Understanding Close Up Photography by Bryan Peterson

The book starts by describing the difference with ‘Close-up vs Macro Photography’. One third of the book covers the different ‘Equipment’ options available to photographers wanting to get into close-up/macro photography (macros lens vs extension tubes vs closeup lens vs Canon 500D lens). A section of the book covers Depth of Field and Aperture which every photographer wanting to do macro photography should be aware of. The last sections of the book cover ‘Close-up Tips’ and a section giving inspiring subject shooting ideas titled ‘Up Close Indoors’.

The book is well written, very interesting, inspiring and filled with beautiful photographs. I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about Close-up photography. Not all books you read as a photographer have to be about Photoshop! This is a book about photography techniques.

More from Bryan Peterson:

Bryan F Perterson website: www.bryanfpeterson.com
Bryan Peterson Photo Workshops: www.bryanfpetersonphotoworkshops.com
The Perfect Picture School of Photography: www.ppsop.net

More of Perfect Picture School of Photography’s YouTube Channel covering videos on close-up photography and other photography topics by Bryan Peterson.

YouTube Perfect Picture Scholl Of Photography

These two rules make it challenging to capture images within the Biodôme, but certainly not impossible.

Many areas of the building receive light from the outside though glass ceilings. The birds area is a good example were you will get more available light.
The aquarium area is quite dark and does not offer much light.
Another challenge is that in many areas, including the Antartica and Arctic ecosystem, are located behind glass. When shooting through glass, you have to be aware of reflections in the glass. Try to minimize these reflections, otherwise you images will loose contrast and detail.

Suggested equipment:

- D-SLR
- The fastest lens that you can get! This means preferably f2.8 or faster.
- A 70-200mm f2.8 lens would be the best lens to use. A fast lens with a good range that will allow you to get close to pretty much everything at the Biodôme. I used only my 100mm f2.8 macro lens when I was there and that was not long enough to capture a pair of Lynx that would stay far from the visitors.

Shooting Tips:

- Set you camera ISO at 400 or above. Use the highest ISO that you can with a noise level that you can live with. With many of today’s last generation digital cameras you can easily set you ISO at 800 or above without being too concerned about noise.

- Set your camera to RAW file format in order to get more flexibility in setting the photo’s white balance in post-processing. You are dealing with mixed lighting sources which will make it problematic to select an appropriate white balance setting if you select jpeg file format.

- When shooting through glass at the penguin display, it’s best to shoot directly against the glass. If your entire lens is resting against the glass that should basically eliminate reflections from the glass.

- Using a polarizing filter would also be useful in removing glass reflections if you want to step back from the glass, however because there isn’t much light available, you probably don’t want to loose precious f-stops of light by using the polarizing filter. So unless it is your intent to capture the visitor reflections in the glass, get close to the glass.

- In cases where you have to set your lens at an angle to the glass, you can reduce reflections by setting the lens against the glass and using your hand to act as a hood to prevent reflections from showing up in your camera’s field of view.

- The Biodôme is divided into five different ecosystem: Tropical Forest,Laurentian Forest,St. Lawrence Marine ecosystem,Arctic,Antarctic. Please note that the Tropical Forest has a very high level of humidity. You might want to place your camera in a plastic bag before entering this area and wait a few minutes for the camera to warm up before you take it out and start shooting. This will also reduce the chance of condensation buildup in your camera which could be problematic.

Here are a few sample images from my visit to the Biodôme:

ISO 400, 1/250, f4.0, 100mm Canon macro lens

ISO 400, 1/125, f3.5 100mm Canon macro lens

ISO 800, 1/60, f2.8 100mm Canon macro lens. Shot through glass.

ISO 800, 1/160, f4.0, 100mm Canon macro lens. Shot through glass

ISO 400, 1/160, f4.0, 100mm Canon macro lens. Shot through glass.

Links:

Montreal Biodome Website
National Film Board of Canada documentary on the creation of the Montreal Biodôme: L’ arche de verre de Bernard Gosselin, 1994, 89 min 33 s (in French)

Quote from the website:

What is The Best Camera?
The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You™, but it’s also an inspirational 3-part “ecosystem” created by world-renowned photographer, Chase Jarvis. Introducing an iPhone app that allows you to shoot, edit and share your images; a book that celebrates photography with any camera; AND a thriving, online community made of iPhone images from around the world.

I have my page at: Paul Downing

Unsharp mask filter was applied to the photo using PhotoForge and then erased from the car body so that only the headlights and front grill were sharpened. Poor man’s masking! The vibrance filter was added to give it a blueish tint before loading it in ShakeItPhoto.

Before:

After:

Photos captured with the iPhone 3Gs and processed with the iPhone PhotoForge application.

Photo of Jean Beliveau’s statue.

Before:

After:
Simulated HDR, Curves and Vibrance adjustments using PhotoForge

Photos captured with the iPhone 3Gs and processed with the iPhone PhotoForge application.

On September 1st 2009, Canon announced it’s latest APS-C (1.6x Crop Factor) digital SLR camera. This camera delivers more powerfull features than the latest in the X0D series (Canon 50D), thus the reason for a new name and a higher price tag (MSRP 1699$US Body Only). This model will be the direct competition for the Nikon D300S. The 7D will be available at the end of September.

As Chuck Westfall (Canon USA’s Technical Advisor for the company’s Consumer Imaging Group and it’s main media spokesman for new camera products ) states in an article on The Digital Journalist website in an answer to a question related to the naming of the EOS 7D, and I quote:

Why wasn’t the new camera named 60D? Because the 7D is considered to be the start of a new series in the EOS line-up. It ranks higher than xxD models like the 50D, just as the 50D ranks higher than the 500D even though both have APS-C sensors with the same resolution.

The full answer to the question and other Canon related topics can be found here.

Features List:

You can find more information at these links:

Canon.com :
Canon 7D Sample Images & Movies
Canon EOS 7D Digital SLR page

Canon Digital Learning Center :
What’s New in the EOS 7D: Sophisticated, Customizable AF System
Harnessing the Power of the EOS 7D’s Video System
EOS 7D: First Look Videos

Canon.com ‘pdf’ Documentation :
EOS 7D Brochure: Beyond The Still (pdf)
EOS 7D Instruction Manual (pdf)
Canon EOS 7D Pocket Guide (pdf)

dpreview.com : Canon unveils EOS 7D high-end digital SLR
dpreview.com : Hands-on preview of the Canon EOS 7D

photo.net : Canon EOS 7D Preview

Rob Galbraith DPI : Canon announces 17.92 million image pixel, 8fps EOS 7D

There were some beautifull specimens on display. Here are some samples.

Photos captured with the iPhone 3Gs and processed with the iPhone PhotoForge application.

Photo taken at Ottawa Arboretum (Experimental Farm)

Before:

After iPhone PhotoForge Adjustments:
- Curves to saturate greens and block out blacks
- Dreamy filter
- Eraser to remove changes from frog