Micro World Photography!

Inspired by the wonderful world of tiny people and photography i have tried my hand at the wonderful world of Micro Photography!

What is it? well basically it's the use of tiny people which normally are used for electric train hobbyist and putting a new life into these little humans in the big bad world!

Got the main idea from with the new Studio Ghibli's The Secret World of Arrietty  and also Terry Pratchett's "Truckers" series.

So what do you need?

- Selection of tiny people i would recommend heading down to your local hobby store or ebay to find micro person. There is a wide selection and depending on which quality you would prefer you can get 100 for $10 AUD or some of the nicer ones e.g. Faller or Preiser branded ones are about $20 AUD for approx. 5 depending on the theme and detail, but you are paying for what you get.

One more point to note is the scale... HO ... Z.... i would recommend the HO scale as it is proably the most common -> most styles and sometimes cheaper!

- Camera depending on your budget and the gear you have i would recommend a Macro lens of some sort and a DSLR however a lot of compact cameras these days have "Macro" option and take some quality shots.

- a scenario or scene you wanted to act out or have the Micro Person in... the example i have is hikers hiking through some "Mountains"

- a big sense of imagination! Yes! the most important point.. you can have the best gear and preparation but if you don't have the imagination  the photos are going be boring!

 This can be alot of fun... interesting situations and/or let your imagination run wild!!!

I look forward to more Micro World Photography!

Signing Off

Mad Nomis

Farm Fresh with Wide Angle

So like many Sydneysiders who live and work in the metro area, would when possible escape to the country area! In this case Bowral NSW!

And when going to the country i always take the opportunity to carry along my trusty Camera to try and capture some photos!

Landscape shots means Wide Angle lens and my favourite to wideangle and the one i always carry with me is the Canon 24-105mm F4 L lens. It is the most versatile and useful lens. It allows me to get the wide angle to try get those cloud shots and when required use the 105mm to get the portrait or zoom in to capture the animals from afar... you never know when the cows or horses might turn wild!!!

One thing i am trying out is ND Filters (Neutral Density), now from my research i have found that the "best" filters out there are the LEE Filters from the Lee company in the UK. They are the ones the PRO's use however they are the ones only the PROS can only afford!

Since i am still in the testing phase i have used the Corkin System from the Corkin Company which i believe are French owned... (Maybe it's a England Vs France thing..).
Anyway price difference is quite a lot... Lee Filter (Glass) are approx. 4 - 5 times more expensive than the Corkin Filters(Some sort of Plastic) but you do get what you pay for!

Whilst i am happy with my Corkin system i would love to try the Lee filters!

In saying that i have found an alternative filter instead of the Lee Filter named the "Big Stopper" (10 Stops) with the B+W 10 stop ND filter but the difference is the B+W is a screw type for my 24-105mm (77mm ring) whilst the Lee and Corkin Filter sets are Square plates which are prone to being dropped however is very convenient whilst setting the focus before you apply the filter and also allows to be utilised on different lens with different ring sizes.

The three photos in this entry i have use the Corkin 6 Stop graduated ND filter which helps with the bright sky. I would love to use the 10 stop ND filter on water falls to get that white water flowing effect maybe I’ll blog about it one day!

The above photo was taken today at Rushcutters bay at sunset looking west into the Sydney Opera house and Habour Bridge! The Corkin was used again, i would like to note that if i didn't use the Graduated ND filter the skyline would be much brighter and the clouds would not look as dramatic as they do on the photo.

Signing Off!

Mad Nomis

MacroView

Hello World!

I don't know if you have noticed but... the world seems so much more interesting via a Macro Lens!

For the photographers out there, there is nothing more fun than to use a Macro Lens to Magnify and capture the details of everyday objects that we would normally miss with our "Ordinary" eyesight!

For example lets take a look at some of my "Beginners" Macro shots of Flowers, yes i know Photos of flowers... a bit girlie... but this is just an example of an everyday object in which we will "glaze" over and yet... once we examine in a bit more detail BAM! be ready to be amazed!

 

Wow... yep my exact thoughts when i first put on a Macro Lens onto my camera and saw the shots that were produced. 

Imagine then what we could see if we have a Macro Lens built into our Human Eyes! The way we see the world will be totally different... for the better and for the worst (imagine seeing germs or viruses etc :-P )

That's the thing i like about Photography it helps me view objects/people/landscape from different perspectives and then take a snapshot of that precise moment -> savour it and also share it with an audience for generations!

 

And that is why Photography interests me and that is why Macro Photography is a photographer's playground!


Signing out!

Mad Nomis

Hello World

Welcome to my first entry into my new blog! i have to note i have not blogged for a while... actually around 10 years!

You can put that down to Studies, Having a Social Life and then finally trying to find a place for myself in this big and dangerous world!

I hope to produce a regular blog which will talk about anything and about anything that is part of my life! Topics such as Photography/Technology (in particular Telecoms)/ Food and another topic that jumps into my mysterious mind!

Anyway! Lets end Entry #1 with one of favourite Photos! Taken approx 2 years ago i was in a car driven by a colleage from the other side of the world and out of no where BAM! shot this Classic!

The photo is of Arlington Bridge Equestrian Statues  a bit more information from "http://www.nps.gov"

Flanking the eastern ends of the bridge and parkway are two pairs of monumental Neo-classical equestrian sculpture on identical pedestals. "The Arts of War" by Leo Friedlander stands at the end of the bridge. In "Valor" on the left, the male equestrian is accompanied by a female striding forward with a shield; in "Sacrifice" a standing female symbolizing the earth looks up to the rider Mars.

"The Arts of Peace" by James Earle Fraser flanks the end of the parkway. "Music and Harvest" consists of a winged horse, Pegasus, between a male figure with a bundle of wheat and a sickle and a woman with a harp. In "Aspiration and Literature," another Pegasus is flanked by figures holding a book and a bow. The statues, approximately 17 feet tall are of gilded bronze. They were commissioned in 1925, but were not erected until 1951.  

Wished we had more of these in Australia!

Oh Well! Entry #2 will be coming soon!

Regards

Mad Nomis