Getting close to small subjects - gear/ technique

[AndWhyNot]

My 365 project involves shooting a mini photographer in a variety of real-world situations. Shooting, processing and sharing the whole thing from my iPhone keeps the project self-contained & portable.

The other iPhone benefit is that the minimum focusing distance is very close- about 3 inches, give or take- so I can manipulate the sense of scale by having the figure very close.


Mother Nature


Risk assessment


All the fun

The iPhone lens is (appx) 35mm equivalent focal length. I'm guessing I'd need a macro lens of some sort to try and replicate this using my existing Nikon FX body but what could I expect to happen to DoF? Usually I manage to keep the background recognisable in my iPhone shots, would I be needing impractically-narrow apertures to retain some background detail shooting with FX equipment? I'm not talking pin sharp, more like the examples above.

Confirmations, clarifications and suggestions of suitable lenses/ alternatives all welcome

[Simpo Two]

Macro lenses wreck DOF like nothing else, you won't have a problem making the b/g go out of focus!

Maybe http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-nikon-40mm-f2-8...

[nellyleelephant]

Unless I'm misreading, I think he wants to keep some detail in the background without using tiny apertures. Might be difficult to do without stacking multiple exposures if you want to keep a fast shutter.

[AndWhyNot]

nellyleelephant said:

Unless I'm misreading, I think he wants to keep some detail in the background without using tiny apertures. Might be difficult to do without stacking multiple exposures if you want to keep a fast shutter.

Yep, this. Shutter speed is less of a problem than sensor scum though.

Thanks for the suggestion Simpo but that 40mm is a DX lens. Guess the closest (Nikkor) for FX is the 60mm. Seems a bit long, guess I could always use my existing (non-macro) 35mm and crop heavily :/

[DibblyDobbler]

The closer you get the smaller the dof - with the MPE-65 at full magnification (ie 5x) you're about and inch or so away from the subject and the dof is around a millimeter!

[Disastrous]

Can't help but want to say those images look great! The iPhone really turns out good photos in the right hands.

I'd love to be able to recreate its settings!?

[Wheat]

Love those photos, please keep posting more. Can't we have an 'adventures of Pete the photographer' thread? You might even get a comic deal!

[checkmate91]

https://www.facebook.com/Legography they're great, fantastic idea.

[AndWhyNot]

checkmate91 said:

https://www.facebook.com/Legography they're great, fantastic idea.

Cheers, that's it!

Disastrous said:

I'd love to be able to recreate its settings!?

Thanks

Most of the images are shot with the 645Pro app. Main problem with the native camera when working with a subject so close is that it takes its light metering from the focus point which is often not what I'm looking for. 645Pro lets me lock focus and metering on different parts of the scene. Other benefits, though, include greater manual control; saving in .TIFF format; and a set of adjustable digital filters (grads, sunset, tobacco etc).

Processing workflow is almost always done in SnapSeed. Varies from image to image but I tend to make manual adjustments rather than apply filters.

Wheat said:

Love those photos, please keep posting more. Can't we have an 'adventures of Pete the photographer' thread? You might even get a comic deal!

The facebook link in the previous post is the only place that gets updated daily (you don't have to be a FB user to view). Might start adding to flickr daily now that the app is so much better but without a flickr upload I can't share out to forums etc., hence just the one guaranteed daily post.