Summer Fungi Collection with the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO Lens

Follow me in the field as I try out the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO Lens and search the forest floor for more interesting fungi. As I continue my journey into the macro world, I practise focus stacking and get a unique view of nature in immense detail with 2x magnification. I also take my favourite fungi image to date! Can you guess which one it is?!
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time!
For 5% discount on the new Laowa 90mm Macro Lens for mirrorless cameras use code 2DDMNT8F.
(Expires by the end of 2023)
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Website: www.courtneyvictoriaphotography.com
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Gear used in this video:
Nikon D750
L-Bracket: geni.us/hm9l
Reversible Tripod: geni.us/B5bsE6z
Multi-Angle Column Tripod: geni.us/cwadnY
Camera Bag geni.us/waziH7N
LED Light: geni.us/Pj9rDOZ
Filters: Use Code VICTORIA10 for 10% off. www.formatt-hitech.com
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#macrophotography #laowa #naturephotography #mushrooms #forestphotography

[@davelangley2965]

Love this young lady, never disappoints and is always entertaining. So many photographers on KZbin taking it to seriously and trying to blind us with science taking the fun out of it, not Courtney, Tools in the bag, simple techniques, easy to follow, a little dance and hay presto. Lovely vid Courtney, always my fav time of year when fungi starts to appear and a totally different world at our feet. Thank you as always Courtney. 👍

[@Powerstroke98]

Agree fully, hence she does similar to photography that I very much enjoy, whereas the Photography Club I belong to, tends to want to try 'special' photography, such as architecture, street, light painting and such, where I find landscape/wildlife to be much more relaxing and interesting personally.

[@felixifloresrodriquez3306]

I agree 100 percent excellent content

[@motivatedoutdoors]

It's amazing how macro photography causes us to begin to notice beautiful things that otherwise would be ignored. Wonderful video as usual.

[@MadNoseMN]

I love how natural You are, not pretending, just being Yourself!

[@teapeng]

the forest is so mystical.

[@garygrimes4241]

Nice to see someone young who knows what she's talking about plus love's her job. Well done keep up the good work 👍🏻

[@brownwallet942]

I bought my very first MFT camera two weeks ago, and then, within a few days, I bought a vintage 50mm Pentax lens without understanding the concept of sensor sizes and crop factors. Now I'm here because I technically have a 100mm lens camera lmao 😂

[@mojmakroswiat-mymacroworld2959]

A few months ago I bought a Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO Lens. It is great. Now I've been shooting with the Sigma 105mm f2.8 Macro. The Laowa is a nicer image. The 2:1 reproduction is impressive. Beautiful forest, nice mushrooms. Greetings from Poland, Cracow

[@Pixarsy]

It seems you've tried both, which lens do you recommend?

[@mojmakroswiat-mymacroworld2959]

@@PixarsyI am very impressed with LAOWA 100mm. But if you use AF then the Sigma 100mm Macro is good. It works well for filming and for fast bugs.

[@gerardoquagliata]

Ciao ho una nikon d650 vorrei un obbiettivo magro,cosa mi consigliate, lei è molto brava.Grazie di❤

[@waltertanner7982]

@@gerardoquagliataThe classcal Tamron 90mm is very good. For the D650, the old AF should suffice. They are quite cheap nowadays. The new versions with much better autofocs are way more expensive.

[@patford9943]

Great work Courtney! Your composition and lighting of ‘A Crowded Corner’ gives the picture so much depth and texture. The way you explain your thought process is informative and fun. Courtney’s back loosening dance moves were the cherry on top!

[@Andy1076]

I love the way you share your thoughts and how real your video is, no loud bgm's or over explaining like others do, it's so personal! :)

[@Trish12303]

I love the clever names that you come up with for your images! I have a Laowa lens, they take some beautiful images!! Thanks for sharing!

[@Gareth1959]

"It's the little things" is such a delicate image, love it. I agree that the smaller things in life are often overlooked in photography, amongst other aspects. Once we find "the eye" for noticing these things, we never lose it.

[@timrosenburgh8597]

I enjoyed the video as usual Courtney. What a fantastic woodland. You captured some really nice image's of the fungi and the led light certainly makes a difference. Look forward to the next one.

[@robertbohnaker9898]

Really spectacular, Courtney. Reminds and reinforces within me that Nikon colors are top notch for nature and wildlife. Thanks for the beautiful images😊

[@paulmilovich2982]

Courtney, I so absolutely enjoy your video's!! Very informative, fun, and they're not overly long. Thank You.

[@robertkoch7388]

Well done, Courtney. I'm just starting to get into macro photography. Very helpful. Love your videos. Living in the Northwest USA where our forests are very dense it takes a whole lot of patience to find good compositions. Got to love the scent of the woods and if you listen they do talk to you. Cheers

[@dre_707]

Your my photography crush 😊 great video now i really wnat a macro lens even more

[@black-and-light]

Awesome to see this tiny tiny world. Great video. Thank you!

[@makeanddocrafts]

I'm fascinated by the small signs of life in the forest floor and love the mushrooms that begin to appear around this time of year. I'm interested in photography but I mostly like to draw what I see. Great video as always.

[@CourtneyVictoria]

Photography comes first for me, but I'd love to sit out in nature and draw instead sometimes. Painting is something I'm hoping to pick up again when I have the spare time too, but I'm quite out of practise ha. Your channel is wonderful by the way!

[@jaybradley9083]

Another great video. I really need to take my led light with me when I take my camera into the woods. I've only used it for table top photography. Your aluminum foil reflector from an earlier video was also a good tip.

[@kevanesson6540]

Great video, an interesting lense and good to hear you being honest about its pro's & con's. That small led light made quite a difference. 👍

[@randyschwager2515]

Great job on this video! Excellent suggestions! As always, your personality shined through! Thanks for taking me along!

[@terryosborn]

Lovely shots, amazing the difference your led light makes.

[@70hectorlopez]

Thank you for bringing back the 750. I really enjoy your videos, they’re truly inspiring 😊

[@mawavoy]

Courtney , you captured some lovely fungi images. The use of the small led light allows you to overcome ambient light, and achieve a studio effect outside. It is simpler and easier to use than some of the rather complicated diffused flash arrangements available. Your patience and gear selection produced some stunning results. 👍🏿

[@JerryWilliam63]

Sunday afternoon enjoying a lovely treat, adoring delicate subjects there below Courtney's feet.🍄 Laowa sent the best to my favorite KZbin Lass, but macro work is fiddly and can be quite the pain in the @$$.😡🤦‍♂ In Laowa's detailed glance its impossible to escape, as it will surely capture each and every trace. 🔍 So a bit of gardening and tidy up the place, to light up their caps and put on a happy face.☺ Your forests seem so friendly, but here is wild and extreme, being mindful of my back as this is not the Forest of Dean.🐊 Your videos are lovely, thanks for giving us a peek, already looking forward to seeing you here next week.🤞

[@robertdavis1255]

Thanks Courtney for a very interesting video..... the camera & lens combination you use really shows great results....so happy you are still using a DSLR .... love your work as usual.... cheers from Australia 🦘🦘❤😊

[@Zap652]

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your shots from this video and has inspired me to look for the little things on my outings. Thank you for sharing.

[@designcutting9408]

So cute with the photographer and the mushrooms . I really love with hers picture and every thing. Thank you.

[@PaulJScott]

Love your enthusiasm.

[@terrygoyan3022]

It's good to see Courtney dancing again! These are my favorite KZbin photography videos because of her love of the woods and photography. Thank you Courtney. I can't wait till we start getting our fall rains. It's too dry here in California for any fungi before the start of the rainy season. I know there are chanterelles in my future! Combining photography with gathering dinner are two of my favorite things combined.

[@kennethnielsen3864]

Thanks for sharing.

[@shawndonnelly5317]

Excellent video, with captivating images Courtney. Thank you very much for sharing this with us.

[@Stop-All-War]

Courtney, good morning.. Video content is very well arranged & lovely Photos. All your hard work deserving.

[@tonytfuntek3262]

Great decision for Laowa to have you test this lens....you did a great job on this overview.

[@CourtneyVictoria]

Thank you! They couldn't have offered it at a better time ha!

[@fotobertl]

I always like your explanations and the way you moderate the motifs. Thank you for taking it with you and the pictures. Best regards

[@steverolfe8742]

Simply wonderful location and all the small mushrooms and fungi makes for a great days shooting.

[@richmatlock2396]

Any GREAT video Courtney. Great job.. and the wonderful opportunity to be so close to a beautifully lush forest.

[@ian9495]

Just another great video 😊

[@fingerstylefan]

Another fine video Courtney. When I do in the field macro work I always take a small pair of scissors with me to help clear out the scene a little bit. Glad to see you doing something different.

[@ANHDUCNGUYEN-pd8xm]

wow, your portable light setup is really brilliant,... love it!!!!

[@rayharvey1339]

Very enjoyable video love the Len's thanks

[@DrGruffLes]

Been tempted by that lens, well that and the Nikon 105mm. That 2x is quite appealing - would love to see some lens comparisons. There is something just so amazing about fungi, love 'em! :D

[@briancarr89]

Thank you Courtney.🙂

[@leirumf5476]

As someone who adores walking around looking for mushrooms in the ground and getting absolutely hyped when I find any... I'd love to go to that forest to take photos

[@user-bu1sc3dc6b]

I just purchased this lens, im looking forward to exploring, thank you for your video

[@lynnk8887]

Awesome photos! And, as I have a D750, I really loved this. Thank you. I think I may be inspired to try some mushroom shots.

[@RogerJones-mountfield]

Thanks for this video, I’ve just purchased this lens and hopefully trying it out tomorrow so perfect timing 👍🏼

[@CourtneyVictoria]

Hope you had fun with it!

[@christiankorfmann7460]

What a wunderful video. Currently I like to go out with my Macro lense only to photograph fungi/mushrooms. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[@MLJ7424]

Very nice pictures Ms. Courtney , keep up the great videos

[@ilpoheikkila4773]

Great video!

[@AirPavel]

Super ☺

[@davidharwood2068]

Superb video, beautiful bit of dancing, thank you... 💐💐💐

[@warrengh5647]

Great video thank you Courtney. One tip I use is when camera invert on tripod with it in portrait position is to then pivot camera’s ball head to portrait so camera is the right way up ( not upside-down ) and you can then go really low to ground. The camera is sort of side ways on the tripod stem.

[@CourtneyVictoria]

Thanks for the tip! That would definitely be easier :)

[@gr-os4gd]

I have their wonderful 85mm f/5.6 2x Macro and here you are tempting me with this beast. 👍

[@kushi1515]

I really enjoy all your videos, this one really inspired me to get out and try it out for myself. Thanks for the inspiration!

[@andyplatt6729]

First time watching your videos and must say you are a natural, big thumbs up from me and now you have another subscriber, looking forward to catching up and further new videos.

[@MrMick560]

Nice video, lovely photos.

[@user-km8xd7eo5i]

Tolles Video ,sehr schöne Bilder

[@w.kempert1858]

wieder super Grüße aus Berlin es grüßt der Berliner

[@csayban]

Thank you so much for this video. I've been wanting to try some macro photography with my D850 and this lens looks like it would be a great one to get started with for the price.

[@andresprietsch]

Good Job!

[@dennispenton2052]

Very enjoyable

[@brianm.9062]

thanks Courtney, looks like a good lens, though it always works when in the hands of a good photographer. I invested in a set of secutors for fine gardening around fungi and waterfalls they have came in very handy, just have to remember to take them :) Once again thanks for the vid.

[@just_eirik]

Really nice photos! That lens seem really good too. I got the 65mm version for crop and it’s amazing.

[@alanthornton3530]

Thank you for this enjoyable video the fungi photos are excellent, I lean towards macro photography it's one of my favourite subjects. I will often remove stray vegetation if it gets into shot it's very distracting, I think your favourite fungi image is 'Witches Hat' :)

[@corykphotography]

You are so awesome. I would love to hike a forest with you and take photos of things. I feel like it would be such a fun photowalk!

[@dougedwards7570]

awesome presentation

[@rosssayer6524]

Very enjoyable video, amazing Macro images, thought your Lean on Me photo was my choice. Thanks so much for sharing your outing with us

[@Flying4Film]

I just discovered your channel through this video. I love it.

[@Rpodnee]

I have the same lens! It was the first lens I ever bought, along with my first dslr about a year ago. I absolutely love it and have taken a ton of great photos with it.

[@allenharris1069]

Informative, and a pleasure to watch. Keep 'em coming Courtney.

[@guyfawkes7682]

I must say that I absolutely LOVE your very informative video. You bring this macro side of photograph with such grace and spender. Keep up the good work and I'll keep looking forward to your next video. Thanks for being genuine with your art. Cheers!!!!

[@michaelhunter3471]

Great vid, you could have put a stop filter on to block out the background then just eliminate the witches hat mushroom with a lead light or strobe, I use this technique a bit or I use high speed sync to do the same thing.

[@jvaldizan]

Felicitaciones. Soy admirador de tu trabajo. Me encantan tus videos

[@JC-jb2qf]

Same experience... wonderfull goddess of photography .. very inspiring and with a easy way to look at some quite Challenging photo tasks

[@keegantheveganat0r]

I've just discovered you today... this was such an informative video for someone thinking of getting into macro photography (me :P ) .. love your production quality , your eye for setting the scene , b-roll and your overall demeanour. very relaxing.. deffo subscribing

[@alanhall5648]

Lovely video love your style of video so informative and entertaining 🔥🔥🇬🇧

[@TC_Conner]

1:06 and 1:10 in 💜💜 Fun guy photography, or rather fun girl photography, is neat, especially with a nice macro lense like that Laowa! Great review Ms. Courtney. 💜

[@s_k_barman]

Beautiful location

[@femkriah8777]

Very nice and relaxing, but also super informative!

[@MorganHJackson]

I just sold this lens for the Canon RF 100mm. It blew me away with how sharp it was and how solid the build was. Really fantastic lens, and really great review!

[@34Media]

photos look great mate, nice lens very cool.

[@jeffslade1892]

I do look forwards to your videos, great presentation with your fun element. The importance of decluttering the shot, including stuff out of shot casting shadows was driven into me long ago by my old pal the works pro photographer with product/technical shots. He would practically empty the room. There is no need for a UV filter on a digital camera but I do put a good protection filter on uncoated lenses because they are softer and more easily scratched. A UV might add a milli-stop more or something, maybe 1/3 stop with cheap ones. There are pros and cons to an uncoated lens, if there is chromatic aberration it is white and not rainbow. The Laowa looks something of a dirt trap ...

[@normski4ash]

The one you called Illuminated (I think) as an idea, take one with the light and one without, then blend the 2 in PS so that only the mushroom is illuminated, making it stand out from the background. I have experimented with this a few times and got varying results. Worth a try, good exercise , possibly even another vlog. Possibly even several shots with the light in different places, then merge together, possibly just with masks, see what happens then... Another great vid, Thnx. X

[@duringthemeanwhilst]

nice images 🙂 can't wait to get back out this autumn searching for fungi. I've got the Fujifilm 65mm version of this lens and have to say it is fantastic - so much so I find it too good in some situations! my version comes with a fixed glass element over the lens barrel to keep the internals safe 🙂

[@LeePelling]

Really like the macro images you captured, really am going to have to take more time to look at the floor next time i am out and maybe take my led light and extension tubes with me next time i go to the woodland.

[@SmolStufff]

Lovely video! I really like shroom photography! Vibration reduction doesn't really do all that much for macro photography in my experience. Focus peaking does really help with focusing if you have a camera that can do that.

Me encanta el trabajo y el recorrido que haces. Yo recién compre el laowa 58mm macro para el trabajo, pero no he tenido oportunidad de salir a buscar este tipo de fotografías, pero te veo y me emociono. Simplemente ya me enamore. Saludos desde México.

[@ktmfelhasznalo]

You are my favourite photographer. Amazing video as always :)

[@chrismichaeluk]

First time watching your videos. Came across this video because I am looking to buy this exact lens. Your video was fantastic. Really enjoyable to watch. Steadily paced, informative, entertaining and really very well edited with the music and scene transitions. Well done. Another subscriber here for ya! Keep up the great work.

[@173jaSon371]

At 8:24 I think it could have been pretty interesting to take a close up of the 'gills' of that mushroom that you broke off and square-cropped it, maybe with some warm light added from your little light pad. As someone who shoots Canon and likes the fully-articulated screens that swivel, the Nikon tilt-screens seem quite useful in macro scenes. I'm just debating jumping into trying out some macro and took a lot away from this video! Well done Courtney.

[@briancooperwildlife]

really good video

[@konsamprincesingh7763]

Macro photography is a different world altogether

[@PhotoTrekr]

Good job, Courtney. The Laowa looks pretty sharp. Occasionally I'll think I should shoot more macro. But, alas, I never do. ☹

[@turabakancsoriginal]

Nice pics :) Welcomme from Hungary.

[@richpoinvil9618]

I got a demo of their 15mm macro just a few days ago. Be aware. Not an easy lens to use. BTW, I own their 58mm for my Nikon Z. Pretty neat lens.

[@GeoffMoorePhotography]

Another enjoyable video Courtney, I find taking an LED panel into the woodland for mushroom macro photography is very useful. In my video i was using a two tone one, but have since upgraded to a full RGB light, so i can now experiment with adding in complementary/contrasting colours. Hopefully the shrooms will be starting to make an appearance soon here and some time is found to produce another video. Looking forward to your next foray onto the woodland floor.

[@CourtneyVictoria]

I'm glad I popped the LED light into my bag, it turned out to be extremely useful! It can get quite dark in the forest when it's overcast. I'm excited to go in search for shrooms again in a couple of weeks, after a bit of rain I'm sure there will be plenty! Thanks and take care!

[@GeoffMoorePhotography]

@@CourtneyVictoria make sure you pack it if you ever do night woodland photography. It's a whole different ball game when the light of day fades and night starts to creep in, that being said, there are some awesome very unique and different images to be had from the forest/woodland at night. You might even get lucky and find some bioluminescent fungi in uk woodlands, if you do, put 6 numbers on the lotto for that weeks draw! :)

[@jeffolson4731]

I have no idea how you spot those tiny mushrooms. I really like the images you got of them.

[@CourtneyVictoria]

It's pure luck I think ha! Sometimes I'm completely blind to them, other times they catch my eye quite easily. I purposely walk back and forth often as a lot of the time I'll miss them the first time around.

[@GGrev]

I love you Courtney!

[@nknahakata]

I have the same lens, it is amazing!