Warmachine Cygnar miniature shoot

I don't have any experience shooting miniatures so when a friend visited me this summer on his way home from a tournament I jumped at the chance. The minis are 28mm tall Cygnar faction for the Warmachine tabletop game from Privateer Press.

The setup was very simple, using just the big lamp in the sky, white paper and two prime lenses - a regular 50mm and a 100mm macro lens on a Canon 60D. No flash or reflector was used.

The full set is at Flickr. I really enjoyed the shoot and it was quite different from what I usually work with. My friend was very happy with the result as well.
 

Macro photography

Reproducing subjects at 1:1 ratio or greater can reveal a world which is not normally visible for us to study closely without difficulty. Macro photography is commonly seen today with subjects such as insects and flowers, for example there is a large community on G+ tagging shots with #macromonday to share such photos. The Closer and Closer Macro group on Flickr has nearly a million photographs, demonstrating the popularity of macro photography.

A typical macro shot has razor sharp focus on the subject matter and a narrow depth of field (sometimes extended with focus stacking). The use of a ring flash or a flash diffuser is common in order to improve light conditions as the photographer needs to work very close to the subject. Tripods are not required but are very helpful in order to stabilise the camera when longer exposures are needed to compensate for poor light conditions and the subject can be relied on to not fly off while you are setting up the tripod.

Personally I use the Canon EF 100mm 2.8 USM lens on a 60D with a 430 EX II flash and a diffuser. Below are some sample photographs taken with the lens.

View on black here. This shot of a hornet has been cropped and rotated to improve the composition. Some photographers feel strongly that using crop to achieve a 'macro effect' is not appropriate. In this case the original shot was already a macro shot, as can be seen here. If you are shooting for your own enjoyment then there is no reason to worry about 'rules' but just be aware that some people may take a purist position.

This is a shot of an ice cube on a printed circuit board, with an air bubble (about 2 to 3 mm wide) trapped in the melting water. Again the shot has been cropped for composition. View on black here.

Euro coin, uncropped image shot af f/5.0, 1/400s with ISO 100 and no post processing (JPEG file straight from camera). View on black. Criticism of this picture would probably include that the coin is not fully in focus and that the subject does not fill the frame. A second light source would have been helpful as well.

In conclusion, macro photography can bring out previously unseen colours and details in the world around you. It can be great fun and range from very easy shots such as the coin to very difficult where the subject is prone to flee at the slightest provocation. There are some inexpensive ways, such as extension tubes, to get into macro photography or you can pick up some good glass - many macro lenses have excellent optical characteristics.

Street photography - Passing by

Two strangers, caught in what may seem as a confrontational pose, pass each other outside Lunds Konsthall, an art museum in Lund, Sweden. The apparent tension in the picture never existed. The picture can be viewed on a black background here.

This is by far my most viewed photograph, with nearly 14,000 views on Flickr. It is not a posed photograph, but instead an example of street photography with both subjects unaware that the photo was taken. This is a controversial area of photography as both opinion and law differs widely between different countries and cultures. Stories of photographers being hassled,  threatened or even arrested are commonplace today.

In the UK, there is a Home Office consultation right now where part of the aim to clarify the law and issue guidance to police on interaction with photographers. There is a great deal of confusion about the rights to ones likeness, model releases and what is socially acceptable. Street photography can also be very challenging as the opportunity to take a shot is fleeting and light conditions are often far from ideal.

My personal experience of doing street photography in Japan, England, Poland, Sweden, Scotland, Portugal and Denmark has been positive so far. Generally the rules I live by are simple:

• Do not be creepy.
• Do not trespass.
• Smile a lot.
• Move along if somebody indicates they don't want to be in the shot.

I use a both zoom lens and a 50mm lens for street photography. The former lends itself to shots where the subjects are unaware of the photo while the latter requires a degree of proximity that usually entails interaction with the subject, resulting in posed shots. I don't see either method as being more pure or better than the other, but rather think that both have their rightful place in street photography.

Looking at the technical aspects of the particular shot in this post, it was taken with a zoom lens (135mm) with a 1/500 of a second exposure at aperture of f/5.6 and with ISO set to 100. In retrospect taking the picture at f/8 or f/11 would have provided a better depth of field for keeping the man fully in focus without sacrificing too much speed. A high shutter speed was required as both subjects were moving and a longer exposure would have introduced motion blur or prevented me from capturing the moment.

One of the most upvoted comments on Reddit regarding this picture was a request to develop this into a series. With spring finally here I hope to make this happen in the next few months.