This is going to be a short post, but I did want to share some initial photos I took with the newly acquired Nikon Df paired with the also recently purchased Nikon 55m 3.5 lens. One word. ‘WOW. There, that about sums it up. Seriously though, this combination is ridiculous. Combine the wicked sensor of the Nikon Df with the macro ability and sharpness of the 55mm and it’s hard not to come away with epic photos. Below I’ll describe my process for these initial photos.
My wife got me a coffee press for Christmas and I love it. I’ll admit that I’m not grounding my own beans .. yet. I have to purchase a grinder first. So, Peter McKinnon I am not. Still, it’s extremely fun to use, and of course photograph. Funny story for anyone interested. As my wife sat on the couch, I set up the press and the whole scene on the living room table. She played on her phone while I snapped photo after photo, arranging things differently, adding in, taking out. After about 15 minutes, I finally poor the coffee, add some sugar and finally the cream. As I took my last photography before actually drinking the coffee, I realized I used expired cream, which ruined the coffee. She just shook her head at me. So I had to start the process all over again. But, it just meant that I had another opportunity to take even more photos. It all depends on how you look at things.
In any case, the coffee photos were all shoot with natural light. It was side light from the window. That’s it. I set my Nikon to manual mode, the lens to it’s lowest aperture (3.5) and snapped away. For focusing I simply used the green confirmation dot on the Nikon Df. Easy peezy. Actually, some of the times I just eyeballed out. I find viewfinder on the Df to be pretty good for manual focusing. I still have to learn and practice with the lens but it’s been fun so far. For instance, may have gotten carried always having it wide open but what do you expect!
Next up was some Guinness. For this shoot had a soft box set up to camera left using one speed light. I placed the beer on a couple sheets 11x17 printer paper and used a piece of foam coat as a reflector on the right. This was all done on my kitchen table. Again, super easy set up. I used the same process for focusing as I did for the coffee press. Green confirmation dot. Super simple.
I have been doing photography for almost 10 years now, and I enjoy shooting still life the most, especially getting in close. I still can’t believe this is my first macro lens. Go figure. Up until now have always been using my 35mm prime or even 24mm and just getting as close as I can to subjects. I’m looking forward to shooting much much more macro with this super cheap yet extremely capable lens.
