STUNNING IMAGERY FROM THE WORLD OF CANON PHOTOGRAPHY
01 WINNER THE DUEL BY SABRINA GAROFOLI
This is an incredible shot of two mantis clashing heads, on a pre-posed stick with beautiful studio lighting. The side-on composition works well, and Sabrina has made sure to include all of both mantis figures, as well using a wide aperture of f/4.5 to blur the background and create some fantastic bokeh behind them.
Lens Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro EX DG OS HSM
Exposure 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO100
All the images in this gallery were entrants to the PhotoPlus ‘Close-Up Nature’ competition hosted on Photocrowd – awebsite where you can enter great photo contests on many different themes and topics. To enter our current photo contest, simply visit www.photocrowd.com
The winner of this month’s Close-Up Nature contest on Photocrowd receives a Joby GorillaPod 3K tripod and ball head worth £117.95, and the judge’s favourite images also appear in this gallery in PhotoPlus magazine.
02 TRAPPED! BY JOHN MIHOPULOS
John’s wildlife shot has incredible split-second timing, perfectly framing the precise moment a cormorant is about to eat its catch of the day. John’s expertly used a high ISO for a rapid shutter speed of 1/3200 sec, fast enough to achieve a completely pin-sharp shot by eliminating any shake from hand-holding and any movement from his subject.
Lens Canon RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM
Exposure 1/3200 sec, f/2.8, ISO5000
03 CROWNING GLORY BY MICHELLE JACKSON
Michelle’s caught a beautiful kingfisher portrait here, with stunning lighting and an almost halo effect on the background behind. The kingfisher itself is masterfully posed, central in the composition and side-on, looking into the negative space on the right-hand side.
Lens Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM & 1.4x extender
Exposure 1/4000 sec, f/5.6, ISO4000
04 CHIPMUNK WITH GRASS BY JULIE TENNANT
Julie used a long telephoto Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens to zoom in on this tiny chipmunk and get a frame-filling portrait. Her composition is fantastic, with the chipmunk side-on and seemingly unaware of Julie’s presence.
Lens Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
Exposure 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO100
05 EVERGREEN BY MOHAMAD FOGHANI
While we’ve seen countless close-ups of leaves in the past, which have fantastic details and colours in the veins, Mohamad has done a great job of putting his own spin on this type of shot. His simple trick was to overlay a second leaf to add extra contrast and depth, introducing brilliant abstract lines and shadows.
Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Exposure 1.3 secs, f/11, ISO100
06 SWIRLS BY HENRIK SPRANZ
