Waiting for things to happen in Macro work

I always believe in the 3-P's in macro work that make you a better photographer; Patience, Persistence and Practice. Patience will be the focal point of this discussion. Let me walk you through this scenario with the image results and convince you of the advantages of waiting out for moments like this to happen.

This happened while I was in Sri Lanka..where I saw a small spider on the edge of the front porch of my house. So, obviously I quickly grabbed my camera and laid down right in front of the spider and started snapping away. Here's one of the results...

Once I have taken some of the safe shots I noticed something interesting... :) I saw  an ant walking on a path that lead straight to the spider. Of course I had to wait for this moment to really happen.. so it took some patience to be in that uncomfortable position for this little guy to meet the spider. But I also need to use my experience (gained through Practice,, another P) as well to make this shot. Specially with the very shallow depth of field involved with macro work, I had to get everything right in order to get the very instance they meet (which might be a full second at most). So, I increased my aperture to get the maximum depth of field I could and then focused on the eyes of the spider and held it in place, waiting for them to meet up. Heres the result I got after all that effort.

 

This in my view makes a much more compelling picture. BTW the ant simply paused for less than a sec (shot right then) and went around the spider. With a suitable title such as "Get out of the way big guy!", this makes your work even more rewarding. So when dealing with insects like I do, always expect the unexpected; be ready to make the shot; and wait for something to happen. You can thank me later for that :D 

Please note that all pictures are copyrighted and are not to be used without the author's consent. 

Thanks

Akila.

A promising group and a promising site for photographers.

I have been actively involved in this particular website and group which I am gonna recommend today. Its a group called "Next Eye" which is a trendy website/group which is opened for sharing, discussing and improving your photography talent. A great place for beginners and well as experts to hangout and share ideas.

http://nexteyemag.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/nexti/

Akila.

Second shooter at a wedding

Shooting a wedding can be a well paid job... But also a very highly stressful one for sure. The best place to be in such an event is (in my opinion) as a second shooter. You might be there to build your portfolio, or you might be there to gain some experience. For me it was the latter. This was for a very close friend of mine, and so was done as a favor.

The day was filled with challenges and nothing was running on time. The photographer only had less than 2 hrs in the morning according to the plan but in the end he had only a bit more than a hour. So, I had to stay out of his way due to time constraints and also due to the same reason I didn't wanna shoot with artificial light. So it was to be a handful of candid shots with natural light. I used my 100mm macro lens for the whole shoot since it was the fastest of my lenses and at 100mm, its quite flattering as well. Also considered my camera angles to bring out the best of the bride and groom in this particular wedding. Could have done even better with a bit of posing and post processing though. But that s for a later time. Did got a bit of a chance to pose one of the bridesmaid though.

Here are some of the shots. Please consider that all pics are copyrighted and cannot be used without my written consent.

Thanks,
Akila. 

Missing sunsets... no worries. Slow shutter speeds to the rescue.

Had an amazing time visiting family in Bentota, Sri Lanka for a month and since I lived about 2kms away from the coast, I really wanted to bag a sunset this time around. But the rain and the busy schedule was in my way. But I managed to take few hours off to go and see if there s any hope of a sunset. But the sun was completely blocked up by rain clouds in the horizon. I had two options..  One was to pack up and leave hoping for a better day, and the other was to make the best out of the situation. I took the later...

Here's the situation. This was the tourist off season and the sea was rough and muddy as it can be. Plus in a very flat light situation, the texture of the sea was not highly evident. But the rough sea did have lots of waves in it. I used a crappy tripod (I knew the sea was gonna ruin it anyways) and planted it right on the path of the waves. Then looked for a good composition. Asked my best friend (Saman) to keep an eye for sudden big waves (since I loved my camera) :D... and there I went with very slow shutter speeds for shot. Switched the camera to Bulb mode on my canon and used a wire trigger as well. But had to keep a hand on the tripod to stop it from falling over with the waves. Had to even lift it up and run ashore for some waves here and there :D  .. and here s the result.

One reason in using the bulb mode at these situations is the changing light. The light level at the beginning of the shot may not remain through out the duration and the user has to be able to calculate and guesstimate the amount of light coming in based on the settings.

Once the light completely went out.. decided to get the lights of a hotel  in Bentota (Hotel Lihiniya Surf) on the shore line. Same principle had to be applied this time (no choice).. since the light was so so low. But the blue tone of the dusk light in the sky and the color of the sea complemented each other so nicely. Here s a result of that,

Though I didn't get a good sunset throughout this trip, I am personally quite happy with these two shots mainly since I made the best out of the situation as opposed to heading back home and missing these gorgeous scenes altogether. So, that s what I would like to emphasize in this small article. It s important that you have a rough idea (plan) before heading out for a shoot (may it be landscape or any other subject).. but you should learn to adapt to the situation presented to you at the destination. That's the skill we all should practice.


Akila.