Greyscale, Photons and Photography: Singapore Day 1

Botanical gardens are one of my favourite places to spend time. I have a passing fascination with macrophotography, and botanical gardens offer endless opportunities.

The Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG) (Chinese: 新加坡植物园; Malay: Taman Botanik Singapura or Kebun Botani Singapura) is a 63.7-hectare (157-acre) botanical garden in Singapore. It is half the size of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew or around one-fifth the size of Central Park in New York. It is the only botanic garden in the world that opens from 5 a.m. to 12 midnight every single day of the year, and does not charge an admission fee, except for the National Orchid Garden.

Even though I knew I would be going to the SBG, I made a consious effort not to pack the EF100mm f/2.8 macro. I wanted to travel light, and taking the 100mm macro didn't really fit with the rest of the holiday plans. I have the 17-40mm f/4L and 35mm f/1.4L lenses with me. As I mentioned previously I also have a stack of Kenko extension tubes (12mm, 20mm and 36mm). The magnification factor of the 35mm is approximately 0.12x which is poor for macro photography. However with a 12mm extension tube, I can achieve 0.54x magnification, and with a 20mm tube, almost 0.90x magnification is possible. The extension tubes are also very light and portable.

EOS 1Ds II, 35mm f/1.4L + 12mm Kenko Extension Tube, 1/250s, f/2.8, ISO 100

This jumping spider is only about 3mm in length. On the full size photo (here), you can see the detail captured with the extra magnification. Unfortunately, with the 35mm lens, the working distance (distance from the front element to the subject) is quite short - only about 4-5cm. That is the down-side of using tubes. With my 100mm macro (nonIS, non-L), the working distance (or MFD) is 15cm. Having longer working length (and also true 1:1 macro capability) would have made taking this photograph a little easier.

The SBG is known for its orchid collection. I love orchids (I think because my mother has orchids at home), but also because they are so photogenic.

EOS 1Ds II, 35mm f/1.4L, 1/60s, f/5.6, ISO 400

I always have problems with flower backgrounds - I get so engrossed with the actual beauty of the flower itself, that I forget about composition. I find that often, backgrounds are cluttered and distracting. It is a constant battle to remember to look around the rest of the composition and to find any sources of distraction.

EOS 1Ds II, 35mm f/1.4L,1/200s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Fortunately, the 35mmm f/1.4 has a wonderful bokeh, so that the background (of which a lot is included) is usually not too distracting!

EOS 1Ds II, 35mm f/1.4L, 1/200s, f/2.0, ISO 400

The 35mm f/1.4L has an extremely narrow depth of field at f/1.4. This makes focusing a challenge. It also makes macro photography more challenging. You always want to include as much detail as possible and have a greater depth of field, but at these magnifications you really need to stop down to maximise depth of field. Also at this proximity, especially with using extension tubes, the amount of available light is less, resulting in slower shutter speeds.