Canon 100 mm f 2.8L IS Macro: Still life from found objects.

Most of my work is of people or buildings. Even with my Canon EF 50mm Macro f 2.5, apart from previous use for photographing skin tumors, it is mostly used for portraits, if at all.

So it was a new vista for me to have the opportunity for testing the 100 mm d 2.8L IS Macro, shooting what ever came into reach. I discovered that there's such a clarity and contrast to this lens that shooting even mundane objects, such as leaves can be thrilling. The lens seems to impart to the object, or else allow us to visualize, the facets of texture and structure that we normally miss. We cannot afford to look at things with such precision or else we'd be overloaded with information in minutes.

So here's my entrance the the world of macro. One of the benefits of a 4 year old grandson finding leaves is that when they come home and he's asleep, I can plan to use them! So here's the result of working with the clues my grandson collected on a recent walk.

To that I added an avocado shell and pit that was left after I made a sandwich for lunch.

IMAGES WILL APPEAR SHORTLY

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Most of my work is of people or buildings. Even with my Canon EF 50mm Macro f 2.5, apart from previous use for photographing skin tumors, it is mostly used for portraits, if at all.

So it was a new vista for me to have the opportunity for testing the 100 mm d 2.8L IS Macro, shooting what ever came into reach. I discovered that there's such a clarity and contrast to this lens that shooting even mundane objects, such as leaves can be thrilling. The lens seems to impart to the object, or else allow us to visualize, the facets of texture and structure that we normally miss. We cannot afford to look at things with such precision or else we'd be overloaded with information in minutes.

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Hi Asher,

Welcome to the wonderful world of macro, a microcosmos that's all around us but too small and too detailed for us to absorb on a continuous basis. We would suffer from information overflow if we would try to take it all in. The challenge is in isolating the beautiful parts, like a sculptor who liberates a statue from the rock that's containing it ...

And the added beauty of the lens is that it's versatile and also performs good on more distant subjects, such as portraits. It's also a nice tool for stitching a higher resolution image than is possible with a shorter focal length, although it takes more tiles to cover the same field of view.

It's a nice, relatively compact lens, with internal focusing and a lenshood which only has to deal with a single focal length, unlike a zoomlens, which also helps image contrast. The fact that it covers the whole range of magnifications all the way up to 1:1 without the need for additional components is very liberating. No subject is safe anymore ...

Cheers,
Bart

Bart_van_der_Wolf said:

Hi Asher,

Welcome to the wonderful world of macro, a microcosmos that's all around us but too small and too detailed for us to absorb on a continuous basis. We would suffer from information overflow if we would try to take it all in. The challenge is in isolating the beautiful parts, like a sculptor who liberates a statue from the rock that's containing it ...

And the added beauty of the lens is that it's versatile and also performs good on more distant subjects,

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Thanks Bart for the warm welcome to a new world for me. I must admit that the initial snaps documenting where they were found were with the Ricoh 50mm 2.5 Macro. A good lens for such a survey. when they are home they go on to a sheet of white paper and I wait for the light and then try to find my position.

Asher

So here goes!

Leaves, as found:



the second one blew away and so I followed it and snapped again.

Asher

and 1 more!


So that's some of my leaves!


So now to begin assemble! My idea was to create randomness, and that is a paradox, so I guess it's really an appearance of randomness but unified by some inner values.



By the way, Bart, there was no plan to construct such a pile of leaves. Rather, these leaves were just the collection of "detective clues" my grandson and I picked on our photographic journey. Once at home, they demanded to be photographed!

These are still "baby steps I'm taking in enjoying two lenses, the GXR 50mm 2.5 Macro and the fabulous Canon 100mm 2.8L Macro. I still have not looked for insects, butterflies, damsels, except the human ones, and the like. That will be the next project with a gap as I will take this with me to Europe instead of the white eye magnet 70-200 2.8L IS. I'm happy!



Asher

Asher,

I like the series, but number 2, 3 and 4 stick out.
2 is for the texture and the shadow.
3 is for the geometrical elements.
4 is for texture and shadow.

Best regards,
Michael

Michael Nagel said:

Asher,

I like the series, but number 2, 3 and 4 stick out.
2 is for the texture and the shadow.
3 is for the geometrical elements.
4 is for texture and shadow.
l

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Thanks, Michael for your feedback. It's fun to have one's ideas seen as they evolve.

Asher

Now I happened to have used an avocado and liked the look of the pit and the shell. I liked the open hole where the fruit's stem held it on the twig of the branch of the avocado tree.


So now I thought, that rich wood color of the seed would go well with the array of Sienna colors of the leaves!




So I tried two approaches. The one above, a looser, open arrangement and below a more compact intimate setting, as if the elements are one family.



This work is now increasing in size. At what stage is it no longer "Macro"?

Asher

Hi Asher

Glad to see you're using and enjoying the new lens. I liked the third of the leaf shots the most. The colour geometry is pleasing. The other would be in my contact sheet too, but to be honest would likely stay there. Not awful, but you will do so much better.

I'm enjoying the growing series, though I think you'll need to think about depth of field and what you want sharp and what not. I would like a less sterile background too, but that appears to be just me.

Best

Mike

Asher Kelman said:

Now I happened to have used an avocado and liked the look of the pit and the shell. I liked the open hole where the fruit's stem held it on the twig of the branch of the avocado tree.

So now I thought, that rich wood color of the seed would go well with the array of Sienna colors of the leaves!

So I tried two approaches. The one above, a looser, open arrangement and below a more compact intimate setting, as if the elements are one family.

This work is now increasing in size. At what stage is it no longer "Macro"?

Asher

Click to expand...

Asher I was actually wondering whether we have unwillingly overlooked these. I have always assumed that they were shown to demonstrate the lens' capabilities but perhaps you'd like to have our C&C on them, is that so?

Like Mike, I enjoy the 3rd one as the best of the series. You are onto something good, but you must experiment more with different backgrounds and other lighting/DoF if you ask me. Looking forward to seeing more.

Asher Kelman said:

Now I happened to have used an avocado and liked the look of the pit and the shell. I liked the open hole where the fruit's stem held it on the twig of the branch of the avocado tree.

Asher

Click to expand...

Asher - I like the combination of forms in this - i like the colour and its simplicity.

imagine 1000 of these in small cases - standing upright covering a whole wall - each a different .. sorry - just went mad !

did you grow these?

cheers

Mark Hampton said:

Asher - I like the combination of forms in this - i like the colour and its simplicity.

imagine 1000 of these in small cases - standing upright covering a whole wall - each a different .. sorry - just went mad !

did you grow these?

cheers

Click to expand...

Thanks so much Mark! I though no one had noticed them!

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Thanks so much Mark! I though no one had noticed them!

Asher

Click to expand...

Ahem... Since when Mike and I are no one?

Cem_Usakligil said:

Ahem... Since when Mike and I are no one?

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Cem,

You are not "no one", you are, of course a unique and special one, LOL! "No-one" is not meant to be a scientific term, just means not a lot of folk besides Mike and you, yourself, eventually realized the pics were up for C&C!!

Asher

Hi Ahser,


I think this kind of compositions work better viewed from above and with everything in focus, like the leaves in the first group. This one in particular is my favorite, it is a
beautiful and very creative photo:




I like doing this kind of experiments with composition, moving from the simplest to the most complex, in either direction, using whatever is at hand, I think that is a great way to study the building blocks of still life.


Regards,


Ruben

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I'll be posting more when I return from NY. I'm not only testing the 100mm Macro lens but also my ability to work in a different field with surfaces and shapes rather than people and there poses and gestures.

Even the oldest amongst us can learn every day!

Asher