Still photography | Ring

Still life or still photography is very easy photographic field. Unlike other areas of photography, it gives more control to photographer. You can control the light. You have enough time to prepare. If you fail to get what you like, you can try more shots. If you do wild photography, you have limited control. You can no control on the object, light, direction, etc.

In the image, you can see a ring with a synthetic gemstone. It was placed on a light green folder to get a nice background since the main object’s color is maroon. Purposely, shallow depth of field was used. Therefore, you cannot see clear visibility of the ring and its frame. Main aim was to get the image of gemstone in blurry background, and f/4 aperture was enough to blur the background. In addition, Reynox macroscopic lens (model M-250) was used. Macroscopic lens added more DoF. In-built flash was set to -2 in order to avoid harsh light and reflection on the stone.

Camera settings:

• Aperture size: f/4
• Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec.
• ISO: 200
• Focal length: 55mm
• Flash: Yes
• Macro lens: Reynox 250

Main four colors in this image

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Photographing Butterfly

Butterfly and beauty are always good combination. Colorful butterflies get attention from kids to adults. When it comes to photographing butterfly, you should to have some basic setups. First, you should have camera with zoom lens or macro lens. Zoom lens is ideal to capture butterflies that always keep distance from people. Macro lens is ideal for close shots of butterflies that could stay closer to people. Secondly, you should have patience. Some butterflies flies faster, some flies like zigzag and some never stay calmly.

Common Jezebel (Delias eucharis)

In this picture, you can see Common Jezebel (Delias eucharis) which is medium size and bit faster. But when it sits on flower, you could have nice view and significant amount of time. Also, the Common Jezebel is one of the beautiful butterflies. It has scarlet like reddish, yellow, white and black borders. The color combination and patterns especially spearhead and heart shape on edge give additional elegancy.

Due to 250 mm focal length, it gives nice blur background and slightly bokeh. The bunch of reddish small flowers adds more beauty to scenery. In addition, I have made a thick frame. A nice frame could give additional beauty to the image. However, it is not good idea to create frame all your photographs. You may try with a few pictures. The frame is created through Adobe Photoshop. Shutter speed was 1/250 for reducing blur due to wing movement. If aperture size was f/11 or more high number, it could create more sharpness on the objects – butterfly and flower.

Camera settings:

• Aperture size: f/5.6
• Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec.
• ISO: 200
• Focal length: 250mm

Main four colors in this image

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Dices

Dice can generate random numbers. But, I set some numbers in aperture, shutter and ISO to get dices. The image could imitate as black and white photo except the red and blue dots. I have placed the dices in a black plastic folder. The folder was mixed of mate and glossy. Therefore, you can see small dust-like spots, and it could be negative impact to the image.

The aperture size was f/8 to reduce depth of field (DoF). Even though, there is simple DoF which I intentionally created. However, I feel a clean background and aperture size like f/16 would be ideal. BTW, I would like to share a quote from Navjot Singh Sidhu, "One who doesn't throw the dice can never expect to score a six."

Camera settings:

• Aperture size: f/8
• Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec.
• ISO: 100
• Focal length: 55mm
• Flash: On

David and Goliath

I am going to talk about Biblical story or theological concept on David and Goliath. But, I am going to share some ideas of imagination and how we could turn the camera lens into our imagination. The following image was taken on a hilly area where I was about to find uneven surface.

David and Goliath

Both of them were similar height. However, I call the person who in far distance as David and other one as Goliath. David was standing on low ground while Goliath was on high ground, and I was in low ground. It made perfect angle and cloudy sky which gave clear background.

It was clear sky and I was able to control the aperture. The aperture setting was f/11 on 21 mm focal length. These both settings were help to reduce depth of field that resulted to focus on both far and near objects or so called David and Goliath.

Camera settings:
Aperture size: f/11
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 200
Focal length: 21 mm

Location: Sri Lanka

Bug on a flower

Actually, I tried to photograph the flower. The bug is a bonus. We plan something, but we get something else. It might be good or bad result. When I was focusing the flower, suddenly a bug landed on the flower. I did not a take time to think or see. I just clicked. If I was thinking, I might miss the bug.

Bug on a flower

Do you know after the rain atmosphere come more bright and clear?  It was a sunny day after rain. Even though, sky was not clear. Therefore, I was not able to control aperture and shutter speed. Due to 250mm focal length, I should have at least increased the shutter speed. The background was a maize field. Tele zoom lens is ideal for turning background into gradient or solid color. I was considering the rule of thirds and negative space. Therefore, I made space on left side.

Camera settings:

• Aperture size: f/5.6
• Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec.
• ISO: 200
• Focal length: 250mm

Main color scheme in this image

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Orange Zinnia

I have captured this flower with kit lens. Ideally, macro lens or tele zoom lens is best option for photographing flowers. Both lens can give you control over depth of field.

Orange Zinnia flower

It is an average click. There is nothing special on this image. I wanted to capture this beautiful orange Zinnia flower. However, I was not prepared and I had 18-55 mm kit lens, which is not ideal for this kind of shots. Therefore, I did some trick. I set focal length to 55 mm. The distance between lens and flower was 270 mm. Something is better than nothing!

Camera settings are as follows:

• Aperture: f/8
• Shutter speed: 1/125
• ISO speed: 200
• Focal length: 55 mm
• Flash: Yes

Main color scheme in this image

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