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New Macro Filters

I’d love to own a macro lens someday, especially since starting my new ETSY store which requires me to take super close up shots of my jewelry. Before I am able to get a Macro lens, my husband gets top priority over the next lens purchase, which apparently will be 85mm f/1.8. 

Thanks to my dear mother-in-law, I received this inexpensive set of macro filters for Christmas, which are turning out to be tiny little miracle workers.  Of course I did a little research before I put them on my Christmas list as you can find sets online at a variety of different price points.  I went with a 67mm size set as that is the largest filter size of the lenses that I own. My other lens (the Canon 50mm f/1.8) uses a 52mm size filter, so I will have to purchase an inexpensive Step Up/Down Ring which will allow me to use the filters on all of my lenses.

The set that I received came with 4 filters, labeled +1, +2, +4 and +10.

I am still learning my way around these filters remembering that I cannot “zoom” with my lens, but that I have to adjust my settings and positioning in order to get the images in focus.  Here are some examples (using Mr. Angry Bird) to show you how close I was able to get with each filter. 

Using +2 Filter

Using +2 Filter

Using +4 filter

Using +4 filter

Using +10 Filter
Using +10 Filter
You can see\nwith this last photo where I focused my camera; the middle of his eyes and his angry\neye brows. Using the +10 filter I was practically touching him on his nose with my lens.

Here is another shot using the +10 filter.  I got a nice shot of Luna's blonde eyelashes.

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You can see with this last photo where I focused my camera; the middle of his eyes and his angry eye brows. Using the +10 filter I was practically touching him on his nose with my lens.

Here is another shot using the +10 filter.  I got a nice shot of Luna's blonde eyelashes.

+10 Filter

+10 Filter

I can see myself having a lot of fun with these new filters! Have you ever used macro filter sets before? 

My Camera Techniques For Black & White Photography

I was kindly asked to share some techniques regarding my\nlast Black & White Sunday photo, so I thought that would make for a great\nblog tutorial.  Plus in doing so it\u2019s\nforcing me to have to explain my thought process which is always god -\nespecially since I am still learning.  So\nhere we go!

It's all about the functions!

My dogs do a pretty great job at setting themselves up to be\nphotographed, so I try not to do any forced manipulating with them.  I just wait patiently for a perfect head turn\nor a great ear perk and take the shot. \nSo what I do really focus on are my camera settings.\u200B

\u200B\u200B\u200BThe camera I use is a Canon EOS 60D.  You can read about the other gear used on this site here - About.

The first function I adjust is the Shooting Mode.  The type of shooting mode I tend to stick\nwith (because it\u2019s safe) is the Program Mode - where the camera automatically\nsets the shutter speed and aperture to suit the subject\u2019s brightness.

The next function I adjust is the picture style. This is\nwhere I can select Monochrome which creates black and white images.

The third function I adjust is the ISO speed - which\nmeasures the sensors sensitivity to light. \nI found my ISO set at 400 was good for tackling both the bright sunlight\nand the shadow effects that were being created by the blinds.  This shot was also taken at 10am where the\nsunlight was coming in very bright.

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I was kindly asked to share some techniques regarding my last Black & White Sunday photo, so I thought that would make for a great blog tutorial.  Plus in doing so it’s forcing me to have to explain my thought process which is always god - especially since I am still learning.  So here we go!

It's all about the functions!

My dogs do a pretty great job at setting themselves up to be photographed, so I try not to do any forced manipulating with them.  I just wait patiently for a perfect head turn or a great ear perk and take the shot.  So what I do really focus on are my camera settings.​

​​​The camera I use is a Canon EOS 60D.  You can read about the other gear used on this site here - About.

The first function I adjust is the Shooting Mode.  The type of shooting mode I tend to stick with (because it’s safe) is the Program Mode - where the camera automatically sets the shutter speed and aperture to suit the subject’s brightness.

The next function I adjust is the picture style. This is where I can select Monochrome which creates black and white images.

The third function I adjust is the ISO speed - which measures the sensors sensitivity to light.  I found my ISO set at 400 was good for tackling both the bright sunlight and the shadow effects that were being created by the blinds.  This shot was also taken at 10am where the sunlight was coming in very bright.

The next thing I do is open my photo in PhotoShop (Elements)\nand make adjustments.  For this particular\nphoto I focused on making minor adjustments to the Levels.  I started out by creating a new layer, then\nadjusting the Levels.  Note - If you move\nthe slider to the left it will lighten the shadows.  If you move the slider towards the right it\nwill bring back contrast. The photo didn't require a lot of manipulating, as I just\nwanted to make sure that the sunshine was not too bright and my shadows were\nnot too dark.","engine":"visual"}" data-block-type="2" id="block-015ceb3936272c4a6efc">

The next thing I do is open my photo in PhotoShop (Elements) and make adjustments.  For this particular photo I focused on making minor adjustments to the Levels.  I started out by creating a new layer, then adjusting the Levels.  Note - If you move the slider to the left it will lighten the shadows.  If you move the slider towards the right it will bring back contrast. The photo didn't require a lot of manipulating, as I just wanted to make sure that the sunshine was not too bright and my shadows were not too dark.

The finished product

Canon EOS 60D, 135mm Lens

​Canon EOS 60D, 135mm Lens ​