Macro with Big Glass

For as long as I can remember I have been trying to figure out how to reduce the weight of my camera backpack. What do I need to carry and what can I pull from the bag…those are the questions.

For a few days this week I had removed my 70-300mm lens thinking I was already carrying everything from 18-600mm, so why should I carry duplicate weight. Then I remembered how I can use a high quality close-up filter on that lens to photograph dragonfly eyes and very tiny blossoms at more than X1 magnification. After remembering those situations, the 70-30 returned to its spot in my backpack.

Another set of equipment that has been in and out of my backpack in my pack weight-loss efforts has been my extension tubes. If I can gain high magnification with my close-up filter, do I need to carry extension tubes? After all, extension tubes don’t weigh much, but every ounce matters. I did not know for sure so today I tried something different that likely will cause me to carry my extension tubes as well as my close-up filter for macro work.

My experiment was to use 48mm of extension tubes between my camera body and my 150-600mm lens to enable very close focus using the big glass. The combination produced sharp bloodroot blossoms while allowing the background to drop into a very nice blur (bokeh). Ideally I will use a tripod or bean bag when shooting with this large combination, but today I gambled with handholding and I am pleased with the result.

It is not often I photograph wildflowers with my long lens. After seeing this I anticipate the frequency of use for these situations might increase.

By the way - notice the many gnats on the blossoms. There were more gnats on me as I was down at their level on the ground for these images.