Forest park shooting guide, learn to record natural vitality.

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Beautiful scenery doesn't have to be searched far away, and there are also natural beauty in the city. On the day when I couldn't travel far, I brought Nikon Z fc camera and Nicole Z macro lens 105mm f/2.8 VR S, and rediscovered the fun of visiting the park in Shenzhen. The light fuselage accompanied me to enjoy the relaxing moment in the bustling city, recording the beautiful early summer of this eco-city. The powerful close-up ability of the macro lens led me to discover the subtle vitality of the city.

First, choose a portable camera to make shooting more free.

Shenzhen is a "city in parks", with the largest number of parks in China. Bijiashan Park is close to Futian Central District. Turn sideways into the park from the traffic, and switch to nature in a few steps. In order to observe flowers, plants and insects at close range, I chose to shoot with Z fc fuselage and Nicole Z macro lens of105 mm f/2.8 VR S. This combination is light and portable, and there is no burden on one hand-held belt, which makes me get rid of the heavy burden of camera bag, immerse myself in the embrace of nature, run and jump at will, and hold up the camera at any time to record the beauty I found.

Z fc is Nikon's first Z-type mirrorless camera with a fully hinged viewfinder screen. Only when you really use it can you find out how convenient it is to flip the viewfinder picture in all directions. The shooting ecology in the natural environment needs to change from high to low angle. The self-timer flip screen of Z fc can adjust the angle at will, so that I no longer need to adapt to the viewfinder with strange postures. It is also very convenient to compose and focus, so I can immerse myself in photography.

Second, make good use of depth of field exposure and highlight the subject skillfully

After the rain in early summer, the air is cool and fresh, and the trees washed by the rain are more green. I found a big tree with a stretched posture. I ran under the big tree and learned to stretch and breathe fresh air. When taking this photo, I chose to put the camera completely flat on the ground and shoot through the grass at a low angle. Using the maximum aperture of F2.8, I blurred the foreground grass into soft light green, and at the same time blocked the messy elements on the lawn. Nichol z macro105 mm f/2.8 VR s lens can achieve excellent imaging at the maximum aperture, which can not only obtain high-resolution and low-dispersion subjects, but also obtain soft background blur.

As long as you observe carefully, you will find that even in the familiar environment, there are always fresh changes, and the vitality of nature is hidden in every corner. After the rain, small mushrooms stuck out of the tree hole. I turned down the camera angle to make the black tree hole fill the whole picture, and at the same time screwed the exposure compensation mechanical wave wheel on the motor, and got a satisfactory tone around -2EV. At this time, the background is close to pure black, and white mushrooms leap out from the top of the picture. Although the magnification of Nick Z macro lens of 105mm f/2.8 VR S can easily fill the picture with the details of the mushroom, I chose a slightly farther position and put the mushroom under 1/3 of the picture composition to make it look smaller and cuter.

Third, be familiar with the focus setting and deal with complex shooting.

Although Z fc looks small and retro, it is more than just gorgeous. The fuselage has a variety of focusing areas, focusing methods and subject recognition settings, which can allow me to meet the complex needs of outdoor shooting animals and plants.

After the rain, there are water drops hanging on the mountain ginger flowers, which is my favorite feeling of fresh early summer. As a professional macro lens, Nicole Z Macro 105mm f/2.8 VR S has a maximum magnification of 1: 1, and with the cutting coefficient of Z fc, it can accurately enlarge the details of tiny objects on the big screen. However, the depth of field is very shallow at close range, and even the slight jitter of flowers in the wind will make the picture out of focus when shooting outdoors. Because, I choose to set the focusing mode of the Z fc fuselage to single point AF+ continuous servo focusing (AF-C), and use the agile autofocus of the lens to compensate the distance change caused by object jitter. The multifocal system is quiet and light, so the success rate of taking macro shots by hand is very high.

Whether a naughty bird jumps on a branch or a cat trotts towards the camera, the combination of Z fc and Nicole ZMacro105 mm f/2.8 VR S is quite comfortable in the face of these lively animals. When shooting this cat in the forest, I chose the subject recognition type of Z fc as "animal" and the focus range was set to wide-area AF. The camera can accurately identify the animal subject in the messy background and firmly bite the focused cat's eye. The combination of stepping motor and multi-focus lens can move the focus quickly and accurately, and the definition of a group of continuous shooting photos is satisfactory.

In addition to shooting the details of objects at close range, the medium-long focal length of 105mm is also suitable for shooting animals at a little distance. Deep in the park, I suddenly met a red-bellied squirrel hanging from the top of the tree. The fast focusing response and continuous shooting speed of Z fc and Nicole ZMacro105 mm f/2.8 VR S helped me record this unexpected moment. Although the scene is difficult to get close to the subject, the high resolution of the lens allows me to cut the picture in the later stage and get the perspective and imaging effect close to the telephoto lens. The red-bellied squirrel is dark and close to the trunk. In the later adjustment, I chose to use Adobe's automatic subject recognition, brighten the color of the squirrel slightly and enhance the details appropriately, and darken the highlights of the leaves to make the picture look more oily and soft.

When facing the white star beetle and the jade ribbon butterfly walking through the flowers and plants, I chose to set the lens to manual focus. When shooting these insects, I hope to use the lens with the highest magnification to show their beautiful details and metallic luster. So I choose to fix the focus of the lens directly to the nearest focus manually, and follow the movement of insects by moving the camera back and forth. At an appropriate time, I will turn on the magnifying camera and take as many clear photos as possible in the process of insect movement by using high-speed continuous shooting.

In terms of color performance, Z fc didn't let me down either. It is very natural and pleasant to preview the colors of JPG photos on the screen, and you can draw them directly by using WI-FI to your mobile phone. It is also convenient to adjust RAW format files after using a computer.

Fourth, set the aperture flexibly and adjust the depth of field freely.

We don't always have a fixed depth of field when shooting natural scenery. We want to highlight the subject with a large aperture and blur the background, and we want to narrow the aperture as much as possible to make the subject clear when shooting at very close range. The aperture of Nicole Z Macro 105mm f/2.8 VR S lens can be adjusted from F2.8 to F32 (the close-up state can be further reduced), which provides physical support for various depth of field requirements.

Clusters of Buddleja in full bloom, bright colors and complicated inflorescences attracted me. When taking this photo, I want to use the aperture as large as possible to blur the background into a soft solid color. In macro state, the depth of field of large aperture becomes extremely shallow, but I still hope that the main focusing part will be as shallow as possible. So I fine-tuned the distance and angle, so that the camera originally facing the inflorescence was slightly tilted, so that the white top and purple bottom petals were roughly in the same focal plane, and the whole subject was more clear.

In addition to uniform solid color, the shade point is also a beautiful background for shooting flowers and plants. Taking advantage of the sunny weather after the rain, I crouched down and patted the flowers in the backlight from a low place. At this time, the light spot in the forest is full of pictures, which can form a dreamy light spot. It is suggested to shoot the spot scene with full aperture. At this time, the spot is the roundest, and it is not easy to produce ugly polygons because of narrowing the aperture. On the Z fc fuselage, the lemon-shaped light spot formed by the outer aperture of the lens is just cut off, making the background light spot uniform and beautiful. It is worth mentioning that I usually install protective glasses on the macro lens to prevent the front lens from accidentally bumping and scratching when shooting at close range. But when I took this photo, the dazzling sunset light was facing the camera, so I chose to take off my protective glasses to prevent the reflection of ghosts. Nicole z macro105 mm f/2.8 VR s lens itself has excellent anti-glare performance. Nanocrystalline coating and ARNEO coating * * * both reduce the reflectivity of the lens, and there is no glare and purple edge in the picture, and the color is pure and clear.

When I met this little jumping spider whose body length was less than 1 cm, my concern became how to get a wider depth of field. Like shooting insects before, I chose to manually focus to the highest magnification, move the camera back and forth to find the clearest position of the jumping spider's eyes, and then constantly adjust the aperture to get the best clarity. Although narrowing the aperture can increase the depth of field, too small an aperture will also reduce the definition in the focus due to diffraction and increase the noise of the photo in the dark forest. After repeated attempts, I shot with F 16 and illuminated the subject with an LED, which added "vision" to this little guy. In addition, it is worth mentioning that many non-macro lenses will slightly change the focus position because of the residual spherical aberration after reducing the aperture, so it is necessary to focus accurately after reducing the aperture. However, the chromatic aberration of Nicole Z Macro 105mm f/2.8 VR S lens is extremely low, and there is no obvious focal drift. Don't worry, you can adjust the aperture after focusing at the maximum aperture, and macro shooting is very convenient.

After visiting the park, it's time for dinner. While waiting for the food, I couldn't help looking at this camera in my hand. Exquisite retro design, high-precision aluminum dial, exquisite etching process ... When it is quietly placed on the table, it looks like a work of art. No matter the appearance or touch, Z fc reminds people of the era of film cameras and the unique interest of "taking every negative seriously" in film photography, but the advanced intelligent operating system and excellent performance undoubtedly add scientific and technological charm to it.

For me, who has been used to heavier and heavier camera lenses in recent years, Z fc has found me the pure happiness of just getting in touch with photography. Not to go to the farthest place, to shoot the most extreme scenery, nor to pursue the ultimate optical parameters. Just live seriously, like a treasure hunt, find the tiny and real beauty around you, record and collect these moments.