Vernon Chalmers Photography: Wild flowers with Canon EOS 6D / EF 70-300mm lens

21 July 2022

Wild flowers with Canon EOS 6D / EF 70-300mm lens

Wild flowers with Canon EOS 6D / EF 70-300mm L Lens - Constantia Cape Town

Canon Photography Flower Training Constantia, Cape Town

Wild flowers with Canon EOS 6D / EF 70-300mm lens (and Canon Extension Tube)
During this morning's training we ‘focussed’ on larger apertures photographing wild flowers in the morning sun. The sun may have been a little high (bright / over-exposing areas of the flowers) for this type of photography training (but, we had to get through some aperture theory first).

While my client was experimenting with various larger apertures I took quick advantage of the time / light to take a couple of snapshots with my setup.

Advantage of an Extension Tube:
It reduced the minimum focus distance (MFD) between the lens and the subject. Not to be confused with a close-up lens filter. The close-up filter also functions with the Autofocus / other electronics of the camera and lens / paring. I personally find the extension tube to be more effective for this type of photography (and easier to use) than the lens close-up filter (with more of a objective to act as n pseudo macro lens).

It can take a while to become comfortable using an extension tube / or close-up lens filter ito distance and what apertures to use.

It can be a very cost-effective addition for ‘close-up’ work in reasonable light. It is much cheaper to use an extension tube that to purchase a macro lens, especially if you’re only going yo use a macro lens a few times a year.

Advantage of using a Full Frame camera for Flower Photography:
Due to its larger sensor compered to the APS-C (crop) sensor it captures more light and provides more background blur. The quality of the background blur (bokeh) should also render superior results than an APS-C (crop) sensor - depending on the lens used.

An APS-C (crop sensor) could have its own advantages of creating more magnification (as my client experimented with). This will depend on the (quality / focal length) of the lens used.

Apertures used with the attached flowers