Columbines with my Nikon D200

Columbines are wonderful flowers, with delicate lines and strong shapes and colors. They are difficult to photograph. Facing the earth, on a long, thin stem, they sway with every breeze. Unless the columbine is upside down, you have to get beneath the flower (or at least down to its level). Next, you have to have a good strategy for dealing with the inherent motion of the subject.

I took these photos of columbines yesterday with my new Nikon D200. So far I’m really happy with this camera. Size does matter, and the D200 does captures that are significantly larger than my D70. But size also is not everything. I feel that qualitatively my D200 produces wonderful colors in its captures.

The flowers were swaying in the breeze, and I stopped the motion using a slightly boosted ISO (250 rather than the default 100) and my Nikon R1 macro flash kit.

Columbine 3

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Columbine 2

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Columbine 7

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Columbine 6

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Columbine 5

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Columbine 4

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