08 Tuesday Aug 2023
Posted in Uncategorized
It’s been years. I’ve been using large film cameras and a darkroom but now I’m back to digital and nature photography. The limited time I now have has made this seem like a necessary step to keep me involved in photography.
Carolina Wren with Pupa
White-eyed Vireo
Brown-winged Swallows
Raccoon with Crayfish
Male Painted Bunting
02 Tuesday May 2017
Posted in "photography", Digital Photography, macro photography, nature, Uncategorized
Tags
arachnid, beetle, blur, bokeh, cactus, close up, close up photography, crab spider, crab spider feeding, cucumber beetle, flowers, hairstreak, hairstreak butterfly, insects, macro, macro photography, miikweed, milkweed bug, nature, nature in texas, nature photography, nikon, nikon digital, prickly pear, prickly pear blooms, prickly pear cactus, spider, spider feeding, succulents, wildflower, wine cup, wine cup mallow
It altogether amazes me that people can walk right past things like this and be totally consumed by whatever device they have in hand to keep them from interacting intimately with the immediate other world around them, be it their companion walking beside them, the child in a stroller, or of sights like these flowers. Maybe the general, developing impression that there is no intelligent designer who sits outside of creation contributes to the lack of wonder at the intricacy that was designed into each of these wonders. They’re taken for granted, and the tremendous leap of faith is launched that requires believing that all this was the result of random, impersonal causes.
On the more mundane side, Nikon D7100 with 36 – 72 Series E Nikon lens reversed onto the camera body. Some were taken with 26mm extension tube, some without.
30 Sunday Apr 2017
Posted in Digital Photography, macro photography, nature, Uncategorized
Tags
close up photography, damselflies, damselflies mating, insect order odonata, insect procreation, insect recreation, insect reproduction, insects, nature, nature photography, nikon 200 f4 macro lens mf, nikon d7100, odonata, reproduction
Always exciting anything that promises to add more bugs to the world. Nikon D7100 and just regular old 200mm f4 manual focus Micro Nikkor.
27 Thursday Apr 2017
Tags
atlantic ocean, birds, galveston, galveston island, galveston texas, motion, motion blur, nature, ocean, salt water, sand, seagulls, seashore, water, waves, wildlife
Shot at Galveston Island in April 2016. Slow shutter used. Varying degrees of motion depicted.
Posted by castl23 | Filed under "photography", Digital Photography, nature, Uncategorized
26 Wednesday Apr 2017
Posted in landscape photography, macro photography, nature, Uncategorized
I was about to enter this contest, but it was like filling out paperwork to buy a house for each photo, so I decided against the idea. These are the 15 I would have put in the nature division. I’ll post them here. Some are repetitious from this blog, but I really don’t mind if you don’t.
As an update, I finally figured out that since I’m ungainfully retired, why not? So, I jumped through the hoops and have 12/15 in there right now. Some of those below aren’t there yet.
A thought about photo fame: There are too many photographers in the world, too many who have time and means to travel to Borrioboola-Gha if they desire to take those exotic pictures that so fill the airwaves these days that they’re almost becoming humdrum; still, it’s fun to post the things and have that few seconds of recognition for the efforts made to get the shots even if “winning” is out of the question :=>
21 Friday Apr 2017
Posted in Digital Photography, macro photography, nature, Uncategorized
Tags
beetle, close up nature photography, close up photography, insect, lady beetle, macro, macro phototgraphy, nature, nikon 28 f2.0, reversed lens, reversed lens macro
One of the predictable quips of Don Adams as Maxwell Smart can probably describe the effort below to capture a scurrying lady beetle with a reversed 28mm lens. I put it here anyway since it gives a nice view of the undercarriage of this member of the order coleoptera. That word means “sheath winged” since its translucent wings are encased below the hard covers made of chitin. There’s a word for them, but my low thyroid output makes me confused and uncertain as to what it is. So, I cheated and looked on WKP. Just as the page opened, as if by magic, the word “elytra” swam into my stew of neurons. When I was a kid (funny how long lost memories are returning more and more every day now) I undertook to memorize all 27 insect orders with examples of each one. The Latin speakers (when it was still alive and well) had vivid ways of describing each insect. Too bad they had to have dipterans back then buzzing around in their agoras.
Oh well, this is supposed to be photography and not lunatic ravings.
Here it is:
Again, far from perfect, but maybe I’ll improve.
Thanks for looking.
21 Friday Apr 2017
Posted in Digital Photography, nature, Uncategorized
Tags
arachnid, close up photography, crab spider, macro, macro phototgraphy, nature, reversed lens macro, spider
This was a first for me, reversing a lens for close up. I used a Nikon D7100 with a 50 f1.4 manual focus Nikkor reversed on it. Shot on manual, and why not since you can check result immediately! Not spectacular at all as a nature shot, or as a reversed lens capture. Many great ones are out there.
12 Wednesday Apr 2017
Posted in Digital Photography, hasselblad digital, nature, Uncategorized
Tags
close up flower photography, close up nature photography, close up photography, evening primrose, flower, hasselblad digital, macro, macro photography, nature, primrose, texas evening primrose, wildflower
This has a darker than necessary interpretation, at least according to the LR histogram. I hope it works out. My screen is set at max brightness on the iMac. Otherwise it goes black and is a pain to wake up again!
The camera was Hasselblad HD 5 with 200mm f4 lens and Canon close up lens attached, hand held. Aperture fairly wide, don’t recall exactly and don’t really care.
10 Monday Apr 2017
Posted in Digital Photography, nature, Uncategorized
Tags
common egret, dallas white rock lake, nature, slider turtle, waterfowl, wood duck, wood duck hen, wood duck hen with chicks
On a cycling outing at White Rock Lake on Friday, Christy and I noticed some wood ducks, a lot of drakes, near where we parked. We had no telephotos with us, so we returned Sunday to try to get some decent photos. She had a Canon 60D with a Sigma 150 – 500 zoom; I, a Nikon D7100 with a Sigma 150 – 600 sports lens. We saw some drakes while cycling without our proper equipment due to its size and weight that might make an unbalanced situation on a bicycle. When we got back to parking lot after the two laps around the lake, we found this hen and her brood and took several photos.
Then we drove around to Sunset Bay area of the lake where we saw the drakes earlier.They tended to stay farther out than the hens, so what I got even with a 900mm effective focal length was with a fairly small drake and it wasn’t very sharp. Maybe next time.
We did find some slider turtles that were fairly calm for that species, allowing several shots. Father and son?
Finally, the common egret. Christy got some really nice shots of this specimen in flight; I’m really bad at BIF!
Christy’s shots!
Overall, an enjoyable day.
06 Thursday Apr 2017
Posted by castl23 | Filed under Digital Photography, nature, Smart Phone, Uncategorized
