, the Canon is not a close up lens, but it is legendary for its sharpness (keep in mind its price). So, it would have been an unfair comparison because the Canon cannot focus as close as the Tamron. This is easily solved with a set of diopters (close-up filters). Sure, this may drop the sharpness slightly, but I still think this offers an interesting comparison. At least one worthy of a blog entry :-)

One observation I need to enforce, even though the results obtained with the Canon were very pleasing indeed, I had far more images out of focus using this lens today, do to camera movement and tiny depth of field, than compared to the Tamron.

Below the original, full sized images. Both taken hand held. Oh, and no PP done at all.

Tamron full size:

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/250sec at f11, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Canon full size:

Canon 600D, Canon 50mm f1.8 Mk II. Focal length 50mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f16, ISO 400, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter UV.

Tamron 100% crop:

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/250sec at f11, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Canon 100% crop:

Canon 600D, Canon 50mm f1.8 Mk II. Focal length 50mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f16, ISO 400, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter UV.

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Mator

One of my favorite cartoon characters is Mator. You just have to see him in action in Cars and Cars 2.

This test of the Tamron PZD is aimed at showing the usefulness of the lens at macro photography. The model of Mator that I have is about 8cm (3.5inches) in length. Sure, the PZD is not a true macro but, because of the 270mm zoom and relatively close minimum focusing distance of the lens you can get close enough to get some very useful close ups in most situations. Plus, with careful focusing you can manage decent sharpness at the same time as you can see from the 100% crop below.

Focus was deliberately aimed the the front headlight area and depth of field set to try and create a typical real life car photo look. Note the image was taken at f18 but due to the extreme zoom the depth of field is shallow. I love the way the print pattern is visible on the model in the 100% crop.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 4sec at f18, ISO 100, Focus manual using LiveView, VC off, Flash none, Filter UV, tripod.

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1968 Ford Shelby G.T.500KR

Enjoyed myself last night playing with painting with light. My "patient" model was a 1968 Ford Shelby G.T.500KR in 1/18 scale. Not a very detailed model but good enough for low light work. My flashlight was a 3 LED model. Exposure was set to bulb and f-stop to 18. And then you just guess it from there. I've tried a number of techniques like lighting the car from the back etc. but for this shot, I aimed the flash at the nose and side and then slowly moved the around the back of the car making sure not to have much light fall on the bodywork. I am pretty pleased with the old border look adding to the period of the model.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 39mm, Exposure 24sec at f18, ISO 100, Focus manual, VC off, Flash none, Filter UV.

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Wellington Botanical Gardens

Some more close ups from the Wellington Botanical Gardens (see earlier post Sweating it Out).

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f11, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 59mm, Exposure 1/400sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f11, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

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Red 1956 Ford Thunderbird

I did some 1:24 scale model close up tests last night and here is one I am pretty pleased with.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 50mm, Exposure 2sec at f13, ISO 100, Focus manual, VC off, Flash none, Filter UV.

How was this shot? Well, I've found some interesting plans on Flickr last week for a simple softbox design you can use for close up photography. (Andy's DIY Softbox)

Here is my version constructed using Coreflute (Correx), and a 23W 6500K cool daylight globe. I have folded white cards, and ones covered in aluminum foil that I can move around to add highlights. I can also add a layer of colored transparent sheets, or sheets of black card between the frame and softbox to control how much light comes through onto the model.

Amazingwhat a little bit of Duct-tape will hold together!

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