Anyone who follows my work knows that I absolutely ADORE ring shots! They’re my favorite because there are so many different things you can do with them! Unfortunately, in order to get those shots, you need to have some kind of macro lens. These lenses can cost several hundred dollars, and unfortunately are not in the budget for my business this year. So, I found these extension tubes (after some discussion in the Showiteers group), and am SO happy with them! I’m not entirely sure how these tubes work – I know it has to do with the distance the lens is from the camera body, but I’m not quite sure how. Regardless, I really like them!
Pardon the iPhone photo 🙂
However, when I first got them, I was pretty frustrated because I was getting the same results as turning my lens around and using that for macro shots. Although this method (taking off your lens, turning it around, holding it to your camera and getting really close to your subject) worked, it only worked well for me for any type of ring that was all in the same plane. So, any rings that had more than one diamond in a row weren’t ideal for this method. At first I was not happy that I just spent seventy dollars on tubes that have the same impact as turning the lens around. THEN, I realized that if I adjust my aperture so that it is small (f4.5) it came out SO much better! I’m not quite sure why I didn’t think of this from the very start, but I thought that maybe if I struggled with that, then maybe someone else has/will also!
So, if you end up using extension tubes, here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Play with your aperture until your photos come out the way you like!
- You have to get pretty close to whatever it is you’re photographing before it is even in focus.
- It was much easier for me to get the shot I wanted when I was able to rest my camera on something to help avoid blur from pressing the shutter down.
- My favorite out of the set of three is the 20mm 🙂
Another iPhone photo!
These tubes screw on just like a lens would. Attach the tube to the camera body first, and then attach your lens to the tube. It’s pretty simple to use 🙂
I’m VERY happy with the results 🙂
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