Digicam Challenges (was December Blooms)
Jamie (Tue, 16 Dec 2003 12:30:12 PST)
At 08:00 PM 12/15/2003 -0500, you wrote:
If I recall correctly, others have offered various tricks and tips in the past
to establish macro focus where you want it, like putting a gray card the same
distance away as the subject, locking the camera's focus on it, and then
recomposing the shot on the plant to take the picture.
Mark, and All.
Having been previously spoiled by the focusing and exposure control of my
35 mm SLR, I have been trying to find ways to achieve the same quality with
the LCD viewfinder of my digital camera. The method you outline is quite
similar to my favorite "field method", in which I place the palm of my hand
in the same plane as the subject, then lock the exposure and focus. If
there is not room in the composition for my temporary hand, I hold it next
to the subject, so that the only re-composition necessary is a slight shift
of the camera. For highly contrasting subjects such as Massonia pustulata,
(blooming right now) I try to compensate with a digital paint program.
Besides the Massonia, Sinningia leucotricha and sellovei continue to push a
new blossom occasionally, but there's not much else going on.
Jamie