Posts in Category: bokeh
4/25/2011: Maple Flowers
The Maples are red. Not the leaves this season, but the flowers. From a distance it is a subtle red that teases the eye, except where the maples mass, and then it can be quite striking. Even standing right under a tree the flowers are more a promise than a reality. Only when you get right in close do you see them for what they are…things of real beauty. These are wet with a heavy dew.
Nikon Coolpix P500 on macro, 1) 620mm equivalent field of view, f5.7 @ 1/200th @ ISO 160, 2) 115mm, f4.7 @ 1/200th @ ISO 160, and 3) 68mm, f4.7 @ 1/320th @ ISO 160. Program mode.
The three shots show the different effects of macro at various settings of the zoom, visible most clearly in the bokeh.
Processed for intensity and clarity in Lightroom. (The Nikon takes a very similar processing to my Canon SX20IS.)
4/19/2011: Lichen and ???
The flaky growth on a fallen branch at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge is lichen, and I think the little miniature pine-tree-thingy is too. I think, from a bit of googling, it may be a fruticose lichen related to Spanish Moss. I was struck by the contrast in form and color, and framed this with the long end of the zoom and macro on the Canon SX20IS, which provided the attractive bokeh. The early morning light of early spring picked out the detail and gave the image some warmth it would not otherwise have had.
Canon SX20IS at 356mm equivalent field of view, f5 @ 1/80th @ ISO 80. Program Mode.
Processed for intensity and clarity in Lightroom.
4/18/2011: Phragmites and Bokeh
Back when I used to think of Phragmites as an invasive weed, destroying our wetlands, I could not see its beauty. Now that I know that most Phragmites in Maine (and much of it elsewhere) are actually a native species, and that what is spoiling our wetlands is our own land use practices and chemical agriculture with spread of Phragmites just an optimistic symptom of the problem, not its cause…I can begin to appreciate the reed (not weed). It certainly has its beauty, as here, with a single weathered fond caught against the forest bokeh behind.
Shot at a 560mm equivalent field of view to isolate the reed and send the trees behind well out of focus.
Canon SX20IS, f5.7 @ 1/500th @ ISO 160.
Processed for intensity and clarity in Lightroom. Cropped slightly for composition.
4/14/2011: Catkins, Flowers, and Leaf buds.
Spring is slowly unfolding here in Southern Maine. Catkins are hanging and at least a few trees are in flower. New leaves are just emerging. Nothing showy mind you. We are still weeks from dog-woods and the ornamental cherries in front yards, but a few of the most hardy natives have begun to think about reproduction.
This is a tel-macro shot, at the limits of its depth of field, but I like the colors in the catkin and the form of the flowers and was determined to frame them both. The composition is pretty classic at that. The branches in the back were just far enough away to be pleasingly out of focus. It will actually benefit from a lager view.
Canon SX20IS at 300mm equivalent field of view, f5 @ 1/320th @ ISO 160.
Processed for intensity and clarity in Lightroom.
3/16/2011: Cooper’s Hawk, Wings on Wednesday
The San Diego Birding Festival has turned up some nice local birds over the years, around Mission Bay, in the marina or in the San Diego River channel just beyond. This year a pair of Cooper’s Hawks were building a nest in a tree right in the parking lot of the Marina Village Conference Center where the Festival is headquartered. As you might guess, this is a very photographed bird 🙂
The male was about 10 feet over and up in this same tree, busy breaking off branches and flying them back to the nest. I am not sure any of us were fast enough to catch him in the act, but it was interesting behavior. He would snap the branch off with his beak, drop it, and catch it on the wing to take it back. Very impressive! Momma had apparently come over to the harvest tree to supervise his choices, as she was not active in gathering (and therefore provided the easier target for digiscoping). Decent light, somewhat offset by an active bird and good stiff breeze moving the branches. And the bird was further away than it looked. In the top of one of those very tall Eucalyptus and several rows of cars over, so I was working at maximum zoom on the camera. The second shot is near maximum zoom on the scope as well. All in all I am happy with the results. Both images took some extra sharpening on the birds head.
Canon SD4000IS behind the 15-56x Vario Eyepiece on the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL spotting scope. 1) about 3000mm equivalent field of view, 1/250 @ ISO 160, f8.5 effective. 2) about 4500mm equivalent field of view, 1/200 @ ISO 200, f13 effective. Programmed auto.
Processed in Lightroom for clarity and sharpness.
In both shots, the bokeh of the moving leaves behind the bird, the pattern on the branches, the light itself, add interest and impact to the shots.
12/7/2010: Great Blue in a tree
Though I have seen it many times now, it is always still somewhat a shock to see a Great Blue Heron in a tree.
This is one of those cases when it pays to stop and see what the other guy is looking at. During the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, or most any weekend in November, the photographers outnumber most species except for Cranes and Geese. Or so it seems. They litter the road-sides, cluster where the corn has been freshly knocked down, and the sound of DSLR motor drives is as prevalent as the calls of the geese at sunup and sun down, though not nearly as loud. So this photographer was pulled off where there was no obvious crane or goose concentration…so I stopped to…and there, up this old snag, was this Great Blue Heron.
What makes this shot interesting, besides the bird, is the bokeh…it looks a lot like a Japanese screen of some sort behind the bird.
Canon SD4000IS behind the 15-56x Vario eyepiece on the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL for something in the 2000mm equivalent range. 1/1000th second @ ISO 160. And I think I still had it on Kids and Pets mode.
Processed for intensity in Lightroom (see page link above).
11/2/2010: Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Late in the day on Saturday, out behind the Hawk Watch platform at Cape May State Park, as I mentioned yesterday, was like walking through an aviary, the birds were so thick and so close. This Yellow-rumped Warbler was perched about 20 feet off the boardwalk, in the full light of the low sun behind me, and a hint of autumn color behind. Irresistible.
I was able to catch several different ”poses” as, despite how it might look in the images, the bird was quite active on the perch. The low sun certainly picked out all the yellow in the bird.
For a digiscoper, or anyone who attempts bird photography, it just does not get any better than this!
Canon SD4000IS behind the eyepiece of the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL for the equivalent field of view of about a 1400mm lens on a full frame DSLR. 1/320th @ ISO 160 @ f4.5 (camera limited).
A bit of Recovery in Lightroom for the white breast and the highlights on the branch, Blackpoint just barely right, added Clarity and Vibrance, and Sharpen narrow edges preset. Slight color adjustment to tame the yellow.
10/8/2010: reflections on snowy egret
People kept telling me about this pond on the gulf course on Jekyll Island where the birds, egrets, herons, and Wood Storks, were roosting for the night, and, after a couple of aborted attempts, I actually found it just before sunset yesterday. Quite a show! Roosting birds and birds flying in for the night…constantly something going on. These Snowy Egrets were there when I got there, part of a group of 15 birds, including immature White Ibis and an Anhinga, on a snag in the water out maybe 70 feet and at the foot of the bank where I was standing, maybe 20 feet above them, still in bright light but just below where the setting sun was striking the trees across the pond. Ideal! I spent 20 minutes with the group.
I was shooting the pair in the second image when my scope drifted down and caught the reflections. I could not resist.
Both shots with the Canon Powershot SD4000IS Digital Elph behind the new Vario eyepiece of the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL spotting scope for an equivalent field of view in the 3500mm range. Programmed auto. –1.6 EV exposure compensation.
Processed in Lightroom for Blackpoint, Clarity, Vibrance, and Sharpen.
Lots more digiscoped birds in my Jekyll Island 2010 gallery.
9/24/2010: Monarch
Another of those quick shots in passing. I chased this guy from rose to rose among the beach roses at Parson’s Beach while there to do some HDR work…who could resist. This the full tele macro on the Canon SX20IS…which always gives amazingly sharp close-ups and interesting bokeh.
Canon SX20IS at 560mm equivalent, f5.7 @ 1/320th @ ISO 80. Programmed auto.
Blackpoint adjustment in Lightroom. Added Clarity and Vibrance. Sharpen narrow edges preset.
8/18/2010
Cotton Grass
(Still in Germany)
On the bog in August, about the only thing blooming (or looking like it is blooming), is the Cotton Grass. These tuffs of cottony fiber with their attendant spears dot the marsh and provide contrast with the blueberries that make up the mass of the surface vegetation. I got down low, using Macro on the SD4000IS for this shot (really missed the swing out LCD on the SX20IS!).
Canon SD4000IS at 28mm equivalent and macro. F2.8 @ 1/640th @ ISO 125. Programmed auto.
In Lightroom, Blackpoint right, added Clarity and Vibrance, and Sharpen narrow edges preset.
From Saco Heath.