A Little Change of Pace

About a year ago when this whole adventure began, I had purchase a very inexpensive set of Fotodix extension tubes to see if I would like Macro photography. I had never really experimented with them for one reason or another so for a little change of pace I decided to put them on and see what I could come up with. The set comes with three interchangeable length tubes for varying magnification levels. All together you get an adapter ring, 7mm, 14mm and 28mm tubes which you can use separately or all together.  As the name states, these are just tubes, cylindrical  hollow pieces of aluminum. No mirrors, no electronics. Focusing is done manually though a combination of moving back and forth and using the manual focus adjustment on your lens.

For $14.95, I think they are worth it if you are just starting out or you, like me, want to see what Macro Photography is like without investing in a true macro lens. For these experiments I use the full set of tubes and an 85mm lens.

First up on the hit list is a roll of funky colored duct tape. Good job catching the interwoven patterns.

From the cave to the living area I went, pausing at my daughter’s eye

One of the first things I noticed is that there is an incredibly narrow focus point. Incredibly narrow as in if you are off by the width of a hair, you go blurry. Very little wiggle room. Since there are no electronics you have to rely on shutter speed and iso to control exposure.

Off to the great outdoors we go and since the weather is getting nicer things are beginning to grow. First up the roses. And it looks like the insects are already building a home.

While there are many plants beginning to show growth, the weeds are already grown…I am really liking how it captured the little spiral thingy’s on this dandelion. Even the most annoying things can be interesting.

I have no idea what this little fellow is called. I doubt I even would have noticed this if I was not looking for small subjects.

A positive outcome so far, my only gripe is the difficulty focusing but the results are decent. Static objects are doable with these tubes. Back to the cave for the next series of tests. A bowl of water, a gelled flash and a colorful garment to put underneath said bowl of water.

Well, that difficulty focusing was magnified ten fold trying to capture water drops. Almost impossible handheld and even difficult with a tripod.This next image is from my set up testing shots. Not nearly in focus but I really like the reflections and the colors from it.

And one of the handful I had enough patience with to find a sweet spot with.

The red and white dish towel was replaced with a funky summer shirt

I then increased the height of the drop, hoping to get a bigger splash. Even though I was not able to find a decent focus point I did manage to get another really cool reflection/color shot. A bit artsy even.

So with static objects the extension tubes provide a good but narrow understanding of Macro photography. I may experiment with each size and a couple of different lenses as the flowers start to bud and bloom. But no more water drops. At least not until I can get my hands on a true Macro Lens.

Thanks for stopping by, till next time!