Spiders, flies and flowers

[clovishound]

No, I believe it's powdery alligator-flag. Thalia dealbata

It grows on the edge of the swamp and attracts bees and hummingbirds. It looks more interesting in the pictures than it does in real life, although it is a rather attractive plant. I really like the scarlet swamp hibiscus plants blooming there, but haven't managed to get any pictures that work for me.
The pods look like something from a sci fi movie.

_DAB2064.jpg

[clovishound]

Starting to get the hang of the new flash. Went out in the yard looking for denizens today and found this guy. I've tried to get pics of them before, but the flash made it much easier. I could shoot handheld and opt for a smaller aperture for increased depth of field.

_DAB0052-SharpenAI-Motion.jpg

[BrokenolMarine]

Outstanding!

[Hatchdog]

Outstanding!

Ditto and from a non photographic person down right amazing.

[BrokenolMarine]

This was the pic I talked about earlier, the Hummingbird Moth pic I took that ended up in the Virginia Wildlife Magazine as Photo of the Month. That magazine is published by the State Fish and Game Division. I never knew I was in the running until a coworker called to congratulate me.

hummingbird moth pic virginia wildlife pic.jpg

They can extend that coiled proboscis like an elephant's trunk to suck nectar from the flowers while hovering, like... a hummingbird.

[BrokenolMarine]

Your bee pic reminded me of this one... which is why I asked if the flower was Lamb's Ear... the flower in the background of this one is... Lamb's Ear. You can't kill it and it spreads everywhere. We got some from my stepmother and when Tina pulled it up from the gravel walkway and threw it on the mulch pile, it grew there. She dropped some on the granite dust pile by mistake... it grew there.

caught in flight.jpg

I liked to watch the insects in the garden and flower beds... and the other wildlife. Calming, and some of them are amazingly beautiful.

[clovishound]

Great photos. Bees can be difficult to capture, especially in flight.

I'm going to try and put my new flash in high speed sync mode and see if it will allow me to stop the action on the bees in flight, instead of just blurs. I managed to figure out how to get the flash in that mode, but couldn't get the camera to go faster than 1/200 sec. I'll figure it out. Eventually.

It's not like the flashes I'm used to. Figure out the distance and then look up the aperture on the chart on the back of the flash.

[BrokenolMarine]

Those pics were taken with the D40 and a zoom in Natural light. Shot a lot and deleted a lot, tried different settings. I was, and still am, a hack. But patient.
When people would ask me my secret to getting a great shot...

"Have a camera with you, shoot a lot, get lucky."

But, you do have to have some idea of composition, lighting, and a sense of artistry. We've all sat thru slide shows a dull, flat pictures of subjects we thought no one could ever make boring.

[clovishound]

When it comes to macro, even the pros discard a large percentage of pictures, because they aren't sharp, or something else is really wrong. Of course, the pros are usually pickier about what to keep than the rest of us.

BTW, figured out the whole high speed sync thing. I was thinking about going to one of the closer parks that afternoon, but it's just too darn hot, and the overcast they promised never showed up.

[dave77]

When it comes to macro, even the pros discard a large percentage of pictures, because they aren't sharp, or something else is really wrong. Of course, the pros are usually pickier about what to keep than the rest of us.

BTW, figured out the whole high speed sync thing. I was thinking about going to one of the closer parks that afternoon, but it's just too darn hot, and the overcast they promised never showed up.

Big advantage with digital. Back in the film days it cost around $6 or more for film and processing a 36 exposure roll and I was happy if I got between 5 and 10 good pictures. Back then I would occasionally take photo's for friend's weddings when they couldn't afford a Pro and I actually hated it. Had to wait for the results and no do-overs. Have only shot one since going digital and it was great, being able to take many, many photos and able to take a quick glance at the back screen to see if the shot was OK. It did help that it was outside so didn't have to worry about the flash at the ceremony.

[clovishound]

I did a lot of B&W so film and processing wasn't as big a deal. I even tried doing bulk B&W for a while. I would still use preloaded B&W for the important stuff, but the 100 ft rolls were pretty cheap, and it was easy to load cartridges. Of course, that only really worked if you processed your own film. Chemistry and paper wasn't too expensive back then either, although digital blows that out of the water, cost wise. I do, however, spend nearly as much time editing a days shoot's pictures as I did processing a couple rolls of film. OK, perhaps it took more time with the film. For one thing, I usually developed the film one day, and let it dry at least overnight and printed the best of the roll another day, unless it was something I really wanted sooner. I did have a home made drying box with a filter and fan. I could put a light bulb by the intake to speed things up.

One HUGE advantage to digital is that I get better pictures than I ever did with film.

[dave77]

I started out in the late 60's with B&W, also did some bulk loading but Plus-X and Tri-X film was pretty reasonable, had a small darkroom in my Mom's basement and did a bit of experimenting with B&W printing.

I tried doing my own color printing but the system I got was very complicated with test prints to get the right filter combination. Also you had to keep the color developer at around 80 degrees which was a pain, had to set the pan with the developer in a larger pan with warm water running through it.

I had a good friend that was also into photography and for a few years we turned his whole unfinished basement into a dark room, we had lots of room, had trays big enough to develop 11x14 prints.

[clovishound]

Went over to another local park this morning to play around with the flash and close up lens. I have a lot to learn.

I tried my hand at focus stacking. You can set the camera to take a series of images with different focus points. When you get home, you can merge them all with Photoshop choosing the sharp sections from each image and stitching them together. It will give you depth of field that would be impossible with a single image.

This is my first one. I didn't start the first image with the focus close enough, so the petals close to the camera are out of focus. Still the rest is sharp, and I don't think I could have gotten that much depth of field even with the smallest aperture available.

_DAB2548.jpg

Got pretty close up on this wasp. Not entirely happy with the angle, but like the detail on the insect.

_DAB2541-2.jpg

[CT_Shooter]

Thanks for sharing your excellent photos along with sharing information about your processes and learning curve. I'm totally enjoying it.

[BrokenolMarine]

Man, I love the Wasp (?) picture. Great shot.

[clovishound]

Yep, it's a wasp. We grow em big here in South Carolina.

[BrokenolMarine]

You might remember I said two of my rules were have a camera and get lucky. I was out on the deck one morning and spotted this guy...
I had my camera and I was very lucky. How often do you interrupt a meal?

hey im eating here.jpg

I always labeled this one, "Hey, I'm Eatin' Here!"

[clovishound]

Great picture.

[Hatchdog]

You might remember I said two of my rules were have a camera and get lucky. I was out on the deck one morning and spotted this guy...
I had my camera and I was very lucky. How often do you interrupt a meal?


hey im eating here.jpg


I always labeled this one, "Hey, I'm Eatin' Here!"

Wow, you’re getting a dirty look for interrupting the meal. Great shot.

[Hatchdog]

Went over to another local park this morning to play around with the flash and close up lens. I have a lot to learn.

I tried my hand at focus stacking. You can set the camera to take a series of images with different focus points. When you get home, you can merge them all with Photoshop choosing the sharp sections from each image and stitching them together. It will give you depth of field that would be impossible with a single image.

This is my first one. I didn't start the first image with the focus close enough, so the petals close to the camera are out of focus. Still the rest is sharp, and I don't think I could have gotten that much depth of field even with the smallest aperture available.


_DAB2548.jpg



Got pretty close up on this wasp. Not entirely happy with the angle, but like the detail on the insect.


_DAB2541-2.jpg

Wonder if that Wasp will be part of today’s UFO hearing. Looks a bit alien to me. Great shot, great detail.
Got pretty close up on this wasp. Not entirely happy with the angle, but like the detail on the insect.