Paul's 52 Week Project

[davidc]

Ethereal.

[Paul Heester]

Very challenging week in trying to get a focus-stacked insect. Summer is over so my choice was limited. I did find a grasshopper but he was too active and you need subject to be completely still. So found this dead fly which suited. Subject is around 1cm from front of lenses so used white cards to bounce extra light onto subject.

Image is made up of 42 shots with my Canon 50mm reversed onto my Sigma 105mm Macro. I used Canon's EOS Utility program to control focusing and stacked the results in Zerene Stacker. Reversing 2 lenses together is a very cheap (adapter was £6 off Ebay) way to get extra magnification.


Week 34/52 by Paul Heester, on Flickr

[Mike Farley]

Impressive amount of detail and very unusual to see such a beast from the side. The normal approach is usually head on. Thanks for the tip on how to get in so close.

[Paul Heester]

Bought some picture mounts for our B&W competition and decided to put myself behind them first! Was also a good exercise in using my 2 strobes as I was trying to balance their power and zoom and not light the back of the room. The perspective crop tool in PS was a godsend as it was very hard to keep the frame at a straight angle (Ive had to clone my fingers from 3 of the panes).


Week 35/52 by Paul Heester, on Flickr

[Paul Heester]

Was the photographer for a white collar boxing evening last week at York Hall in Bethnal Green. Great experience and took over 800 images. All were shot at ISO 6400 and widest aperture with varying shutter speeds. I was hesitant at first but really got into energy of the evening after a few rounds Opted for a diptych to show the speed and movement of these guys. My only gripe was the overhead lighting casts shadows on their headguards so alot of the shots need post-processing.


Week 36/52 by Paul Heester, on Flickr

[davidc]

Question is though... did you get into the ring yourself?

[Paul Heester]

Most definitely not But you gotta admire the guys that do. There was a first-timer there that evening and you could see the fear. He fought well but got truly thumped and the St John's guys had to get in the ring to check him out, I put my camera down for that.

Question is though... did you get into the ring yourself?

[davidc]

Based on the quality of the defensive stances, I'm guessing he was the guy on the right

[Paul Heester]

Nope, there were 8 fights that night with 3 rounds of 2 minutes each, so it was a quick turnaround without any time for "chimping". First time Ive ever relied solely on manual settings.

Based on the quality of the defensive stances, I'm guessing he was the guy on the right

[Paul Heester]

Visited Winkworth Arboretum looking for some autumnal colour but it was quite elusive. Found these orange leaves backlit amongst the rest of the greenery, so I spot-metered off the leaves knowing the surrounding leaves would come out darker but think it gives a pleasing frame.


Week 37/52 by Paul Heester, on Flickr