Posts in Category: Sirui 18mm
A little bay on the south Pacific coast of Costa Rica
An iPhone SE and Sirui 18mm lens shot of a little bay north of Marino Ballena National Park on the south Pacific coast of Costa Rica. What a view!
Autumn colors
That time of year again, and one of my favorite views. One of the Back Creek ponds along Rt. 9 near our home. I was on my eTrike, pulled over on the shoulder with cars wizzing by my elbow. iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm lens. Auto HDR.
That time of year again, and one of my favorite views. One of the Back Creek ponds along Rt. 9 near our home. I was on my eTrike, pulled over on the shoulder with cars wizzing by my elbow. iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm lens. Auto HDR.
Wild Iris at the Pond
I photograph this scene almost every year…some years I have been traveling and missed Iris season altogether, and some years I just get the timing off, but most years I manage at least one stop by the little pond along Rt. 9 between the end of Brown Street and the Wells Town line, while the Iris is in bloom. Some years I hit it on a sunny day with amazing clouds behind the trees. Some years, like this one, the sky is mostly overcast and the light subdued. It is always beautiful. iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm equivalent lens. Processed in Apple Photos.
Waders and shore birds on the Rio Rincon
White Ibis, Greater Yellowlegs, Snowy Egret, Killdeer: Rio Rincon, Costa Rica (near Danta Corcovado Lodge on the Osa Peninsula) — On our wagon ride up the Rincon River, as I mentioned, we crossed the river many times on the big tires of the wagon. That and driving up the stream bed and right beside the water most of the way made it seem a little like a boat rode. Where we crossed first were the river was wide and shallow and we were treated to a shore bird display. These are all birds that are common in North America, but it was good to see them in Costa Rica. All but the Greater Yellowlegs are actually resident in Costa Rica. The Yellowlegs was wintering there. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Wide shot with the iPhone SE and Sirui 18mm lens. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 and 4.5 @ 1/1000 and 1/640th (Killdeer).
Herons in the Osa
Little Blue Heron and Green Heron: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula) — On the second day at Danta Corcovado Lodge on the Osa Peninsula we boarded an open wagon on tall wheels, behind a tractor with even bigger wheels, for a 2 hour drive up the bed of the Rio Rincon deep into Corcovado National Park…forging the stream itself maybe 30 times, and driving on the stony bed and sand beaches beside the water the rest of the way. It was an amazing journey, totally unique in my experience. We saw lots of birds and a few monkeys along the river. And it was simply a lot of fun! We found these two herons, Little Blue and Green in the reed beds between the Lodge and the river, where we crossed a small stream on its way to river as we were. There is a road the runs into the Park, but, I have to say, the wagon is the way to go…at least on a day when it is not raining. And of course, the river has to be low enough to allow the crossings. Environmental shots iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm lens. Herons with the Sony Rx10iv at 517 and 485mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 (Little Blue) 100 and 125 (Green) @ f4 @ 1/500th.
That birch…
This might be another story about Japanese Barberry, which provides the red understory here, but the photo is really about the birch tree…which I have photographed in every season. The ultra-wide lens makes it look less substantial than it is in person. It is s a big birch tree, and standing alone in the middle of a mostly maple forest at Laudholm Farms as it does, it is very impressive. iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
Understory Autumn
The leaves are all pretty much off the maples and birches, leaving the understory to carry on autumn alone. This is a mass of Barberry…Japanese Barberry, and unfortunately invasive and well established along the trails at Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms. Or maybe not so unfortunately, as it turns out. Tom’s of Maine is currently studying the plant to see if they can make an old herbal recipe for throat care from it, as our ancestors did from the once native Common Barberry. We still have isolated clumps of Common Barberry, but after a concerted effort by the CCC to eradicate it as a “wheat rust” host, and the success of the Japanese Barberry invasion, there is not much left…certainly not enough to harvest for a throat spray. It is Barberry root that contains the active ingredient, so maybe Tom’s will solve the Barberry problem at Laudholm over the coming years. They have already funded the removal of thousands of plants and their replacement with Mountain Laurel and Red Cedar (depending on how wet the soil is). Maybe in 10 years this autumn understory color will be no more. We can hope. And untold thousands of throats will thank us (or Tom’s at any rate). iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
Flood
We had a lot of rain with this last storm. The neighbor’s yard had a small pond in it, which I have not seen in at least 10 years, the pond along Route 9 south of Brown Street was over its banks, which I have never seen before, and, as you see from the photo, the Branch Brook Marsh right on the Wells Town line was completely under water…and though I don’t have a photo of the other side of the road, it was completely flooded as well, as far as you could see out toward the sea. That is a lot of water. In this shot, which is a short sweep panorama with the iPhone SE and the Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens, if you did not know better you would think you were looking at a lake. The water is only inches, a foot at most, deep over the matted grasses of the marsh. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
Red
As I have mentioned several times now, we don‘t seem to have had as much red in our foliage this autumn as I remember in the past. That does not mean, however, that we had had no red at all 🙂 And, what red there is, really stands out! This is at Laudholm Farms in Wells, Maine. iPhone SE with the Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.