NODAL SLIDE
When you use the panning function on a tripod head to produce images for stitching into a panorama, parallax errors can be introduced. This is because the point of rotation is under the camera, so the view shifts as you rotate the head. To stop this, the point of rotation needs to be where the light rays diverge – the nodal point. A nodal slide sets your camera back, so the nodal point sits at the point of rotation. To use it, first ensure your camera is mounted vertically and remains level as you rotate it. Then choose a point in the foreground or middle distance you can line up with a point in the distance and rotate your camera to the left and see if the two points are still lined up at the edge of the frame; rotate to the right and check to see if the two points are still in line. If not move your camera backwards or forwards on the slide until they stay in line as you rotate the camera.
MACRO CLOSE-UPS
One thing I could not have managed without is a macro lens. It was like opening a window into a new world when I bought my first macro lens 30 years ago, and I haven’t stopped using it since. I am currently the proud owner of the superb Nikon AF 200mm f/4D IF-ED Micro which took all of the images on this page.
Most people’s idea of macro photography will probably be an extremely detailed close-up picture of an insect or flower that has, perhaps, been even more pronounced by the heavy use of focus stacking. Whilst I will continue to take photos like this, it has become apparent to me that highly rendered detail is not always the most important thing I am looking for.
One reason I find my macro lens can be so engaging is that it shows me the world differently and in a way that is impossible for me to experience with human vision. Utilising the shallow depth of field when using the lens with a wide aperture is something I like to do, as it produces a painterly feel to an image and it is this quality that I find can be the most creative.
A different reality
A macro lens’s ability to focus in on small details gives me the opportunity to produce images that could be seen as being abstract. This highlights an interesting debate on what an abstract picture actually is to people. In my view, these extreme close-ups aren’t strictly abstract, because they are depicting real objects and their reference is the natural world.
Another aspect that can be deceiving, when focusing closely on a subject, is the lack of reference to the scale of what is being depicted. This adds yet another layer of mystery to the image and helps to make it more challenging for the viewer as they are seeing things that are not normally seen.
Macro alternatives
Long before I purchased my first macro lens, I experimented with other less expensive ways of focusing closer on a subject. This has become relevant again for me in my role as a photography course tutor. Not everyone who attends my classes on creative flower photography has a macro lens, so what are the alternatives?
My first foray into the macro world was to use a reversing ring; excellent quality at a reasonable cost. Extension tubes that sit between your camera body and your lens are another great way of enabling a lens to focus extremely closely.
Tripods
One essential piece of equipment, though, that I hardly ever take a photograph without is a tripod. I have a couple of tripods: one is very lightweight and made of carbon fibre, which is comfortably portable; and another more substantial one for indoor use. I use a ball-and-socket joint for both, which I find to be the most versatile. As well as the main tripod, choose your head carefully, as some offer more fine-tuning than others.
Apart from the obvious benefit of keeping the camera still, using a tripod also helps us to take our time and consider the subject more.
A macro lens’s ability to focus in on small details gives me the opportunity to create abstract images
IMPRESSIONIST IMAGES
An impressionist approach has a great deal of appeal for me, as it affords me the opportunity to be the most creative with my camera. The idea is to convey an impressionistic response to the subject that results in the image looking more like a painting than a traditional photograph. There is a lot more emphasis on depicting movement, creating an atmosphere and the play of light, rather than having everything pin-sharp and conventionally well composed.
A lot of us have probably experimented with ND filters to blur movement in water and clouds, for example, and this was my starting point. There are many techniques that can be employed to create this style of photography, but what I use mainly are multiple exposures and intentional camera movement (ICM). Whilst it is possible to use Photoshop for this, it is important for me that, when I produce these pictures, all of the effects are done in-camera at
the time of shooting. My D800E has the option for combining up to ten different exposures in one frame, which can help massively.
ICM and multiple exposures
In the image of the trees (above) I have used a small amount of ICM on one of the exposures whilst altering the camera’s position for another two exposures. Although with experience it is possible to predict the outcome, the variables here make it difficult to know exactly what your final image will actually look like. This, for me, is the exciting part of the process; I have an idea of what I want the image to look like but it doesn’t actually exist in reality. It is my completely unique creation.
Moving the lens
Being a large lens, my Nikon AF 200mm f/4D IF-ED Micro has its own tripod mount. This means that the lens and camera can be rotated 360 degrees within the mount bracket. Up to ten different exposures can be made with my D800E, so by using all ten quite a complicated image can be built up.
In the photo of the daisy (right) I have centred the lens on the middle of the flower. The petals appear whiter where the exposures overlap. Each different exposure can, of course, have different settings. There is also the possibility of using ICM whilst rotating the camera.
Create a scene
This is a technique I like to use a lot. It involves planning ahead to create a view that doesn’t exist. In the case of the image with the purple allium and blue nigella (top left) both plants were in different parts of my garden. I wanted to combine them in one image. Taking the allium first, I had to leave a clear space where I wanted the nigella to be. It was then a case of moving the camera to shoot the nigella, then combining both with my D800E.
Moving the subject
The technique of walking all around a subject taking photographs, and then combining all the shots in a multi-layered final image, has been popularised by the photographer Pep Ventosa. Working in a similar way I do the same thing indoors, not by moving myself but by moving the subject. This technique can be used to give a very painterly feel to the image.
An impressionist approach has a great deal of appeal for me, as it affords me the opportunity to be the most creative with my camera