Photo Assignment #6: Macro

For the sixth photo assignment, I chose to do macro photography. I'd been toying with the idea of doing macro for a while now, and it's kind of the last photo assignment I could accomplish without leaving my house, so I figured it was time I actually got around to doing it. While actually taking the photos, the thing I found most difficult was getting the camera to focus. After a certain point of zooming in, the image went completely blurry, so I was kind of limited in how detailed I could make the images. Despite this, I think the photos turned out well, even if I wish I'd zoomed in further. 

Best Photo

Edited Photo
Adjusted Color Saturation, Brightness, and Contrast

Original Photo

Aperture: f/5.0   Shutter Speed: 1/25    ISO: 400

I made some slight edits to this photo in order to make it look better. Originally, the lighting wasn't very good, so I (as always) boosted the contrast and the brightness to improve the image quality. But for this image, I didn't think that was enough. Being a peacock feather, I thought the colors needed to "pop" so I boosted the saturation and the vibrancy in order to make it look almost iridescence.

5 Runner-Ups

The main thing I learned during this photo shoot was how to get the most out of the zoom feature. As I mentioned in the introduction, this isn't actually my first time attempting macro. I'd tried and failed at it twice earlier in the trimester. The problem I've been working to overcome is how to properly focus while using being zoomed extremely far in. As you can see, I managed to figure it out. Two of the most important things that helped me focus these shots was using the smallest possible depth of field and gradually zooming (and constantly refocusing while doing so). By combining these two techniques, I managed to achieve a decent level of magnification. Overall, I would say this has been a successful dive into the world of macro photography.