Seeing with new eyes……..

On my trip up to Bloomington earlier this week Jim Haverststock and I did some in-the-field shooting at Story.  As I walked around I found a new sense of the joy of shooting close-ups!  Using the Fuji X-E1 with it’s tack sharp 60mm Micro lens and setting the aperture at f 2.4,  it’s widest aperture, the shallow depth is astonishing!  I was able to focus on a single pine fraun and the single dew drop.  Using the LCD panel has allowed me to study compositions and check depth even better than through the viewfinder.  I’m finding this an extremely satisfying way to work in the close-up realm.

The use of shallow depth as in the shot below attracts the attention of the viewer and eliminates the distraction of the background, and in fact turning into a pleasing color filed!

Even stopping down to f 5.6 as in the shot of the Day Lilly below gives a soft muted background while maintaining enough sharpness in the center of the flower!

One thing you must be very careful about is keeping the sensor plain parallel with the subject, the  shot below of a face in a chestnut, is sharp at the bottom but not the top!  Bill Pekala and I have a lot of fun sending these faces back and forth, keeps us sharp looking for the face in the scene!

Practice using your depth to bring the viewers eye to the very point you want them to see!  Remember the eye always seeks sharpness!

So let’s raise a glass to using the aperture settings to focus the viewer’s eye!

Blessings,

the pilgrim