Botanical Shots with 50mm/1.8 Nikon LensI picked this lens up during the weekend, mostly for trying some handheld night photography and trying to learn more about taking portraits. Normally I would have changed over to the 60mm macro lens when I took my camera to work the last two days but decided that I would try out the new lens on some botanical shots. Well I am glad I did. It is really sharp and other than having to take a couple of steps back it did pretty good. For the most part I don’t like cropping and it is going to be an adjustment trying to get full frame pictures with the 50mm but the sharpness and color is right on.
The Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) was the last in the garden, which has about 75 of them. There are probably more than that as I have been encouraging them to seed. The color here is true, it was more purple than usual, maybe because of the frost. It was the first attempt at a flower shot and I think it did okay. Having to zoom with your feet is something I am fairly used to, it is the minimum focusing distance that is going to take getting used to.
This is a picture of a Crabapple that is like most around here this year, a very prolific fruiter . I am not sure what type it is but someone thought it was an ‘Adams’.
This picture is demonstrating one of the best things about this lens, the 1.8 thing. I love experimenting with shallow depth of field. This is a shot of the small River Birch Grove (Betula nigra) at one of the houses I take care of. River Birch is certainly my favorite type of Birch for several reasons. Some of those reasons are the beautiful bark, ability to grow on wet sites, borer and leaf miner resistance (big reason) and they are fairly cheap. I would recommend ‘Hertiage’ but the species is nice too.
The ‘Sheffield Pink’ Chrysanthemum (C. x rubellum) has been featured on this blog before. It is a wonderful plant that will always have a place in any garden I tend to. This was my second attempt at a flower shot with the 50mm. I couldn’t decide which to post so here are both.
We had a couple of trick or treaters last night and there is a huge bowl of candy sitting across the table from me yelling ‘EAT ME’ but I am resisting. I am taking a few minis to work and that’s is it.
9 comments:
I've just been playing about with my new 50mm lens and have noticed that I can't get any closer than .45m which is slightly disappointing. The main reason why I bought it because I need a fast lens for this weekend coming. I'm off to a town called Lewes where they have a spectacular bonfire parade every year on the 5th November. To have a look at some pictures from previous years and see what I'm up against you can take a look at http://allthingsbrightonbeautiful.com/gallery/lewes05
I'm really looking forward to the photo opportunity. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I'm starting to understand teh depth of field thing, so much easier when your looking at a picture than when trying to read instructions in a manual.
Love the first flower, amazing colour.
Mike,
I can't really give you too much advice on the night shots. I liked the photos in that album but thought the color was off a bit. You might want to shoot RAW and adjust the colors after. For me it takes awhile to learn a lens so you might want to take a lens you are comfortable with also. I took the 50 out of the box and shot a dimly lit club venue at the Derek Trucks concert. I am already having better results now that I have been practicing with it.
I will say this, you are a fine photographer, sir, with a great eye. So relax, see your shots and take them. I take my best photos when I am relaxed and observing. You will do fine and I hope you post some of your results.
BTW, I know what you mean about the minimum focusing distance, that is about the only thing I don't like with this lens.
Hi Kate,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Keep shooting!!!!!!! Play around with your camera a bit and have fun.
A fine lesson with beautiful photography ... am especially fond of the River Birch shot, one of my favorite trees also.
Your pictures do look nice and crisp this post. I love the color of the first one. It's a nice vibrant purple against more muted colors. The river birch it really looks so dimensional. How many houses do you take care of? Do you do specific ones on certain days?
Hi joey,
it is nice to see your smiling face on your avatar. I think the River Birch are especially striking in a grove setting, like 4 or 5 clumps. I have been growing 'Little King' River Birch which is a dwarf. It is a very cool tree.
Vanilla, hi there. Thanks for the comments on the pictures. I have about 5 houses that I regularly take care of the garden and several more that I visit a couple of times a year. There are a few that I guess I am kind of a consultant on, they have their own people to do the actual work. I also do some one-off type jobs, planting or pruning. The big estate I work on is 11 acres with about 4 acres of gardens and 2 more of woods with some plantings. I don't have a set schedule. If you put enough houses/gardens together something is always going on.
About 40% of what I do seems to be pruning, especially as the gardens age.
Thanks for asking.
Chris
Absolutely amazing photos! I wish I were that talented!
Check out my Dog Blog :)
You can count on me posting the results.... so long as they're not disastrous!
Great shots! It takes me a few months to really learn a new lens. Out of the box, WOW!
Sherry
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