Spring 2007... blame CW!

[coldrain]

Yes CW, it is spring again... and in spring the Netherlands is full in bloom.
I'm not overly content with my photos the last few weeks, but some are nice. All of course with a Canon EOS 350D.

In this photo the sun is hidden from view by the orchid, you can see it peek through a bit on purpose. I did it this was to get a transparent feel to the flower, englufing it in bright light.
Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro @ f9, ISO 100, 1/125 sec, with 1.7x TC to lessen the bright sun light a bit (not for the photo, but for the photographer's eyes).

[coldrain]

The Netherlands is of course famous for its tulips...

EF 70-200 f4 L with 1.7x TC @ 200mm, ISO 200, f5, 1/800 sec

[coldrain]

Pink fluffy stuff in trees everwhere...

EF 70-200 f4 L @200mm, ISO 200, f7.1, 1/320 sec

[nqjudo]

Very nice shots! I was in the Netherlands on vacation two years ago. A very nice country indeed and the people were great. I hope to get back there one of these days.

[coldrain]

Some colours in flowers make life hard for sensors. This red is one of those colours... probably has to do with parts of the spectrum our eyes are not sensitive to, but the sensors are.

EF 70-200 f4 L + 1.7x TC @200mm, ISO 200, f5. 1/160 sec. Handheld like almost everything I shoot. Yes, I would be a good candidate for the new EF 70-200 f4 L IS USM. Or an EF 180mm f3.5 L IS USM (that would be my dream lens, nice Canon executive :D).

[chrisl]

Man it's so depressing here. Cold and snowy.
Thanks for positing these.

[coldrain]

Daisy, an ever so slight breeze and a moving ladybug/ladybird. I read time and time again (especially on Nikon D40 threads) that with macro AF does not serve a purpose. Well, I do know I can not make a handheld shot like this outside without some AF help (I AF on the part I want to have in focus, hold it, and maybe more a bit from or to the subject to keep it in focus during the wind motion till I decide it is time to trigger the photo).
In fact, most of my macro photos are AF-ed. Some are of course not.

Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro @f13, ISO 400, 1/160sec. I do not remember if I used the 1.7x TC in this shot.

[cwphoto]

Love that last one Coldy (they are all great).

You are my Macro hero. :D

[coldrain]

Man it's so depressing here. Cold and snowy.
Thanks for positing these.
I hope that spring will not let you wait too long now, chris.

Very nice shots! I was in the Netherlands on vacation two years ago. A very nice country indeed and the people were great. I hope to get back there one of these days.
Like most countries we do have nice things... and some negative sides. I am glad you like the pics :)

Love that last one Coldy (they are all great).

You are my Macro hero. :D
Don't make me blush :D. You like the ladybug one? I like that one too. I am trying to figure out what I should do with my photography.

More daisies. EF 70-200 f4 L with 1.7x TC @ 200mm, ISO 200, f5, 1/1600 sec

[coldrain]

Daffodils in the late sun.

EF 70-200 f4 L with 1.7x TC @ 200mm, f4.5, ISO 200, 1/800sec

[Nickcanada]

I usually find macro flower shots boring, but you do it so well, I love it!

Very inspiring.

[coldrain]

More late sun, more daffodils.

EF 70-200 f4 L with 1.7x TC @ 200mm, f4.5, ISO 200, 1/1600sec

[Prospero]

Beautiful pictures, Coldrain. The colours is great and I like your use of a shallow depth of field in some of the shots.

I'll see if I can get some time next week to take pictures of the Dutch flowers :)

[cdifoto]

Every time I see a macro from you it makes me want to get a macro lens. Then I come to the sad conclusion I wouldn't utilize it to its full potential anyway. :o


That and I'm broke. :rolleyes:


The ladybug shot takes home the prize. :)

[zmikers]

agreed, great ladybug shot. Well done mate!:D

[boog]

Love the shots. I agree. Your shots make me want a Macro but I thought I might try the Kenko tubes for a while. I got a set off POTN. Takes a bit of getting use to. Seems to work best with my nifty fifty.

[michaelb]

I'm especially fond of nature photos and your macros have such a unique style to them - I always enjoy them. The lighting in the first shot and the detail in the ladybug photo are especially nice....you definitely have a knack for macros....I'm praying for flowers here - it's still damn cold!!!!

[RichNY]

Coldy- Not nice posting pictures of spring when I still have a little lump of snow at the end of my driveway. Other than that, nice images :)

[AdamW]

Yeah, the ladybug shot is nice, but I really like the first daffodil picture---great colors.

[coldrain]

NickCanada, cdi, prospero, zmikers, boog, michealb, RichNY, AdamW, thank you for the appreciative remarks :)

Here are a few more impressions of spring in the Netherlands...

A white blossom, EF 70-200 f4 L with 1.7x TC @ 200mm, ISO 200, f4.5, 1/500 sec.

[coldrain]

I do not think I used a polarized light filter in this photo (exposure time is too short for that), the blueness of the sky is from pointing the camera upwards... the sun was not very high and the sky is more blue there. And the out of focus dark branches/twigs make it darker blue too.

EF 70-200 f4 L + 1.7x TC @ 200mm, ISO200, f4.5, 1/800 sec

[coldrain]

I am one of those photographers that would benifit a great deal of live view.... but then I would also need AF because there is no way you can manual focus a frog perspective shot like that easily.

As you can see, I am pretty happy with the bokeh of this particular lens... Just imagine how it would be if it had the same bokeh smoothness of cdi's old bokeh monster :eek:

EF 70-200 f4 L + 1.7x TC, @200mm yet again, ISO 200, f4.5, 1/1000 sec

[coldrain]

This was the very first blossom here... early march. A kind of cherry tree with very sweet smelling soft pink blossoms.

Taken straight up, with EF 70-200 f4 L, no TC, no pol. filter, ISO 200, 200mm, f4.5, 1/2000 sec

[coldrain]

Up close and personal with the same blossom.
Tamron 90mm f2.8, ISO 200, f8, 1/200 sec.

[GaryS]

Great pics coldrain, but I also think the ladybug one takes the cake.

[achuang]

I always love seeing your shots coldrain, your use of colour is always very strong. I'm a macro fan too, I'd love to make macro shots of flowers and other things like you do. Lately I've felt my macros have been really boring and flat. I just came back from Great Ocean road and got 1 macro shot that I was happy with out of 4 days. I agree with you about the AF, I mostly use AF also. I only MF when my lens won't lock focus.

[michaelb]

I am one of those photographers that would benifit a great deal of live view.... but then I would also need AF because there is no way you can manual focus a frog perspective shot like that easily.

As you can see, I am pretty happy with the bokeh of this particular lens... Just imagine how it would be if it had the same bokeh smoothness of cdi's old bokeh monster :eek:

EF 70-200 f4 L + 1.7x TC, @200mm yet again, ISO 200, f4.5, 1/1000 sec

Agreed.....Very nice bokeh at f/4.5 with that 1.7X.....beautiful shot. Keep posting these - they are wonderul and inspiring.....I can't wait for Spring to finally arrive here.

[adam75south]

all very nice pictures coldrain.

[Sungrazer]

Sorry I'm late to the party - I haven't been around in a while. Always enjoy your photos, Coldy.

[Christian]

All I can say is WOW!

Makes me want to go out and pick up a Marco lens.

[drama]

Superb shots

Till very recently, I used to think that taking flower macros was easy but not anymore
Your macros are my yardstick