I spent most of today trying to catch up on the three weeks’ worth of yardwork that I’d missed while I was in California. I didn’t make all that much progress, but along the way I spotted a few photogenic wildflowers growing in the middle of my back lawn. I still don’t own a real macro lens, but I bought a Canon 500D close-up lens last month before my trip but never had a chance to use it. So took a break from the yard work, slapped it on the 100-400, grabbed a couple flashes, and headed out into the yard. Here’s my favorite:

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the pictures. The 100-400L plus 500D gives roughly 1:1 magnification at the long end, with way more working distance then I’d expected. It may actually be too long for this sort of photography–I kept having to back up to give myself more room between the lens and the flower, especially at the long end of the lens. Fortunately, my 7-year-old assistant was able to keep the light on the flowers, even as I kept backing further and further away. Good help is hard to find :-).