ruiprodrigues

Ball point eye

Frontal view off the ball of a ball point pen.

Frontal view off the ball of a ball point pen.
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Canon EOS 40D

settings

Aperture f/8 ISO 100 Shutter 13/1 Focal Length 100/1

upload_date

Oct, 2015

Views

289

Likes

Awards

Winner in Best Macro Photo Challenge

Peer Award

Absolute Masterpiece

Genius

Outstanding Creativity

Superior Skill

Superb Composition

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Behind The Lens

Location

I usually use my work desk to make my macro shots. It gives me a stable base and lots of light from different sources and temperatures. I sometimes take the advantage of a window for some natural light and even the computer monitor screen might provide for some 'on call' backgrouds.

Time

Generally I make my photos at the end of the day. As I am on a 365 project (3rd year now) I just have to make some images every day and if everything else fails (busy day or something of that sort) I eventually end up probing the office for some photogenic 'victim'. This time it was an 'innocent' ball point pen.

Lighting

Around my work desk I have two fixed fluorescent and one tungsten light that I often use to give some backgroud light, as shallow depth of field macros tend to have black backgrounds if you use a front line flash. In this one I relied on the end of day soft light going through the side window (you can see the catch light on the tip of the sphere).

Equipment

For macro shots I use my old Canon 40D and a Canon EF 100mm f2.8 lens with a Kenko 1.4x teleconverter, wich gives something like a 224mm equivalent focal. With this setting and a solid tripod it is easy to get a sharp focus and some insane out of focus backgroud.

Inspiration

Inspiration comes and goes (most of the times it goes). One thing the 365 project thought me is that you can allways find something to make an interesting (you hope) photo and most of the times it just happens, even with vulgar things that just lie aroud.

Editing

I allways take photos in combined RAW+JPEG format and use the RAW to go for the final image. RAW processing goes (if needed) through color, highlight, shadow correction and some color intensification (RAW allways comes dull from the camera). I also did some sharpening and noise reduction to give a cleaner look to the final image.

In my camera bag

I photograph for a dance group and for leisure so there are two working kits. For the first case I use a Canon 6D (full frame with super fast focus in low light) with a battery grip and a Canon 70-200mm f2.8L lens (great flexibility if you do not control the distance to your subject and the best glass I've ever used). This bag also carries other optics (Canon 2x teleconverter, Canon 50mm f1.4 fixed focal lens, Canon EF 17-40 mm f/4L zoom), a few filters (UV, Circular polarizer, Variable ND and Infrared), cleaning kit (blower and microfiber cloth), a bunch of batteries and a few high speed SD memory cards. The 'other' bag is for general use and has a Canon 5DMkIII with battery grip and a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 IS.

Feedback

A famous photographer once said that to make a good photo you have to get close to your subject and then when you think you are close enough just take another step forward. This goes IMHO for the fisical but also for the emotional aspect of photography (maybe even more for the latter). Get to know the world aroud you and make images that get your emotions inside the pictures and show something that no one ever saw, even if it was there all the time. To quote yet another guy: To discover is to see what everybody saw and think (photograph) what nobody thought.

See more amazing photos, follow ruiprodrigues

ruiprodrigues

ruiprodrigues

Ball point eye

Frontal view off the ball of a ball point pen.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow ruiprodrigues

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