Lately I’ve been experimenting with what I call “zoom-macros”: up-close, macro-like shots taken from a distance with my point-and-shoot digicam’s zoom. The first time I took a zoom-macro, I was too lazy to crouch down and stick my camera right in the face of some short flower; another time, I zoomed to take up-close shots of the frost feathers in an overhead tree. When height, unstable terrain, or other challenges prevent you from sticking your camera right up close to what you’re shooting–or when crouching would insert your own shadow between the sun and the very flower you’re trying to photograph–standing back and relying upon your digicam’s zoom is a workable alternative.
The most useful use of a zoom-macro, I’ve found, is in shooting insects, which tend to fly away (or, in the case of bees, sting you) if you stick a digicam in their face. When I bought my new Panasonic Lumix digicam last Christmas, one of the features I coveted was its 10x optical zoom, several steps up from the 6x optical zoom on my previous Lumix. Although I wanted a more powerful zoom primarily for shooting pictures at hockey and basketball games where J and I tend to have almost-nosebleed seats, I was intrigued to see my new camera’s manual recommend the zoom for the other sorts of shots I’d experimented with, advising that photographers employ what they called “tele-macro” for taking up-close shots of insects or wary animals. Here I thought I’d invented (and named) the technique simply because I’d never heard of anyone else doing it!
When it comes to photography, like anything, there’s nothing new under the sun: I’m sure folks have been using zoom lenses to take extreme closeups since those lenses were invented. Still, since I’m not one to actually read a camera manual, I’m still learning (through trial and error) how to use my “new” Lumix more than six months after I bought it. Now that I’ve almost perfected the art of the zoom-macro, I now have a bigger challenge. How do you get a pair of flower-distracted bumblebees to look at you so you can snap their taken-from-a-distance picture?
Jul 12, 2008 at 11:26 am
I ❤ your bumblebees! And for someone just learning about Macro photography, you have some beaut-i-ful images here!
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Jul 12, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Fabulous! I am so having Lumix-envy again. My other favorite thing about the new Lumix is how big the display is on the back, which with my rapidly failing vision would be a lot easier to see than the screen on my current Lumix. Sigh. Well, I *was* trying to think of something to buy myself for my big birthday this fall…
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Jul 12, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I too ❤ the bees 🙂 Isn’t it called “experiential learning”? (there’s a name for everything isn’t there) Anyway I much prefer it to reading manuals. And besides the manuals that come with cameras don’t tend to say anything very interesting really. Or at least that’s what I surmise from their slender dimensions since I haven’t read one.
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Jul 12, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Yes, “experiential learning” sounds so much better than “so damn stubborn, she has to figure it out herself.” I did open the manual when I first bought the camera, mainly because there were symbols on the view-screen I wasn’t familiar with, and that’s how I found the reference to “tele-macro.” But apart from that, I pretty much poke around before I point & shoot.
Leslee, the “new” Lumix isn’t terribly expensive, although I’d warn you that it doesn’t take regular AA batteries like the “old” model does, so you can’t carry extra AAs as a battery backup, as I always did with my old camera. If you’re going to shoot more than 100-some pictures at a time (as I often do when J & I go to sporting events), I’d recommend buying an extra camera battery to carry as a backup. Other than the different battery, more powerful zoom, and larger view-screen, the “new” Lumix is pretty much the same as the “old” one in terms of settings & features.
I’m glad you liked the bumblebees, Lizabeta. I just wish they would have done a better job posing… 🙂
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Jul 12, 2008 at 11:49 pm
love that last one, with the bent pink petals and the bees!
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Jul 13, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Love your little skipper and of course the bees. You’ve done a beautiful job.
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Jul 15, 2008 at 7:24 am
Two really fine floral shots with this zoom-macro. I do the same thing.
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Jul 16, 2008 at 8:01 am
I’ve found that the closer you get, the more that insects, if they don’t take off, will turn their back to you. This is where you get to do a lot of work to get that perfect shot and take advantage of the digital feature. It may take 20 shots, working around the subject, and lots of patience, and it usually pays off, if your subject stays around. You’ll also find that you can usually get withing 3 feet of bees and they don’t mind. Just don’t interfere with their work and you’ll be fine.
I’ve got the Lumix 18x zoom and love it.
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