Focusing a reversed 50mm by rocking back and forth benefits greatly from stopping down even if it’s a mere 1 and 1/3 stops.
The head, eye, and front segment are all about as sharp as this lens gets (I think… it might sharpen up a bit at f/5.6 and f/8, but I haven’t really tested it), and the composition has improved greatly from yesterday, thanks to a renewed consciousness of it.
Or, at least this one adheres to the rule of thirds…
There’s still an annoying bit: that leaf in the lower right hand corner. It distracts me to no end. I blurred, burned, and vignetted it, but it still drags the eye away from the target. I could crop it out, or clone it out, but I try to limit my post work as much as possible, and this image had quite a bit already, so I left it be.
But now that I said ‘crop’ I wonder if this would look nice as a square… Hummm.
I forgot headphones when I initially went out to go walking, and decided against going back for them. This led to some increased worrying, but I let it wash over and through me, and found a spot to focus on bees and focusing the reversed lens and trying to get a decent composition, and I managed to last about a half hour or 40 minutes, which is about what I hit with music too.
D7000. Vivitar 50mm f/1.8 (Cosina). ISO400, 1/4000th (AP mode), f/4, -1EV. About 12 minutes of post work in Aperture, mostly to dull back that accursed leaf, but also to sharpen up the bee with the definition brush.
