Posts in Category: close up
Maine! Practice makes perfect
Eastern Bluebird: York County, Maine, USA, March 2024 — I am not sure what this behavior is? I am almost certain that this is last summer’s chick, well able to feed itself, and not begging that I saw. And I am pretty sure this is our full adult male, who has raised 8 broods (at least) while we have watched over the past 4 years. Maybe he is just getting in practice for this year’s first brood. And maybe he is just a provider by nature, which is why he has had so many successfully fledged off-spring. I was photographing the young bird and was very surprised when the male edged into the frame. OM System OM-1Mkii with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Celebrity
Red-eyed Leaf Frog: Selva Verde Lodge and Reserve, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2023 — One of the “poster” species for Costa Rican conservation, the Red-eyed Leaf Frog, in its more colorful Caribbean slope variety. They are easy to find right at the foot of the stairs going up to the dining hall at Selva Verde. Flash is not allowed on the Selva Verde grounds, but the frogs do not seem disturbed by led flashlights and even small video lights, and they often sit in one spot for ten or fifteen minutes, so they are relatively easy to photograph. I always use a long lens with close focus so as to disturb them as little as possible. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. ISO 6400 @ f6.3 @ 1/200th. -0.7EV. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! the business end
Great Blue Heron: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — A Great Blue Heron posing for a close up portrait along Blackpoint Drive. The bird was only a few yards from the roadside, and busy with its hunting. It had its spot. It was there almost every time I went around the Drive. OM Sysems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Scarlet Macaw head and shoulders
Scarlet Macaw: Macaw Ranch, Sarapique Valley, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Head and shoulder portraits of two Scarlet Macaws at the Macaw Ranch in Costa Rica. These are wild, free flying birds, but so habituated to human presence that they are easy to approach. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 200mm equivalent (close!). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Another frost on the marsh
Early morning on the marsh in November. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 66mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Frost in the Marsh
Early morning frost over the marsh behind the dunes at our local beach. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 66mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Bittersweet
Almost everything about bittersweet is bittersweet. There are two bittersweets…American and Oriental. Most of what we have in Maine is Oriental Bittersweet, a clinging, climbing, invasive plant that smothers its hosts and can even bring down full grown trees. We have a vine in our yard that reaches the very top of a tall pine, and is 8 inches in diameter at eye level. Still the berries are pretty, and are eaten by at least a few birds. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 90mm equivalent. Macro scene mode. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Happy Sunday! Northern Blazing Star
Northern Blazing Star against Goldenrod, Kennebunk Plains, Kennebunk, Maine. — Both Northern Blazing Star and Goldenrod are in full bloom on the Kennebunk Plains right now…but they the stands rarely overlap. I had to look long and hard to find two plants close enough to put them in the same frame, but who could resist trying? The color contrast is just too wonderful. I offer it as a celebration of Sunday! Sony A5100 with 18-50mm zoom at 45mm equivalent. Auto.
Maine! Grass-pink Orchid (focus stack)
Grass-pink Orchid: Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — I always go check for the Grass-pink Orchids too early…before they bloom…and then, sometimes miss them…getting to the little remnant bog at Laudholm Farms too late. This year I caught them (though there were no Rose Pagonias, the other orchid of that bog). The OM Systems OM-1 does in-camera focus stacking, and the 100-400mm zoom focuses to just over 4 feet at 800mm equivalent…making the system pretty amazing for flower macros (or close-ups at any rate.) I know from past experiences with other cameras (I have been photographing these Grass-pinks for many years now) that it is very difficult to get a close up of the flower with every part in focus in the same image. The flower is just too three-dimensional. Focus stacking (hand held here…and a tripod would not have helped as there was breeze and the flowers were moving) gives us the depth of filed needed. It took a couple of tries because of the breeze, but it is hard to fault the results. 770mm equivalent (to frame the flower from closest focus). Equivalent exposure ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Prothonotary Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — The other yellow warbler! and one of my favorite warblers of Magee Marsh. The Prothonotary Warbler nests at Magee, and is one of the most fearless warblers…or at least has the least fear of man. This one repeatedly crossed the boardwalk between the legs of admiring birders and photographers while feeding on tiny spiders on either side. You have to have been at Magee to appreciate the situation. There were at least 30 people packed between the side-rails of a 5 foot wide boardwalk on either side of where the warbler was working, all trying to position for a clear view or more often a clear shot. It was close enough so that people were photographing it with cell phones. This is an uncropped shot at 800mm equivalent. Olympus OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom. Program mode with my evolving birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/800th. Minus .3EV.