New 35mm Macro

[Yammer77]

yes it is and I love it. (when I borrow it)

[leelf62]

Nick,
I'm an Olympus person now!  I have an E510 and LOVE it.  Light and lovely!!  Prior to this camera, I had a Canon for several years.  I wanted to move up to a dslr and Ryan Hulvat (Banana Factory) suggested that I try the e510.  My concern to moving up was WEIGHT.  I have some hand issues (carpal tunnel, arthritis, etc.) Canon's were too heavy.  I was pleasantly surprised with the Oly!  I then tried it for a week FOR FREE from Dan's.  I was sold.  (This was last summer). My husband bought it for me online through Amazon.  I think it came from Adorama (best price at the time).   So, I've had an Oly for about a year.  NO COMPLAINTS except that some off brands (like Tamron) do not have mounts for Oly.

Regards,
Lee

[Nick D]

thank you Lee for clearing that up for me. 
BTW, I've had Ryan as a class teacher at Dan's. I really like him. he has a genuine zeal for photography that comes out. He is very accomplished with published stuff, yet gets excited at looking at pictures that you may show him. He is a real encouragement for beginner/ novices such as myself.

[Ken K.]

Hi Nick,

I have some suggestions for your first posted image of the leaves.

I find the lighting on this subject rather harsh.  For a subject such as this a diffuser is often very helpful in knocking down the high contrast light. A white plastic trash bag works well as a diffuser in these situations.

I agree with the comments on the overall softness of the image.  Did you use a tripod? 

Even if the overall image was not soft, I suspect that the leaf in the lower right hand corner would still be out of focus with the depth of field you chose.  There is a principle in art known as the "Golden Rule" which says that the most important location in a image is the bottom right hand area.  Unfortunately, that is where the largest leaf is located and it is out of focus. 

You can read a little about the Golden Rule here: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/composition-2.shtml

Thanks for sharing your images with us.  I also enjoy macro and closeup work.  Keep at it.

Ken

[Ric]

Wow, I have not heard anyone mention the "Golden Rule" in a very long time... But as you said that is the prime area of a photo.

[Yammer77]

I believe it came from the golden rectangle, which I learned about in architecture school.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_rectangle

[Nick D]

Ken:

 thank you very much for your comments. no I was unaware of the golden Rule of photography, as well as probably many other composition rules/ suggestions. This is all fairly new to me ( started last September) and really until I started talking here at LVPC I didn't really have anyone to communicate with. I spoke with a few at Dan's, but the first 6-8 months I was trying to focus on landscapes and trying (and failing miserably) with birds. As a side note Dan's offers a class on composition which I plan to take this fall.

 Also, yes sun rather harsh, I just got the lens that day and went out and shot those pics at around 2:00 in the afternoon, in June. They were all hand held, and I was trying to get the focus by extending my lens all the way out and moving camera in and out to get the focus. not quite sure how to use the macro lens as when I AF, I don't seem to get that 1:1 aspect. also I believe some of focus issue is my vision. Need to get my eyes checked and get new perscriptions. Oh well.

 Again thanks for sharing your comments and that link too. i will check it out.

[Ken K.]

Nick,

I think you will find it near impossible to maintian focus for subjects such as these while handholding and moving in and out.  I find that very hard to do with a tripod, much less by hand.  One thing I am considering is a focusing rail, which goes between your tripod head and camera body and allows for precise manual movement, in and out, to achieve the focus you desire.

On another point, if you are interested in learning more about bird photography there are two sites that have absolutely outstanding bird photographers: http://www.naturescapes.net/docs/  and http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/index.php

Both require you to register.  NatureScapes if free but BPN may have a cost, I forget.  Most of the folks on these forums are very willing to share their knowledge of bird (and other) photography.

Keep posting.

Ken

[Nick D]

Ken:

Thank you again for your helpful comments. i need all the help I can get.

As a side note, i checked out your web page, Loved those two recent images of the crashing wave and the foggy islet, along with your other stuff. Those are the kind that I really enjoy. That and sky.

Well to make a short story long I did register on naturescapes last night. So that link will give me a place to start there. Thanks again.

If I can only remember things while I shoot, ie. yesterday i got a rabbit in my yard no more than 10 feet from me, ot off a few decent shots, then looked and saw I had an iso setting of 1600. And it was nice early evening light, plenty enough light but yet not harsh. That is why i asked about noise ninja in another thread here.

maybe one day I'll get it all together. Probably not age is starting to catch up to me.

Thanks again.

Nick

[Yammer77]

yes it is....better late than never...