Here is a small tutorial on how to remove small branches / twigs from an otherwise very good bird photograph to give a much cleaner look.
Macro Workshop (13 Aug): Behind the scenes
Had a wonderful Macro workshop on 13th August. 9 dedicated participants eager to learn new things.. what more can a teacher expect.
Here are few glimpses and moments capture by Rohit Chaudhari during the workshop.
Saving a Photo with a Leaf
So many times we face an issue in macro that the subject is dark and the background is either of same color or since flash does not reach distant background, it is rendered as black.
You would agree that the photo on left is not that great since the black caterpillar is getting mixed with the background.
There is simple fix to the issue.. just pick up a leaf (or a flower if you fancy bg color) and hold it in the background with one hand. If you have a friend with you.. even better as you can ask him/her to hold the leaf for you (and return the favor by holding it when they are taking the photo). In my case I was lucky to have my friend Gauri Joshi to help with the leaf background.
Just a simple trick, nothing fancy.. but makes world of a difference.. do you agree?
Aug, 13 2016: Macro Workshop, Pune
Would like to invite everyone to come and learn some skills I have acquired over last few years.
Watch the first video tutorial which introduces Macro Photography.
This is the first episode of a video series on Macro Photography. It takes you through various type of Macro Photography and typical challenges faced during Macro Photography.
We are glad to announce a new section in our workshops. Join us for a Macro Photography Workshop.
Explore the macro world with YOGENDRA JOSHI's expert vision.
Start: 0700 hrs on 13th Aug 2016
End: 1100 hrs on 13th Aug 2016
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP :
4 hours outdoor session @ Pashan Lake from 7 am to 11 am
Session Includes
1. Introduction to Macro Photography
2. Various equipment and lights used in macro Photography
3. Technical details and hands on explanation of each equipment
4. Individual on-field guidance for taking great macro shots (Background, Composition, Magic Angle, Magnification)
5. Basic knowledge of Stacking techniques
Things to carry with you
1. Your Camera (DSLR Preferred)
2. Macro Lens / Extension Tubes / Adopters (At least one to allow macro photography)
3. External Flash / strobe (if your camera does not have pop-up flash)
4. Simple thremocol plate (to use as diffuser)
5. Recommended to watch Yogendra's Macro Tutorials here before you attend the session
For More Details & Registrations please call us
The Photographers Blog .com Team : +91 9028260750
To know more about the workshop visit :
http://thephotographersblog.com/macro-photography-workshop-aug-2016/
Macro Panorama: Getting More from your Macro shots
Many of you would have heard of or seen Macro Stacking.. its about getting more and more details from the same subject area by shifting the plane of focus.
But what if you need to cover more of the subject area keeping the plane of focus same? Why do you need that.... well sometimes your subject is too big... like this Owlfly which was about 3-4 centimeters long and with my macro gear (Sigma 70-300 + Raynox) I could only cover about 2 centimeters at a time.
Owlfly: Macro Panorama of 7 separate photos
Also its not just about going wide.. you still would like to go close and capture the details of each area separately than going wide and taking a shot from the distance.
So this is what I did.. I took 11 separate shots trying to keep the same plane of focus and each time trying to capture one part of the insect in perfect focus. So at the end its a combination of focus stacking as well as panorama.
Here are the 7 pictures I finally ended up using for this final image.
Once I had that, all I had to do was to bring them in Lightroom, apply my standard macro preset, then take them to Photoshop as layers.
Once I was in Photoshop, I had to Auto Align the photos and then Auto Blend them. Well there were a few challenges with the wing shot and I had to position that shot manually and also recover the focus areas manually.. but well that's an exception. Otherwise in normal cases, Photoshop does a very good job anyway.
Here are a couple of more shots using the same technique.
Lacewing.. panorama and stack of two shots
Mayfly.. panorama and stack of 6 images
So, go out there and find the "long tailed" insects or any other long subject and try your own macro panorama.
Feel free to drop in your comments / questions / suggestions.
(Video) Appreciating Nature Through Macro Photography
Hope you like the video version of my workshop presentation on Macro Photography. It just has music for now, not my voice.. that's on the TO-DO List :).
This is second version of my lecture on Introduction to Macro Photography. You can see select photos with description in Sanctuary Asia's online gallery here: http://goo.gl/4U1Xqq