Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I’ve reached the half-way point of my Project 52. YEAH!!!
“Grevillea Superb” Non-Native
I have been wanting to get a Macro Rail for quite sometime so, I bought one. It wasn’t very expensive at all…(read dirt cheap),but it has good reviews so I thought I’d try it.
I bought the NeewerPro 4-Way Marco Rail. I was so excited to try out the Macro Rail I contacted a friend I hadn’t shot with in about a year to tell him I finally got a Focusing Rail. On our last outing we were shooting Macro Flowers, and he had a Focusing Rail; I watched him set up his shots, and I asked him a zillion questions.
He suggested we get together to shoot macro images and try out my new macro rail. We met this morning at Santa Cruz University’s Arboretum, and photographed flowers for over 3 hours. The morning flew by!
Using the Macro Rail I found it was much easier to get, and keep my subject in focus. The rig is pretty big, and heavier than I thought it would be, and I made it heavier by attaching a Universal Quick Release Plate to the bottom of the Rail for easy attaching, and removing from my ball-head. I couldn’t find my Quick Release Clamp to attach to the top base for easy camera mounting and dismounting so, this morning I had to screw the camera right into the base. It’s a pain in the #$! tricky! The screw is under the tension screw of the top rail.
When I got home this evening I looked more thoroughly for my gorilla pod which is where I have been using the clamp, et Voila! I found it. Now it’s going to be a piece of cake mounting my camera to the Macro Rail base.
It’s early days…I’ve only had the Rail a few days, and have only used it for 3+ hours, but so far I’m happy.
I’ve added the links below for the Macro Rail, Quick Release Plate, and Quick Release Clamp in case you’re wondering what it all looks like. I am not an affiliate with any of these vendors, and I don’t get any money if you click the links. I’ve only provided them so you can see what I’m using and to share the information.
Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 105mm @ f8|1/500s| ISO 250| Tripod| Manual Priority
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/329092-REG/Acratech_2128_Universal_Quick_Release_Plate.html
More to come…
Circadianreflections Blog 
Amazing color and detail! Really beautiful, Deborah.
Thank you so much David!
wonderful macro!!
Thank you so much! I’m looking forward to getting back out with the rail this week-end.
Beautiful photo :-). I love the colours and the morphological similarity between the bee and the little tubular flowers. It sounds like your photographic outing was a lot of fun. A few people have planted “little bee gardens” on the lawns lining the sidewalks near my house. It is fun to look closely and see how many different species of flying creatures I can spot.
Thank you! My neighbor is a wonderful gardener and her plants and flowers attract bees. I’ve sat in her driveway waiting for bees before. 🙂
This is superb! We have a wild bumblebees nest in our garden. I have tried many time to photograph them but I am just no good at it. They move so fast!
Thank you so much! Try in the morning when they’re just getting started. The whole plant was abuzz with busy bees. I sat at this flower for awhile waiting hoping one would land where I had set up my camera/lens.
Beautiful photo and colours Deborah! One day I hope to understand the technical details, but I did catch that something was a ‘piece of cake’! 🙂
LOL! Cakes! Thank you so much Lili!
Wow – amazing photo! Love it! Never heard of a macro rail – just an amateur here, but trying to learn little by little on my own. Thanks for providing the links!
Thank you so much Jodi! I’m an amateur too! 🙂
Sorry – Lovely photo Deborah. I get caught up in technical things sometimes (all the time) and forget what I start out to say.
I’m going to have to follow some of the links (or ask my daughter) for more information on what this does. Unless you want to write another post about it 🙂
Ah, sorry Dan I didn’t think about that! The rail allows one to move forward, backward, or side to side in tiny precise movements. When you’re photographing something close up/macro the area you’re trying to focus is really shallow (small) trying to keep steady and maintain a sharp focus is super hard when hand-holding. The technique when hand-holding is to set up your lens for a 1:1 capture then physically move your body closer and closer to obtain focus. Photographers usually are rocking back and forth trying to obtain the perfect focus. We call that the Macro Rock. 🙂 With the rail you have a steady base, and can move in tiny increments, and once you nail the focus it won’t move…or shouldn’t. 🙂
Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense.
stunning!!
Thank you very much W.H.!
Amazingly AWESOME.
Thank you very, very much for such a great compliment Rajat!
Reblogged this on SwittersB & Exploring and commented:
AMAZING!!! Visit Deborah’s site
INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!
Thank you so much!