Pete Askew
Admin
Hamish suggested it might be interesting to produce a series of 'articles' on technical imaging. This is the first in the series and follows on from the image of Speolepta leptogaster I posted a few weeks ago (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/specialist-macro-photography/3795-speolepta-leptogaster.html) as it demonstrates a similar technique using similar equipment. I chose to start with this both because quite a lot of our images for work are created in a similar way (but with lower magnification) and because, although these examples were achieved using medium format digital capture, the basic technique applies to any other camera system. A large copy stand was employed but, again, similar effects could be achieved using either a small copy stand or a tripod (maybe stood on a table).
Here is the example image. It is a crop (as was the image of a fly) and has minimal adjustments made in LR/PS although I did 'delete' a couple of bits from the petals that I'd been too lazy to remove during shooting (actually it was quite fragile and picking them off may have damaged the surface). As with the fly, this is not what I would normally image (and I couldn't find another fly on the day!) but it illustrates the technique and also the limitations imposed by depth of field (many of my real subjects are flat(ish).
As mentioned above, this is a crop from the final image as recorded and the original is below. The flower itself (a species of Pelargonium) is approximately 20 mm across. Given that the sensor (Phase One H20) is 40 mm x 40 mm it can be seen that reproduction ratio is ca 1.5:1. This was achieved using a Zeiss 135 mm f 1:5.6 CF S-Planar on Hasselblad auto-bellows at near maximum extension and two extension tubes (32 + 56 mm).
The small flower itself is standing in a tube of water on a synthetic velvet background and is lit by two colour corrected Flo-Lite panels angled at approximately 45º to the subject. The lens is fitted with a Lee lens shade.
This shows the camera / bellows etc a little clearer.
And this shows more detail of the lens, extension tubes and shade. The cable is the sync chord that connects to the Phase One back to trigger the capture - the body is a mains-powered ELM and so has no electronic coupling to the back and the lens has no interface either (Hasselblad / Zeiss never made an 'E' version of this lens). However, there is a cable that couples the integral motor drive so that you can trigger the capture from the computer (in this case after pre-releasing the mirror etc and waiting a couple of seconds to allow any vibration that causes to damp down - this makes a significant difference to image sharpness at this magnification and shutter speed).
The subject was metered using a Sekonic L-608 from the baseboard using the dome closed (for direct incident readings) indicating a exposure of 1s at f1:22 and white balance was corrected using a Kodak exposure control card and the white balance tool in CaptureOne 6 which was used to capture the images from the H20 (which is a strictly tethered back). Often one would make an adjustment to the exposure indicated to compensate for the extension behind the lens used. In this case it would normally be about 2.0 f stops but a test shot indicated that it was actually closer to 1 f stop and so I chose to leave it uncompensated for this particular image as the petals were fairly reflective and producing quite a few specular highlights.
As I'm sure you realise, this is a completely manual setup and process including focusing. With the 135 mm Makro Planar focus is achieved using the stage as it has no internal focus and is optimised for close subject to lens distances. This is the view through the magnifying hood. Note of course that the image is reversed (and that my Phase One mask is upside down - I'd never noticed that before: not that is makes any difference as it is isn't recorded and is purely a guide to framing - annoying now though and I'll turn it over tomorrow!).
And so finally, as this was more just a demonstration than an attempt to create a technical illustration I though I'd have a play with the final crop. And here it is!
Hasselblad ELM (mains-powered version) + Zeiss 135 mm f1:5.6 CF S-Planar or Hasselblad Auto-Bellows + 56 and 32 mm extension tubes shot onto a Phase One H20 at 50 ISO into Capture One Pro 6, 1s at f1:22. PP in LR, PS, Nik ColorFX 4 and Nik SilverFX Pro 2.
Here is the example image. It is a crop (as was the image of a fly) and has minimal adjustments made in LR/PS although I did 'delete' a couple of bits from the petals that I'd been too lazy to remove during shooting (actually it was quite fragile and picking them off may have damaged the surface). As with the fly, this is not what I would normally image (and I couldn't find another fly on the day!) but it illustrates the technique and also the limitations imposed by depth of field (many of my real subjects are flat(ish).
As mentioned above, this is a crop from the final image as recorded and the original is below. The flower itself (a species of Pelargonium) is approximately 20 mm across. Given that the sensor (Phase One H20) is 40 mm x 40 mm it can be seen that reproduction ratio is ca 1.5:1. This was achieved using a Zeiss 135 mm f 1:5.6 CF S-Planar on Hasselblad auto-bellows at near maximum extension and two extension tubes (32 + 56 mm).
The small flower itself is standing in a tube of water on a synthetic velvet background and is lit by two colour corrected Flo-Lite panels angled at approximately 45º to the subject. The lens is fitted with a Lee lens shade.
This shows the camera / bellows etc a little clearer.
And this shows more detail of the lens, extension tubes and shade. The cable is the sync chord that connects to the Phase One back to trigger the capture - the body is a mains-powered ELM and so has no electronic coupling to the back and the lens has no interface either (Hasselblad / Zeiss never made an 'E' version of this lens). However, there is a cable that couples the integral motor drive so that you can trigger the capture from the computer (in this case after pre-releasing the mirror etc and waiting a couple of seconds to allow any vibration that causes to damp down - this makes a significant difference to image sharpness at this magnification and shutter speed).
The subject was metered using a Sekonic L-608 from the baseboard using the dome closed (for direct incident readings) indicating a exposure of 1s at f1:22 and white balance was corrected using a Kodak exposure control card and the white balance tool in CaptureOne 6 which was used to capture the images from the H20 (which is a strictly tethered back). Often one would make an adjustment to the exposure indicated to compensate for the extension behind the lens used. In this case it would normally be about 2.0 f stops but a test shot indicated that it was actually closer to 1 f stop and so I chose to leave it uncompensated for this particular image as the petals were fairly reflective and producing quite a few specular highlights.
As I'm sure you realise, this is a completely manual setup and process including focusing. With the 135 mm Makro Planar focus is achieved using the stage as it has no internal focus and is optimised for close subject to lens distances. This is the view through the magnifying hood. Note of course that the image is reversed (and that my Phase One mask is upside down - I'd never noticed that before: not that is makes any difference as it is isn't recorded and is purely a guide to framing - annoying now though and I'll turn it over tomorrow!).
And so finally, as this was more just a demonstration than an attempt to create a technical illustration I though I'd have a play with the final crop. And here it is!
Hasselblad ELM (mains-powered version) + Zeiss 135 mm f1:5.6 CF S-Planar or Hasselblad Auto-Bellows + 56 and 32 mm extension tubes shot onto a Phase One H20 at 50 ISO into Capture One Pro 6, 1s at f1:22. PP in LR, PS, Nik ColorFX 4 and Nik SilverFX Pro 2.
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