Photo Story: Fisheye Daisy Patch

While working in the yard this weekend, I was distracted by thoughts of photography. This is not an uncommon event. I frequently get distracted by photography when doing yard work or other activities I don’t necessarily want to be doing.

Fisheye Daisy Patch

I noticed a large patch of daisies in the yard and thought this would be a great subject to test out with my Rokinon 7.5mm Fisheye Lens. The Rokinon Fisheye lens is a completely manual lens, both aperture and focus. The aperture is set using a dial on the lens. If you want to know the aperture that you shot a photo, you will need to write it down or remember it as the information is not recorded on the EXIF data from this lens.

The Rokinon 7.5mm Fisheye is a fun lens to photograph with but it takes some time to get used to it. First off, it’s all manual. I find the focus peaking in the viewfinder on the Olympus OM-D E-M1 to be very useful for manual focus. The histogram is also useful for checking the exposure for the aperture setting on the lens.

The lens is also really wide. On close subjects, it can be tough to get a composition without getting your feet or shadow in the picture. You also need to pull your left hand back on the camera or it too will be in the composition.

After experimenting with photographing the daisy patch with my Rokinon Fisheye lens, I concluded that patches of flowers make good compositions for your fisheye lens. Take your time and approach the compositions from several angles. The bent stems of the flowers make for an interesting look. Most of all, watch for your feet in the composition.

Fisheye Daisy Photo Details

Camera: Olymus OM-D E-M1
Lens: Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5
Focal Length: 7.5mm
ISO: 250
Aperture: f/9
Shutter Speed: 1/160 of a second
Exposure Compensation: Manual Mode
Lighting: Bright, Sunny Morning

Fisheye Daisy Photo Processing

Cropped the photo in Lightroom 5.
Selectively lightened and darkened the image using Viveza 2 from Google.
Used the Macro 1 filter in Topaz Clarity to give the photo some contrast pop and saturation.
In Color Efex Pro 4 used the Lighten/Darken Center, Detail Extractor, and Vignette filters
Sharpened the photo using Unsharp Mask in Photoshop CC 2104.

Written by Martin Belan

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