World Within Icicles

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Today, with the freezing rain turning out to be modest (a good thing, from the standpoint of dangerous roads and power outages), I did notice some icicles that formed around dangling pine needles.  The ice picked up the colors of surrounding evergreen leaves, and refracted some wonderful patterns.  I worked my way gradually to a life-sized view (larger than life once enlarged from the size of the camera sensor to viewing size).  Even though the breezes were minimal, under this high magnification, the trembling of the smaller "iciclette" was very noticeable.  I timed one shot to a moment of least movement, and got a critically sharp image.  The camera was of course on a tripod, or my own trembling would have had even worse effect than the subject movement.

In the full-sized image, I see upside down trees and land features within the drop.  You may have to use your imagination to see that in this web rendition, but I think the snake-like shapes in the large icicle (you're seeing an inch and a half or so of its four inch length) are very apparent and quite nice.

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Squirrel Wants To Eat My Fiddle!

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Oh, fiddle fuddle!  Help, Ziva!  Some squirrel wants to devour my violin!

These are canine cookies, intended for Ziva's consumption.  If you've ever shopped for pet food, no doubt you've noticed how treats (and even main courses) are designed to please human aesthetic sensibilities.  This is hardly surprising, as we do the buying, but it can sometimes make things amusing for us, and in the case of commercial items, more expensive, because the manufacturers can get away with it, having hooked us.

These two delicacies were home-made gifts from friends.  One is a violinist colleague of mine, and the other has a dear old dog, Alexa, who when young was as interested in chasing squirrels as our Ziva now is.

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Here come the flowers of winter

Some winter-blooming flowers are beginning to bud.  Here's a Hellebore that I think will be similar to these Lenten roses if it survives the coming frosts.

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Camera size matters

If you're not in the mood for even a non-technical how-and-why discussion, just skip over the next two paragraphs and look at the pictures.  I won't mind

There are optical properties which are inherent to the physical dimensions of a camera's sensor, because the lens focal length that is needed to give a particular field of view will depend upon the size of that sensor.  Today, I'm not going to delve into the details (there are discussions and examples on my web site), but one property that was a factor in photos I made today (and the reason I used the equipment I did) is that a long focal length lens can blur a background more than a short focal length. A very small camera might be advertised to "zoom to an equivalent focal length of 400mm", but that is actually a fiction.  The angle of view (what is included in your picture) may be exactly the same as what would be included had the photo been shot with a 400mm lens on a "big" camera (a full-frame DSLR, e.g.), but the actual focal length will be much shorter, and even with compensation in the form of changing lens apertures, there will be no way to equalize the look of the backgrounds in many distance/perspective situations.

So, to photograph these berries and turn the grass and weeds right behind them into diffuse areas of color, I used a 100-400mm, at the long end, on a full-frame camera, with the addition of a 1.4X extender to increase the focal length to 560mm.  Computer monitors vary greatly in their pixel density, so the displayed size of an image is not fixed, but if you're seeing this first image as about 4x5 inches, then you're seeing the berries a bit more than twice life size.

Even at f/11, the depth of field is so shallow that only one berry in this cluster is in focus.

Here's an iPhone snap showing the camera setup for that second photo.  From this vantage you can't even really see the berries, but they are there, right where the lens is pointed.  The black rings attached to the front of the camera body are extension tubes, to allow the whole rig to focus closer.  Next is the 1.4X multiplier, or tele-converter (or "extender" in Canon speak), which looks like part of the lens unless you know what to look for.  Yes, the tripod is purposely skewed, with the downhill leg longer than the others, and the center column tilted to get the head a little closer to the ground.

Here is the image just recorded, with the camera still in position.  Notice how the plants in the background, although out of focus because I focused the iPhone on the Canon's back, are still distinct, especially compared to the berry photo.

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Raindrops

I tried to get some really close views of raindrops on trees today.  There wasn't a particularly nice background to be rendered in miniature within the drops, but the overall effect was ok.  I'll have to explore the possibilities again.  I added extension tubes and a 1.4X tele-extender to my macro lens to enable greater than life-size reproduction.

There were some nice colors in one view, so I increased the saturation and got this result:

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Fallen Leaf

This fallen leaf, drained of its chlorophyll, showed a variety of red and orange pigments, which stood out starkly against the still-bright greens of ivy and liriope.

[Canon EF 100/2.8 L IS macro, f/11, 0.6 sec., ISO 100]

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Autumn leaves, ahead of the crowd

I think autumn is here, in Raleigh, although we're still six days shy of the fall equinox.  Sometimes the not-entirely-healthy leaves show their colors and drop to the ground ahead of most.  This one captured a bit of fluff from a bird's plumage, and stayed put just long enough for me to grab a photo before a breeze shifted everything.

(On most monitors, this view will be several times life-size.)

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The birds, the bees, and Japanese beetles

While hoofing it around Seal Harbor, Maine, I happened upon a compact scene that definitely called for a macro lens. Unfortunately, all I had with me was my 24-105 zoom, so I got as close as I could and cropped later.

At first it was just a pair of Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) mating, but then things got a little more interesting.

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Variations on a Theme

Here are five close looks at a patch of leaves, wet with rain.  I knew from the start that I wanted to emphasize the curves and patterns of the veins and leaf edges, but as you see, I experimented with different perspectives and framing.  The first three are obviously focused on the same leaf.  After, there is a 1:1 shot of a neighboring leaf, and the final image was shot almost a foot away.  Small world!

The second variation lent itself to a toned "black and white" interpretation, warm brown for the shadows and green for the highlights.

This leaf was almost perfect in its form.  I could "repair" the bite out of the upper edge, but doesn't this natural blemish add to the beauty of form, curves, textures and balance?

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Black-eyed Susan in the rain

The humidity was so high when I was shooting this - from directly above the subject - that I couldn't help but add some of my own rain, in the form of perspiration that landed on the camera. The flower was sheltered by the tripod-mounted camera looming over it. This is a focus stack of seven shots, life-sized on the camera sensor, so of course larger than life when viewed on a screen or printed any larger than ~1x1.5 inches (the camera sensor measures 24x36 mm).

Rudbeckia hirta, common Black-eyed Susan.

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Close look at a dragonfly face

Saturday morning at Frank Schwartz Water and Garden Creations, there were so many flowers and insects to photograph that I'm still editing them today. Before I get around to choosing some favorite "artsy" flower shots to display, I'm going to post one dragonfly pic that I liked for two reasons. The first version is a cropped rendition, showing lots of detail in the head and thorax. Look at the fuzzy face and the multi-faceted compound eyes!

Below is the full image, with an interesting mix of shapes of the plants and the dragon. I think they "play well together".

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Flowers after rainfall

The wonderful effects of droplets of rain on flowers make a close look almost imperative.

With my face already amidst the flowers, it was fairly easy to get close to some bees.

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African violet

Timing and light...I found an African violet that had just opened!

Larger than usual photo below the "Fib"...*

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* The Fibonacci sequence seemed appropriate for a spacer above a flower image.

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Lacewing Larval Disguise

A ball of pollen-like fluff about 1/8 inch in diameter was moving around on our glass door. It looked like this:
 

If not for the rapid sliding and rotating movement, I would have thought it was just a bit of detritus stuck amongst the inevitable dust. However, the other side looked like this (at high magnification, greater than life size on the camera sensor, cropped to get closer still, and many times life size on your computer monitor):

A little internet searching revealed that it is the larval stage of a common variety of Lacewing. Many of them carry a backpack of fibers like this; my guess is that it's a camouflage against predators. This one was quite systematically scouring the glass surface for tinier things to eat. I will have to make a point of photographing some adult Lacewings this summer.

[Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS macro, 37mm of extension tubes, remote flash]

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Three views, one flower

There was nice window light this afternoon, so it only took a moment to capture two views of this blooming house plant.The second shot developed into two distinct versions, so here are three impressions of one quick look.

[Canon 5D Mk III, EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS Macro]

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Another take on irises

Three more looks at a rather sensuous flower variety, all shot with a 100 mm macro lens and soft daylight.

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Near and Far, Close and Closer

Here are four views of two bearded Irises, all done with the versatile Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS macro, the EOS 5D Mk III, and a tripod, daylight only.

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Five times two, times two

Long day today - educational concert, rehearsal, portrait session. Even so, when I spotted these thumbnail sized flowers in soft, end of day light, I had to do some photography for myself.

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Apple Blossoms

When apple blossoms spring forth around here, they only present one or two minor impediments to making a good close-up photograph. The branches are quite high, so getting a high enough camera position can call for a fully extended tripod (including center column, not ideal for stable support) and a step ladder (cheaper and less technical hassle than a remote viewing system). Also, they are prone to sway like crazy in the slightest breeze. So I played a waiting game this afternoon, and caught this at a moment of minimal motion.

[Canon 5D MkIII, EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS macro, f/11 @ 1/50 sec., ISO 320]

[...and none of the above is really important, but some of you like to know...]

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Magic Wings Butterfly House

I have enjoyed several visits to the Magic Wings Butterfly House at the Museum of Life + Science in Durham, NC. March 23 was special because I went there on an outing with the Carolinas Nature Photographers' Association. We were given access before the facility was opened for the public that day, which meant good opportunities to quietly stalk these creatures.

While I waited for the front element of my camera lens to defog (the butterfly house is kept at about 80ºF/27ºC year round, and fairly humid, while outside that morning it was cold, not much above freezing), I spotted a cooperative poser on a photogenic perch.

The dew hanging from this flower caught and magnified the images of leaves around it.

Recliner? Reclining Maja?

Reclining Magenta?

When I'm surrounded by colorful butterflies and flowering plants, I'm not usually "thinking in black and white", but I could hardly keep myself from imagining these leaves in a monochrome rendering, so that's where I went with this one.

This succulent is an unusual shade of blue-green.

A sudden flurry of motion caught my attention:

She lit on a joint of my tripod leg.

Here's an overview, the widest view I could get with the lens on my other camera.

She paused on the camera body.

I swapped cameras so that I could hand hold the shorter lens and locked the big rig on the tripod. That's when it became clear that my friend was female. She laid a few eggs (yellow spheres) on the lens hood among other places.

[all photos EF 100/2.8 L IS macro or 70-200/2.8 L IS II + Extender 2X III]

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