A different layout of the day involving the first of two field shoots, this time at Ibey Nursery, providing us with two hours of pure macro photography. Not having a dedicated macro lens meant that I had to make do with a borrowed achromatic filter, a pretty cool way of being able to convert any lens into a slightly restricted macro lens. At first I played with a wide angle lens and extension tubes, only to give up and use a fixed focal length 300mm lens with attached achromatic filter. The results were pretty impressive for a first time close up photographer.
This course offered me two specific areas that I was definitely lacking in, one being the above mentioned macro photography, and the other, shooting in low light/ dark situations. The lecture answered the questions I had and also made this evenings second photo shoot sound exciting. Will capturing images in downtown Missoula at twilight and beyond be more than just pretty neon lights with fun spinning and zooming effects?
With the critique session for the previous nights field shoot not going quite as I expected I was definitely hoping for more positive feedback from the earlier macro shoot. Both of my submissions were at least as good as I initially thought, and the instructor seemed to confirm this. The couple of dozen shots from the prior shoot were a little boring, even for me to see on a large screen – I think I need to work on working a subject, envisaging what I want to achieve and my expected outcome.
The second field shoot of the day, running well past civil twilight, was all about shooting into the dark hours. With plenty of neon light tricks, phantom images, and extended exposure times the evening turned into a fun experimental session, as much about the curious comments from drunk passers by when they see a dozen tripod wielding nuts, as about practicing new skills.