Post your macro photos here

[Blue439]

Inside a large amethyst

Towards the end of 2020, I bought a manual focus APO macro lens by Laowa, 100mm in focal length and capable of going to 2:1 natively. The inside of this amethyst stone is one of the first test shots I took with it.

It is a very good lens, I could say an excellent one when factoring in its low price. The focusing ring is well dampened, but the aperture ring has no stops and moves easily: fine for studio work, wouldn’t be so nice in the field. Of course, it has no electronic contacts and doesn’t transmit any information to the camera, at least in the Nikon Z-mount version; I think it may be different with some other versions/brands.

Composite shot made up of 14 focus-stacked exposures, set manually using a Neewer focusing rail. Stack processed with Helicon Focus. Usual setup, camera bolted onto tripod and Arca-Swiss geared head, artificial lighting. I think I remember blue-gelling the flash to camera left to contrast with the dominant purple-y color of the amethyst.

 

[Blue439]

A Tank in super-macro

Like all luxury brands, Cartier uses several little tricks on their watches that are very difficult to replicate, in an effort to differentiate the genuine article from counterfeits. The word “CARTIER” in the thin leg of the “V” in the Roman numeral VII on this Tank watch can only be read with a strong magnifying glass, otherwise it only looks like a line. It was extremely difficult to get in focus and to light through the tunnel of the bellows. I couldn’t avoid the chromatic aberrations in other parts of the photo, but then I am not a proficient user of bellows; merely an amateur.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 105mm ƒ/2.8 G VR macro lens, FTZ adapter. Novoflex BALPRO T/S bellows. Reproduction ratio is about 10:1. Single exposure.

 

[Blue439]

Flashy foliage, or how to overpower the Sun with one single little cobra flash (2020)...

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 105mm, ƒ/2.8 G VR lens, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, Leofoto VH–30R panoramic head. Artificial lighting, single exposure.

 

[Blue439]

A cosmetic macro shot (2020)

Having fun lighting and shooting beauty products pilfered borrowed from the bathroom.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 105mm ƒ/2.8 G VR macro lens, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Artificial lighting. Composite shot (haven’t noted the number of focus-stacked exposures) using the built-in function on the Nikon Z7. Stack processed with Helicon Focus.

 

[Blue439]

Another foliage macro shot taken in the garden and lit solely by flash (April 2020). This photo is, I think, interesting because it was taken with an older macro lens, the 60mm Micro-Nikkor non-VR which I bought secondhand for a very small sum, and originally just to go on the Nikon ES-2 slide reproduction kit. I ended up never using it for that until now, but I have always found it a very solid performer overall —at least until the new Z 105/2.8 macro came.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 60mm, ƒ/2.8 G ED, handheld, single exposure. Artificial lighting.

 

[Blue439]

The Baccarat crystal glassworks were founded in 1764 in the eponymous town in the province of Lorraine (northeastern France). Their traditional products (crystal tableware, chandeliers, etc.) are renowned worldwide, but they have also branched off into jewelry and this “Psydelic” pendant is one of their iconic products. Treated with a secret process, its polished crystal changes color depending on what it is resting on: bare skin, fabric from clothing, etc. A very fascinating object.

Nikon D850, Micro-Nikkor 60mm, ƒ/2.8 macro lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Shot on an Artograph Lightpad 930 light table.

 

[Blue439]

April 2020, lockdown, shooting macros in the garden and overpowering the Sun with off-camera flash: I found this strangely wilted flower, maybe from the year before?

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 60mm, ƒ/2.8 G lens (amazing performer, I already said!), FTZ adapter. Handheld, single exposure, off-camera flash.

 

[Blue439]

Murano glass bracelet

Another one that was a bitch to light —and, of course, loads of fun because of it! I bought this bracelet for my wife at the Antica Murrina glass-making shop in Venice. It is gold with “charms” made of glass, hand-blown by Murano artisans. Costume jewellery of course, still lovely to look at.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 105mm ƒ/2.8 G VR II macro lens, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Artificial lighting. My notes say it was focus-stacked, but I haven’t recorded the number of exposures. Stack processed with Helicon Focus, as usual.

 

[Blue439]

A Renaissance purse made of gold

This is a very nice piece that’s been in the family (on my mother’s side) for generations. I was told by by a supposedly knowledgeable person that it was Renaissance work from the 1500s. It is a small purse, about 5 centimeters wide and maybe 8 in length, entirely made of solid gold, including the “meshing”, or “chainmail” work, or whatever that’s called. It is a very precious, museum-grade item, apparently. I don’t think it has seen a lot of use (!), as the minuscule gold “chain links” are all intact.

Shot from January 2020. Considering the reproduction ratio, I must have used either an extension tube or the bellows with the nifty fifty.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 50mm ƒ/1.8 S lens, extension tube or bellows. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Artificial lighting. Composite shot made of an unrecorded number of focus-stacked exposures, using the built-in function on the camera. Stack processed with Helicon Focus.

 

[Blue439]

Very small leaves in my garden, lit by flash only, simulating darkness when in fact it was broad daylight...

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 60mm, ƒ/2.8 G lens, FTZ adapter. Handheld, artificial lighting.

 

[Blue439]

A Breton vareuse by Le Glazik

Although you only see a very small part of the garment, as this is supposed to be a macro shot, I know I have to explain. First, a vareuse is the garment made of heavy cotton (sometimes of wool) that sailors pull over their heads to wear on the upper part of the body. I haven’t found an English translation I’m happy with, and so I won’t try to translate. Navy sailors wear them in navy blue or white in the Summer, but fishermen from Brittany use either a regular blue or a brick kind of cotton vareuse that slowly loses its color because of the Sun and salt water and repeated washings... A proper vareuse should be adequately faded (this one is only halfway there, alas!), like a pair of Levi’s jeans, to show that the owner is a genuine local loup de mer (literally, “sea wolf”, one would say “sea dog” in English) and not a puffed-up Parisian trying to pass himself off for a trawler master with a Rolex on his wrist...

Le Glazik is the best brand for vareuses (they call them “sailor’s smock”). Nowadays, they have become almost a fashion item and you can buy them in a number of colors, for men, women and kids: look here if you are interested. No self-respecting sailor would want to be seen dead in any color but Brick or the light blue they call “Celeste”. I’ve had my vareuse for many years and as it is virtually indestructible, I expect to continue wearing it for a very long time... The buttons are all metal. Originally, those garments were made of sailcloth.

Nikon Z7, Laowa 100mm, ƒ/2.8 2× Ultra Macro Apo lens for Z-mount, manual focus. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Artificial lighting, 2:1 magnification ratio.

 

[Blue439]

A napoléon

Super-macro shot of a detail of a 20-franc gold coin from 1911. Such gold coins were first known in France as louis d’or, as most of the last French kings were names Louis, and under the monarchy, the profile of the king would be engraved on the heads side. Then, they became napoléons, as Napoleon the First, then Napoleon III, had such coins minted with their own profiles on them. Finally, when the Republic replaced the Second Empire in 1870, the coin became the much less poetic 20-franc.

Such coins stopped being minted during World War I, when France abandoned the gold standard equivalent. When I uploaded this photo to Flickr in 2020, I captioned that its average market value was about 300 euros. I have looked it up before I posted this, and I see it is now over 480 euros (and much more if mint quality), as it follow the rates of gold, which have been going up all the time. I keep it hidden under my mattress, it is a good investment!

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 50mm ƒ/1.8 S lens, Novoflex BALPRO T/S bellows. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Artificial lighting, single exposure. Approximate reproduction ratio 9:1.

 

[Blue439]

Chocolate truffles close up.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 105mm, ƒ/2.8 G VR macro lens, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting, single exposure.

 

[Blue439]

Swiss ticking

Things from my mother: her solid gold wristwatch which she bought in the 1960s while we were skiing in Engelberg, Switzerland. It is a Longines but she had the white dial replaced with a gold one, and so the brand name disappeared (which she liked better, anyway). The small traveling alarm clock in the background is an Uti Swiza from the same period.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 105mm ƒ/2.8 G VR macro lens, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Artificial lighting. Composite shot made up of 7 focus-stacked exposures, set automatically using the built-in function on the camera. Stack processed with Helicon Focus.

 

[Blue439]

Christmas tree detail (2020)

Those gorgeous glass balls are hand-blown by the Verrerie de Biot glass-making workshop in Provence (see here in English). The little green dots glow in the dark in the loveliest manner.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 105mm, ƒ/2.8 G VR macro lens, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Natural light, single exposure.

 

[Peter7100]

Christmas tree detail (2020)

Those gorgeous glass balls are hand-blown by the Verrerie de Biot glass-making workshop in Provence (see here in English). The little green dots glow in the dark in the loveliest manner.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 105mm, ƒ/2.8 G VR macro lens, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Natural light, single exposure.

View attachment 412402

Still a bit early for those Christmas photo's

 

[Blue439]

Still a bit early for those Christmas photo's

Well, in the stores here all the chocolates have arrived, and all the toys too, so there.

 

[Clovishound]

Here they start working on Christmas stuff after Halloween. When I was growing up you didn't put up Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving.

Of course when I was growing up we had mammoth for Thanksgiving dinner, and used a saber toothed tiger fang for the tip top Christmas tree ornament. I do miss the old mammoth hunts. My atlatl has been gathering dust for far too long.

 

[Peter7100]

Here they start working on Christmas stuff after Halloween. When I was growing up you didn't put up Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving.

Of course when I was growing up we had mammoth for Thanksgiving dinner, and used a saber toothed tiger fang for the tip top Christmas tree ornament. I do miss the old mammoth hunts. My atlatl has been gathering dust for far too long.

Excluding shopping centres I think the earliest you are likely to see Christmas trees going up are in the first week of December in my part of the World.

 

[Blue439]

Rose naine (Dwarf rose?), 2020

Using a regular lens for macrophotography: dwarf rose photographed with a 135mm lens on an extension tube.

Nikon Z7, Sigma 135mm ƒ/1.8 Art lens, FTZ adapter, Fotodiox Pro 35-mm extension tube. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting. Composite shot made up of 6 focus-stacked exposures, set automatically using the built-in function on the camera. Stack processed with Helicon Focus.