P52 26/52: Honey Bee

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.amazon.com/Neewer%C2%AE-Focusing-Close-up-Shooting-Standard/dp/B009SJ7UWU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435450065&sr=8-1&keywords=neewer+macro+rail&pebp=1435450069580&perid=0WRW1VYZVMJCYRRZYT4A

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/329092-REG/Acratech_2128_Universal_Quick_Release_Plate.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/611828-REG/Jobu_Design_QRR_138_QRR_138_Quick_Release_Clamp.htmlQuick Release Clamp

More to come…

P52 24/52: Nailing it

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

For weeks my days have been full of the sounds of banging hammers, and the Pouft! of a nail gun so, thought I’d make an image of nails for this weeks image.

This is 4 images stacked in Photoshop CS6.
P52 24 of 52 Nails

Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 105mm Micro| @f4.5| 1/200s| ISO 100| SB910 @ 1/8pwr camera left high in front of subject bounced off ceiling

More to come…

P52 20/52: Checkermallow

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Checkermallow

Nikon Df| AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm w/ Canon Close-Up Lens 500D| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film|

More to come…

P52 19/52: Happy Mother’s Day!

Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDP52 19 of 52 Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing all Mother’s a wonderful Mother’s Day, and fabulous week-end!

Nikon Df| Lensbaby Composer Pro w/ Soft Focus Optic at f/4, 8mm Macro Converter, and Wide Angle Lens| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Alzo Continuous light 5500K camera right high| Developed in Photoshop CS6 and Nik Suite| Texture “White” by Jennyw47

More to come…

P52-18/52: Yellow Lupine

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

P52 18 of 52- Yellow Lupine

The more I use my LensBaby Composer Pro the more I love it.  Don’t you love that soft creamy Bokeh?

Nikon Df| LensBaby Composer Pro w/Soft Focus Optic @f/4, and Telephoto Lens Attachment| Hand-held| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Developed in Photoshop CS6

More to come…

P52 17/52: Tiger

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

P52 16 of 52 Tiger

Beware of the terrible tiger,
You don’t always know when he’s near,
But his eyes shine like lights
In the blackest of nights,
And his growl makes you tremble with fear!
~Giles Andreae
From the Children’s book Rumble in the Jungle 1998

Nikon Df| Lensbaby Composer Pro w/Soft Focus Optic, 16mm Macro Converter, and Wide Angle Lens @ f/5.6|Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Hand-held

More to come…