30 April 2022

Small Flower Photography with Macro Lens

Flower Photography with Canon Macro Lens

Small Flower Photography with Macro Lens
Small Flower Photography with Canon EOS 6D / 100mm Macro Lens

Flower Macro Photography: Milnerton, Cape Town

In preparation for a Macro / Close-Up Photography Training in Milnerton and Kirstenbosch Garden, Cape Town, I've captured a few small flowers with the Canon EOS 70D / 100mm Macro lens and Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash. 

The last image was done with Canon EOS 6D / 100mm Macro lens and Canon Speedlite 430EX III-RT flash.

Note: Photos are on tripod in Av mode with a Canon Speedlite 430EX I / 430EX III-RT flash with diffuser.  Slight processing Photoshop Lightroom 6 / 7.

Shooting Location
Arnhem Milnerton, Cape Town


Canon DSLR / Flash / Tripod
  • Canon EOS 70D DSLR camera body
  • Canon EOS 6D DSLR camera body
  • Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro lens
  • Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash
  • Canon Speedlite 430EX III-RT flash
  • Manfrotto Tripod

Av Mode - Aperture Priority Settings
  • Aperture f/8 - f/22
  • ISO 400 - 800
  • Manual Focus / Lens Autofocus off
  • Shutter speed: various (auto in Av mode)

Small Flower Macro Photography Cape Town - Canon EOS 70D
Canon EOS 70D / EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens ISO 800 f/11

Small Flower Macro Photography Cape Town - Canon EOS 70D
Canon EOS 70D / EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens ISO 400 f/11

Small Flower Macro Photography Cape Town - Canon EOS 70D
Canon EOS 70D / EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens ISO 800 f/11

Small Flower Macro Photography Cape Town - Canon EOS 70D
Canon EOS 70D / EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens ISO 800 f/8


Canon EOS 6D / EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens ISO 400 f/11
Canon EOS 6D / EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens ISO 400 f/11

Canon Extension Tube vs Macro Lens Decision
Canon Extension Tube vs Macro Lens Decision

18 April 2022

Vernon Chalmers Photography Training Website Update

Vernon Chalmers Photography Training Website

Vernon Chalmers Photography Training Website Update
Vernon Chalmers Photography Training Website Update

Update: Vernon Chalmers Photography Training Website (April 2022)

Vernon Chalmers Photography Training Milnerton, Cape Town - Website Update

The website is now up-to-date with the following information:

International / Regional Advertising Disclaimer
The website is an approved Google AdSense Advertising Partner. Various global / local brands may intermittently (via contextualisation) be advertising / visible on most of the website pages.

One website advertising objective is to provide online visitors with reputable and useful products and services that should be available (on and / or offline) via various international / regional options.

Vernon Chalmers Photography Training is (personally) not promoting any specific brand, product and / or service.

My advertising relationship is exclusively with Google AdSense. There are no product / service preferences (in which adverts may be displayed at any given visit) and I'm not employed (or under contract) with any individual advertiser. 

One of the objectives of the Google AdSense Advertising Programme is to provide (as far as possible) high-quality advertisements that should be useful (and of interest) to a specific reader audience.

Milnerton / Woodbridge Island Long Exposure Photography

Milnerton Lagoon / Woodbridge Island after Sunset : With Canon EOS 6D Copyright Vernon Chalmers
Milnerton Lagoon / Woodbridge Island after Sunset : With Canon EOS 6D (Long Exposure Photography

Canon Photography Training Milnerton Woodbridge Island | Kirstenbosch Cape Town

01 April 2022

Bird Photography Table Bay Nature Reserve, Woodbridge Island

Bird Photography Around Woodbridge Island

Purple Heron in Flight Diep River Woodbridge Island Vernon Chalmers Photography
Bird Photography Table Bay Nature Reserve, Woodbridge Island

A Variety of Bird in the Table Bay Nature Reserve, Woodbridge Island
Between all the rainy days forecasted for this week today was probably the best weather and light of the week. I only left my studio after 10:00 due the poor light and some cloud cover. 

The weather (and the light) cleared up quite nicely by the time I got down the Diep River, Woodbridge Island on my usual walk down to  the Table Bay Nature Reserve. During the walk I was fortunate to observe and photograph the rare (for here) purple heron. There was a pair, but I only mange to get an extreme long range shot of one of them.

I was greeted with all the usual birds with lots of common starlings around. I manage to capture a few Cape cormorants and eventually walked to the reserve. Here I saw many Cape spurfowls, yellow-billed ducks, Southern masked weavers and a few grey herons. On my return I photographed the 'sprinting' common moorhen along the Diep River and one of the two resident pied crows.

The highlight in the reserve - and my morning - was the successful stalking of the fidgety Karoo prinea  - a rare small bird for me down here. I've only seen them a couple of times in the last ten years around this area.


Birds of the morning:
  • Purple heron
  • Karoo prinea
  • Common moorhen
  • Cape cormorant
  • Pied crow

Cape Town Location

Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island, Milnerton

Canon Camera / Lens Settings
  • Canon EOS 7D Mark II Body
  • EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
  • Manual Mode: Auto-ISO: 400 - 800
  • Aperture: f/5.6
  • Shutter Speed: 1/1000 - 1/3200
  • AI Servo: Case 1: Wide Zone
  • 10 fps High Speed Continuous Mode
  • Handheld

Post-Processing
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC 9.4: Cropping. Colour correction / noise reduction / lens profile correction

Karoo Prinia Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island Vernon Chalmers Photography
Karoo Prinia Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island

Common Moorhen Sprinting Diep River Woodbridge Island Vernon Chalmers Photography
Common Moorhen Sprinting Diep River Woodbridge Island 

Cape Cormorant in Flight Diep River Woodbridge Island Vernon Chalmers Photography
Cape Cormorant in Flight Diep River Woodbridge Island

Pied Crow in Flight Diep River Woodbridge Island Vernon Chalmers Photography
Pied Crow in Flight Diep River Woodbridge Island

Bird Species Woodbridge Island, Cape Town View

Canon Photography Training Milnerton Woodbridge Island | Kirstenbosch | Intaka Island Cape Town

Canon EOS 7D Mark II Long-Term Use and Experience

Long-Term Use and Experience of my Favourite Canon Camera

Canon EOS 7D Mark II Long-Term Use and Experience
Canon EOS 7D Mark II / Canon EF 400mm f5.6L USM Lens

From a Birds / Birds in Flight Photography Perspective
Predominately with Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens

In the beginning: Entry-level body and zoom lenses
During 2013 I became seriously interested in photographing birds in flight around Woodbridge Island, Cape Town. With the very close proximity to the Milnerton Lagoon and relative close access to most bird species I started out with the Canon EOS 700D and a variety of Canon 70-300mm lenses, eventually settling with the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM super telephoto lens.

Deciding on a longer Canon telephoto lens
I did a few months of extensive research before purchasing the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens with a decision based on; Autofocus speed, image quality, weight and lack of Image Stabilization. This lens served me very well through four EOS bodies and I still use this lens for my Birds in Flight Photography - exclusivity paired with the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. Its probably my best long-term purchase (ROI) and will keep it for any future body upgrade pairings.

Common Starling in Flight: Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Upgrading from the Canon EOS 70D
During 2014 I started shooting birds in flight around Woodbridge Island with the very responsive Canon EOS 70D paired with the EF 400mm f/5.6L lens and for all in-flight purposes I was more than satisfied with the results (ito Auto-focus, larger viewfinder, image quality, tracking and the EOS 70D's 7 fps).

I also purchased a second EOS 70D for maintaining an exclusive Birds in Flight pairing while using the second EOS 70D and the Canon EOS 6D for my low light, landscape and macro / close-up photography workshops and projects.

Early 2015 my Birds in Flight Photography at Woodbridge Island was recognized by one of our local Cape Town retailers and they provided me (via Canon South Africa) with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens for a week of testing and writing an article - of which I published shortly after the test period on my Canon Camera News website. The weather was not great, but I managed to do various shoots at two Cape Town locations. The Canon EOS 7D Mark II article is now available here on my new Vernon Chalmers Photography website: First Impressions and Test Shoots Cape Town

Canon EOS 7D Mark II Birds in Flight Photography Cape Town Image Gallery / Samples

Pied Kingfisher in Flight: Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Birds in Flight Workshops with Canon EOS 7D Mark II
During this time I also arranged  for the facilitation of my first Birds in Flight Photography Workshop Cape Town (which was sponsored by Canon South Africa via the Canon retailer). I traded one of my EOS 70D's for a new Canon EOS 7D Mark II, studied and practiced the 65-Point AF System for a few weeks and I was good to go for the workshop and to facilitate private training for Canon photographers who started upgrading to the Canon EOS 7D Mark II from the older Canon EOS 7D and EOS 70D's.

The First Impression and Test Shoots Cape Town article will have all my personal views and findings of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II as the current Canon flagship APS-C body. I still maintain the same views and impressions and although Nikon (as one other brand) became very competitive with the Nikon D500 I still believe the Canon EOS 7D Mark II (also as part of the EOS system wrt lenses et al) is still one of the best Birds in Flight / Action Photography APS-C bodies on the market today.

Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Canon Zoom vs Prime Lens (Birds in Flight)
I've used the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM zoom lens on Canon South Africa's own Canon EOS 7D Mark II and during my field review of one of my workshop delegate's Canon EOS 80D and I can in all objectivity say that the AF and tracking speed of the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens is just (by a small margin in my opinion) more responsive than the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens.

Globally reported Canon EOS 7D Mark II AF issues
After the launch of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II in September 2014 there were a fair amount of complaints with the AF-system under certian conditions (ito sharpness and focus issues experienced with various lenses). I've read countless real world test articles, blog posts and comments on various websites. Some photographers really struggled and in some cases had their cameras exchanged. For some its still an ongoing challenge and the online discussions about the AF focus accuracy (under certain conditions) with some of the bodies are still active.

From the first Images: Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Canon EOS 7D Mark II Out Of The Box Shooting
Straight out of the box my copy of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II performed as expected (on many of the factory default-settings).

Up to today, more than two years later, the camera and AF-System is performing exactly the same it did when I captured my first 10 fps high-speed burst with this camera - Egyptian goose taking flight.

My Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens pairing is still  exclusively used for Birds in Flight photography and my other two EOS bodies are used for everything else.

I still have great pleasure going out to Woodbridge Island shooting the Canon EOS 7D Mark II and I still use this body (and AF-System) as benchmark for all my Birds in Flight Photography training and workshops - as it is in many ways the same as the Canon two 65-Point AF-systems Deployed on the Full Frame Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 5Ds (R) and EOS-1D X. Now we also have the upgraded 65-Point System in the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV / Canon EOS-1D X Mark II.

Perced Birds: Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Perched Birds with Canon EOS 7D Mark II
I capture a fair amount of perched birds with this pairing and am quite comfortable to use the same Manual and AF-settings I will for my Birds in Flight Photography. From time to time (depending on the opportunity) I may use Av mode for a few captures, but the majority of the time I don't change anything - just to keep it simple and quick - and to always have my preferred Manual settings as the primary default  setup when going out for a shoot.

I have no immediate plans for replacing this body, but are keeping my eye on the possible release of a Canon EOS 7D Mark III. I prepared a Canon EOS 7D Mark III Wish List - from a Birds in Flight Photography perspective. I will probably replace my Canon EOS 6D with the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV before year-end, but am still more than satisfied with the EOS 6D for low light,  landscape and some portraiture / fashion work. The Canon EOS 7D Mark II will replace my EOS 70D whenever we see a future Canon EOS 7D Mark III DSLR body. Looking forward for some macro and close-up photography projects once the EOS 7D Mark II is semi-retired from Birds in Flight.

Red-Eyed Dove in Flight: Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
In conclusion
Birds in Flight Photography is in many ways a skill to be mastered irrespective of the camera body used. When I acquired the Canon EOS 7D Mark II I knew what my requirements where; more responsive AF-system, faster fps, two memory card slots, a more robust and configurable EOS body than the Canon EOS 70D - to be used with the same Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

The EOS 7D Mark II is without any doubt one of the most advanced high-performance and action-orientated Canon EOS DSLR body. It most definitely met most of my requirements and expectations. Today it is still Canon's highest performing action photography EOS APS-C body in Canon's DSLR range. Its not perfect, I personally would have preferred a stop or two better low light / ISO performance for my Birds in Flight photography, but its not really a major issue,  I just shoot in good light (as I live right next to my Woodbridge Island shooting environment).

Yellow-billed duck: Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
With a 300mm+ lens pairing (considering individual good light shooting conditions) and adequate photography skills the Canon EOS 7D Mark II Birds in Flight photographer will perform very well against most Canon EOS Full Frame DSLR offerings on the market today.

Towards the future...
The Canon EOS 7D Mark III will have to be another game changer for the Canon engineers to match / exceed the high expectations and shooting standards of most current Canon EOS 7D Mark II photographers. I'm personally looking forward to the release of the Canon EOS 7D Mark III - even it is just for more dynamic range and improved low light performance.

Article and Image Copyright: Vernon Chalmers 2018

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New Canon EOS 7D Mark III Rumors & Announcement Updates View

Canon EOS 7D Mark III Wish List for Birds in Flight Photography View

Canon EOS 7D Mark II - Birds in Flight Photo Gallery View

Birds in Flight Photography Cape Town View

Hadeda Ibis - Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
Hadeda Ibis - Canon EOS 7D Mark II / EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens

Canon Photography Training Milnerton Woodbridge Island | Kirstenbosch Cape Town

Difference between Digital Noise and Background Blur

Digital Noise versus Background Blur

Difference between Digital Noise and Background Blur
Difference between Digital Noise and Background Blur

All about the background in the image
Blur can really mean different things in digital photography, but should not to be confused with unwanted graininess or digital noise across a digitally created image. Unwanted noise generally occurs when:
  • shooting in low light, when a digital camera's ISO setting is too high
  • shooting within the digital zoom range of a compact camera 
  • over-cropping an image

Unwanted blur
Out-of-focus blurred area(s) in an image that came about via unintentional camera movement, unwanted subject movement and / or wrong shutter speed settings when photographing movement - something you don't really want.


Deliberate blur
This will appear in areas of the image when the photographer attempts to blur certain areas of a composition / image. With foreground in focus, but the background deliberately blurred depending on the Depth Of Field (DOF) - distance between nearest and farthest object(s) of the composition / framing requirements ie. when isolating a flower from its immediate surroundings.

Deep vs Shallow Depth-Of-Field (DOF)
With a deep DOF more of the entire image will be in focus and its more likely to be used in Landscape Photography with smaller apertures of i.e. f/11 - f16. With shallow DOF specific area(s) of an image is deliberately out of focus and can be applied in a variety of genres (Wildlife / Sport / Macro / Portraits) where the photographer deliberately wants to separate the main subject from the background - for this effect, larger apertures will be applied i,e. f/1.8 - 5.6.

DOF Aperture Test: Canon EOS 6D / EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens - view>>

DOF flower series demonstration with Canon EOS 700D / EF-S 55-250 IS II lens - view>>

Depth of Field for Beginners: The Essential Guide >>

The visual quality of [deliberate] blur is also referred to as Bokeh
Bokeh: visual quality of the blur...The visual quality of [deliberate] blur is also referred to as Bokeh - Japanese for the out-of-focus aesthetic quality of the deliberate out-of-focus (blurred) area. a Wide aperture of i.e. f/1.8 - f/5.6 or so will be used (depending on the lens / optical distance from subject) to create the required out-of-focus effect.

See attached images below: white rose bud, the yellow rose and red rose bud with sharp / in-focus foreground sharp and background deliberately blurred (using wide apertures of f/5.8 and f/5.6). 

Lens apertures
In DSLR photography different lenses are used to create / select different levels of DOF depending on the lens aperture range, optical length of the lens and distance from subject. Different lenses / aperture settings will be applied  for different type of photography genres requiring blur effects at various focal lengths ie. for close-up / macro, portraiture or wildlife photography.  a  DSLR camera system is not necessarily required for creating deliberate image blur, a compact camera with a wide aperture lens with some optical zoom will also work. 

The images below were captured with apertures of f5.6 Yellow Rose (Non-DSLR Canon PowerShot SX40 HS with its f/2.7 - 5.8 35x telephoto zoom lens) and  f/5.6 Red Rose Bud (EOS 700D / EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5 - 5.6 IS STM lens / EF-S 55-250mm f/4 - 5.6 IS II lens).


Canon EOS 6D / EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens / Extension Tue
Which Canon lenses?
Desired Bokeh-effects for close-up or macro flower photography can be achieved with a variety of lenses with wide apertures i.e. with fix aperture lenses such as Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM or the EF 100mm f2.9 Macro USM prime lenses.

Any Canon DSLR camera body with either an EF or EF-S lens (or other compatible lenses) attached will generate deliberate background / selected blur, but the Bokeh quality will depend on the following factors:

  • Aperture settings (wider is better) 
  • Type of EF / EF-S lens (design and optical length) 
  • Depth of field of objects in the frame 
  • Distance to subject / lighting conditions 
  • Accessories used (extension tubes / close-up filters) 

Different lighting conditions
In all the images the objective was to keep the 'unwanted digital noise' across the frame as low as possible. For the "Yellow Rose' image, shot with Canon PowerShot SX40 HS, I used ISO 100 (in crisp early morning sun light) and the 'Red Rose Bud', shot with the Canon EOS 700D, I used ISO 400 with a Speedlite 430 EX II flash (in early morning overcast / raining conditions).

Canon EOS 6D / Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens
Photographers use blur for various shallow depth-of-field / artistic effects (image on the right - 'blue flower' and first image below - 'red mailbox' with Canon EOS 6D both at an aperture of f/2.8 with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens. 

Last image 'bee on flower' was captured with Canon EOS 700D /  55-250mm IS II lens and Canon 500D close-up lens filter), Bee in focus, most of the flower blurred / out of focus, in a deliberate, aperture-controlled and planned way.

Optimal exposure settings
Just to come back to noise - you may have noticed that many of my own photos are not always shot in good lighting conditions. Most of my low light / long exposure DSLR photography shoots are done in Av mode, ISO 100 and apertures between f/16 - f/22 generating automatic shutter speeds of between 1 and 30 seconds.


I often use the camera's Manual shooting mode with similar aperture settings and Bulb Mode - the ability to have manual time control over shutter speeds during every single shot. A time to use this mode is when shooting fireworks. These exposure combinations together with the use of a tripod and RC-6 remote shutter release, almost entirely limits all unwanted  noise / graininess and unwanted blur. © Vernon Chalmers

(click to enlarge)
Difference between Digital Noise and Background Blur
Canon EOS 6D / EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens flash


Difference between Digital Noise and Background Blur
Canon EOS 700D   ISO 100  f/5.6  No Flash


Difference between 'digital noise' and subject / background blur
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS   ISO 100  f/5.8 


Canon EOS 700D ISO 400  f/5.6  Flash  Photo: © Vernon Chalmers
Canon EOS 700D   ISO 400  f/5.6  Flash 


Difference between Digital Noise and Background Blur
Canon EOS 700D   ISO 100  f/5.6  No Flash 


More Depth Of Field (DOF) Examples: DSLR / Non-DSLR / More Bee On Flower with Close-Up Filter

Cape Town Photography: Milnerton Beach Sunsets

Milnerton Beach Sunset Photography

Cape Town Photography: Milnerton Beach Sunsets
Vernon Chalmers Photography: Milnerton Beach, Cape Town Sunsets

Sunsets Milnerton Beach - Canon Long Exposure Photography

Sunset from Milnerton Beach over Table (Milnerton Golf Course) / Woodbridge Island.

All Milnerton Beach, Woodbridge Island - Long Exposure Photography with:
  • Canon EOS 6D / EF 16-35mm f/L IS USM lens
  • Canon EOS 700D / EF-S 18-135mm IS STM Lens
  • Manfrotto Tripod

Vernon Chalmers Copyright: Milnerton Beach, Cape Town
Please do not use / re-publish any Vernon Chalmers Milnerton Beach, Cape Town Photography images without permission. View the Vernon Chalmers Photography Copyright Policy for more more information.

Cape Town Photography: Table Mountain Images / Milnerton Lighthouse

(Click to Enlarge)
Sunsets Milnerton Beach - Long Exposure Photography
Sunset Milnerton Beach / Woodbridge Island Cape Town


Sunset Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course
Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course, Cape Town

Sunset Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course
Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island Milnerton / Golf Course


Sunset Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course
Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course, Cape Town


Sunset Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course
Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course, Cape Town


Sunset Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course
Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course, Cape Town


Sunset Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course
Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course, Cape Town


Sunset Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course
Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island / Milnerton Golf Course, Cape Town

Sunset Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island
Milnerton Beach in front Woodbridge Island, Cape Town


Long Exposure / Night Photography Settings & Tips
Long Exposure / Night Photography Settings & Tips

Vernon Chalmers Photography Popular Posts