|
| |
Macro and Nature
Photography - XIV
You can see the high resolution pictures by clicking on each thumbnail in the
table below. Please note that some of the files are really large
(even larger than 1 MB) so they may take a while to download. As always, your comments
are welcomed !
|
 |
Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos, Family:
Anatidae; common name: Mallard)
I went to the small nature park in our village one more time to
shoot some ducks. This time I brought my new "used" Nikon AF-S 300mm
f/2.8D IF-ED to get comfortable with it's handling. This Nikon pro
lens begs to be used wide open for maximal subject isolation. Of
course I shot this female duck with the lens wide open while it was lit
by the low evening sun.
Photo by Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/1250 - f2.8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
|
|
 |
Mushroom in the woods
One evening I went out for a walk with only the 50mm
f1.8D. The sun just disappeared but there was still
enough light to take photo's. Of course handholding was
out of the question at f/11, so I brought a small
plywood board as a support for the camera. I wanted to
stay as close to the ground as possible to capture the
details of the underside of the mushroom.
Photo by Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens:
AF 50mm f1.8D
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 2s and f/11
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
|
|
 |
Fly Agaric (Amanita muscari)
DAY1 On a recent
walk through the woods with the kids we saw many lovely fungus.
Among them was the well known Fly Agaric. I decided to put some
effort in shooting this toadstool. Yes it would be easy to use
my flash unit and fire right away, but I wanted the whole scene
to be evenly lit without nasty shadows, so I did not take a
photo at that time but returned in the evening with some support
for the longer exposures. I used a small plywood board that
worked surprisingly well to hold the camera motionless. It
allowed me to work very close to the ground which created a more
interesting viewing angle on this Amanita muscari. Another
interesting fact was that this toadstool was still young, as
it's cap was rounded. This made me eager to come back the next
two days for taking additional photo's of it's evolution.
Photo by Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikon
AF 50mm f1.8D
Sensitivity: ISO100
Shutter speed: 1/5s - f8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
DAY2 Armed with all my gear and
attributes I went back to that same place in the woods, and
yes, the Amanita muscari was still there. Even better, it
stood there in all it's glory with the cap fully stretched.
I installed myself and spread an old coat on the ground in
order not to get too wet. I used the same plywood board for
extra stability and started shooting. I chose an even
smaller aperture for a bigger DOF and experimented with all
kinds of exposures.
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikon
AF 50mm f1.8D
Sensitivity: ISO100
Shutter speed: 1/2s - f11
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
DAY3 I did some research at
home regarding the use of wide angle lenses on small
subjects and the distortion effect on them. I took a
tape measure to position the camera at it's minimal
focus distance to allow the subject to fill the
frame as much as possible. The results were
encouraging, so I decided to pack all my gear again
and walk to that same location in the woods to take
additional pictures with my wide angle Sigma
12-24mm. The toadstool was completely opened now
and I took my tape measure to position the camera as
close to the fungus as possible, set my camera
parameters, attached the SC29/SB-800 with slow sync
for fill flash and tried some exposures to get the
correct one. After all a too highlighted toadstool
is not a very pretty sight.
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Sigma
12-24 mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG ASP / HSM @ 12mm
Sensitivity: ISO100
Shutter speed: 1/2s - f11
Flash:SB-800 on the ground connected to the
camera with the SC-29 and in slow sync /
fill
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
|
|
 |
Cicada - wing details and exoskeleton (Family:
Cicadidae; adult male)
I wanted to try a new project so I was looking for a
subject to shoot. I usually collect dead insects and the
alike and keep them in small plastic boxes till I have
the time to create a setup and take some pictures of
them. One of the most interesting creatures I found in
my collection was a cicada. The construction of its
wings is really complicated and I wanted to take some
macro photos of them. Since I also had some exoskeletons
in my collection I decided to take some photos of this,
too. The wings have the kind of detail and transparency
that I like. On the other hand, the exoskeleton is a
real wonder. Although the animal has long left it, you
can still see every detail on it, even the tiny hair.
Shot with a reversed Pentax 50 mm lens over a Nikkor 50
mm lens.
Photos by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens:
Nikkor
AF 50mm f1.8D + Pentax SMC 50 mm f/1.7 reversed
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec and f/16 on the
Nikkor lens, f/1.7 on the Pentax lens.
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
IImage: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.You can see
the actual setup used to take those photos (as well
as the photo of the peacock feather below) and read
more about it
here.
Although I don't think that anything can go wrong
with the idea proposed, still I have to emphasize
that you do it at your own risk.
|
|
 |
Pavo cristatus - feather detail (Family:
Galliformes; common name: Indian Peafowl; Peacock)
Have you ever wondered how is the feather of peacocks
constructed in order to give those shinning greens and
blues ? With the same setup described for the photo
above, I took the picture you can see here. One of the
problems with this feather is that you can't put it flat
unless you press it with something (a piece of glass for
instance) but this will destroy the delicate texture of
the feather (I know, since I destroyed on this way).
What you can do is to bring it as parallel to the film
(sensor) plane and use a small aperture to ensure
maximum depth of field.
Photo by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens:
Nikkor
AF 50mm f1.8D + Pentax SMC 50 mm f/1.7 reversed
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec and f/11 on the
Nikkor lens, f/1.7 on the Pentax lens.
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
|
|
 |
Arbutus unedo (Family:
Ericaceae; Common name: Strawberry tree)
Walking on the mountain one sunny day, I was really
captured by those bright orange and red fruit of this strawberry tree.
The bright colors would show better in front of a dark background so I
decided to shoot them with the sun on my right side to ensure that the
rest of the tree would create the shadow I was looking for. Fill in
flash was used to light the fruits which were only half lit by the sun.
Photos
by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron
SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/350 sec - f/8, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron
SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/640 sec - f/8, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized. |
|
 |
Vanessa atalanta
(common name: Red Admiral)
You can see them in the Mediterranean region around October. Colorful, playful and almost everywhere. The first time I saw one of
them (I have recently grown the habit of looking carefully around when I
walk home from work) I didn't have a camera with me. Next day I came
back and searched for them. Getting a shot of them in the air is almost
impossible due to the erratic mode of flight they have so I decided to
wait till they rested somewhere close. Despite the rather long focal
length of my lens (200 mm) most of the times they chose to rest at
places well beyond reach like tall branches of the pine trees (first
photo). I decided to watch which were the preferred place and then
closed in and stayed motionless for several minutes till one of them
decided to rest quite close to me. Needless to say, when the flash fired
it flew away but still I was able to take two photos of it. After
several minutes of walking further I found one resting on the ground,
enjoying the last rays of the sun, so I was able to take a close up
shot. Unfortunately, the wings were closed this time. Special thanks are due to Matt Rowlings for identifying this butterfly. You
can read more about it at his site
http://www.eurobutterflies.com/
Photos
by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor
AF 80-200 mm f/2.8 ED D @ 200 mm.
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/800 sec - f/2.8, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor
AF 80-200 mm f/2.8 ED D @ 200 mm.
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/125 sec - f/5.6, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor
AF 80-200 mm f/2.8 ED D @ 200 mm.
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/160 sec - f/5.6, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: NEF file, edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized, saved as JPEG.
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor
AF 80-200 mm f/2.8 ED D @ 200 mm.
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/400 sec - f/5.6, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized. |
|
 |
Lilium longiflorum
(Family: Liliaceae; Common name:
white trumpet lily,
Easter lily,
Bermuda lily
)
Those beautiful white trumpet lilies were sitting there as if
waiting for someone to take a photo of them. I had to lie on the ground
to be at the same level with them in order to take a photo from the
side, showing all flowers in the same shot. A really small aperture was
chosen for that and fill in flash helped to isolate them from the
background. Many thanks to Al Casagrandi for the correct
identification of the plant.
Photo
by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron SP AF 90 mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/18, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
|
|
 |
Sciurus carolinensis (Common
name: Eastern Gray Squirrel)
While attending the 60th
NECCC meeting in Massachusetts with Ken and Roy, I saw tens of squirrels
which seemed to be everywhere. One of them climbed on a nearby tree and
watched me very carefully as I approached, really slowly. I took a
picture of it with every step I made since I was not sure at which point
it would run away. I managed to get two meters away from it for the last
photo. It may be a quite common animal but I really loved the way it
stood there, always alert and ready to vanish if something went wrong.
Photo
by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron SP AF 90 mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/8, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
|
|
 |
Brown lizard
Just before leaving the Evros Delta heading back to
Athens, Eva and Christos proposed that we visit a little river in the
nearby area. This place seemed full of life indeed. There were fish in
the water, birds and butterflies in the air, beautiful flowers on the
ground. Unfortunately, we only had 10 minutes to spend there. While
walking near the bank of the small river I saw this brown lizard taking
a sunbath. I had the 50 mm lens on the camera which is a really sharp
lens if stopped down a bit so I chose f/8 and turned the flash on.
Despite the flash, the lizard didn't move giving me the chance of an
even closer photo. It may lack the fancy colors and markings of other
lizards but it blends with the environment perfectly well. Although
identification of the animal was not possible, I have the impression it
was a juvenile.
Photos
by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor
AF 50mm f1.8D
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/180 sec - f/8, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor
AF 50mm f1.8D
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/22, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized. |
|
 |
Passer domesticus (Common name: House sparrow)
Sparrows are amongst the birds I like most. Small,
playful but still always suspicious and ready to fly away. Until the
purchase of the 500 mm lens, getting a descent photo of them was limited
to occasions in which the bird was eating, usually close to other birds.
With the long telephoto lens, the limits have expanded considerably and
include any sparrow within a distance of 20 meters. This one was sitting
on an electricity wire about 12 meters from where I was sitting. When I
raised the monster lens it got nervous and never took its eyes away from
me. When the flash fired it flew away. Luckily, the shot was perfectly
in focus. The second one was shot on another occasion with almost
identical settings.
Photos
by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor
ED 500mm f/4 P
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/1000 sec - f/4, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor
ED 500mm f/4 P
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/1250 sec - f/4, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
|
|
 |
Arbutus unedo (Family:
Ericaceae; Common name: Strawberry tree)
During a recent discussion with Frank, he told me that he
has seen roses shot from every possible angle and under all lighting
conditions till now. He was joking of course but this rang a bell inside
me. Yes, I needed to take a different shot of a rose. Then I thought of
a close up shot of the center of the flower. I needed a flower which
hadn't opened yet to ensure that there was maximum detail and a "tight"
construction, increasing the complexity of the image. I found one and
spent an hour taking pictures of it with different light combinations.
One of the main problems was that flash light usually washed out the
colors of the flower so I had to try many different approaches (plastic
dome, white card, bounced on the ceiling, a second flash close to the
lens axis, artificial light with longer exposures etc.). The one which
worked best was the plastic dome.
Photo
by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron SP AF 90 mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/13, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode with plastic dome.
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
|
|
 |
New Moon at ~30% visibility
I have photographed the moon more than once, but I always waited
until full moon to get my photo equipment out. This was nice, but
the contrast on the surface was not very spectacular. I noticed that
the craters showed much more detail when they were in the
shadow/light border, so I waited until there was a half moon and a
clear sky. At the evening of November 7 2005 the sky was clear
enough to take good photos. I firmly held the camera in position
while it rested on a stable surface and some support under
the tripod foot to get the right shooting angle and used MLU to
avoid camera/lens shake. I made several exposures and picked the
best one. After all to get a perfectly exposed moon with the nicest
possible contrast you have to experiment a bit.
Photo by Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED with TC14E-II
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/10s - f8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
|
|
 |
Almost full moon
Yet another shot
of the moon, taken a bit to the South with another long telephoto lens.
This photo was taken in the morning, just before the sunrise using a
manually set exposure for broad daylight. Although the exposure differs
greatly from the one used by Frank above, still the results are almost
identical, except from the slight yellow tint in my picture which is
probably due to the rising sun. Using speeds over 1/1000 sec is
absolutely necessary when hand holding a lens like this one. I
experimented with all the speeds in the 1/1000 - 1/ 2000 sec range and
chose this one since it was the one which needed the least editing.
Photo
by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor
ED 500mm f/4 P
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/1600 sec - f/4, Manual mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and
resized.
|
|
 |
Egyptian goose (Alopochen
aegyptiacus)
Fall is the time for many birds to
migrate. I've seen many flocks of geese flying south last week to
escape from the cold winter weather, but that was mostly in very
cloudy circumstances, so most pictures that I made were very dull
with very poor detail. On a sunny morning when I was outside with my
photographic gear I saw a group of 4 geese flying by and I took some
shots. Once I downloaded the pictures on the computer I saw it were
no migrating geese, but Egyptian geese that are quite common here
these days (they descend from Alopochen aegyptiacus that escaped
from captivity). On a technical note I want to say that I sharpened
these pictures only very slightly to preserve detail as much as
possible.
Photo by Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/750 - f2.8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
|
|
 |
Hedge sparrow / Dunnock (Prunella modularis)
It was foggy when I just had my new telelens, but
I was burning to use it. Most litte birds were too shy but I could
approach this young hedge sparrow to about 12 meters. The fog
lowered the contrast a little bit, but with the use of curves I was
able to minimize the effects of it.
Photo by Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/640 - f2.8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
|
|
 |
Long tailed tit
(Aegithalos caudatus)
On an afternoon trip through the local
park I was "hunting" for birds, but I was not very lucky. All of
them were too far away or hidden in the bush while making a lot of
noise so none of them could be captured with the camera. Then behind
me in a small tree I heard this long tailed tit. Without thinking I
turned around and made some shots. This had as a consequence that I
completely messed up my exposure to avoid blown highlights. These
shooting parameters were meant to be used in a completely other
scene, so the picture came out way too dark despite the direct sun
hitting the little bird. This picture really shows the true
advantage of working in RAW as I could bring up the exposure and
alter the white balance because I don't want the moody yellow sunlit
pictures here, but a neutral presentation of this bird.
Photo by Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/6400 - f2.8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
|
|
 |
Migrating geese
When fall is near it's end and the
temperatures are dropping, the geese migrate to warmer regions. This
small group passed by in formation on a dark cloudy day. I took
several pics, but was unable to extract detail out of these muddy
gray bird silhouettes. I decided to do some editing, and by using
the warmest possible white balance and applying severe curves I
finally came to this result. I agree that it's not realistic
anymore, but at least to my own taste it became a much more
attractive picture.
Photo by
Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/400 - f2.8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
|
|
 |
Gosling (unidentified species)
Normally you would expect bird
youngs to be born in spring, and I indeed took pictures of a
duckling in May, but I was amazed to see this yellow fluffy gosling
swimming in November. Maybe it was left behind at the pond together
with it's mother, but that would be an irresponsible deed of the
previous owner(s) in my opinion with the coming cold temperatures in
mind. Anyway there was little more to do than taking pictures of it.
Photo by Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/640 - f2.8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
|
Many thanks are due to Mrs. Eva Stets for the correct
identification of the birds
Jump to page [home]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8] [9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
|
