The famous Blue Poppies of Longwood Gardens are in bloom now. These rare flowers are cultivated by the expert Gardens staff and bloom only once a year. Native to the Himalayas, and the national flower of Bhutan, these gorgeous blooms have a unique color in the flower world.
Because these flowers are rare and on display for only a week or so each year, their arrival attracts a lot of photographers. I'm happy to report that everyone was respectful and careful to not get in each other's way. It is all too common that when a hoard of photographers crowd around a special subject, there are those who refuse to play nice. That always ends up being counterproductive, and gives all photographers a bad name. So I was very happy that everyone was able to get into a good position, with no frustration.
This was shot with an unusual combination of gear. I had been asked by Gary of Hunt's Photo and Video http://www.huntsphotoandvideo.com/ to test a new extension tube that has a zoom feature, marketed by the Savage Company. Extension tubes have been on the market for years, and are designed to fit between the camera body and most lenses to enable close focusing for macro photography.
But this extension tube has a new twist, literally. You twist the zoom ring to lengthen or shorten the extension tube, allowing you get in closer as needed for a tighter shot. I used it with a 70-200mm lens, rather than a macro lens in order to see if it worked well enough for those who do not own a macro lens. I'm happy to report that it did. So this device turns almost any lens into a macro lens because it allows you to focus much closer to the subject. This image was taken just a few inches away from the flower.
It comes in either a Canon mount https://www.huntsphotoandvideo.com/detail_page.cfm?productid=AETC&mfg=Savage&show=yes or a Nikon mount https://www.huntsphotoandvideo.com/detail_page.cfm?productid=AETN&mfg=Savage&show=yes
For more information contact Gary at Hunt's digitalguygary@wbhunt.com or call 781-662-8822. Tell him I sent you and get special treatment!
TECHNICAL DATA
Shutter Speed 1/320 sec. Aperture f/4. ISO 800. Lens: Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS set at 200mm, plus Savage Macro Art Variable Auto-Extension Tube. Camera: Canon 7D Mark II. Handheld.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "It's nice to be important, but it's even more important to be nice." -unknown
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