Ray Scott shows you how using something as simple as a book can yield exciting macro photos. The idea of getting really close to such a common subject and showing it in a completely different way can be very rewarding.
This video has got me wanting to get back into photography again. As I have been out the loop for a while, moving house and all that. Things are starting to slow down a bit now, putting up curtains, blinds and shelves etc. What a drag when life gets in the way of all the things you like doing. Thanks a lot Ray, good video.
Ray, amazing ideas of something so simple, a book ! Like you said with focus and lightning and there changes, you get to see everything in a fresh way. One of the photos reminded me of curtains on a stage, and yet it was the lighting and the angle that forms the pages into a new creative view into a new world of imagination. I was wondering as I was viewing your photos, have you ever took out the 1st slice of cake than photographed the cake with the missing slice using the same light setup as the book ? That is why macro photography is so fantastic, brings you into a world of fantasy/reality. Ray, thank you so much for sharing, you have one of the best sites on photography on RU-vid, keep up the great presentations that you make, sharing your talents. Have a great week, 😊
Hi Jules. I love your cake idea but I haven’t tried it yet. Jules, thanks so much for your great comment. Much appreciated. I wish you a wonderful week.
I work in a public library. We have a fund raiser in December, and I think I’m going to pitch this as an item to sell. Not sure how well it will go over, being a small farming community, but I’ll have fun trying to get some shots. Looking forward to the next installment.
I might try this with my Zenit some FP4+ to pick up the detail of the textures. I'll either use a speedlights as a trigger or use constant light. I think I like the same one as you the best, with the pages forming the pinnacle on the right hand third. Although the pinnacle is geometric it stands out from the parallel lines of the other pages. I think the idea of going with an older book as you did is the way to go. I might try with some very old cookbooks from when I was a chef and what I have inherited. I love the monochrome impact and I think I will have to use quite a contrasty developer such as DD-X to get the full impact. Another great video, hope you’re well.
Hi Mark. I hope you are keeping well and it’s always a pleasure to hear from you. Yes sir, I too think that a higher contrast works well. Your kit sounds interesting and yes, there will be a challenge there on the development side but it seems you’ve got it right. Best of luck on that and thanks for the really nice comment. Take care and have a great weekend.
As always, I love the way you take us through your thought process journey. What a great idea to shoot something as simple as a book and make it so interesting. Very inspirational. Do you ever crop B&W images to a square crop? Ditto Jules Sanchez "Ray, thank you so much for sharing, you have one of the best sites on photography on RU-vid, keep up the great presentations that you make, sharing your talents. Have a great week" Regards Terry.
Hey Terry. Thank you very much for being so kind. I do sometimes crop to square and I usually end up wondering why I don’t do it more often. It somehow has a pleasing effect in my opinion. Thanks again and have a terrific rest of the week.
I used an ISO of 200 and the shutter speed varied from image to image but was not important since I was using a tripod and the subject was static. Hope that helps and have a great week.
Hi Erich and thanks. You can totally do this with flash. I just like the constant light because I can move it around and see the effect before I shoot but flash will work really well too.
Greenpolygames Macro rings are a great place to start, many of us still use rings with our macro and non macro lenses. I have a very old USSR camera and lens combination (Zenit E with a Helios 44-2) the lens isn’t a macro lens but I recently bought rings for that. Welcome to our little world. If you stick with Ray you can’t go wrong but have a look at his other channel as well, he used to do a lot of macro videos there before he started this one.
Hi Bob. On my other channel, Visual Art Photography Tutorials, I have a macro photography playlist that features many episodes using natural window lighting.
