Another Critter Mix Part VIII

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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Dalantech
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Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:57 am

Another Critter Mix Part VIII

Post by Dalantech »

It was sunny for a few hours today so I went looking for anything that might have become active and found a Green Stink Bug. I have seen this critter in my yard before, but this is the first time it has let me get close enough for a few frames.

Nezara Virudula

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F13, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to about 1.5x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT, E-TTL metering, -2/3 FEC. This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI, and Clarity in that order.

ImageGreen Stink Bug by John Kimbler, on Flickr

Now lets get into the recent crops, and a potential composition fail. While working on my second self published book (link in my signature) the 3:2 aspect ratio of my images did not always work well with the aspect ratio of the pages. So since my images where being cropped by the image template in the BookWright software I took a stab at cropping the shots in Photoshop Elements 2022 (the image editor that I use). One of the many reasons why I push myself to compose with the view finder is because I want enough pixels for poster size prints. In the past, when I was shooting with 10 and 12MP sensors, not cropping was kinda important. Today, now that I am shooting with a 24MP sensor and Element's ability to upscale a photo to the original pixel count if I keep the aspect ratio the same, cropping in post is an option. With this next shot of a feeding hoverfly there were a lot of distracting bits to the left of the subject, and the only way to get rid of them would be to back out, change the magnification, and then try to grab onto the stem of the Dandelion that the critter was feeding on. Odds are, if I had backed out to make changes, the subject would have taken off. So I am better off staying at the mag that I started shooting at and crop in post. A tighter crop might actually work better.

It has been unusually warm and when the sun came out I went looking for something to photograph. Found this Hoverfly that was more hungry than afraid, eating Dandelion pollen.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F13, 1/125, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to about 2.5x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT, E-TTL metering, -2/3 FEC. This is a single frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI, Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.

ImageFeeding Hoverfly by John Kimbler, on Flickr

This next image worked as is, but I thought a slightly tighter shot looked better. Since the subject was moving I just kept shooting and slightly cropped the image in post. If I could have changed the mag I would have had to increase it just enough to drop the frame by less than a millimeter on each side, and it would have been tough to figure out just how far I would have to turn the ring on the MP-E 65mm to do it.

Not sure exactly what this red Beetle is (other than a species of Leaf Beetle), but I found a mating pair of them on my mother in laws farm -in December! It was 18C (that is almost 65F for the metric impaired ;) ). Way too warm for this time of year.

Family Chrysomelidae (Leaf Beetle).

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F13, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to about 1.5x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT, E-TTL metering, -2/3 FEC. This is a single, cropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.

ImageRed Beetle by John Kimbler, on Flickr

I played with cropping this next shot in post but maintaining the same aspect ratio as the original shot did not make much of an improvement so I left it uncropped. I shoot by grabbing onto the critter's perch with my non-camera hand, brace the lens on that same hand to help keep the scene steady, pick a spot where I want the focus to start and keep my attention on it, use my peripheral vision for the composition and framing so I do not have to look away from the focus point, and then twist my wrist(s) to lay the area of acceptable focus where I think it needs to be. So now I need to do all of that plus think about how to frame the scene if I know I need/want to crop in post.

Cool partly cloudy weather makes the best conditions for shooting small solitary bees. I found a male European Blue Mason Bee semi-active on a Dandelion.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (around 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.

ImageBlue Mason Bee III by John Kimbler, on Flickr

In the past I have taken most of my images between 2x and 3.5x. I think in 2022 I will be shooting more between 1x and 2.5x and simply crop in post to get the subject framing that I want. One benefit to shooting at lower magnifications is getting more depth of field, a big plus for someone like me who shoots single frames.

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