Focus and Bokeh

While exercising the dogs in the back garden this morning I amused myself by taking a few photographs. Once able to view the results on the computer I found the topic to discuss here - focus and bokeh. It does seem a bit strange to give "out of focus" a special name, but that is exactly what "Bokeh" is. A few people have adopted the name to mean circles of colours created by shooting a near subject and getting Christmas lights dramatically out of focus, however Bokeh covers much more than just that. one of my shots from this morning almost gives those circles of light. The shot was taken with glimpses of sky showing through leaves that were behind my subject.

F4.5       1/200sec     ISO 640     44mm

When taking any photograph you need to "simplify" it. Always try to determine what it is that you are wanting to show. "What is it that caught my eye?" When you look through the viewfinder or at the LCD screen you can tell that the camera does not necessarily see what YOU see! Then it is time to do a little tweaking of the settings so that it really is you that controls the image. With a point and shoot camera there is not much in the way of tweaking that can be done (without getting hopelessly confused) but by altering the pattern of focus to "Spot" focus and getting closer to the subject, you will be surprised at the difference you can make to your shots. (There is usually a menu setting to change the focus pattern)

With an SLR camera set the controls to Aperture priority and a low "F" number (5.6 or less). Get reasonably close to your small subject and use the lens at the full zoom - Since I was using the 18-55 mm lens I zoomed in. The viewfinder reveals the magic of the wide aperture, throwing the background completely out of focus.
The morning was quite dull so to allow the camera to enable a faster shutter speed I increased the ISO - but being aware of the many writings about taking care not to get "Noise" into the image I (so far) have not taken the ISO past the 800 mark. Today I used 640 and it seemed to allow me to take hand held shots with clarity. (Click on the pictures to see them larger).
This next image is of the unusual flowering tree the "Firewheel" the flowers grow inside the canopy and can only be seen by peering into the branches.

F/5.6        1/80sec     ISO 640    55mm

Again I have focused on the flowers and tried to throw the rest of the tree out of focus while still keeping an idea of where the flowers are growing. If you take note of the F stop that has been used, (F/5.6) it is a little bit narrow than for the previous picture (F/4.5) - this allows a greater depth of focus - the bigger the F stop number the bigger the range of focus. Because I am using Aperture priority, the camera decides the shutter speed. It is only just fast enough for hand held shots - I have a very shaky hand and would need a tripod for any speed slower than this. A tripod in  this situation (aiming up into the tree) would have been very difficult to set up - especially since I needed to be close to the flowers which were quite a reach!
My next picture is of a head of not yet open flowers on the Golden Curl  Tree, this time the bokeh is not in circles of light but just of blurred colour.

F/5.6    1/50    ISO 640    1.12m

The blurred background is still called "Bokeh" and yet you can make out the big branched leaves of a tropical plant and some smaller almost heart shaped leaves behind them. The reason the background leaves are easier to define is because I could not get close to this branch to get the framing I wanted. This time I am over a metre away from the main subject. (I just proved myself wrong about the shaky hand - check out the shutter speed!)
My final shot also shows off some lovely "Bokeh". The Grevillea has an unusual flower that is a joy to photograph! There are many variations of the plant with lots of different colours to the flowers as well as flower size and shape but all have these curving long tubular florets like the antennae on a butterfly.

F/5.6    1/125sec    ISO 640     55mm

This time the camera is pointed down to include the lawn beneath the flower and since it is close to the flower and the lawn some meter and half away, the flower is the main feature of the image and the bokeh provides the background canvas. Since this shot was taken out where it was brighter the shutter speed is quite a lot faster than in the previous image where I was under the dark shade of trees. The Aperture setting is the same as in the last picture - I set that - the shutter speed is determined by the computer in the camera.
Sometimes it is not possible to use the autofocus - especially when the subject is very thin, such as when taking the flower head of a stalk of grass. Then it is necessary to switch to manual focus.
AJ

Tying the knot

Today I used the camera even though I was a guest. A young friend had invited me to her wedding ceremony and I did warn her that I was so attached to my camera that it went everywhere with me! The shots I managed to take haven't turned out too badly - the sky was rather white and ultra difficult because of its glaryness  (is there such a word?) but since I take all my photos in RAW I am able to rescue over bright bits (sometimes not so well if there is too much over exposure). I have not had to throw any of my shots away so I guess you can say I managed!
The young bride and groom had a photographer for the day - a stony faced young woman who never smiled once all afternoon. She also did not take one shot from any other height than eye level. That surprised me. It is so easy to vary shots by holding the camera high or low or even by standing on a small platform to look down. She was less than half my age and I never saw her bend down once.
I was not in competition with the photographer. I kept well out of the way and just had fun with the camera - zipping in to sit on one of the front seats to get a prime position! The ducking back out to the side to get the guests watching.
This is one of the shots from the day.

I will put all the pictures into an album so they can be shared by the newly weds with their guests - and I can share them with you! I do not sell my pictures, I just take them because I enjoy taking them.
AJ

Lighting the tree

Yesterday I was given a rather unusual present - well it wasn't really for me, it was for the Christmas tree.
Chinese technology is so much fun and so inexpensive! This gadget that is giving me so much pleasure is a little electronic box that directs a laser light show on to hard surfaces. The colours thrown are the colours of Christmas - red, green and yellow so we set it up to hit the Christmas tree. This is how it looks

camera details       3sec        f/7.1      ISO 200       26mm

Once I had started to use the camera I wanted more pictures so I moved in a little closer. With a slow shutter speed I expected to get a lot of blur from the moving lights so I was a little surprised at how sharp they turned out.

camera details       1.6 sec       f/7.1      ISO 200       55mm

A big fad at the moment is to capture "bokeh". Bokeh is the name given to the radically out of focus effect on lights. This effect is best when there is something in the foreground that is in focus and the pattern of lights are behind.

camera details       2 sec       f/7.1      ISO 200       50mm

And one more bokeh shot of the lights

camera details       2 sec       f/7.1      ISO 200       55mm

The laser light cannot be left on all day, the recommendation is to turn the thing off after a couple of hours to allow it to cool down. So most of the time we shall be illuminating the tree with the regular tree lights and when we have visitors we shall turn on the special effects!
AJ

Stand up straight!

I deliberately took a photograph with my point and shoot camera of high rise buildings so I can show you how to correct the distortion that usually happens with the wide angle lenses these cameras have.
Here is my original photograph.

I have not bothered with any corrections at all, this is exactly as the picture came from the camera.
Because I am looking slightly upwards to include the top of the nearest building it has made all of the buildings look as if they are leaning away from me. When we look at buildings without the camera we are not aware of this being a problem but when you have an edge to a picture the distortion is really evident.
If you have either Photoshop or one of the versions of Photoshop Elements you will be able to follow my instructions on how to stand these building up straighter.
On the menu bar click on Filter and on Correct Camera Distortion (I am using Element 9 so the exact placement for Camera Distortion may be different for CS)

Make sure that the grid is visible because it really helps when trying to get the sides of the buildings straight. I noticed that when I made the right side of the large building line up with the grid that the base of the building was narrower than the top so I left a slight angle.
Further correction can be done using Free Transform

The buildings have been made a little squatter with the corrections that have been applied so they need a little more height given to them.

Take care that you do not apply too much height!
While the nodes of Free Transform are still around the picture put your left index finger on the Ctrl key on your keyboard and click the mouse onto one of the corners. By holding the Ctrl key you are able to move any one of the corners individually.

As you can see from the illustration above I moved the bottom left corner and the top right hand corner. As I moved each of those nodes I kept an eye on the main building to make sure my correction was not going to pull it over too much. It did need a little correction.
All that remains to be done is to flatten the image.

You may not have noticed but when the camera distortion correction was applied that the image became a "Layer" and that after that all corrections were being done to a layer. The image cannot be saved as a "jpg" until it is flattened. It must be flattened before you try to save it.
Here is my picture with before and after together.

You may be able to copy my first image and follow what I have done in your own Photoshop or Photoshop Elements program.
AJ

Swan out of water

I have just returned from a fun filled day with the two grandchildren - their grandfather is snoring peacefully in front of the TV now, it was an exhausting day for him. We found some exercise machines for joggers and he had to join in because the children couldn't reach the pedals with their tiny four and six year old legs! I couldn't help because I was busy taking video with the Nikon D90! The children love to see themselves and show off their activities to Mum and Dad once we reach home again! (That's my excuse for still having energy left once I reach home!)
At the last of the parks we visited the children spotted a black swan. We all walked towards the lake but when the swan jumped out of the water and started walking towards us the children raced back to the play park! The bird was almost as tall as they were and I warned them that it could be aggressive so to be careful. Of course I couldn't resist taking a couple of shots. When Colin held out his hand as if he had food it was clear that this bird had been fed by picnickers - a foolish thing to do since wild birds learn that people mean hand-outs.

f.8  1/60   ISO 200  55mm

The children only reach up to above Colin's waist, so you can see why I advised the children to stay back! The swan is a big bird and once the wings are out it is massive!

f.8  1/60   ISO 200  40mm

I edged forward and took another shot of the bird, he really is magnificent. It is wonderful that we can get so close to our native wildlife, but it is wise to remember that they are wild creatures and do not eat bread when in their usual foraging, bread is not good for them (nor for kangaroos - but people cannot help themselves! Its wonderful to have a wild creature eat from your hand and bread is usually in the picnic box!)

f.8  1/60   ISO 200  40mm

To take my photo "at eye level" of the bird I had squatted on my heels and the bird thought that was oh so tempting and marched towards me - you aught to have heard the alarmed shrieking from the children back at the playground! "Granny, Granny"!!!! They thought I was going to be attacked! I took my shot and stood up, the bird realised that I was bigger than he and changed direction! As I stood up I notice a small boy not too far from me with a big sandwich in his hands so I told him to run back to his family. He did so and the swan, disappointed in his quest for human food turned around and returned to the lake. The little boy was younger than my two girls so he would have lost his lunch to the swan if I hadn't intervened!
For those of you interested in camera settings, once again I used Aperture priority - so basically used the camera in an automatic mode. The camera determines the shutter speed. It was a very bright day so I had set the ISO to 200. If the day had been dull I would have increased the ISO, this lets in a lot more light so the shutter speed would increase too. When you are hand holding a camera it is almost impossible to get a sharp picture if the shutter speed goes below 1/60 second. If you use Aperture priority always make sure of your shutter speed. Take your photo and check the photo information. If the shutter speed is too low, increase the ISO and try again.
AJ

Chasing the Wattle bird

While I was working in the garden I could hear the strange "scratch" shout from the calliandra tree - a tree that has red pom-poms all over it. The Wattlebirds were busy sipping nectar from the centre of the red flowers and seemingly oblivious of the movement and busyness below them in the garden. Colin and I were busy digging out ginger plants and Clivia nobilis and not being too quiet about our efforts. To be honest, it was Colin who was digging out the plants and I was the one transplanting the Clivia to a new garden bed. The ginger had all but taken over that bit of garden and the tubers had tangled among the roots of azalea bushes and lots of other plants too. It was a "mattock" job to remove the mat of roots!
Anyway, the birds didn't mind us doing that - but as soon as I had cleaned up and re-appeared with my camera and tripod to take some photos of these visitors (they are a bit nomadic and have only just returned) they moved to the back of the tree, out of sight of me!
I went back indoors and changed into something drab - a brown jacket - and for a while had more success. I suspect that the bright sunlight glistening on my camera along with the loud shutter sound alerted them to the fact that they were on candid camera! Here are four of my better shots of today.

f number varies       all shots 1/640  ISO 400  300mm

As you can see, the first three photos were taken of the same bird on the same flower. Its just as well I took a few shots because these were the only two locations where I was able to take clear pictures of the Little Wattle Bird.
Today I set the shutter speed, not the aperture. I also increased the ISO to 400 to allow in plenty of light. Using the Shutter speed lets the camera determine the correct aperture. I needed enough depth of field to include the head and body of the bird, I did not mind if the leaves were not so sharp. I set the shutter speed to 640 to freeze any movement either from the bird flapping its wings or from the breeze moving the leaves. To be sure that I captured sharp images of the bird - I was using a long lens (70 - 300mm) at the maximum reach - I knew I could not hold the camera still enough so used a tripod. I did try one shot, hand held of one of the flowers and I could see the red ball bouncing around in the viewfinder! Hand-holding a camera that is using a long zoom is not a good idea - even if it is a point and shoot with a big zoom. Find something to rest the camera on - if you do not have a tripod handy.
AJ

Fun in the sun

After three days of grey skies and wet weather it was with delight that I awoke to blue skies once more. Once all the chores were out of the way I had a little time to play with my camera. This time I had the 50mm lens fitted on the front so I decided to leave it there and see how I managed. Its a lovely little lens but I find it rather restricting in that I can't always get far enough away from my subject. I really found that to be the case today too - I could not go any further away from where I had set up my backdrop or I would have been in the swimming pool!
I grabbed a handful of little dog biscuits and a sheet of firm plastic board - the sort used for real estate signs - and allowed one dog at a time into the pool yard. For food, my dogs will do almost anything!
First off the blocks was Byron and I managed to get a few good shots of him - but because of the restriction on distance I could not get any further away and head shots were my only option - and even then I was only just far enough away!

On a bright day, perhaps white was not the best colour to have as a backdrop! However it is nice to be able to get a couple of shots with nothing distracting behind the dogs. Byron is now eleven and half years old. He is a "designer dog", an Irish Poodle which is a cross between an Irish Water Spaniel and a Standard Poodle. We get his wool cut every three months. It is about a week since he had his last session at the poodle parlour so his coat is like that of the astrakhan sheep, soft and curly.
Now here is Samson.

Samson is a Curly Coat Retriever and he always looks this sad! He is as black as the Ace of Spades - but picture two makes him look rather blue! Oops! When we bought Samson from the Council pound (six years ago) we were told that he was two years younger than Byron but now he is looking a bit older than his woolly mate! The Curly Coat Retriever is one of the oldest breeds of dog, apparently the breed was used in England by the Game Keepers who looked after the grounds and pheasants for the Lord of the Manor.     
Before I close for today I am going to include two more pictures, this time from my garden. There are a few things in flower - there always are! But these are quite spectacular at the moment. The Calliandra pompoms are a favourite with the Little Wattle Birds. I hear them and see them a lot but they never let me get close enough to take a photo - they zip behind the tree to feed out of range!

I love this small tree because it seems to have these colourful flowers on it for many months, there are always new ones opening up. That little raspberry shaped bud is one of the emerging flowers.

Lastly the Poinsettia that stands beside my mailbox. This is a double one and the flowers would be 30cm across - or more. They are only just wide open, they and all their smaller cousins are brightening our gardens at the moment.
There is a round bush that is smothered in tiny little white star shaped flowers that is a type of Hibiscus that we know as the snow-ball bush and it is just making itself noticed! They seem to be in everyone's gardens - even gardens where there are only lawns and shrubs!
Click on any of the pictures if you wish to see them larger!
AJ

Aperture - one explanation

I would like to show you why more and more people are moving away from a point and shoot camera and getting themselves a digital SLR. If you look at the prices of cameras you will see that a good brand SLR can be cheaper than a point and shoot. I am not writing to argue the "pro and cons" of the different types of cameras, there are plenty of articles to give you those. What I would like to show, along with three photos I have just taken, is something that can be done with an SLR with no complicated pressing of menu buttons.
Just as on a point and shoot camera there is a wheel on the top of all SLR cameras that gives different scene modes. (I have not found or heard of anyone with an SLR who ever used these scene modes!) This same wheel has three extra things written on it.
M - which means Manual mode - this takes the most skill to use and get good results.
A or Av (Nikon =A, Canon =Av) - the aperture can be set manually while the shutter speed is automatically adjusted by the camera.
S or Tv (Nikon =S, Canon = Tv) Here the shutter speed can be set manually and the camera takes care of the aperture setting.
The most usual setting SLR users employ (those that aren't using full "Auto"!) is A or Av, the aperture control. It is this setting I will show the reasons why.

With the camera set on A (I am using a Nikon camera - the D90 model) so I am in control of the aperture settings, I have chosen to set the camera at f/1.8 (Using a 50mm prime lens). The smaller the F number the narrower the field of focus. Its so easy to remember that connection!
Even without clicking on the picture to see it larger, you can see that the place mat under the pen is not in focus either nearer to the camera nor behind the pen. The depth of field is just enough to show the pen. If I used this setting to take a picture of a dog's looking at me, the nose would be in sharp focus but the eyes would be out of focus. Small F number, small range of focus.

This time the aperture setting was changed to f/9 and you can clearly see the flower pattern on the place mat in front of the pen and about the same distance behind the pen. The shutter speed has changed but I am not telling you what it is - the camera took care of adjusting the shutter speed to make sure the amount of light and shade was to the camera's liking. This choice of aperture setting is often used for such things as shooting wild-life and getting the animal in focus and the background blurred.

The aperture on this occasion has been set to f/22 and because the camera slowed the shutter speed to almost one second, I had to use my mini tripod to keep the camera still. The high f number has given a very wide depth of field and the entire place mat is in sharp detail.  (Large F number, large depth of field.)
I hope that my explanation has been simple enough for you to follow.
Really, the camera operator is still using the camera's automatic settings - the focus is set automatically and the shutter speed is set automatically - and yet there is far more control (with no real brain work needed) to get the sort of shot that is required.
The people who want "everything in focus" will always use full automatic settings and are really using the SLR as a "point and shoot" (but will get better results) however the more adventurous photographer can experiment with depth of field by choosing to use the Aperture Priority mode.
AJ

Playing with the Canon macro

Wanting to use the camera and without a car to go some place other than home, I had to content myself with searching for subjects in the garden. Selecting the Canon D40 and the Macro lens as my "weapon of choice" for this venture I started by setting up a table with a white cloth as a backdrop - with an ingenious method of creating a back support with a surfboard strapped to the back two legs! I should have taken a photo of my "studio"!
To begin with I thought that I would try to take plants in isolation from their surrounds by draping white material over the surf board and over the table. I found a piece of florist's "oasis" foam to support the plants. Once the stem had been pushed into the foam the extra white material that fell down the front of the table was doubled back and gently positioned over the oasis block. This acted as a reflector. So the plant was in front of a white draping backdrop and its underside was brightened with reflected light off the white fabric over the block.
Rather than use the macro lens as close as I could to the subjects I needed to find out how much depth of field I would get if I were further away. (I need to know this for a future project). Here are a couple of my white backdrop results.

 Red Salvia         f/8  1/160     ISO200    100mm (fixed focal length)

Plumbago    f/8  1/250    ISO200    100mm (fixed focal length)

 The camera would have been about 700mm from the subjects (for all the photos included here today) I still need to learn a bit more about the Canon camera - I could not remember how to lock the aperture! I was using Manual focus but the camera was in Aperture priority.

Since only one of my roses is flowering and there are only two roses on the bush, I did not want to pick the flowers so clambered onto the raised flower bed with my tripod and camera to get these next two shots.

  f/11    1/500     ISO200    100mm (fixed focal length)

f/11      1/320     ISO200    100mm (fixed focal length)

 I really love orange roses! This one is called "Just Joey" and another orange one that I have taken photos of is "Whiskey".

The macro lens does an excellent job of isolating a single subject and my experimentation showed me that I can get a bigger depth of field by moving further away from the subject. Strangely though, in the viewfinder I cannot tell that the background is so out of focus. It looks almost as sharp as the main subject.

All my photos today were taken outside (Its almost winter and the temperature is a warm 27 degrees!) in the sunshine. All the experts tell you that no one should take photos any time except during the "golden hours" of early morning and late afternoon. In the tropics the golden hour is a mere ten minutes long so that is too restrictive for me!!! I love the full sun, shadows make subjects more interesting. I guess shooting in the midday is why I shall never be considered an expert!

AJ

Art in the country

Small towns are often full of surprises and one little place not far from where I live - but over the state border in New South Wales - is a little beauty. It is as small as a postage stamp and yet it attracts bus-loads of visitors every day and bigger crowds at the weekends. The town's name is Stoker's Siding. The little town started life as a dairy farm but a railway siding gave the necessary impetus for the town to grow. The reason the visitors love this place is due solely to the marketing skills of a very talented potter, everyone who comes here goes in to see the pottery and crafts that are for sale in a building that is close to 100 years old.

 f/7    1/100    ISO 250    22mm

The old building was once a general store and it has been lovingly maintained in its original form and is a photographer's delight! The panes of glass decorating the space above the main windows are not seen like this any more.

 f/5.6    1/100    ISO 250    20mm

I was rather taken by the unusual glass creations that were hanging inside the main display window. It was a bit difficult to take a photo of them with all the reflections on the glass - and even the circular polariser did not help very much.

 f/3.5    1/100    ISO 250    18mm

Inside the place is filled with the most exquisite pottery, paintings and works of art. If you want to see unusual glazes and huge platters and special pieces of pottery - this is the place to come!

 f/3.8    1/100    ISO 250    20mm

The train that converted Stokers Siding to a town has ceased to run and the grass grows tall between the rail lines, there are no noisy trains to disturb the peace any more neither to stop here nor to travel further north to Murwillumbah. The cows can graze in peace and quiet once again.

 f11    1/100    ISO 250    50mm

The children must travel by school bus to Murwillumbah every morning and some creative parent has decorated the bus shelter. This must be one of very few bus shelters that does not have graffiti all over it.

 f/3.5    1/100    ISO 250    18mm

Even if you have visited Stokers Siding before, it is always worth another visit. The artwork in Stokers Siding Pottery is always changing and always interesting - and a new business that will attract visitors has opened next door.
AJ

A short note about the Macro shots

What I failed to mention in my blog yesterday about the photos included was that all the photos were "as taken'. There was no Photoshop tweaking or cropping - except for that very last shot of the ants in the centre of the flower.
Normally EVERY shot I take is modified in some way. The levels are adjusted, there might be a slight colour adjustment and there is always a touch of sharpening.
However I thought it would be better for comparison if there was no adjustment at all to the shots taken by two cameras using different lenses.
AJ

Fun with Macro

A friend of mine has given me his Canon 40D and f/2.8 Macro lens to play with while he is away touring Australia. This morning - before the thunder claps and rain arrived - it was sunny and worthy of going outside with a camera. With this golden opportunity I decided first to take a few shots with the dedicated macro lens and then take similar shots with the Nikon with the screw-on macro adapter lens I had bought (new) from Ebay.
Here are the first two shots of a tiny grasshopper I spotted on one of the early Chrysanthemums. The head of the flower is only two centimetres across which will give you an idea of the magnification/closeness of me to the creature and petals. First the Canon 40D

 and now the Nikon D90

The depth of field is actually better with the dedicated macro lens on the Canon but I am really amazed at how well the sub $50 adapter behaves. The adapter is in two halves and when I unscrew the wide angle lens I can get up really close - to about 15cm from my subject.
Here are a couple more photos for comparison - the ones taken with the camera were when the light was a bit brighter - the thunder had already started rumbling by the time I took the Nikon outside. The loud bangs and the torrential rain came as soon as I moved indoors! We have had 29 mm of rain since it started ten minutes ago!
First the Canon

The colours are true in this picture from the Canon. The Nikon has tended to pinks.

The colours may need adjusting but see how much closer I can get once I take off that wide extension? Mind you, the depth of field is really really narrow! This flower is only tiny - about 1.5cm across. Because of the fading light I moved the plant outside.
All my photos are taken in full manual (with a few trial runs to get the settings correct!) The pre-sets did not seem to suit either the macro lens on the Canon nor the supplementary lenses on the Nikon. Focus is on manual too.
I enjoy playing with cameras (you would never know it, would you?) so being given permission to use someone else's camera and expensive lens is like going to heaven!
Just to finish, here are two more shots I want to share with you.

Both these flowers are small - the partly open Chrysanthemum is only 2cm at the most. It wasn't until I peered through the camera lens that I could see there were ants crawling around inside it.

If you click on any of these photos, they should open into a larger image, to return to this blog to finish reading or look at other pictures, click the "back" button.
Apologies for not writing in my blog for a while. I have not had good Internet connection due to switching ISPs but hopefully all that is behind me!
AJ

Playing with the camera

I enjoy writing this blog and when "work" gets in the way and I am too exhausted to write in an evening I start feeling as though I have let the blog down! Tonight the family has departed and the excitement that has gripped the place has relaxed and once again I can sit quietly at the computer and put up a few pictures.
No matter how busy I get I still manage to see things that insist on being the subject of a photograph. Like this fellow who posed so beautifully in the tree opposite the veranda.

 

f/9  1/250  270mm  ISO 640

White cockatoos have become quite numerous and in the mornings a flock of close on fifty of them fly over screeching loudly, at around five thirty. (It is quite bright at that time these summer mornings) They have destroyed every last one of our lemons long before they are even yellow so when they settle in the back yard I no longer chase them away - there is nothing edible left worth getting excited about! This year I will have to buy lemons and passion-fruit. When Colin announced that he was going to build me a vegetable garden I couldn't help but laugh. I have gone to great lengths to attract birds and animals to the garden so it would be a garden for the wildlife! What the wildlife doesn't eat the fruit flies and the grubs will!
At last I have put the Macro/wide lens converter onto my camera and had a little play with it. I really can get up nice and close to plants now - but of course this is not a true macro and I am still limited by the f/3.5 of the 18-55mm lens it screws onto. Here are a couple of shots I have taken with this extension lens.

 

f/9  1/320  55mm + macro lens ISO 640

So I can get in much closer to the subject and far from being a handicap, the aperture setting allows more of the curve of petals to be in focus. I am also delighted that the lens is as sharp as it is considering it is two extra pieces of glass in front of the 18-55mm lens, also no distortion.

 

f/9 1/160 55mm+macro lens ISO 640

I don't know if you have ever looked closely at the flowers of a crepe myrtle, it looks like a mass of fluffy petals making up a fairly large head of flowers. Click on this picture and see just one of those fluffy petals! This is a lens I can enjoy using!
AJ