Saturday May 14, 2005
Point & Shoot Macros

I've written a new article for the How Zone: Point and Shoot Macros.

Summary: if you have a point and shoot camera (or any hand-held camera that doesn't have changeable lenses) this article shows how to take macro photos and how to add a cheap "lens" to really boost the magnification. Even works with an Apple iSight.



Massimo • 2005-05-14 05:15pm

These are grains of salt? Very well done, the ones in the center are so crisp and well defined. Cool.
jerry • 2005-05-14 05:51pm

Yes, canning salt. Crisp is a good word.

After looking at this picture over and over I thought "hey, wouldn't it be neat to make an igloo out of salt blocks?"

Until I tried it last night, that is. The tweezers felt like huge implements and even looking through a magnifying glass I couldn't make out individual crystals well enough to determine which were nice and square.

A project for someone with a microscope maybe.

Laura • 2005-05-14 10:14pm

Igloos? Sometimes you just seem to have to much time on your hands...get in the garden start planting!
Faith Henricksen • 2005-05-15 10:16pm

Well, he wants to rototill first.....

Actually the veggie starts are trying to sprout and the new perennial and this years annuals are ready to go....

Just thought y'all would like to know....
Massimo • 2005-05-30 12:01am

Mmm, the igloo wouldn't have worked. There is a question of scale here. The snow blocks stick together because of their weight pressing one onto the other. If you have one cube on top of another, the pressure on the surface of contact will be the ratio between the weight and the area of contact. The weight is proportional to the third power of the cube size, while its surface only to the its second power. As a result, the pressure making the two cubes sticking together is proportional to the linear size of the cube. Small cubes don't stick together under their own weight (unless you use some glue, that is).
Ted • 2005-05-31 11:12am

See, this is why I like you so much, Jerry! :-) That's exactly what I might think to do. And yes, "glue" (probably micro-drop of superglue or maybe just water) would be needed.
How about multi-exposures with focus plane shifted with each one and composited into one all-sharp image?