Hello in looking to expand my macro images into another way to view the world around me, I recently purchased the Laowa 15mm macro to give me the opportunity to widen my perspective. As with everyone these days I’m obliged to stay home but walking a few blocks from my home I have great opportunity’s to explore nature. The Yellow Avalanche Lilly (Erythronium grandiflorum) is at peak bloom this week thus my first subject in testing this lens. As reports of other users of this lens are correct the closeness of the front element to subject is a challenge for lighting. I will need to be even more proactive in achieving good lighting of the subject at such close distances. The lens shadow does appear on lower left of image and I ask for your review if this is distracting to you as well or is it just my own criticism? Further reflection a focus stack may be interesting to bring the viewer into the scene a bit more with additional depth in the image any thoughts please let me know. Thank-you
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Any
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Canon 5DmIV, Laowa 15mm macro, ISO 800, F22, 1/200, Direct sunlight, Mathews Wedge support w RRS focus rail for low angle.
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Michael: Welcome to NPN and thanks for posting a really unique image. My first impression and instinct was to move this image to Flora but after reading your setup and the lens you used I think the macro community would enjoy your insights. I have to confess that I was unfamiliar with the Laowa lens and had to do some research. For me I’ve always prized longer lenses for macro work and one of the reasons I use a 200mm lens for the vast majority of my macro work is for the narrow field of view. This turns that concept on its head. I can see the lighting issues and suspect that in a situation like this with strong sunlight shadows can be an issue. I also think that an image like this is not obviously a macro image so the casual or uninformed viewer would mistake it for a relatively straight shot. I do like the POV and the subject. Since you can focus right on the front lens element I would expect you could get some really cool results jamming all the way into the flower. Great to have you aboard and looking forward to more images from your lens and other work. >=))>
Michael, welcome to NPN. I am sorry I missed your shot, so coming in a bit late. I think it is like Bill said, I was seeing it as Flora, and hadn’t got around to commenting on it. I too am not familiar with that lens, so looked it up. I am impressed that it is a shift lens. I am quite sure you will have a lot of fun experimenting with it. The lighting is a bit harsh, so maybe you can visit this group of flowers when the sun is not so high. That is the good thing in the Flora and Macro categories of photography, we usually can get a second chance. I agree with Bill about even trying to get right in on the flower. You will want to watch the level (trees in the background) of your camera too. A great start, and looking forward to seeing more of your work, especially with that lens. I have the twin flash that Venus makes, and I really like it, and I have been very interested in wide angle macro too, so it may be a temptation to get that lens too.
Hello Shirley,
Thank-you for the kind remarks and yes this is a interesting lens and has shown promise in giving macro images a different way of presenting the subject in it’s environment. I’m always looking to see things in a different light so to speak. I really don’t think it will be suited for single subjects but have seen other photographers achieve good results with groups of similar plants. I agree on level of trees and perhaps using the tilt feature here may have helped a little with fall back of the vertical trees. More to explore on that. With softer lighting I see opportunity to get good lighting with minimal shading of subject from lens being 12cm from front element but will need to be cautious of sky in the image. Perhaps your twin flash may play a role here in lighting subjects this close. My experience in lighting is in multiple flash through modifiers from some distance and not measured in CM. Ah new challenges and opportunities abound! Laowa has the 24mm Macro Probe lens that looks interesting also. If you know anyone using one I would like to hear their input.
I also have the Laowa 100mm macro with 2X magnification and will submit a sample of this today my first reaction of this apochromatic lens is it show’s good promise, that said I still love my 180mm Canon macro its just gorges to work with.
Thank-you stay safe
Nice to see you on board Michael. Get unusual photo of this flower and it came out very well indeed. The shadow of the lens might come out with Photoshop content aware. A great start on the NPN
Hello Dean,
Great suggestion with content aware I will try this and let you know. In general I don’t shoot most of my flowers in harsh lighting preferring a softer lighting to aid in shadow details. In this case a primary intent of purchasing this lens was to have a different perspective on flowers and show more of the environment, thus needed clear sky to match light values of the flower. And the big reason I just unboxed the lens and really wanted to see what I could do. More to come I have many ideas I want to explore with the lens.
Michael, welcome to NPN. This is a very good look focusing on the single avalanche lily while showing off the environment nicely as well. It does look like it will be a challenge handling the lighting and the issues of casting a shadow into the frame, but it should provide an unusual perspective.
With your variety of lenses I can see why you went with this lens. This is definitely a unique view for a macro photo. I think you will face issues that wide angle lenses cause in landscape photography that often there is too much in the photo. You will need to be more aware of the edges. I tried cropping just a little from the top, just above the horizontal branch on the second tree from the left, and the flower stood out more. I would like a comparison of your lenses by using all of them on the same subject to see how the interpretation of the subject changes.
