While at Hotel Albuquerque photographing an event taking place in its courtyard, in the moments finding different points from which to photograph the event itself, which was just a reception and not very fast paced, I had the chance to take a few photos of the features inside the courtyard like the large water fountain, the flora, and the event tent itself in place no doubt in case of any unscheduled rain. All these photos were taking with the amazing Sony 50mm f/1.2 GM lens. Every time I use it, I find myself re-remembering this lens not only has magical properties, but it can be used for a much wider variety of photo than one may think. For a 50mm lens, it is nearly ten times what I paid for my very first 50mm lens (Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D) back in 2008, but it just might be ten times the lens!
Cosmos photos across 13 years of photography history
The first time I photographed cosmos flowers 13 years ago, I was just learning how to become a more serious photographer. That meant I could still be stunned by the amount of bokeh created in these cosmos flowers I made in Tachikawa, Japan. Now many tens of thousands of photos later, I am no longer stunned by creating very shallow DoF in a photo, but I do still appreciate the magic of it. These cosmos were photographed in the ABQ Biopark while bees were busy collecting pollen on a warm fall afternoon. In 13 years will we still be using what we traditionally think of as a interchangeable lens camera to make such photos?
Continuing the new series of video features on Jason Collin Photography, this video features a top photo tip regarding another piece of inexpensive photography gear, the diffuser. For only about $40, you can get a 42” diffuser (and most are also reflectors too). In the video you can see me make the two photos below, which are unedited, the only change is one is made in direct sunlight and the other is made with the diffuser over the flower. The diffuser works its magic not just on flowers of course, also people and anything else you want to photograph in direct sunlight.
While I was in Cloudcroft, New Mexico on a rural land photography assignment, I took notice of these very unusual flowers that I thought looked like rocket popsicles that a hummingbird was having breakfast at. I had my excellent new Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro SP lens on my Nikon D750. There was no way to track this fast moving bird through the air. How to get this shot then? Pre-focus on a flower you hope the hummingbird will land on, and wait. I studied the bird's flying patterns a bit, noticing it kept coming back to this particular flower. I approached slowly, very slowly, and then froze waiting for the hummingbird to return. The focus point is not perfect, and I wish the hummingbird had chosen a prettier flower to drink nectar from, but I like the bokeh enough to share this photo with you.
On a recent overnight photo shoot trip to Cloudcroft, New Mexico the excellent true bed & breakfast I stayed at, The Crofting Inn, had this wonderful flower garden. Being still totally enamored with my recent purchase of the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 SP Macro lens, I am always looking for opportunities to use it. These flowers on their own would have been beautiful to photograph, but the color of the bokeh really makes this macroflora image. Then upon further exam, I thought these flowers looked like the classic rocket popsicles I used to enjoy on hot summer days growing up! Tell me what you think in the comments below.
Last week I invested in getting a macro lens, the new Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro SP. For those of you with really good memories, you will have realized this is my third Tamron lens in the past 9 months. Tamron is just simply producing the best lenses available for Nikon right now. I had the Nikon 105mm VR Micro (they use micro not macro in the name) lens from 2009 until about 2013 and loved it. It was such a fun lens to shoot with, as making macro shots always had a sense of wonder at showing a hidden world the naked eye cannot see. It had very creamy bokeh and was very, very sharp. I also loved it for portraits and just as my walking around lens.
Karen has taken three 1-on-1 DSLR photography lessons with me at the JCP Home Studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico as she had a big family reunion coming up in Taos she wanted to be able to make great candid photos of, as well as group photos. She has a Nikon D750, the same camera I have! So it was very easy to show her all the custom settings I use myself on my own Nikon. The first 2-hour lesson was focused on teaching her my 5-step process for shooing in manual mode and getting a sharp and well exposed photo in any shooting conditions.
