52-Week Photo Challenge: Week 12

Can you believe we've made it 3 months through the challenge already? I can't!

So how did you do with Brown? Remember the goal of the challenge here is become a better photographer, by forcing your brain to think of creative ways to interpret the prompt, and by getting out there and taking more photos! And you certainly don't have to wait until Sunday to post them; please feel free to add them to the group at any time!

So this week, our challenge is: MACRO

It's time to get familiar with the macro setting on your camera. Find something interesting, and get in close. Here are some tips that might help you capture the perfect macro if you're using manual settings:

• ISO, International Standards Organisation, refers to the sensitivity of the camera's sensor (originally, the film in the camera) to pick up light. The higher the number, the more light that the camera will pick up. However, the higher ISOs will also pick up more noise and graininess. You'll probably want to select this setting first; ISO-100 for outside in bright sun, something like 200-400 if it's cloudy or your inside near a window. Probably not more than 800 for your macro shot unless it's a very fast moving spider, if so, then I applaud you! LOL!
• Aperture, measured in f-stops, is how big or small the shutter will open. Smaller numbers for the aperture means a bigger opening; therefore more light is allowed in and more of the image will be in focus. Bigger numbers (larger f-stops) will create a shallow depth of field, giving a nice soft background for your macros.
• Shutter speed, the length of time the shutter is open, is measured in seconds or fractions of seconds usually. To capture a fast moving subject, a faster speed (in fractions of a second) is used. To capture something like star trails or create soft white waterfalls, a shutter speed of several seconds (or minutes!) would be used. (My camera, for example, will take photos from 1/2000 of a second up to 16 seconds.)

Click to embiggen!When I took this picture, I didn't even know the mushroom was there. By the time I had uploaded the image and saw it, the sun had moved and even though I took some more shots with the mushroom more in focus, the lighting wasn't as nice. So this is the one you get! ^-^ I did include another in the comments on flickr for you to see; it features a cute little ant!

So let's see yours; share it with everyone at our flickr group! And don't forget to sign up for the reminders via email!