I was sitting on my back stoop drinking coffee when I glanced down and saw this clover blossom. It's small, less than 1 inch across. I had bought a Moman tabletop tripod to use for shots like this, but hadn't tried it yet. I knew I already had the macro lens on the camera, so.......

The Moman worked great. All metal construction except for the knobs. Some thoughtful features and accessories. Good bang for the buck IMO. Only two height settings, but comes with dedicated straps to attach it to tree limbs, fence posts, etc. Just what I needed, and plenty sturdy/stable with this camera and lens.

This shot was re-sized and cropped from a 14MP original, and slightly sharpened. I used FastStone for this. I'm getting used to it after using something else for many years, and I like it so far.

[K2 to K50]

I like this, Apet-Sure. Intesting shapes and textures, and nice colours. All the little hairs are nice and sharp.

I might have cropped a little closer for more impact if your original would allow, like this:


Obviously, copying and cropping from the post here will not be as effective as cropping from your original image. What do you think? Please remove if unwanted.

[Apet-Sure]

I didn't give the cropping a lot of thought, except that I try to keep my PF posts no bigger than 1200x800 pix to keep the posted jpeg quality at or near 100%. (Much bigger and the website compresses the image to 85% jpeg quality, which causes a noticeable loss in IQ.) Your crop makes for a better close-up 'portrait'.

I may try a crop from the 14MP original without resizing it first. FastStone seems to do a decent job of retaining detail while resizing, but of course the original will be better. This shot wasn't meant to be a highly planned, thoughtfully composed masterpiece. Just a quick grab with my new tripod for a test.

[K2 to K50]

.................. Just a quick grab with my new tripod for a test.

Fair enough. I googled your new tripod - neat little gadget. Couple of times recently I wanted to get down very low (toadstools at ground level, etc) and wished I had a mini-tripod, or something that could be attached to whatever. I like the spring-loaded 1/4 to 3/8 adaptor - very cool!
Be interested on your thoughts after a few months of use.

[ramseybuckeye]

Great shot! I don't own the Moman, but I'm impressed by it, it's by far the most popular tripod on this site.

[Apet-Sure]

The Moman seems to be well-built. We'll see how well the ball clamp holds up over time. I'm impressed so far. With the KP's flippy screen and live view, it's great for wildflowers and such.

[K2 to K50]

With the KP's flippy screen and live view, it's great for wildflowers and such.

Had very mixed results with live view and flip screen. Tried it for the odd macro with manual magnified focus (slightest movement makes focus very challenging), and for the odd ground-level toadstool shot. Bright Australian sun doesn't help in seeing what is on the screen (maybe screen hood would help??)

[Apet-Sure]

Had very mixed results with live view and flip screen. Tried it for the odd macro with manual magnified focus (slightest movement makes focus very challenging), and for the odd ground-level toadstool shot. Bright Australian sun doesn't help in seeing what is on the screen (maybe screen hood would help??)

I was also using manual focus for this shot. It was mostly overcast that day, but the sun did come out briefly for this shot. The sun angle was such that seeing the screen wasn't a problem. I took this shot at f/13, about 18 inches away from the blossom. Of course, not much DOF. Supposedly this lens does quite well at f/16 with minimal diffraction. I keep meaning to force myself to try f/16 and f/22.

If I was doing a lot of shots like this I would probably get a screen hood. Actually, since dramatic lighting comes from the side, I might just try using my hand to shade the screen from the sun-ward side. I did cut a piece of cardboard to fit into the hot shoe and cover the viewfinder to prevent light from entering when using live view. I learned from experience that this can really throw off auto-exposure shots. A human hand and a piece of cardboard; cheap photography accessories!