Flowering Trees Are Beautiful And Painful!

I’m tearing, but these are not tears of joy! It’s tough to get angry at the trees when their blooms are so beautiful.

The past few days have been brutal on my eyes. They are raw and sore. By the end of the day all I want to do is close them.

On yesterday’s noon news Dr. Mel said the tree pollen count, which can go to 12, was at 11.5. Historic level!

I’m tearing, but these are not tears of joy!

It’s tough to get angry at the trees when their blooms are so beautiful. Pictured below is a macro shot which means the image produced is larger than the original.

Spring blooms like these don’t last long–thankfully.

Props to my friend Steve who suggested a smaller aperture for macro shots for a larger depth-of-field. There’s still a lot out-of-focus but a lot more that’s sharp.

This shot is at f/13, 1/500 second, ISO 800 using a Tamron 70-200mm lens at 151mm with a cheapie screw-on close-up adapter.

Very Close AKA Macro Photography

Most good macro photography is done on a tripod with an on-camera ring light. I’m a little short in that regard.

I’ve taken a few forays into macro photography. Macro photography produces an image larger than the object shot. Most lenses won’t natively produce macro shots. There are a few ways to go about this, but the cheapest way (my way) is with a screw-on close-up lens. It’s like putting reading glasses on your camera!

The net effect allows the camera to focus while closer to where you’re pointing. The depth-of-field, the range that’s in focus, shrinks. Focus and framing become critical. Most good macro photography is done on a tripod with an on-camera ring light. I’m a little short in that regard.

These shots were taken of a few flowering trees in our front yard. The flowers go in-and-out of season in a week or two! The bee should give you an idea of the size of the flowers–tiny.

Helaine asked if I was scared of the bee? No. He was a little too busy working.