Posts in Category: macro
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.
Maine! Scolia Wasp in Goldenrod
Scolia Wasp: Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy, York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — When the Blazing Star blooms on the Kennebunk Plains, it attracts insects of all kinds. This Scolia Wasp happened to be in the Goldenrod, which is also in full bloom on the Plains right now. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine: Robber Flies
Robber Flies: Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy, York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — There are 54 species of Robber Flies living in Maine, comprising 20 different Genera…and there are over 1000 species world-wide. I have no idea which of the 54 these two are, but I found lots of individuals and many mating pairs when I visited the Kennebunk Plains last week to photograph the Northern Blazing Start bloom. This is a hand held in-camera focus stack from the OM Systems OM-1 and the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent and about 4 feet. The stack is 8 exposures deep. Being able to do this hand held with an 800mm equivalent lens and from a comfortable working distance is pretty amazing. 🙂 Program mode. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Nominal exposure ISO 400 @ f6.3 @ 1/1250th.
Maine! Honey Bee
Honey Bee: SMHC Kennebunk, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2023 — Busy bee! I am not sure what ate the petals of the flower, but it is not bothering the bee. Note the heavy pollen basket on the hind leg. This is a telephoto macro with the OM Systems 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent, on the OM-1 body. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications (which work, as you see, quite well for bugs). Processed n Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f8 @ 1/1250th. -1EV.
Maine! Fiddlehead season
Fiddleheads (emerging ferns): Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, May 2023 — It is fiddlehead season and the woods at Laudholm Farms are full of them. Emerging ferns. I was trying out the somewhat macro capabilities of the Olympus 100-400mm zoom. It does .5x at 800mm equivalent, and 1x using the digital tele-converter for 1600mm from 4.3 feet. You don’t have much depth of field, but still, it makes a emergency macro without carrying an extra lens. 🙂 Olympus OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800 and 1600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving macro and environmental modifications. (Custom program #4). ISO 800 and 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/320th. Shot off my bean-bag headed monopod.
Maine spring edition: Trout-lily
Trout-lily, Wells Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — It is Trout-lily time of year again. I have been watching the distinctive leaves, dark green with brown mottling, emerge slowly in likely spots, but these are the first I have found blooming this spring, in a warm sheltered spot along the boardwalk in the Maple Swamp at Laudholm Farms. Trout-lily (or Adder’s Tongue) is a nodding lily and you have to get right down on the ground to shoot up under the blossoms for the full effect. Times like these I am very thankful for the articulated LCD on the Sony. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv. One at 97mm equivalent, two at 79mm, and the last one at 600mm for a telephoto macro. With the Sony’s full time macro you have to experiment with close focus distance and focal length for the best image scale…or back off and shoot at 600mm. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/400th to 1/800th.
Ladyish Bug?
While walking at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms the other day, I spotted what I thought might gleam off the shell of a very small insect on the dried flowers of a plant along the trail. I took a few tel-macro shots at 600mm equivalent, but I was not sure, through the viewfinder, if I was really even seeing a bug at all. In processing on my iPad Pro, I discovered this elegant little beetle. The Fieldguides AI app says it is a Cryptocephalus (Leaf Beetle) of some kind. The closest match on Google Lens, and the only one from North America, is 14 Spotted Leaf Beetle. The photo has received the super-crop treatment: processed as most of my photos are in Polarr, then opened in Pixelmator Photo Pro for enlargement using the Machine Learning Super Resolution tool, then recropped for what amounts to maybe the equivalent 2500mm of magnification from 5 feet, and possibly a 4x macro. This is a tiny bug, less than 1/8th inch long. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed as above. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th.
Green Darner, close-up
Green Darner: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Two more shots of the Green Darner pair that I found at the Southern Maine Health Care drainage ponds here in Kennebunk. They were very busy ovipositing on a floating reed, and I was able to extend the zoom on my Nikon B700 to the full reach of its enhanced digital zoom at 2880mm equivalent, for these telephoto macro shots of the two heads. Shutter preferred program mode at 1/400th. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Large Lace Border Moth
Large Lace Border Moth: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — When I got back from my trike ride the other day, this lovely little moth was waiting for me in the ground cover along the foundation of our home. It was settled there, and I was able to put the camera in Macro mode and take this full frame close up at about 108mm equivalent. I did not know what the moth was, so I used the AI identification feature of my FieldGuides Leps app. I was not at all surprised at the name…it is what I would called this moth if I had the naming to do 🙂 Though it is the “large” lace border moth, it is only about an inch wing tip to wing tip. Nikon B700 as above. Shutter program with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Four-spotted Skimmer
Four-spotted Skimmer: Kennebunk Bridle Path, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — As I said yesterday, it was definitely a skimmer day, with Painted, Twelve-spotted, and Four-spotted all in flight over the little pools in the marsh along the lower Mousam River here in Kennebunk. This is two shots of the same 4-spot. Nikon B700 at 2880 (2x enhanced digital zoom) and 1440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.