Mike Moats

Smallest Flowering Plant On Earth

Mike Moats — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:52:07 +0000

I was at an art show and had my frog image displayed on the walls near the front of my booth, as it attracts a crowd and oddly is my best seller. Who would think people would by a frog to hang on their walls in their home.

I had this guy walk in and study the frog shot and asked me what was that green stuff the frog was in.

I said, it’s called Duckweed.

He says, yes the large pieces are Duckweed, but what are the tiny ones called?

I said, I guess it’s baby Duckweed.

He chuckles and says, no that is Wolfia. It produces the smallest flower on the planet.

I said, wow, that’s cool, how do you know that?

He said, because I’m the naturalist at a nature center in Shelby Twp in Michigan.

I said, you mean the one near Holland Ponds.

He said, yes that’s it.

I said, that is where I shot this frog image.

Small world that this guy was that naturalist at the park where I shot this, and he happens to wander into my booth to school me on this unique plant.

So when I got home that night I checked on the internet and he was right. Pretty cool having the smallest flowering plant in the world in my image.

The flowers are so small I don’t think you can see them but under a microscope. Couldn’t find a pic of the actual flower.

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Chicago Macro Boot Camp now Sold Out

Mike Moats — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:10:43 +0000

The Chicago area Macro Boot Camp is now sold out. If you would like to be placed on the waiting list for any cancellations, send me your info to mgmoats@yahoo.com.

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Tamron USA announces “My Macro Exhibit” photo contest winner

Mike Moats — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:52:35 +0000

tamron usa announces “my macro exhibit” photo contest winner

“Backyard Macros” by Carolyn Derstine selected as the Winning Exhibit by Professional Macro Photographer and Judge, Mike Moats.

Commack, N.Y., January 27, 2012 —Tamron USA announced the winner of the Tamron USA My Macro Exhibit Photo Contest. The contest, offered to Tamron lens users, required that entrants create a 3D virtual exhibit on www.MyPhotoExhibits.com showcasing at least 8-14 images. The winning exhibit would be based upon overall quality and originality of the collection. Professional photographer and My Macro Exhibit Photo Contest Judge, Mike Moats selected “Backyard Macros” created by Carolyn Derstine as the winner.

Mike Moats expressed his appreciation of her work through his remarks on the photographer; “Carolyn demonstrates an ability to produce excellent images with a variety of subjects in nature. All images are creatively composed in the frame, have good lighting, and nice sharp details. A well-balanced portfolio of subjects, beautiful colors, interesting textures, and nice blurred backgrounds.”

Carolyn Derstine will have her exhibit featured on the Tamron website, eNewsletter, Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/TamronLensesUSA) and will win a Tamron lens of her choice. To view the winning exhibit, please visit: http://tamron.myphotoexhibits.com/exhibits/4248-backyard-macros. Moats also selected 10 Honorable Mentions listed at http://www.tamron-usa.com/lenses/contests.asp.

About the Judge

Mike Moats is an award winning, professional Nature Photographer from Sterling Heights, Michigan. Mike has had articles and images published in Outdoor Photographer, Natures Best, Nature Photographer, Photolife, NANPA’s Expressions Books, and many more. He has won numerous local and international awards, and is a featured “Macro Master” on the Tamron website at http://www.tamron-usa.com/macrospecial. Mike offers one-on-one and group photography workshops, moderates the macro gallery at www.naturephotographers.net and published Tiny Landscapes, a how-to book for macro photography in nature, as well as five e-Books. You can follow Mike on his blog at http://www.mikemoatsblog.com or find out about workshops and speaking engagements or visit his website at http://www.tinylandscapes.com for more information on his books and images.

About MyPhotoExhibits.com

Unlike traditional static online galleries, Tamron’s SoHo-styled MyPhotoExhibits (MPE) interface, available at http://myphotoexhibits.com, allows users to create customizable gallery exhibits with a vibrant interactive experience. Photographers simply set up a user avatar and bio, upload their favorite high-resolution images and create their personalized on-line exhibit space. After organizing the exhibit and captioning the photographs, users can put finishing design touches on their exhibit. By choosing wall and floor textures and colors, frames, furniture, and lighting, photographers are invited to extend their creativity and show their work in complimentary settings. It’s easy to go back into the MPE interface at any time to add more photos, tweak presentation specs, or create an unlimited number of new exhibits that feature travel pictorials, special events, projects, and more.

Spreading the word about these custom exhibits is another way in which MyPhotoExhibits stands out from other online galleries. Once an exhibit is ready to “open” it’s easy to share it with friends. Users simply send invitations from the website or iPhone & iPad app to Facebook or other social media platforms or by email. Visitors can sign the photographer’s guestbook, choose favorite exhibits and follow exhibiting photographers.

Companion iPhone & iPad App for On-The-Go Viewing and Sharing

An app for iPhone & iPad for photography enthusiasts on-the-go will further enhance MyPhotoExhibits convenience and user-friendliness. The complimentary app, available in the iTunes app store at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tamron-mpe/id420404201?mt=8 offers easy mobile access to MyPhotoExhibits. Through their iPhone or iPad, users can browse through all available MPE exhibits, view their own exhibits, check out other photographers and share exhibits by sending out invites to friends.

About Tamron

Tamron is a leading manufacturer of photographic lenses. Among its many optical and mechanical innovations since the founding of the company in 1950, Tamron’s development of mass-produced hybrid Aspherical elements paved the way for today’s compact high power all-in-one lenses when, in 1992, this technology was incorporated into the ground-breaking 28-200mm. Tamron continues to lead in this category of lenses with the new 18-270mm Di II VC PZD — the world’s smallest and lightest 15X zoom lens featuring Tamron’s proprietary VC (Vibration Compensation) system for blur-free hand-held shooting of photos in low light and at telephoto settings and PZD (Piezo Drive) autofocus system for fast and quiet AF operation. Tamron has garnered international acclaim for its extensive line-up of professional and consumer lenses.

Farmington Hills, MI Macro Boot Camp Sold Out

Mike Moats — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:40:26 +0000

The Farmington Hills, Michigan Macro Boot Camp is now sold out. If you would like to be placed on the waiting list for any cancellations, send me your info to mgmoats@yahoo.com.

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Simple Subject, Simple Composition, Wins Out.

Mike Moats — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:57:08 +0000

Sometimes simplicity is the best way to go when shooting in nature.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post about an excellent photographers site that I found called 500px.com

You can set up your own portfolio of images and the 500px community can view your images, and even vote if they like.

I have 53 images that I have posted so far, and I like to study and see which images are viewed the most. To my surprise the two most simplistic images gathered the most votes, and not just by a little, I’m talking a huge margin.

This simple photo of a leaf floating on water was viewed 3,544 times and had 413 votes. It’s just a leaf in the middle of the frame on a almost solid color background, it can’t get any more simplistic then that.

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Here is the second most viewed image, and it was viewed 1851 times, and got 169 votes. Again a simple subject of a leaf on a green leaf, no master mind working here to create this image, just a pretty picture.

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The next image is a very unusual and has much more interesting appeal in my opinion because of the unique subject matter that is joined together, and it only has be viewed 114 times with 9 votes. Far less views then the first two.

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Here is another unique images that I would think photographers would find very interesting as the alignment of these subjects and the special lighting. Not so, only viewed 155 times, with 14 votes. What is that like 25 times less views then the first image above.

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How about this interesting and artistic form of Milkweed Seeds. Nope, people don’t seemed to be that interested. only gathered 102 views with 10 votes.

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I know we all strive to find that unique subject or unusual combination of subjects that are very artistic that we think will wow people, but in the end, most people seem to be more attracted to the simple subjects, or as I call them, pretty pictures. I have many, many more artistic images on this site that have had the same results in very low views.

I see many times on photographer’s blogs telling other photographers to think out of the box, and find something that hasn’t been done before, or something unique, artistic, unusual, so you stand out from the other photographers. I think my three images above are unique and stand out from the first two, but look what got the most attention by far, just the plain old simple subjects in a simple compositions.

This also is evident in my art shows sales as the simple subjects sell at a much higher rate then the more artistic, abstract, or unusual images.

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Great Time At The Calumet Photo Clinic

Mike Moats — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:10:39 +0000

This past Saturday I presented a macro program for the Calumet Photo Club’s Annual Photo Clinic, which is held in Munster, Indiana. My presentation was well received and I got to meet and talk with some many very nice photographers.

This years photo clinic was the largest attended clinic the club has had, and it was a full house with every seat taken, plus they had to bring in some extra seats.

I want to thank the club for having me out, and it looks like a place that I will have to set up a Macro Boot Camp in the fall.

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Check Out 500px

Mike Moats — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:45:27 +0000

A few months ago I had found out about a photography website called 500px. You can set up an account for free and download your images onto a portfolio page. You can make the images available for everyone to see or keep it just for who you want to see them.

The software system that they use is so good that the photos look awesome. They are sharper and more colorful then I have ever seen my images displayed at any place on the internet.

The photographers that have portfolios here are amazing, and from all over the world.

I like to view the “popular” photos sections or the “Editor’s Choice” section under the “Photo” link. The images you see make you realize just how many fantastic photographers there are.

Check it out Here

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Two More Macro Workshops Almost Sold Out

Mike Moats — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:42:09 +0000

The Macro Boot Camps in Chicago and Farmington Hills, MI, both have only 2 spots left out of twenty five. Don’t wait or you will miss out. When it sells out I will have a waiting list for any cancellations.

Go to, www.MikeMoatsBooks.com to sign up.

Put Your Best Photo Forward

Mike Moats — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:19:28 +0000

Put your best foot forward.

To act in a way that causes other people to have a good opinion of you. All I could do is put my best foot forward and hope I make a good impression. From the Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms.

Lets make one change to this idiom.

Put your best photos forward.

When you set up your website or a portfolio of your images to showcase, only include your very best images.

It’s better to show only your very best images, and not try an increase the size of the portfolio by adding any of your average images.

You may end up with a smaller group of images, but the viewer is more likely to be impressed if they only see top notch images.

As soon as they see your average or below average images, their opinion of you as a good photographer will change.

They will see your flaws.

So hold back those average images and only add more when you have more great images.

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A few shots from the Meijer Botanical Garden

Mike Moats — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:52:56 +0000

I was heading yesterday to Indiana for a macro presentation at the Calumet Photo Clubs Annual Photo Clinic, and decided I would detour a little and stop in at the Meijer Botanical Gardens.

I’ve been here before and have some nice images, and this time I’m looking for subjects with patterns, lines, textures, and cool lighting. I just processed a few on my laptop, so not the best to process on. All processed with Nik Software.

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Featured Macro Photographer – Vickie Liptak

Mike Moats — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:35:45 +0000

This week I would like to feature a photographer from the cold snowy state of Alaska.

Facebook has been a great place to meet other macro geeks and that is where I learned about this excellent macro photographer, Vickie Liptak. Read Vickie’s interview and check out her great images.

#1 How many years have you been shooting.

While on a hike on Kauai in December of 2009 I bent down and took my first macro picture. From that moment on I’ve learned to take a closer look at nature and see the beauty that so many people miss.

#2 What camera, lenses, tripod make do you use.

I started out using a small point and click. I’ve recently bought a Cannon Rebel T3 and can’t wait play with more.

#3 What are your favorite subjects to shoot.

Small weird things like bugs, mushrooms, raindrops, spider webs, olive oil floating on top of my cooking rice, and anything that will make people will wonder “What is that?”

#4 Do you shoot a certain style of macro.

I’ve had no photography education, and do not read manuals so I would have to say my style is pure dumb luck.

#5 Have you won any awards, been published, or any other successes.

In 2010 I won Grand champion at the Alaska State Fair, and first place in my division, and judges choice in 2011. I have also sold prints, calendars, and greeting cards of my photos. Of course being featured by Mike is an honor too.

#6 What program(s) do you use to process images.

Picasa 3

#7 Where are you from.

Born in Michigan, raised in Florida, spent 5 years in Tennessee before ending my gypsy travels in Alaska 20 years ago, where I live in Sarah Palin’s home town Wasilla.

#8 Your website, or blog address.

Works in progress

Nik Software and a Daffodil

Mike Moats — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:29:17 +0000

I was looking at a potted Daffodil setting in the window sill and liked the way the two flower heads were positioned and also liked the green leaves in the lower part, and thought this might make a nice vertical panorama look.

Here is the set up in my stairway where I have the best natural lighting. It is really dark outside so not quite enough good light so pulled out my LED light to help out. I’m using one of my printed backgrounds.

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Photographed it with my Nikon D7000 and my Tamron 90m macro lens, with f/stop set at f/16.

Here is the original out of the camera and cropped like a vertical pano.

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Of course the only way to process now a days is with the Nik programs, and my first step is in the new Color Efex Pro 4.

I had no idea’s on what I wanted to do with this image, so just played with the different filters until something appealed to me. I actually ended up using a few filters starting with the “Detail Extractor” and then hit “add a filter” and played with all the filters again until I decided I liked the soft dreamlike feel of the “Polaroid Transfer”. Last and this is a first for me, I added a border in the “Image Borders” filter. Here it is.

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Next step was to go into Nik’s Viveza 2 and do just a little fine tuning, I adjusted the flower colors and brightness a little. I put a control point on the background and moved the “Structure” slider to the left to soften the background a little.

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After this I decided to play a little more and go back into Color Efex Pro 4 and see if anything else would look good. As I clicked on all the different filters I ended up liking the soft hazy look and the muted colors of the “High Key” Filter. Sometimes it’s just the way you feel at the time of the processing, some days I like the dark dramtic moody look and some days the soft dreamy less colorful look. This is today’s mood.

If you are thinking of purchasing from Nik Software, let me save you 15% use my code. “Moats”

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Shooting Puddles

Mike Moats — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:37:59 +0000

I’ve mentioned before on this blog about photographers needing to know when changes occur in the environment so that they are in the right place to take advantage of shooting opportunities.

Last week I used my snow shovel for the first time this winter, as we got about three inches of snow. Two days later it was forty degree and pouring rain. I knew that as all that snow melted I would have icy puddles when the temps drop back down below freezing.

So yesterday morning I headed to the park to find puddles. The melted snow settles in low areas and the ice will have some cool abstract and many of the puddles will have leaves locked in the ice.

Here’s one of the puddles.

Here’s some more puddles I was searching for art.

Here is one cool image of some interesting bubble formations.

There are always some nice puddles in the two track roads.

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I found this nice arrangement of leaves and some bubbles.

Shooting with my Nikon D7000 and a Tamron 90mm macro, F/8.

With a little magic in Nik software I made a big change in the look of both these images. I wanted a dark ice so used the “Dark Contrasts” filter in Color Efex Pro 4 which blacked out the ice in the background and gave the images a more dramatic feel.

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Here is the image how it look out of the camera. Pretty boring looking, but thankfully I have Nik Software to make these images pop. I cropped the image off the right side and cloned out the leaf on the right.

Get out to shoot puddles after a good thaw and refreeze.

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New – Creating Art With Macro E-Book

Mike Moats — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:51:43 +0000

I have just finished my latest e-book for macro geeks called, “Creating Art With Macro“

This new e-book is designed to help you create beautiful art with macro photography

This 185 page e-book is loaded with macro information, and only $14.95.

I’ve combined and updated some info from each of my past e-books into one.

It covers:

Equipment and Accessories
Benefits of Macro
Elements of Design
Composition
Lighting
Depth of Field
Finding Character in Nature
Flower Portraits
Shooting Tips

Cost $14.95

Purchase Here

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Macro Monthly Shooting Poll

Mike Moats — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:20:19 +0000

Take Our Poll

Nice Tripod Feature That Comes In Handy Sometimes.

Mike Moats — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:06:11 +0000

If you’re paid attention to the tripods that many macro photographer’s use, you will be aware of this unique feature. This was first seen in the Manfrotto tripods. Recently I’ve been alternating between my Feisol carbon fiber CT-3342 tripod and my Vanguard Alta Pro 263 tripod. The newly designed Vanguard tripod has the same feature with a center post that extends up and horizontal.

Buy Here- Vanguard Alta Pro 263 tripod Hunt’s Photo
Buy Here – Vanguard Alta Pro 263 tripod Outdoor Photo Gear

You can see in the photo how the center post has been set in a horizontal position moving the camera away from the tripod.

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This feature came in handy recently when I was trying to shoot a floating leaf in this hole in the ground. I wasn’t able to use the tripod over the hole in the traditional position, but by setting the center post in the horizontal position over the hole I was able to get the shot.

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Here was the image I was shooting.

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My Little Cactus Macro

Mike Moats — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:33:12 +0000

Every home and garden center in my area has a section full of little tiny pots with little cactus. Many of these cactus have cool designs and nice textures. I bought two recently and set up on my stairway studio to shoot one today.

I usually shoot subjects like these with a lot of depth of field as I like to see all the texture and lines nice and sharp. But today I thought I would shoot one image wide open (smallest f/stop number) and one at the higher f/stop to get everything in focus. Using my Nikon D7000 and a Tamron 90mm macro.

Here I am set up on the stairway shooting with the natural light.

With the first shot I could see that I was getting a little to much of the light creating hot spots (bright areas).

Shot at f/stop 4.5

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To cancel out the hot spots I set up a Diffuser to cut the harsh light.

Shot again and now less glare.

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Now for some processing. The subject doesn’t really have much color so I’m going to remove the saturation and make it a black and white. It has a lot of nice texture, so I’m going to add lots of structure in Nik’s Viveza 2 to make it pop. It ‘s not a subject that when I show it to people they are going to get all excited, as the subject is not all that exciting. So I’ll make it a little moody with a dramatic feel. The perfect Nik Color Efex 4 filter to do that with is the “Solarization” filter.

Here is the first version with the f/4.5 wide open shot._________________________________________________________________________________

Here is the shot with the f/45, for max depth of field.

I like the second version with more in focus, what do you like?

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Creating Your Own Macro Backgrounds

Mike Moats — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:43:28 +0000

Yesterday Dave had asked on my wall, what background I use for indoor shooting. I looked back though my blog posts over the last year and couldn’t find a post on this to refer him to, so here is a new post on my backgrounds.

I photograph subjects in nature and print them out. Here’s how I do it. I find a subject like a grassy field as I want a nice natural green looking background that you typically see in outdoor flower or bug backgrounds.

I set up my camera and tripod on the grass, and set my f’/stop to wide open (the lowest f/stop number).

Here is a shot of the grass that I am shooting at.

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View the grass through your view finder and in manual focus, rotate the focusing ring of your lens until the grass becomes totally out of focus and a solid color. Next take a photo of the grass while it it a solid color like this.

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Print out this image and you have your background. Print with a matte paper, not with any gloss as the gloss will cause some sheen from the lighting. My print you see here is a 18X24 print. but you don’t need them that large.

Here is a image of me using this background.

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Here is another subject I shot for a green background.

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This time instead of having the subject totally blurred like the last one, I just left a little bit in focus, to give it a little texture.

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You can find subjects with different colors like these pink flowers.

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Now I have a background with a little pink color in it.

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Two Heads Are Better Then One

Mike Moats — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:04:49 +0000

I found this Gebera Daisy in group of flowers I picked up for a workshop and was really excited as it has the “character” that I’m always talking about. Find character in nature and you have a unique subject that makes your images stand out. I talk about finding character in nature in my latest e-book Creating Art With Macro. What gave it the character is the two stems fused together creating a two headed Gerbera Daisy.

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I was at my local grocery store checking out their floral section and to my surprises I found another two headed Gerbera Daisy. Here it is.

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Both images were processed with Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro 4 and Viveza 2. You can see how I processed the first image in my Nik Softwares recorded webinar. See it Here

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Hey Photogs Of Indiana, See You On Saturday

Mike Moats — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:49:10 +0000

Come learn more about macro photography by attending

Calumet Region Photo Club’s Third Annual Photo Clinic

January 28th, 2012, 7:30am – 3:30pm

The Center for Visual and Performing Arts
1040 Ridge Road, Munster, IN 46321

Cost only $55, and this includes a continental breakfast and luncheon.

I will be presenting how-to tips on creating art with macro photography.

Time 12:30 to 3:15

Morning presentations by,
Jerry Hug, “The best camera is the one you have with you”
Al Alvis – “Landscape Photography”

Munster, Indiana is close to these cities

Chicago, 26 miles
Milwaukee, 119 miles
Fort Wayne, 119 miles
Joliet, IL 34 miles
South Bend 74 miles
Lafayette 100 miles
Rockford, IL 112 miles
Kalamazoo 125 miles
Grand Rapids 156 miles

For more info and to sign up contact Michael Kobe, 219-924-7890 or mlkobe@sbcglobal.net

Hope to see you there.

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