Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Been a while...
Been a real long while since i posted anything 3d realated on here... figured it
about time i get back to basics. Started a series of sculptures based
loosely around creatures in the real world - a kind of exploration of
anatomy and forms in the various animal kingdoms. Hoping it will improve
my sculpting and overall concepting skills... This one was based on a pie beetle/darkling beetle. Got plans to put it into an environment and texture it up some and possibly animate it - kinda hoping to merge the macro photography ive been doing and 3d i suppose. Hopefully that all pans out. Regardless one of the harder models ive had the 'pleasure' of doing - trying to balance hard surface and organic forms is by far more difficult than i'd realized when starting this little guy up... happy its over though.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
A change of pace with Panoramas
Went out to Carawirry log cabins over the weekend, decided it would be a worthwhile opportunity to try out the new tripod and additional knick knacks i got with it to slap together a pano-rig with - a nice change of pace from the macro photos ive been taking. I finally invested in a proper tripod - having gone through two cheepie ones already, figured enough was enough and heard good things about the Horusbennu brand and finally invested in the Horusbennu 1128TT with the LX-3 Ballhead. Threw onto that a cheapie 4 Way Macro Focusing Rail Slider and an L-bracket i bought off ebay, and finally a SEAGULL 1x-2x right angle view machine which comes in handy during macro photos as well - when you're in that weird and awkward body position for like 10 minutes trying to see through the oddly placed viewfinder this things a godsend. The rig worked out pretty well i think, i definitely holds the weight without any problems and is pretty versatile. Heres a couple of the happy snaps i got with it - cant seem to upload the original sized pictures but then again - the originals were like 15 megs each so...
F-Number: f/3.6 , Shutter Speed: 1/15s, ISO:100, Focal Length: 16mm - Stitched together 5 photos shot in vertical... This was actually a four wheel drive track - would have been awesome if i actually had a proper four wheel drive.... the rav4 can only go so far... grumble grumble.....
F-Number: f/3.5 , Shutter Speed: 1/100s, ISO:100, Focal Length: 14mm - Stitched together ehhhh alot of photo - basically took a photo in 30 degree increments in a circle. Nice spot to camp out at - well worth the drive out past Newcastle - if you dont mind the ticks, leeches, snakes... and other lovely inviting wildlife one encounters in the bush.
F-Number: f/3.5 , Shutter Speed: 1/60s, ISO:100, Focal Length: 14mm - Stitched together a whole bunch of photos - one circle shot straight on, then another tilted up, then one tilted down.
In hindsight, i think i need to bump up the F-Number, so as to get everything in focus, otherwise as you tilt the camera up or down or have some things in close to the camera and others far away, some things end up in focus and other out of focus depending on where you set your focus point - you live and learn i guess.
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| Atahan Zugul 21-08-2012 |
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| Atahan Zugul 21-08-2012 |
F-Number: f/3.5 , Shutter Speed: 1/100s, ISO:100, Focal Length: 14mm - Stitched together ehhhh alot of photo - basically took a photo in 30 degree increments in a circle. Nice spot to camp out at - well worth the drive out past Newcastle - if you dont mind the ticks, leeches, snakes... and other lovely inviting wildlife one encounters in the bush.
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| Atahan Zugul 21-08-2012 |
F-Number: f/3.5 , Shutter Speed: 1/60s, ISO:100, Focal Length: 14mm - Stitched together a whole bunch of photos - one circle shot straight on, then another tilted up, then one tilted down.
In hindsight, i think i need to bump up the F-Number, so as to get everything in focus, otherwise as you tilt the camera up or down or have some things in close to the camera and others far away, some things end up in focus and other out of focus depending on where you set your focus point - you live and learn i guess.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
In search of Fungi!
Got my W96 LED in the mail the other day along with the velbon monopod and took opportunity of the recent rains to hunt down some fungi. The extra light was a godsend as these guys seem to grow in dim and moist areas and spring up right after the rains. Suprisingly i used the velbon monopod to angle the light moreso than on my actual camera as these guys are far too close to the ground. Luckily with the extra illumination i could bump up my shutter speeds to avoid any blurring. Ive already investing in a ring light now just to take advantage of being able to change the lighting on the fly and really paint my scenes to my liking before clicking off a shot or two.
I learnt a great deal from this site: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/macro-lenses.htm about depth of field and its relation to sensor size and a load more. The conclusions ive come to are: Ive rarely ever used 1:1 magnification as this affords far too little depth of field - we're talking mere millimeters, so i tend to step back to 1:2/1:4 levels and even take a step back from my subject - knowing that i can crop the picture in post. This is by far the best means of getting a decent depth of field ive run into. Closing down my aperture to F22, at 1:1/1:2 levels is pointless in my experience as the change in the depth of field is barely perceptible at these magnifications - by far the best way to get a greater depth of field is to step back and crop in post.
I think a 50mm macro however would be even better - this would create an even creamier texture in the backgrounds than what i can get with the 35mm, I'd be very reluctant to move upto 105mm - i think this would mean i would be forced to use a tripod and lose the ability to shoot on the fly - quickly reframing, changing composition, it would also mean that i would have to get some sort of stand or something for my lights because of the working distance between the subject and oneself getting larger as the focal length of the lens increases. I'd be keen on using the olympus 50mm f2.0 but it goes for somewhere in the range of $400 AUD, and i really dont think the extra cash i'd have to fork out for a creamier background and little extra working distance (which in my opinion is overrated, even when working with insects - they seem to be rarely as skittish as people make out in my experience - just look at the fly in my previous post - i think i was something like less than 15cm from it and it could not care less - Click Here.) would justify the price difference. Especially since i got the olympus 35mm macro for $175 - by far the best investment ive made in any lens ive bought. Lets you play with lighting without blowing your budget because you're dealing with such small subjects and gives you pretty much everything a longer focal length would, so long as you arent picking at straws or have a very specific shot you're after.
I think ive ranted enough - ill post some pics of my kit and links to the stuff ive bought and would stand behind in short course. Heres some more shots in the meantime.
I learnt a great deal from this site: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/macro-lenses.htm about depth of field and its relation to sensor size and a load more. The conclusions ive come to are: Ive rarely ever used 1:1 magnification as this affords far too little depth of field - we're talking mere millimeters, so i tend to step back to 1:2/1:4 levels and even take a step back from my subject - knowing that i can crop the picture in post. This is by far the best means of getting a decent depth of field ive run into. Closing down my aperture to F22, at 1:1/1:2 levels is pointless in my experience as the change in the depth of field is barely perceptible at these magnifications - by far the best way to get a greater depth of field is to step back and crop in post.
I think a 50mm macro however would be even better - this would create an even creamier texture in the backgrounds than what i can get with the 35mm, I'd be very reluctant to move upto 105mm - i think this would mean i would be forced to use a tripod and lose the ability to shoot on the fly - quickly reframing, changing composition, it would also mean that i would have to get some sort of stand or something for my lights because of the working distance between the subject and oneself getting larger as the focal length of the lens increases. I'd be keen on using the olympus 50mm f2.0 but it goes for somewhere in the range of $400 AUD, and i really dont think the extra cash i'd have to fork out for a creamier background and little extra working distance (which in my opinion is overrated, even when working with insects - they seem to be rarely as skittish as people make out in my experience - just look at the fly in my previous post - i think i was something like less than 15cm from it and it could not care less - Click Here.) would justify the price difference. Especially since i got the olympus 35mm macro for $175 - by far the best investment ive made in any lens ive bought. Lets you play with lighting without blowing your budget because you're dealing with such small subjects and gives you pretty much everything a longer focal length would, so long as you arent picking at straws or have a very specific shot you're after.
I think ive ranted enough - ill post some pics of my kit and links to the stuff ive bought and would stand behind in short course. Heres some more shots in the meantime.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Starting series of nature based sculpts
Decided to do a series of concept sculpts based on different fauna and flora belonging to various families of species classification in the real world (i.e aquatic, avian, mammalian, insect, herbivore, invertebrate...). This is the first; based on an aquatic mammal variant, kind of a plausible Darwinian off-shoot. Still haven't pinned down the final design but i'm leaning towards the top-most - seems to be more grounded in reality than the other two. Probably move onto something from the insect family next to complement my macro leanings of late.
A day out in Sunny Corner State Forest
Took out some time to experiment with more macro - ran into some unbelievably beautiful light in Sunny Corner State Forest out near Lithgow. Unfortunately my new LED lights and monopod didnt arrive in time so i was forced to really pump up the ISO to 400+ to get some shots which brought in a manageable amount of noise, and some blur... but you live and learn...
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Playing with my new Olympus 35mm Macro lens
Been playing with macro photography of late, thought i'd post some stuff on here. Shot these on my olympus e-500, and a olympus 35mm macro lens i got off ebay - was definitely worth it. Everyone keeps saying you cant shoot insects with this lens coz to get 1:1 the working distance is really really small like around 5cm - which is true, but in all honesty you rarely every use 1:1 unless you wanna like focus on a fly's eyes - usually you're framing is in the 1:1.5 or 1:2 or bigger - and ive shot even bees and flys at these distances with this lens - insects aint as skittish as you might think. And all hand held! - coz its not a higher focal length like a 105mm - you dont have to worry about shaking the lens as much and dont need a tripod on account of the shorter working distance, though i have decided to invest in a small monopod. Tripods are useless in my opinion unless you're in a studio or are using some sort of stalking tactic - like setting up a shot and putting out some bait and waiting for a bug to step in. Also because of the shorter working distance its soooo much easier to use something like a small LED light and give it direction (avoiding the flattening effect of a flash) when the sun ducks behind the clouds. The only down side to this lens i would say is that you dont get the creamy background that you would with a longer focal length, but then again if you're subject is quite a ways away from whats in the background, then you will - so... suffice it say im more than happy with the lens and its working distance and for the measly $175 i paid for it - so very very very happy.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Playing in Vue
Heres another - really like the painterly feel i finished with. Needs to be much longer compositionally in my opinion though - nevertheless a work in progress.
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