Charles Allen Haynes
My goal is to continue discovering wildlife, photographing it and pushing my knowledge boundaries until I can’t anymore.
Photographing tiny things is a challenge. At least with fungi and lichens, ferns and most other plants, they don’t move rapidly if at all. But if you work in the “field” there are real physical considerations for me. I’m 80+ and my knees are shot. I can get down but getting back up is a challenge and after a few hours in the woods my knees hurt enough to take over my concentration. That’s the way of life. So I see it as a problem to solve.
What is needed is a method to steady the camera, the right lenses to make photographs of small things, a method to light them properly so the necessary detail shows and the facility to edit them a bit in the field so I know I have what I need. All this must be as light as possible but good quality so that it doesn’t fail 5 miles up a creek bed somewhere. And, I need to be able to do it without being in so much pain I can’t concentrate.
It has taken a while but I’m getting there.
GEEK ALERT!!
Camera and Lenses
I am using a Canon 5D Mark III lightened in weight by using the in-body battery, one at a time, instead of the battery pack that would give me longer battery life but weighs too much. I have 3 lenses that will do the work; the Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro, the Canon 180mm f3.5 Macro and the Canon 100-400 f4.5 Zoom Telephoto that also has macro mode and is a life saver when the subject is skittish; insects, small reptiles… birds. In my opinion, and I’ve been doing this since 1965, the 5D Mark III is one of the finest cameras I’ve ever used. I put it right there with my Leicas. These three lenses are stellar as well. So, we’re good with the actual photography equipment, camera and lenses. I can’t take all three into the woods unless Franca carries some of them. So I’ll most probably go with the 100mm or the 180mm if my goal is small immobile subjects. If I’m after birds or butterflies I might take the 100-400 Zoom.
Camera Support
To steady the camera. I have several tripods and a tripod is necessary for this kind of photography because I need to get the maximum depth of field. That means shooting at f16, f22, maybe f32.* Using those apertures calls for either a whole lot of light or a really steady camera. The tripod I settled on is an Oben CTT-1000. It’s pretty small, carbon fiber, only goes to 24” tall with an extension. It is very light but very steady. The minimum height from the ground is 4”. It has an Arca type quick-mount head and single lever control. So far it is working out very well.
Lighting
I use LED panels because I could take 3 or 4 and they would still weigh less than a flash solution. For specimens to be shot in the studio I might use flash. These panels put out a lot of light and can be used on tiny tripods or hand held to get specific details illuminated properly. I’m taking 2 in the bag.
Of course there are extra batteries, cables, charging apparatus and various brackets to bring along. Trying to cut the weight. though. We’ll see.
Sounds good huh? But there is a problem. What to do when the camera is 4” off the ground and even with a right-angle finder I still have to get down to nearly ground level? I investigated and purchased the CamRanger 2. This is a unit, pretty small and light, that mounts next to the camera on the tripod with an “ell” bracket and establishes a WiFi network that allows an app on my iPhone to take over the camera. And I mean it takes over the camera. Everything adjustable on the camera can be adjusted by use of the iPhone app and it also covers backup and storage of the images in 2 places. This means once I set the camera down on the tripod at distance from the subject I can change framing and all the other adjusting I need to while sitting on a collapsible camp stool. I’ve tested it a bit and it’s working well. I can see thumbnails of everything I shoot as I shoot… 3-4 seconds lag at the most, adjust exposure and focus and ISO as well as aperture and shutter speed.
Of late I’ve added flash to the mix. I have a Canon 580 EXII and a Conon 430 EXII on slave. I also have 2 Canon 270 EXIIs (as slaves) for added highlight areas. The major lights are softened at the camera.
Now it’s on to the field. I’ve made some tests around 712 with good results. The real test is packing it all to make sure I have what I need with no unnecessary weight.
* Focus stacking is something I’m investigating. Still not hand held.