Roses

Red Rose (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens with 44mm Extension Tube, ISO 100, 1/20 sec at f/22, Tripod, Remote Shutter Release)

I thought I would try a little bit of close-up/macro work this lunchtime and decided upon the Valentine roses as a subject.  This was a lovely red rose which I tried photographing at different zooms using both my EF 24-105 f/4.0 L Lens and my EF 50mm f/1.8 lens.  Then I tried using my smallest 13mm extension tube and then combined it with the 31mm tube, giveing a total extension tube of 44mm.  I also tried varying the aperture to get a nice soft focus feel but as the extension tube length increased I had real difficulty focusing.  By reducing the aperture to f/20 I managed to get a reasonably sharp image and the depth of field is limited by the extension tubes, so it still looks nice and soft at the edges.  While I likes the colour version I always felt it might convert well into black & white, which it does I think.

I also took some shots of a white rose (see below), with only the 13mm extension tube in this case.  It works well too but I prefer the red one.

I really enjoyed messing around with the extension tubes but focusing is very difficult and it takes time.  The effect however is really compelling I think so I will keep experimenting on more flowers, probably wild ones as spring arrives and moves into summer.

White Rose (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 50mm f/1.8 lens with 13mm Extension Tube, ISO 100, 0.4 sec at f/8.0, tripod, Remote Shutter Release)

Just for reference here are the original images.  I like them both in colour, especially the red rose but my passion for B&W keeps me going back to monochrome.