Basil flowers

Basil flowers

This is a macro shot of the flowers of the basil herb, a member of the mint family and famous ingredient in the italian sauce, pesto.

I took this with a +3 diopter (actually a +1 in combination with a +2) close-up lens in front of my 55-200 Nikkor zoom. Given that this is hardly an optimal optical set-up, I don't think it's come out too badly. The image is for Grumpy who was asking about cheaper alternatives to a true macro lens.

Created by: Sgbrown.

Tools Used: D200, RawShooter, GIMP

Created on: December 2006

Image Views: 104

Average Views per Day: 0.2

Image Number: 33074

Comments:

Steve Brown (sgbrown) from UK on Dec 18, 2006 at 8:54 AM said:

Thanks Tania. Perhaps you could post a few of the shots you've taken with the close-up filter!

Tania (TMR8) from Taranaki New Zealand on Dec 18, 2006 at 5:06 AM said:

Steve I also have these macro filters they are alot of fun I find with a steady hand and a reasonably fast shutter speed the clarity of the image and the colours are great.

Steve Brown (sgbrown) from UK on Dec 12, 2006 at 2:29 PM said:

Thanks Mike. I look forward to seeing what you capture!

Steve

grumpy(mike) from england(mboro) on Dec 12, 2006 at 10:57 AM said:

hi steve i got mine off ebay only cost me 10.00 inc p+p size 9MM 12MM and 30MM not tried yet but waiting for work to die down

Steve Brown (sgbrown) from UK on Dec 12, 2006 at 6:10 AM said:

Thanks for your kind comment Alandra, and for the useful information about extension tubes. If you can find that site, that would be great!

Thanks again,

Steve

Alandra from westcoast Canada on Dec 12, 2006 at 5:55 AM said:

it is a delicate and pretty image, Steve. the basil flowers look almost like miniature snapdragons.

About the alternatives to getting a macro lens, how about considering a set of 3 Kenko automatic Extension Tubes? The set contains tubes in 12mm, 20mm & 36mm sizes. I read about these on a website of a photographer in Oregon, USA, and was impressed with her photos shown on her site, - so bought a set of the extension tubes. Have only used the 12mm so far, but am quite pleased with the results. Haven't been able to put the results up on the gallery yet tho.

I'll try to find you the site of the photographer in Oregon so you can check out her images.

Steve Brown (sgbrown) from UK on Dec 11, 2006 at 5:40 PM said:

Thanks Carol!

Mike, you're welcome. I think this was f11 or even smaller. To be fair, the full resolution image looks a great deal sharper than this. The back-lighting also softens the image, and I was trying to capture the translucence of the petals. You may well be right that this hasn't worked as well as I might have hoped! But I don't think this is to do with the rings themselves, and anyway this image would have been impossible without them unless I had a proper macro lens! So they're a cheap and cheerful alternative to the real thing.

grumpy(mike) from engalnd(mboro) on Dec 11, 2006 at 5:01 PM said:

thanks for the dedication steve ! intresting outcome , i was not sure as to what the outcome of these rings would produce ... so now i have seen it mm still not sure, i gather that you loose a stop or two and this is why the sharpness is not as normal? the only thing can i point out is if i may is the background it a bit bright ? but again this is a draw back of these rings? yet still a good photo steve hope one made sense of what i am trying to say

Shutterbug from Maine on Dec 11, 2006 at 4:28 PM said:

Pretty photo of the herb.

Carol

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