Tiny moss flowers

[Steve Foss]

Mostly, we tromp right over these. Well, moss seems made for walking on, and these little flower bud stalks are only an inch tall.

These are from my back yard this morning. You don't need to drive long distances to exotic destinations to find the beauty of nature.

With the subjects only a few inches away from the end of the lens, depth-of-focus is nearly microscopic, so aperture changes make a big impact on composition. From a few inches away with the 100 macro, DOF at f2.8 is a fraction of an inch. From 100 yards away with the same lens and same aperture, DOF would be more like a couple feet. Getting enough DOF for certain types of work means very slow shutter speeds, and that's why macro photographers so often need a solid tripod, remote release and mirror lock-up.

In this case, at iso400 and with the available light and ground to brace from, handheld worked just fine, but if I'd gone up to f16 to f32, I'd have needed those aids because the shutter speeds would have dropped too low for handholding.

All with the Canon 30D, Canon 100 f2.8 macro, iso400, handheld but braced against the ground, diffusion disc used to cut harsh sun.

1/800 @ f2.8

1/80 @ f13

1/400 @ f4.5

1/100 @ f13

[MN Shutterbug]

Interesting examples. If I was to pick a fave, I couldn't. I've viewed them all a half dozen times, and don't really know which one I prefer.

[eyeguy 54]

Nice and thanks for the info. I really like the first one, not too busy.

[mmeyer]

Incredible what you find when you get down on the ground isn't it! All of these are fantastic, Steve!

[Steve Foss]

One of the reasons I love macro so much is it makes you slow down and crawl around on your belly on the ground.

[FinsandFeathers]

Steve, I found myself getting "lost" in the third one!! I love the plant work and you always seem to nail it! Thank You...

Oh Ya, lost is a good thing!!!!!!!!!!!

[ShawnZ]

The f2.8 image is dreamy, all are lovely, but that one is sweeeeet.

[panthrcat]

oh boy!!! Steve these are very very good! I just love macro, but don't have the lens for it, I sure do enjoy your examples of this series...

I have a friend who just bought the newest Rebel,, xsi (I think it was) and I saw him about a week later and asked how he was enjoying it,, he hesitated and said "there's nothing to take pictures of!! the bush hasn't started to turn green"

I thought that was a very sad statement,, there isn't a day that I go in the bush, (all 4 seasons) that I can't find anything worthy of shooting,,