Messing around with macro

I've been on holiday for most of the start of January 2022 (yay!), spending time in Christchurch, house (and dog) sitting for my sister-in-law and her family. Since we were staying for a while, we took a lot of stuff with us (the golf clubs and trundler came), so I decided not to take both the Olympus and Sony camera systems I'm currently using.

I would have opted for the Sony a99 and 50mm macro - since I'm trying to make macro my new thing - but I also knew that I was going to get the opportunity to shoot a family portrait while we were over in Christchurch (of said sister-in-law's family). So I opted for the Olympus E-M1 with 12-35mm f2.8 instead.

Oh Bee-have! Olympus E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm. f/4 @ 1/320th, ISO 200

The Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm has no psuedo-macro features like those found on the Olympus 12-50mm EZ lens, and it's closest focusing distance is only 25cm. So not a fantastic macro performer. All the photos you see in this post, taken on the 12-35mm, are severe crops from the original shot, so that the subject (the 2cm bee) can fill-the-frame. This means that the original 12 megapixel file gets reduced to only around 1 megapixel with the final crop. Not ideal. But good enough when viewed on-line. 

Hard at Work. Olympus OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8. f/5 @ 1/640th, ISO 400

And I must say, that overall I'm very pleased with the final results (despite the small file size). I spent a very pleasant hour in a park in Rangiora, chasing bees around the flower gardens, and came away with some half-decent images. The E-M1 was quick to focus, using the central focusing point in single-autofocus mode, and simply firing away with reasonable shutter speeds, hoping to freeze the action (boy do bees move fast).

The original capture of the above crop is shown on the left, to give an indication of how much cropping has taken place. And yes, it is a lot. I'm not going to be printing any of these at  A3 (or probably even at A4) sizes anytime soon.

This is certainly one of the down-sides to using a smaller micro four thirds sensor with a 'standard' lens and trying to come up with decent 'macro' looking images. Really you're just hoping for an exceptionally sharp result that you can then blow up to exorbitant proportions and pass-off as a macro image.

Having said all that, as I commented earlier, I am reasonably happy with the results. The Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f2.8 is a very sharp lens, so if you nail focus you can expect some very good results. And the benefit of using a smaller micro four thirds sensor when close-focusing is the greater depth of field you get with smaller apertures. f/4 on the E-M1 gives an equivalent dof of f/8 with full-frame, but allows for the extra light, and faster shutter speeds. So that's a win.

'As busy as a....' Olympus E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm. f/5 @ 1/1000th, ISO 400

To get the bee as sharp as possible from such a big enlargement, I've opted for some selective sharpening techniques (just on the in-focus areas of the bee itself). It's a simple technique, but I find it very effective. And the best thing about it is that it is infinitely controllable, and selective.

Duplicate the original image in Photoshop (Ctrl+J), and then apply a High Pass Filter on the duplicate layer (Filter/Other/High Pass) with a radius of about 2. The image with turn grey, with a faint embossed outline. This is what you want. The magic happens in the next two steps.

In the blending mode for the grey layer, choose either Hard Light or Vivid Light. Then add a layer mask and fill the mask with black. This effectively hides the sharpening that you've applied with the blending mode. Choose a soft brush, make sure that the colour is white, and then paint over the areas where you want to reveal the sharpening. You can build this sharpening up gradually over different areas by lowering the opacity of the brush, and you can also lower the opacity of the layer if you feel that the final result is still too strong? And there you go - a nice sharp bee without adding any sharpness or artifacts to the background.

Time for a rest. Sony a99 with Minolta 50mm macro. f/5 @ 1/640th, ISO 400

My final image was taken just recently, once we got back from our trip to Christchurch and were on a local bush walk. This time I did decide to take the Sony a99 and dedicated 50mm macro instead. 

The difference in file size is day and night. Because I was able to use the dedicated macro lens, and get in fairly close to the dragonfly, there is almost no cropping required from the original file. I could print this A3 no problem.

Unfortunately, it's a bit of a grab shot, and I used autofocus, which locked on to the dragonfly's back and didn't quite nail critical focus on the head. In that regards, it's a failure as a macro image. Using the 50mm macro on the full-frame camera has meant that I had to get in very close to the insect - too close for it's comfort - and it flew away fairly quickly. A 100mm macro would afford a little more 'breathing' space, and that's certainly what I would opt for if I was to get a dedicated macro lens for my E-M1 (the 60mm Olympus macro is a 120mm full-frame equivalent field of view).

Still, it's an ok image - especially when viewed on-line - and it's still all a learning curve for me and macro. I'm getting the feeling that you have to shoot A LOT of images just to nail one or two keepers, especially when small flying insects are involved!?

All-in-all some OK early attempts, and lots of learning for the future. That's got to be worth my while wouldn't you say?

Possible gear for macro

In my last post I discussed my recently discovered enthusiasm for fungi (and therefore macro) photography. I also mentioned that I had briefly dabbled in this very genre last year - first with the Sony a99 and then with my Olympus OM-D E-M1.

Fungi photography with the Olympus OM-D E-M1

I still have both systems available to me, so now that I have decided to pursue this style of photography a bit more seriously in 2022, I have a few decisions to make around the type of gear I will need going forward.

First option is to stick with my micro four thirds system, and add to it, to cover macro photography. To do this 'seriously', I would be looking at purchasing the Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro lens.

By all accounts (I've never even held one), the M Zuiko 60mm macro lens is a stellar lens, offering waterproofing and 1:1 magnification. It certainly looks the part - is apparently tack sharp (I don't doubt it) - and would balance perfectly on my E-M1.

Olympus do offer a 30mm f3.5 macro lens as well, but it's not weather sealed, doesn't go to 1:1 magnification - and is a 60mm equivalent full-frame focal length, which isn't as conducive to shooting skittery insects (since you have to get physically closer with the lens). On the positive side, it's a bit cheaper than the 60mm ($450NZ for the 30mm and $600NZ for the 60mm) - but that seems to me to be the only real positive. I'd rather spend the extra for the 60mm (120mm full frame focal length equivalent) than 'settle' for the 30mm and wish I had the 60mm, especially if I am really serious about pursuing macro fungi photography.

The second option is to move to the Sony A-mount system, since I already have access to a 50mm macro for Sony A-mount (it's actually a Minolta AF lens), as well as a few other lenses. The Sony a99 I have at the moment is being borrowed from a friend, together with the 50mm macro, a fisheye, standard zoom and wide angle zoom - so I've got the lenses pretty well covered. I will have to give the a99 back at some stage, but I'm pretty sure I can keep the 50mm macro long-term, since I know the guy I borrowed it from also has a 100mm macro that he uses instead.

If I sold my E-M1 with all accessories and lenses, I could possibly get about $1k (maybe). With that sort of money I could pick up a used Sony SLT 65v or a55 and have a decent chunk of change left over for spare batteries and other accessories if required.

This option has some appeal, not withstanding the fact that the dedicated 50mm macro would get me up and running straight away with a macro lens. If I sold my Olympus gear, I would actually end up in the black, even after purchasing a Sony body. Whereas if I have to wait to be able to afford an Olympus 60mm lens - even secondhand (if one comes up for sale) - it will probably be 2024 before I can actually afford one! Damn...

There is, however, a third option. I already have the a-mount 50mm macro lens - why don't I just adapt it to fit the Olympus E-M1? A mount adapter like the one shown here, will cost me around $45NZ - and viola, a dedicated macro lens for my E-M1.

Yes, this means that the macro lens will be manual focus only - but that's par for the course with macro photography anyway. So no great loss there. And, when fitted to my micro four thirds camera, the Minolta 50mm macro lens becomes a 100mm macro lens focal length equivalent - again great news for a comfortable distance to subject when shooting. So option three is sounding like a win-win.

It also means that I can continue to use my E-M1, which has a whole host of advantages when using it for macro photography. There is greater depth of field when using the smaller sensor - which is helpful for keeping very small areas in sharp focus at lower apertures. It has crazy-good in-body image stabilisation - again very helpful when shooting insects handheld. The body is weather sealed (excellent when out in damp forest conditions), it's very light-weight and portable (never a bad thing), has focus peaking and manual focus magnification aids - and also has built-in focus bracketing and focus stacking - in camera! This camera was built for macro photography! Are you serious!!!! Option three baby! I love option three!

In all seriousness, sticking with the Olympus E-M1 and adapting the Minolta 50mm macro to it does seem like the perfect solution - at least until I can afford that 60mm M Zuiko. For $45NZ I'll be up and running with an excellent macro system, and I may even find that I don't need the 60mm Olympus lens at all?

It will also mean that I can use the Mecablitz flashgun I have for the Olympus in an off-camera wireless flash setup, or I could keep it even simpler and use the Godox LED cube (pictured opposite). Or both.

I've looked into purchasing the a-mount to micro 4/3 adapter from a local retailer, and they can have one for me by the end of February. In the meantime, I still have the Sony a99 and 50mm Minolta macro lens, and I'll  use that combination until the adapter for the E-M1 arrives. That will give me a month to see if I really am serious about this macro-fungi thing - and a month to fall in love with the Sony A-Mount system and change my mind about staying with Olympus! 😉  Me - change my mind? Never!

Fungi photography in 2022

It's been about three months since I've posted anything on this blog. Did you miss me?

Yeah - thought not.

I have been posting content on this blog for sixteen years now, and I've known for some time that I'm really only doing it for myself. Yes, I get some views (yay), and some of you have even read and commented (thank you) - but my stats from Blogger have never been great. Or even good.

But hey - this isn't a 'pity me' posting. Far from it. I'm actually quite excited about photography again - hence the new post. I haven't been 'excited' about photography - in general - for a while now. Don't quite know why? Maybe it's burn-out? It's been my passion (sometimes all-consuming) for the past 36 years of my life. And that's quite a long time to sustain any passion/hobby/creative pursuit.

I was talking about this recently with a photographer friend of mine, and I can trace my loss of interest in photography back almost two years, to a major trip I went on to Golden Bay. It was a family holiday, but we went with other photographers, so it was always going to end up more of a photography trip. And it was. Ten days of almost non-stop sunrise until sunset photography. And I'm not going to lie - I had a blast! One of the best trips of my life.

Wharariki Beach, Golden Bay. Fuji XE2

But I also got back from that trip suffering from a bit of photography overload. And I think it's taken a couple of years to recover if I'm honest.

To be fair - COVID didn't help, and we've been through two lock-downs here in New Zealand since getting back from the Golden Bay trip. And then there was the issue that I was having with my E-M1 that meant it had to go in for repair. But as disruptive as those events may have been, I really think that photographic burn-out is the root cause for my relative disinterest over the last two years.

However, a recent trip to a local forest with my wife may have changed all that. At least I'm hoping it has...

Hygrocybe Firma - Canoe Cove Walk, Westland.
Olympus E-M1 with Panasonic 12-35mm. f/3.5 @ 1/100th, ISO 800

We have been having glorious weather so far this summer, so while I was on holiday over the Christmas/New Year period we decided to make the most of it and go on a few walks. It had been a while since we had visited the Lake Kaniere region in South Westland, so we decided to do a few short walks there - starting with the Canoe Cove Walk.

I took my EM-1 with me, more out of habit than the expectation of a good photo. And we were only 5 minutes into a 15 minute walk when my wife stopped me and remarked on the beautiful red mushrooms that she had spotted next to the path.

To be honest, I hadn't seen them at all, and would have continued on straight past them if she hadn't seen them and stopped me. And to be fair, they were tiny. Only about 5 to 10mm in diameter. But my wife had seen them. And once she stopped me and showed them to me, something sparked in me again and I knew I had to try and photograph them.

Hygrocybe Firma - Canoe Cove Walk, Westland.
Olympus E-M1 with Panasonic 12-35mm. f/3.5 @ 1/60th, ISO 800

Just so we're clear, I know these aren't great fungi images. By any stretch of the imagination. They are what they are - record shots. I know I can do much better. And that's the point. I'm fired-up, photographically speaking, to want to do much better.

For a start, they weren't taken with a macro lens - just the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 that I happened to have on the camera at the time. A stellar lens btw... just not the 'ideal' fungi photography lens.

Also, the composition isn't great, since I took them hand-held, didn't have a tripod with me, and wasn't about to start lying down in the middle of the forest track. This was a recreational walk that sparked a photographic interest - one I intend to pursue in greater detail in 2022.

Pluteus Velutinornatus - Canoe Cove Walk, Westland.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 with Panasonic 12-35mm lens. f/4.5 @ 1/500th, ISO 800

I took a few macro fungi images in 2021, and also enjoyed the experience. I even blogged about it here and here. Macro photography has always looked a lot of fun, but at the same time, also seemed like some strange and dark art? I have owned one or two dedicated macro lenses over the years, but I've never really made good use of them, or explored the genre with any real intention or purpose. And yet I've always enjoyed it, and liked the results - even with my meager understanding. So I think 2022 is the year to take this macro stuff a bit more seriously!

I'll write about what that means, and might look like gear-wise, in my next post. But for now I'm just jazzed that I'm finally getting excited about photography again!

New Zealand Native Tree Fern. E-M1 with 12-35mm. f/2.8 @ 1/200th, ISO 800

Of course if you go into the bush, fungi isn't the only thing you'll find. Thought I would finish this post with my favorite image from the walk - a tree fern frond. These are beautiful plants that grow in the New Zealand bush, and I always try to get a photo of the frond unfurling when I find them. This one turned out particularly well (if I do say so myself). So I guess fungi won't be the only thing I will point my camera at when I'm out in the bush this year 😀