Aphids, Ferns and Flowers - My Macro Photography
All photos by me - @condra
Although primarily interested in portraits, fashion and beauty, I wanted to show some examples of my macro photography. I find macro photography very relaxing and only ever shoot macro alone. I'm fortunate in that I live near many nurseries and garden centres, and my parents are both gardening fanatics.
Frond of a Fern. I love how ferns unravel as they grow. I hope to do a time-lapse of this process some time.
This was a flowering Aloe plant. Succulents often produce very beautiful, but tiny flowers. Aloe plants are famous for their medicinal properties.
Dahlia "Ferndale". Once a year in my local botanical gardens, there is a Dahlia festival. They're one of my favourite flowers.
Pink Dahlia Fermain
White Dahlia Fermain
This is the flower from Tibouchina, otherwise known as the Purple Glory Tree. They are one of the most beautiful flowers in South America and I was delighted to have the opportunity to take photos of this specimen when visiting the botanical gardens in Dublin, Ireland.
I discovered these aphids scurrying towards the middle of this beautiful pink Chinese Rhododendron flower.
Some of the aphids are the same hue as the flower. I wonder if the pigment from the flower has changed their appearance or if it's an evolved defence adaption. From a glance at this picture you might assume the stamen are shiny and reflective, but closer inspection reveals the white detail is the sticky pollen these rhododendrons produce in great quantity.
To the naked eye the aphids would hardly be noticeable, but that's what makes macro so exciting. I love discovering whole new levels of detail for the first time.
Thanks for looking!
All photos were shot using a Nikon d750 and 105mm Macro VR lens.
If you have any questions about kit or technique, please ask below.
If anyone finds these on Shutterstock - Yep, that's me. - "samplestars". I have RAW files for all of these photos. :) Your vigilance is however appreciated.
Such pretty plant genitals!
Aye. I wonder what the plants think of ours?
The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.
What is the thing you hate the most?
I really need to get myself a proper macro lens. Enough of this $12 iphone lens stuff ;)
These are gorgeous. I adore plants and flowers.
Before I had that fancy new Nikon lens, I had the much older one which is only like 250 bucks, and it does just as good a job, only doesn't have Vibration Reduction (which I never use for macro anyway)
You're using a macro ring light for these, though?
I'm all over the map with lighting, but I never use a tripod, and almost always use a flash.
The flash is usually modified with a Roundflash.
Sometimes I take the flash + Roundflash off camera though and hold it overhead. This means using radio triggers, but they're cheap these days. The bigger problem is holding the camera with macro lens in only one hand, but I've gotten used to it.
Crucially - if I'm at around 1:2 or closer, I'll kill the ambient light and only expose with the flash. For further away shots like the fern above, I can get away with letting ambient play its part. I think I'll do a full post about that actually.
Beautiful pictures, but you know already I love them!
Hey thank you @opheliafu! You're always very sweet. Honestly though, like a lot of photographers, I do wish I could draw or paint. You have a talent that can't simply be learnt.
Nice to see some quality work here - keep it up and upvoted! check out my new cinemagraphs when you get a chance @timelapse
Thanks for the kind words. I'll have a look now
Beautiful stuff. :)
The fern timelapse would be something else!
That's gotta happen!
I used to be a timelapse nut. :) I just loved shooting them, particularly with motion control. Nothing macro though.
I've never tried it. I need to get over my fear of the time axis!
You'll need some trial and error to begin with. But if you are unsure, just select an appropriately short period of time. You can always speed it up in editing. But if you shoot too few frames, it's going to be too fast.
Love all of these! Upvote, would love to see the White Dahlia Fermain on a giant print!
They look so perfect!I like the second one best; the colors are so appealing to me.
wow, a person who knows flowers and know how to take great shots. I like to take pictures of flowers too but mostly I don't the name.
I have really bad OCD about flower names. That's why I usually try to take pics in Garden centres, or from florists, etc. I have so many pics that never saw the light of day for no other reason than I didn't have the name! There are however some groups on Facebook where experts will identify flowers from photos for free! Botanists etc who just love the challenge!