Macro Photography

What is macro photography? The ability to produce an image that is as big on your digital sensor as it is in real life.

Or Bigger!

Macro lenses Camera timer

Focusing rail Remote shutter release Bellows Copy stand Doublers Extension tubes

Close-up filters

Loss of Light • • • •

Small aperture setting i.e. f/32 Distance lens is from sensor Length of lens Working distance

Compensate for Loss of Light • • • • •

Slower shutter speed Open your aperture – lose depth of field Change your ISO Shoot in bright light Add light – flash freezes motion

Loss of Depth of Field • Closer to subject = less depth of field (less working distance) • Point of focus becomes important • Subject parallel to the lens (vertically and horizontally)

Camera Shake Tripods vs. Hand held? Every movement is enhanced at greater magnifications

Stance • • • • •

Hand under lens Feet = tripod Standing - elbows Sitting – elbows Laying - elbows

Prickly pear cactus

Cropping

Focus Stacking

Focus stacking (focal plane merging, z-stacking, focus blending) combines multiple images taken at different focus distances = greater depth of field (DOF) • • • • •

Very, very steady tripod Macro lens Focusing screen Patience Post processing software

Photographers Gallery

Ron Arvidson “I should likely wear a T-shirt that says “If I can’t take my camera, I am not going!”. “Mostly, I take the camera with me to record sighting and create memories. If I get a nice shot, that is a bonus. I don’t have the software to do much in the way of post-production but do crop some of my images.”

The reason I always carry the camera is you never know when you might run across the unexpected. I came across a lovely patch of Blue Flag while picking up a pizza at Cape Traverse.

Photo 4 - I also like to observe those little details that are sometimes overlooked. Beech Leaf

One of my passions is Birding and one of the birds that sparked that interest was a Ruddy Turnstone. I have loved them ever since.

Shorebirds are always interesting. While watching them, I am always on the look out for a Merlin, which also seem to have an interest for them.

Dan Kennedy Dan says these may not be his best photos but they are his favourites! Dan has several different cameras: Canon 50D – gater photo Canon 20D – fox and hawk photo Nikon 4500 – flower photo He also owns a Canon 7D.

Beth Johnston “My three favourite things - kids, nature and photography!”

Ian Scott

“This elm remains healthy and hopefully will continue to survive. Placed in the centre of Queen Square it has more of a natural setting than those between sidewalks and streets where utility poles are often placed in the same area. Taken in 2010 when I was beginning to document the elms of Charlottetown.”

Sharon Clark "With wonderful Victoria Park only minutes away I have daily opportunities to capture the beauty of our sunsets. There is nothing perhaps so simple and yet so profound, to experience and photograph sunrises and sunsets and seldom does anyone not response with awe and pleasure to any photo of these magical moments. The light, the changing tides, the crows coming in for the evening, the Great Blue Herons fishing, the iconic lighthouse - all there in the park's beautiful setting. And in case you are interested I don't use filters or any software to change the photos."

Shirley Gallant Photography Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shirleygallantphotography?fref=ts Website: http://www.sonnys.ca/ I've always been fascinated by ponds or any small body of water. Can't take my eyes off them really so I guess it's only natural that I would love to photograph them. They draw me to them with their many moods. Some days the water looks black and bottomless. Other days they look refreshing and friendly. They always appear inviting and I often take them up on their invitation by dragging my canoe out and paddling up stream to see what I can find. Often I see beautiful vegetation clinging to life on old wooden stumps left behind by fallen trees and I call those Pond Bouquets. It can be a little treacherous at times when you're in a pond where trees have fallen and hide below the surface ready to grab your paddle or trip your canoe. I refer to those snags as pond monsters when I see them. They look to me like they're reaching out to grab something or worse, someone. Mostly, ponds are beautiful though and they offer so many photographic opportunities. Who can resist?

Pond Art

Pond Bouquet

Pond Monster

Pond Centerpiece

Pond Grass

Pond Wildlife

Brian McInnis Time Passages: Abandoned Houses of P.E.I. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/time.passages.36?fref=ts I started shooting abandoned houses back in the 1980s, but gave it up when I got on to other things and it was not until my friend Ruth Skinner, of course you know Ruth,

encouraged me to get shooting them again. The houses are a part of our history and soon they will be lost to time and nature and gone forever so I thought as a personal

photo project I would document them before they are gone. The ones I got in the 80s are gone now.

I really like the old houses and liken them to the keepers of the stories, memories and spirits of the people who lived in them. I sometimes feel like I am walking through a

graveyard when I am shooting them and I swear that on some days the spirits are watching me as I wander around. There have been times when I feel a chill go up my

spine and it does not take much imagination to see children playing in the yard, clothes on the line or a farmer in his fields. I feel something akin to empathy when I am photographing a house that once sheltered a family and now sits abandoned and empty. It is something more than just a pile of wood.

I also try to learn as much about a house as I can from talking to the neighbours and in some cases the family still lives in the area so they are a good resource. I have been a professional photographer for more than 30 years, mostly as a photojournalist, and this abandoned house project is one way I can put the day to day news photography on the back burner and shoot work that I want to do and not what the bosses want.

One thing I find fascinating when I am shooting these old places is how the vegetation is overtaking them and in many cases almost covering what is left of the house or outbuildings. If left to its own devices, nature will erase any trace that a building once stood on a particular spot. It does not take long for the grasses, shrubs, trees and climbing vines to invade the structures. Without a human hand to intervene, vegetation runs wild as nature intended. Sometimes the trees that were growing in the yard when the home was built or planted by the residents begin to die just as the house begins to die and crumble into the basement. Some old houses have the decaying trunks of trees for company, but some old trees are still

standing in the yard - only one or two winters away from their own death.

This place is near Springbrook and I know nothing about it except that it looks like something a Hobbit might live in.

This place is down near Ben's Lake in Kings County and was owned by the MacPherson family, but is now owned by the people who own Hayden Produce. It is one of the few houses that I have photographed where I can go into, although the stairs to the upper floor is a bit dodgy. Also, when I was there a skunk was making its home somewhere in the house judging by the odor so I was extra careful. Most of the places I have seen are very unsafe to enter and I am usually alone so I always make sure I have my GPS turned on in my Iphone in case I end up in the basement and someone has to come and rescue me.

This is on the Cape Bear Road in Kings County. Owned by an American engineer who no longer spends his summer in it. The house was built in the 1800s and was moved to this location from across the road after a person or persons died from TB and others did not want to live in it. It was empty for many years until the engineer bought it.

This is the house on Stewart Point Road with a healthy crop of beautiful lupines in the front yard.

Jon Wedge Photography Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonwedgephotography?fref=ts https://www.flickr.com/photos/131586151@N04/ “I grew up in a rural area of Western Prince Edward Island, just outside of Alberton called Kildare. Central Kildare still is my home, even though I am living in Charlottetown currently. As far back as I can remember, I've always had a creative side to me. Growing up I was into art, I drew a lot of the time. During my teens I took to music, especially guitar (I haven't really put it down since, except to take photos). I got into photography a couple of years ago for one reason. I was homesick. I didn't have any pictures of the locations or wildlife around where I grew up. So I went home for a vacation, and I started taking pictures. It stuck with me. The learning process came later. I've always loved nature. My family home is surrounded by woods, so there was always interesting creatures around to capture my imagination. But oddly enough, I never seen a fox until I moved to Charlottetown.”

“Last winter something amazing happened. For about 3 months, I had two foxes use my backyard as a place to sleep during the day. Some days there would be none around, and some days only one of them would there. But almost every morning they would come in around the fence, head to my smaller garden shed, jump on top of it and sleep on the roof. When the sun started to set, they would wake up and move on, with hunting on the mind. So as a way to charge them rent, I would spend time photographing them outside. Not the easiest thing to do when you work, but I found ways to accomplish it. A lot of my breaks were spent with them. The only problem was they slept, all day. Photographing sleeping foxes is a waiting game. The first step is getting close enough to them without scaring them away. I could get about 10 feet from them before they started to get nervous. I would make sure I did no quick movements, move quietly and slowly, I'd stay low, and be respectful of their space. I would speak quietly to them in a calming voice. I learned to read their body language and I could tell when they were uncomfortable with my presence. Sometimes when they were absolutely sick of me, they would go to the fence that surrounds my yard and walk all the way along it to the bigger garden shed, and sleep on that one. I took that as a sign to leave them alone and I would go inside. But for the most time you are sitting with them in silence, watching them sleep and waiting for something to distract them. A loud car passing by, some annoying crows cawing. Neighbours. Sometimes they would just wake up and look around. You had to be ready for those moments, they don't keep their eyes open for very long. Those three months taught me A LOT about photography, especially wildlife photography. Unfortunately I only started to really learn these lessons near the end of our meetings, so I'm hopeful that at least one of them will be back this year so I can continue to capture their beauty and keep learning from them. It was an experience that I'll never forget.”

“A nice portrait shot of the male. He may have been licking his lips, or maybe keeping his nose warm, I'm not sure. I'm just happy I was there captured this moment.”

“This is one of my favorite photos that I've taken. It was a windy day, and the female fox was curled up tight, so it wasn't looking to hopeful. I decided to go out and try to get some shots anyways, and I'm thankful I did. The wind blew a small part of her fur away to reveal her eye looking at me. I couldn't believe my luck.”

“One of my favorite 'portrait' shots of the male. This was taken during the golden hour, his fur looks like it is on fire. I love the sharpness and detail in his eyes.”

“This was one of the first photos I took of the male Red Fox. It was a slushy day, a mix of rain and snow coming down. He was asleep when I went outside. He eventually got up, soaked, and gave himself a shake. I was lucky enough to be outside at the right moment and he was looking right in my direction. When he was done he looked like a giant unimpressed puff ball.”

Ruth Skinner For over twenty-five years I have worked as a documentary photographer. Originally from

Prince Edward Island, I studied fine art at Mount Allison University in 1983, followed by a year at the Alberta College of Art before completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the

Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University in 1989. During this time, I began an ongoing interest of ferry systems and their cultural significance.

In 1992, I received a grant from the Prince Edward Island Council of the Arts to document the final years of the Borden/Cape Tormentine Ferry prior to the opening of the

Confederation Bridge linking P.E.I. to New Brunswick. Since then, I have documented ferries throughout the Maritimes, UK, and Toronto. Recently,

I completed a Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Media at Ryerson University. My MFA exhibition, Passages explored the 179-year history of the Toronto Island Ferry and its

interrelationship with both residents and non-residents of Toronto Island. My work has been exhibited at the Anna Leon Owens Gallery in Halifax, and the Gallery 44,

Harbourfront, AWOL, and IMA Galleries in Toronto.

Artist’s Statement Man’s life, his origin, his uniqueness, and perhaps even the continuation of his very existence, are inextricably tied to the life of trees. Andreas Feininger, photographer ‘The Elms of Charlottetown’, a photographic documentary project addresses themes of memory and renewal. In March 2015, I began photographing the Elm trees in Charlottetown that had developed Dutch Elm Disease (DED) and were designated for removal. Many of these grand and beautiful trees dated over 100 years and were present at the time of Confederation. These Elms played a significant role in both shaping the island’s history and creating a vibrant and lush urban landscape.

Due to the time sensitive nature of this documentary, I photographed the elms in both 35mm, digital and analogue (film) formats. The extended winter season created low lighting situations and often the tress looked like a ghostly silhouette. As a result, I felt that the trees translated better in black and white and the moody esthetic conveyed the emotional impact felt when the trees were removed. Throughout history, documentary photographers have recorded people, places, and events that have both shaped our collective memory and have influenced the way in which we view the world. One of my favorite documentary photographers Andreas Feininger spent a decade recording some 5000 species of trees throughout Europe and America. Sadly, many of these trees no longer exist. However, his written documentation and images live on in order to educate, and inspire communities and future generations to care for the preservation of trees. Like Andreas Feininger, I continue to document the healthy Elms of Charlottetown in order to motivate communities and organizations to be active participants in the City’s green space initiatives.’

West Street elm reflection in Beaconsfield window.

Woodward Avenue

Hillsborough Square

Elm on corner of Prince and Fitzroy Street

Great George Street

Sean Landsman Photography Website: http://www.seanlandsmanphotography.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeanLandsmanPhotography?fref=ts “I picked up a DSLR in 2010 after finding I needed a creative outlet. Working as a biologist has allowed me to see things others haven't and I was compelled to try and document those things. It just sort of spiraled from there. The nice thing about photography is that it can provide motivation to get out and see things. That characteristic has been greatly rewarding for me.”

“Underwater (DSLR) photography requires specialized equipment to keep the camera safe.

It requires a housing specific to your camera model and some kind of dome port specific to your lens. I use an Ikelite housing and an 8 inch acrylic dome that fits a Tokina 10-17 mm fisheye (I have a macro port for my 100 mm Tokina macro, but haven't experimented with that yet). Underwater photography also requires that you get as close as possible to your subject. Particulates in the water will soften the photos if your subject is far away or if you try to zoom in a bunch. Using a fisheye sort of forces me to do that. The large dome is essential for doing "split-level" shots where half of the picture is underwater and half above. I've included an example here with smelt and a footbridge at one of my study sites.

Getting keeper shots underwater is a whole other story and one I'm still working on. Light attenuates with depth so even going a few feet underwater results in not a lot of light. I

frequently find myself here on PEI using ISOs above 400; a lot of my eel shots were taken at ISO 1000 and even still I was only able to achieve a shutter speed of around 1/160.

Because you're moving a lot underwater, getting tossed around in current, and following moving fish I find myself often needing shutter speeds over 1/250 to freeze motion.

Sometimes I don a wet suit, sometimes not, and sometimes I'm just in waders kneeling in the river. It's a lot of fun, but requires some extra forethought and planning, although yesterday's encounters with the eels was unplanned and unexpected.”

For underwater photography “you have to have willing subjects. The migrating fish are so

focused on migrating that they don't seem to mind my presence too much and calm down a bit when I'm not moving a lot in the water (floating or kneeling along the side of the river). Getting down to the eels was a little tricky because you can't make a lot of noise so I do my best to descend on a free-dive relatively quietly and wait for them to preoccupy themselves looking for food. Trout are really difficult because they have such good eyesight. Definitely challenging...”

Smelt school

American eel

Smelt at split level foot bridge - Pisquid

Happy shooting!

Beth Hoar Green Thumb Photography

www.greenthumbphoto.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Thumb-Photography/325568180866292

Benefit of Professional Lenses #1: Maximum Aperture. This is probably the most important benefit of an expensive lens. Most low-end lenses have max apertures of f/5.6 at the long end of the lens; however, professional lenses often have max apertures of f/2.8 or even lower. The large apertures offered by professional lenses aides in creating shallow depth of field and light-gathering. Benefit of Professional Lenses #2: Constant Aperture. Most cheap lenses change the max aperture as you zoom out. For example, the popular Canon 75-300mm lens can achieve an aperture of f/4 at 75mm, but when you zoom out to 300mm, the lens can only achieve an aperture of f/5.6. On many professional lenses, the maximum aperture available on a lens is constant throughout the focal length range. For example, the 70-200mm lens by both Canon and Nikon can achieve an aperture of f/2.8 at the 70mm or 200mm ends. Benefit of Professional Lenses #3: Focus Motor. More expensive lenses use a silent wave motor, which produces faster and quieter focusing.

Benefit of Professional Lenses #4: Weather Sealing. While all lenses have a certain amount of weather sealing, high-end lenses have loads of it. This makes the lens last much longer without problems. I have rarely seen a kit lens or cheap telephoto lens that doesn’t have dust (or even mold…) inside the lens after a year or two of use. This happens much more rarely in professional lenses as long as they are taken care of. Benefit of Professional Lenses #5: Sharpness. Kind of self-explanatory, but pro lenses are almost always sharper. However, this won’t make a bit of difference if you don’t use proper technique. Benefit of Professional Lenses #6: Internal Focus. On cheaper lenses, the physical length of the lens extends as you zoom in. On many professional lenses, the lens focuses without changing the length of the lens. The only reason this matters is when using filters. This creates problems when using certain types of filters.

Benefit of Professional Lenses #7: Contrast. Professional lenses often produce significantly more saturated colors than cheaper lenses.

Benefit of Professional Lenses #8: Chromatic Aberration. Professional lenses produce less-noticeable fringing around edges. This really isn’t a big deal unless you’re printing or displaying photos large. Benefit of Professional Lenses #9: Color. The difference in color reproduction is slight, but professional lenses do a bit better.

2 megapixels: 3 megapixels: 4 megapixels: 5 megapixels: 6 megapixels: 7 megapixels: 8 megapixels:

1600 x 1200 2048 x 1536 2274 x 1704 2560 x 1920 2816 x 2112 - 3032 x 2008 3072 x 2304 3264 x 2,468

Printing Pixels needed for a 150 DPI image (fair to good image quality) ---------8x10: 1,200 X 1,500 pixels - most 2-megapixel cameras

11x14: 1,650 X 2,100 pixels - most 4-megapixel cameras 16x20: 2,400 X 3,000 pixels - most 8-megapixel cameras, maybe some 7-megapixel cameras Pixels needed for a 200 DPI (good image quality) ---------8x10: 1,600 X 2,000 pixels - most 4-megapixel cameras, maybe some 3-megapixel cameras 11x14: 2,200 X 2,800 pixels - 7-megapixel cameras, though most 6-megapixels cameras should be close enough 16x20: 3,200 X 4,000 pixels - although this is only 12.8 megapixels, most cameras won't have the same aspect ratio (width versus height), thus you may need a camera with a greater number of megapixels

The following list provides an overview of common photographic uses for standard shutter speeds:

•1/8000 s: The fastest speed available in production SLR cameras as of 2009. Used to take sharp photographs of very fast subjects, such as birds or planes, under good lighting conditions, with a ISO number of 1,000 or more and a large aperture lens.[5] •1/4000 s: The fastest speed available in consumer SLR cameras as of 2009. Used to take sharp photographs of fast subjects, such as athletes or vehicles, under good lighting conditions and with an ISO setting of up to 800. [6] •1/2000 s and 1/1000 s: Used to take sharp photographs of moderately fast subjects under normal lighting conditions. . [7] •1/500 s and 1/250 s: Used to take sharp photographs of people in motion in everyday situations. 1/250 s is the fastest speed useful for panning; it also allows for a larger aperture (up to f/11) in motion shots, and hence for a narrower depth of field. [8]

•1/125 s: This speed, and longer ones, are no longer useful for freezing motion. 1/125 s is used to obtain greater depth of field and overall sharpness in landscape photography, and is also often used for panning shots. •1/60 s: Used for panning shots, for images taken under dim lighting conditions, and for available light portraits. [9] •1/30 s: Used for panning subjects moving slower than 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) and for available light photography. Images taken at this and slower speeds normally require a tripod or other camera support to be sharp.[10] •1/15 s and 1/8 s: This and slower speeds are useful for photographs other than panning shots where motion blur is employed for deliberate effect, or for taking sharp photographs of immobile subjects under bad lighting conditions with a tripod-supported camera.[11] •1/4 s, 1/2 s and 1 s: Also mainly used for motion blur effects and/or low-light photography, but only practical with a tripodsupported camera.[12]

•1 minute to several hours: Used with a mechanically fixed camera in astrophotography and for certain special effects.[