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Tuesday, April 01, 2025
By Mike Moats Photography

One of our earliest Southeast Michigan spring wildflowers to bloom are the Bloodroot Flowers.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a native wildflower found in Michigan, typically blooming in early spring. It features distinctive white flowers with a yellow center and broad, lobed leaves. Bloodroot thrives in moist, shaded forests and is often one of the first flowers to emerge as the snow melts.

In addition to its beauty, Bloodroot has historical uses in traditional medicine, though caution is advised as it can be toxic if not used properly. If you're interested in seeing these flowers, they can often be found in woodlands and along forest edges in Michigan.

Booking camera club zoom meetings, need a speaker, let me know, macrogeekmike@yahoo.com

Join my Macro Photo Club online. Over 280 instructional videos. Over 2800 members from 29 countries. 
Info and to sign up. 

MACRO PHOTO CLUB - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

Also Check out my workshops and zoom programs.

WORKSHOPS - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

 
Monday, March 31, 2025
By Mike Moats Photography

April - Macro Photo Club News

April monthly theme - The first blooming flowers of spring.

Macro Photo Club members, post your images in the Mike Moats Macro Photo Club Facebook group.

The winner of the March product giveaway for a Macro Photo Club coffee mug is, Richard Wolk, so Richard, email me at macrogeekmike@yahoo.com 

The April product giveaway is a Think Tank photo bag. 

For those who are lifetime members, when you signed up you were sent a welcome email.  That email has the links to access the instructional videos so make sure to save that email. If you lost the welcome email contact me and I'll send you a new one. macrogeekmike@yahoo.com

Join the Macro Photo Club at, MACRO PHOTO CLUB - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer (tinylandscapes.com)

 
Sunday, March 30, 2025
By Mike Moats Photography

If you attend a workshop, zoom meeting, camera club program, photo conference presentation by a professional photographer whether it be a landscape photographer, wildlife photographer, macro photographer like me or any other kind of photographer, you would probably expect to hear that they use expensive professional camera bodies and lenses, full blown photoshop for processing their images, top of the line tripod and head, and shoot raw mode. 

Now if you attended any of my workshops, presentation though a zoom program, camera club program, speaking at a photo conference, you would have heard the opposite of what you would have expected from a person making a living for 21 years as a professional photographer. 

I've never owned an expensive pro camera body, my current Fuji mirrorless camera body sells for $899, and I recently saw the Nikon DSLR I own for sale for $875, and that included a lens. 

For the last five years I have processed my images with Smart Photo Editor, which as a standalone program sells for only $29, and not Photoshop/Lightroom like all pro use.

My Vanguard tripod sells for $229, which is much less than the Gitzo and Really Right Stuff tripods that many pros use.

Pro Photographers will tell you always shoot in RAW mode, never jpeg, but you'll be surprised to hear all my images are jpegs, I've never shot in the RAW mode.

I prefer Tamron lenses rather than the Nikon or Fuji Lenses for my Nikon and Fuji camera bodies.

So, I'm opposite of all pro photographers and it's been working great for my 21 years in business.

Booking camera club zoom meetings, need a speaker, let me know, macrogeekmike@yahoo.com

Join my Macro Photo Club online. Over 280 instructional videos. Over 2800 members from 29 countries. 
Info and to sign up. 

MACRO PHOTO CLUB - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

Also Check out my workshops and zoom programs.

WORKSHOPS - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

 
Friday, March 28, 2025
By Mike Moats Photography

When I was in the art show biz for seven years, I sold thousands of my images. I averaged 25 shows a year, and the smallest attended show would draw 25,000 and the largest crowds were at the Ann Arbor Art Fair that drew 500,000 attendees.

In the first year I hung some framed images of my soft-focus flower images alongside of the everything in focus images. 

On a few occasions I overheard different customers talking about the out of focus images and didn't understand them and thought I must not know what I'm doing because these few images were not sharp throughout.

After that first year all the soft-focus images were removed from the booth and replaced with everything in focus images.

No one was buying the soft-focus images, only the everything in focus images.  This is partly why you see my style of shooting tend to be all in focus shot at f/32. 

My thought is that most people photograph subjects with their phone's camera, or point and shoot cameras, and what those cameras do best is get everything in focus.

So, they figure when they make photos, they are all in focus, so how come this photographer in an art show can't get his images all in focus with better equipment.

It's like you're shooting at f/32 with those systems.

I photographed my tripod set-up shooting flowers on the side of my house, and instead of using one of my cameras to take the picture, I just used my cell phone. 

Just like shooting my cameras at f/32 the cell phone captured everything in focus from front all the way to the arborvitaes which were about 30 yards in the background.

So, my cell phone camera is like shooting my cameras at f/32. 

 

Here is the flower I was shooting.

Booking camera club zoom meetings, need a speaker, let me know, macrogeekmike@yahoo.com

Join my Macro Photo Club online. Over 280 instructional videos. Over 2800 members from 29 countries. 
Info and to sign up. 

MACRO PHOTO CLUB - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

Also Check out my workshops and zoom programs.

WORKSHOPS - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

 
Thursday, March 27, 2025
By Mike Moats Photography

I’ve been experimenting with silk flowers purchased from a local crafts store and I have to admit that they look very real. The one problem with photography them is that the fine texture in the silk fabric can be seen in the photos. It is not as noticeable to the naked eye, but the camera and lens sees all. I think these will work out great by adding some artistic filters which will help hide the textures of the silk fabric. The Topaz Impression program or the Glow program Topaz recently released will work great for processing these silk flowers.

I just set them up on my stairway where I have great natural lighting from a large window on the second story of my foyer and using one of my background prints. Holding the subjects with a Wimberley Plamp.

IMG_0963600

So far, I’ve worked with a rose, sunflower, and the two calla lilies you see here.

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Here are my three favorites from my first shoot with the silk flowers. I’ll post some different flowers in future.

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Impressions -Charcol and Pastel - Pastel III 600

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Booking camera club zoom meetings, need a speaker, let me know, macrogeekmike@yahoo.com

Join my Macro Photo Club online. Over 280 instructional videos. Over 2800 members from 29 countries. 
Info and to sign up. 

MACRO PHOTO CLUB - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

Also Check out my workshops and zoom programs.

WORKSHOPS - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer