Super Macro For Canon SX 100/110/120/130/150 IS

Now this post is for my photographer friends who love macro photography and specially for those who don't have a DSLR. Here I'll explain how to get stunning macro shots on your point and shoot. Those who want cheap macro photography, read on. I have used my SX120 IS but this method can be used for any camera.

Requirements:

• 3 inches long 2.5 PVC pipe (or any other cylinder with diameter approx. 2.5’)
• Magnifying Glass with approx. 2.5’ diameter 
• Any material for packing

Get Started:

1. Take the 3’ PVC piece and coat it black from the inside.
2. Using super glue stick the magnifying glass to one end of the pipe.
3. Now using some packing snug the pipe gently on the camera as shown in the figure.
4. And you are ready to start clicking!

How to use it:

1. You can use the camera in either manual or program mode as it won’t make much of a difference. The trick here is to zoom into the subject, the more you zoom in the more the image gets magnified.
2. your primary means of focusing is going to be moving the camera, which will be just inches from your subject, back and forth until the area you want sharp is in focus.

The last three pictures of my PC's cabinet screw are clicked with the magnifying glass with different zoom. The first image is without any extra lens.

Normal Macro Shot

With 20cm focal length

With 50cm focal length

With 10x/1m focal length

 

PS: The length of the pipe is in accordance with my magnifying glass, it will depend on the power of the magnifying lens. Take some trial shots just by holding the lens in magnifying lens in front of your camera lens to get an idea how long the pipe should be.

While this tutorial is for SX120 IS you can use the same method for other point and shoot cameras to get the same effect. And for those who have a DSLR and still don't want to buy a macro lens, here is a tutorial for them on DPS - Reverse Mounting Your Prime Lenses for Affordable Macro Photography.

Here are some of my photos clicked using this same method:

Small ant on one of the buds

Water droplet on Periwinkle

Petal of a Rose

For more details or any queries please comment. And if you find this tutorial useful pleases share it.

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish - Happy Diwali

Life is all about making the correct choices. When I started this blog, many people asked me different questions, 'Why Insanity?', 'Why not an intro post first?' and sum ridiculous ones like 'Why blogger and not wordpress?' which was irrelevant with the content. But it is certain that whenever you start something there is criticism from everywhere. But this shouldn't be the reason for not believing in yourself, as only you know what you can do the best and in the best way.

Few days back in the evening as I logged into facebook, everywhere I could see RIP Steve Jobs and similar statuses, we lost one of the greatest visionaries of this world. And then I came across a video in my friend's tribute to him. It was the Stanford Commencement Speech of 2005. Now some of you may laugh at me for not knowing about this speech but I'm certain that many of us still don't know about this. This speech gave answers to almost all the questions which were in my mind.

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

 He says that

"The easiest way to get out of the trap of thinking you have something to lose is remembering that you are going to die."

Everyone wants to live forever and most people live like this. They live like they have nothing to lose. They live like they might not die tomorrow. It’s an easy trap to fall into. Make an effort every day to realize the impermanence of life.

The phrase that caught my mind was "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish". No, that does not mean eat a lot and act like fools. It means that stay hungry for knowledge and be foolish enough to make something new. As George Bernard Shaw said, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Here is the actual video of the speech. I strongly encourage you to take the time to listen to the speech. It’s roughly 15 minutes in length, but it could quite possibly be the best use of 15 minutes of your time.

 
Steve Jobs - Stanford Commencement Speech 2005 

 I wish everyone a very happy and a safe Diwali.

Steve Jobs - Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

 

Happy Independance Day

As I was walking home from school after the flag hoisting and the patriotic singing competition (in which we lost :-( ), I was full of joy! I don't exactly know what was the reason behind my joy. And then suddenly I heard the tunes of our national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana'. And then it struck me, all these years I have been singing this song everyday in school and I still didn't know what it meant. I went to check on Wikipedia (like always) and I came to know the meaning as well as I found out that there were 4 more paragraphs to the song. So for all the patriots who have not heard the full song here is the song and the translation in English.  So I leave you with the video India's national anthem - Jana Gana Mana, undoubtedly one of the most melodious songs, goes beyond the stanza accepted as their anthem by billions of Indians worldwide. Jaya He is a wonderful rendition of the whole song written by Rabindranath Tagore, by 39 artistes - folk singers and national, organized by TOI - Times of India.

First day of rest of my life......

Sunday, 24-7-2011. It was a very special day for me indeed. I woke up early in the morning since it was my birthday (sweet 16 as some people would call it). Drizzling rain, cool breeze and smell of fresh cake baked by mom. Early morning greetings from my relative and friends. It was just like any other birthday till 8.30 when I had to go for tuition. It was on a sunday for the first time in my life!

My favourite cartoon from childhood

While I was on my way for tuition I suddenly went into flashback. Remembered all the good times I had with my friends and indulged in the memory of my childhood. And it made me think "Did I enjoy enough from my childhood?" And there was no clear answer to that. I thought and thought, rejuvenating all my memories. Those were the days that we can never get back. The memories of a small boy from Mushtifund primary school rushed back into my head. I was in the Marathi medium and we had a red striped uniform. We used to study and have fun at the same time and education didn't seem so bad. And the four years of my primary education passed like nothing. The hardest decisions I had to make was to choose which colours to use for the drawing and  whether Jerry was better than Tom. And after those four years I found myself wearing a blue coloured uniform instead of a red one. And with the new colour a new phase was introduced in my life!

It was hard for me being from Marathi medium to understand the subjects being taught in English in the beginning. I had no friends at first and everyone thought that i was a freak (they still think so ) but gradually as time passed by I made some friends and that was the best thing that has happened in my life. Nothing is better than spending some quality time with your close friends. We all together enjoyed every event in the school and participated with great enthusiasm. And as the years passed by I found myself in the 10th std. And it was the best school year of my life. Missing a lecture had become daily routine. We used to take part in everything even though we sucked at it just to have some fun with friends. And the year went by just like that. After our farewell I knew I would be separated from the rest of the group (and it did happen) so we enjoyed the last day to the fullest. And the next thing was the scary SSC board exams! I managed to do well in it and got admission in the science stream. The first day was on 15-6-2011 and most of my friends were not with me in my school.

Things had changed all of a sudden and everything seemed to speed up. I had just heard that that science studies were tough but now I was convinced looking at the books and the difficulty level. I knew that the coming 2 years would be tough for me.


Thinking about all this I reached my tuition and only few friends of mine came forward and greeted me. No one else was around and there was dead silence. I just couldn't concentrate on the trigonometry lesson and I was in a gloomy mood. I knew there wasn't going to be a birthday party at home like the earlier years, I knew I would have to do the homework for the day, I knew I had to prepare myself for the mid-term exams which were just 3 days away. And this made me realize that my childhood was over. What fool I was when I was a kid that I wanted to grow up quickly. Things would never be the same again. And when I reached home I was greeted by my younger brother who was asleep in the morning. The feeling was describable. It changed my mood from gloomy to optimistic and now the answer to my question was very clear. I had enjoyed my childhood to the fullest and couldn't have been any better. This transit from childhood to adolescent was inevitable but there is no other way but to live life as it is. Mom served me some delicious food and then I thought it was a new beginning and a new chapter in my life. As a young adult, it was the first day of the rest of my life and my heart knew that things would definitely go well!

My brother! (lol)