NEW Advanced Assignment # 2: Macro without Macro

OK, thnxs. One left🥴.

Again some citrus, but now a tangerine. Size of itself: largest diameter about 50mm. The part you see isn't more than 40mm at largest.

Shot with my A7iii+ExtensionTube16mm+Samyang 18mm f2,8 AF.
Magnification, a bit more than 1:1, I guess. It was very hard to get a sharp piece in the shot.




Sony ILCE-7M3
SAMYANG AF 18mm F2.8
f/16.0
18.0 mm
3.2s
400iso

@Phil Wood: A clear and convincing pass, Phil! Nice use of extension tubes.

Thanks very much for the comments @Miranda F and @bms44974. I was pleased with the shot and I'm glad you both like it. I hadn't really thought the background cluttered but now it's all I see, I'll certainly give it another go with the card and portrait orientation.

But for now, it's with mixed emotions that I move on to the last assignment

Blue-Eyed Monkey wrote: Sorry to be a pain; not sure if this slipped under the RADAR! Any chance of some feedback please?

It's a pretty old assignment (check the dates on the previous page!) but I'm happy to jump in with some comments.

Looks pretty good to me.
Positives:
- beautifully lit
- nice catchlights, both on the stone and the chain.
- main subject (stone and setting) is sharp enough all over (not easy to judge)
- progressive defocus along the chain; I love this.
- nice bokeh with defocus.

Negatives (for me!)
- Orientation: I'd turn it pi/2 widdershins
- background clutter detracts from image. I'd prefer to see either all white or (preferably) all black background. You can always insert a bit of black card.
- the scratches do detract from the image. Otherwise it could be out of an expensive jewelry catalogue. Maybe buy some cheap costume jewelry and have another go?

But other than those, for the magnification used I am impressed.

Edited by Miranda F - 28 November 2017 at 08:41

I’m breaking my own rules here and going out of sequence, but the “Getting Closer” assignment has puzzled me more than I thought!!!

Anyway, I took this shot using a Minolta 35-70mm and a reversing ring. I had to buy one when I read this assignment because the simplicity of the idea amazed me. So basic and yet something I would never have thought of! I cut a hole in a lens cap to control the aperture.



35mm, approximately f4.0, 1/160sec, ISO400, Flash fired.

The head of the ring is about 4mm in diameter.

PS. Unfortunately, my wife saw how scratched the ring was and has had to buy another one!!!

Edited by Blue-Eyed Monkey - 27 November 2017 at 05:10

@clk230: That's a pass and makes you only the third member to complete all of the assignments (Behind Berean and Atom Ant). Well done, James!