Spring is just beginning here and I’m using the time to get in a little practice to assure the photos I take later on the remote trails will be of decent quality. The macro lens that I use inherently has an extremely shallow depth of field, so practice controlling it will pay off later.
Aperture at f/32
Montana Outdoors 
I can’t think of a lovelier subject for a little practice. Besides, it’s pretty much what you have right now! Very nice.
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Comment by shoreacres — March 14, 2018 @ 11:36 am
There will be only a couple others in bloom during March, but then the profusion will begin. The Buttercups are good practice because they are about the most difficult to get right.
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Comment by montucky — March 14, 2018 @ 11:52 am
Very fussy settings! When you get the right one, your photos are great. So clear and sharp. Of course you usually only show us the good ones. I admire people who can figure out the right settings for so many different situations.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — March 14, 2018 @ 12:26 pm
After a decade or so and 40,000 pictures you start getting it right at least most of the time. Thank Goodness for digital!
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Comment by montucky — March 14, 2018 @ 12:56 pm
Digital was invented for people like me!
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — March 14, 2018 @ 2:56 pm
And me.
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Comment by montucky — March 14, 2018 @ 3:23 pm
I have the same challenges with my camera. It’s nice to see these beauties!
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Comment by New Hampshire Garden Solutions — March 14, 2018 @ 5:56 pm
I used some extremes here, but for me only being conscious of it and lots of experimenting will dial it in. I use aperture priority most of the time, unless the subject is moving rapidly.
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Comment by montucky — March 14, 2018 @ 6:14 pm
Great shots, Terry. II find it always interesting to see the difference in aperture when people give some examples like you have in this post. I’ve never tried f32.0 at all.
(trouble is that I can’t see well enough out in the field and have to wait until I get home and download the images onto the large 27″ screen to really see the difference, so for me, its usually a case of making several shots of the same thing at different settings or angles and choosing what I like best at home).
What works for one flower doesn’t necessarily work for another, depending on the petals and stamen size.
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Comment by Vicki — March 14, 2018 @ 5:57 pm
Only experience will give you guidelines for what works and what doesn’t. And also, the distance between the subject and lens makes a big difference too.
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Comment by montucky — March 14, 2018 @ 6:09 pm
Hi Terry! I’m finally getting back to blogging and am so glad to see you online sharing your pictures! A macro lens is on my wish list! Can’t wait to see your trail pics!
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Comment by Anonymous — March 14, 2018 @ 9:03 pm
Hi! You have come across as “Anonymous”, and I am stretching my memory (and imagination….).
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Comment by montucky — March 14, 2018 @ 9:40 pm
For your pretty flower, both apertures work in different ways, one being “art-ier” and one more precise. I sometimes can’t decide which aperture I like best, it’s just a different feel. I, too, usually shoot aperture priority and I seem to shoot wide open a lot to get that extra light, even here in sunny AZ. Of course, with my birding telephoto lens, f/6.3 is wide open at 600mm so I pretty much leave it at that if birds are my goal.
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Comment by Candace — March 15, 2018 @ 2:23 pm
Since I take a lot of close-ups and macros I need to think about what the depth of field is doing and it is a good tool. Not so important for landscapes or telephoto shots.
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Comment by montucky — March 15, 2018 @ 9:05 pm
Happy yellow to you. Some buttercups are out now in Austin too.
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Comment by Steve Schwartzman — March 15, 2018 @ 2:26 pm
Yellow is an excellent choice for a flower that competes with snow and a good bright one for the first colors of spring.
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Comment by montucky — March 15, 2018 @ 9:07 pm
Speaking of “yellow,” your second photo strikes me as more “mellow” than the one delivered by an aperture of f/32, which shows a sharper flower but also has more distracting background. Have you considered copying the in-focus front-most petal from the top image and pasting it over the out-of-focus front-most petal in the second image? The combination might be the best of both worlds.
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Comment by Steve Schwartzman — March 16, 2018 @ 10:10 am
I just noticed that the next comment mentions a similar technique.
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Comment by Steve Schwartzman — March 16, 2018 @ 10:11 am
Nice! Trying to decide the right aperture is always trying, especially on longer macro lenses. Lately I like a wide open aperture and shoot a series of different focus points of what I want in focus. Then I let Photoshop align them. After aligning in Photoshop, I use Photoshop to blend them together. Usually it works very well.
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Comment by Reed Andariese — March 15, 2018 @ 6:59 pm
That sounds like a great approach, giving you a lot of control over the image.
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Comment by montucky — March 15, 2018 @ 9:09 pm
So pretty.
Macros sure can be tricky.
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Comment by Tammie — March 16, 2018 @ 12:41 pm
Yes. Especially with flowers that grow so close to the ground.
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Comment by montucky — March 16, 2018 @ 6:40 pm
Super macro shot … 😃
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Comment by Julie@frogpondfarm — March 20, 2018 @ 12:48 pm
Thanks Julie.
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Comment by montucky — March 20, 2018 @ 7:57 pm
It does my heart good to see green growing things, Terry. Beautiful shots all.
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Comment by Sally — March 20, 2018 @ 4:43 pm
Thanks Sally. These are a start. There will be many more species after a few more weeks.
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Comment by montucky — March 20, 2018 @ 7:58 pm
Lucky you — I did see the first shoots of green grass today, surrounded by snow of course!
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Comment by Sally — March 21, 2018 @ 2:31 pm
Gorgeous macro!
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Comment by Sartenada — March 27, 2018 @ 12:30 am
Thanks Matti! Those little flowers are so welcome now that the season is changing.
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Comment by montucky — March 27, 2018 @ 7:17 pm