From the Garden...

[Pete Delaney]

To quote a line from Mr Lennon... "Life is what happens while your busy making other plans..." And this year it's 'screwing up' my photography. Still, I've been pottering in the garden and taken a few with the XZ-1. Just to prove I still know how to pick up a camera - (good therapy too).

















Hope you enjoy these macros... I think the XZ-1 does a good job

Pete.
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http://captureme.webplus.net/index.html

 

[OlyShooter]

Hi Pete,

Wonderfull macros. Can you tell me if these were shot with your xz-1 using a tripod or handheld? And also you did use the Macro SCN mode on th camera? Just trying to learn some techniques in using this camera for macro photography. Thanks in advance.

 

[Pete Delaney]

Hi Pete,

Wonderfull macros. Can you tell me if these were shot with your xz-1 using a tripod or handheld? And also you did use the Macro SCN mode on th camera? Just trying to learn some techniques in using this camera for macro photography. Thanks in advance.

Glad you enjoyed them. These were all handheld. You have to get very close and very lucky so as not to disturb the beasties.... All shot in macro mode and cropped as required. The image stabilisation is thankfully, very good. The main think is to ensure the light isn't interupted too much by the closeness of the lens barrel. in the past I would have used a Sigma 150mm F2.8 macro mounted on a tripod with my old D300s to get pictures that were better than these. I would have had to work at it too! So to get these from wandering around the garden with a compact is, in my opinion, fabulous.

Pete.
--
http://captureme.webplus.net/index.html

 

[Marla]

Pete,

These are really beautiful images - shows what this little XZ-1 is capable of in the right hands! You have a great eye - the composition is perfect.

Are these done in RAW or jpg?

Thanks for sharing. It is really a pleasure viewing great work such as shown here.

Maria

 

[Sharon Engstrom]

Pete,

These are, indeed, nice macros of the weeds and critters in your garden. I hope the camera meets your expectations.
--
Sharon

http://www.pbase.com/slengst/galleries
E-3;
Lenses: 11-22, 14-54, 50-200, EC-20 and Canon 500D
Lee GND filter set.

 

[Pete Delaney]

Pete,

These are really beautiful images - shows what this little XZ-1 is capable of in the right hands! You have a great eye - the composition is perfect.

Are these done in RAW or jpg?

Thanks for sharing. It is really a pleasure viewing great work such as shown here.

Maria

Thank you Maria... these were all shot RAW.

Pete.
--
http://captureme.webplus.net/index.html

 

[Pete Delaney]

Pete,

These are, indeed, nice macros of the weeds and critters in your garden. I hope the camera meets your expectations.
--
Sharon

I am pleased with the XZ-1. It may not be as capable as the SLR and lenses I used to own but as a compact it can produce some great work. Super convenience... I may never go back to 'large' cameras again.

Pete

--
http://captureme.webplus.net/index.html

 

[Julian Kirkness]

I saw your shots and felt inspired - this one a super macro using the MAL-1 macro light...





--
Julian Kirkness

http://web.mac.com/jkirkness/Photo_Site/Welcome.html

 

[davidaj2003]

I would have put money on you having used a tripod for this one! Did you do any sharpening or other PP secrets?

 

[Kim R]

Good to see your images.
Keep clicking.
--

KimR

 

[Roadrider]

Nice macros! Thanks for sharing.
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http://www.pbase.com/tsbok

 

[Digirame]

Those are nice pictures. I like your colorful insects.

 

[Pete Delaney]

I would have put money on you having used a tripod for this one! Did you do any sharpening or other PP secrets?

Without decent image stabilisation in the camera this would be a lot harder. I cropped the image and did my processing in Lightroom3. The sharpening tools in Lightroom are very good, but you need to understand how to use them well and there are plenty of tutorial vids on youtube. It's always worth playing with colour/saturation a little and I do like contrasty pictures. Shooting in RAW allows me to get as much as possible from the image. To me this is particularly important as the XZ-1 sensor doesn't capture as much range as a bigger slr sensor. I then normally export to CS4 where I resize and add a visible (albeit subtle) watermark for the web and do a final slight sharpen using 'Smart Sharpen' tool.

Glad you like it. It's great knowing you can get a photo within 3 feet of your back door!

Pete
--
http://captureme.webplus.net/index.html