Posts in Category: macro
Ice!
thin ice shell over buds, Kennebunk Maine
We had a day of freezing rain late last week. Every elevated surface was coated with a thin shell of ice. Fortunately the ground and roads were warm enough so that ice did not form underfoot and under tire. I went out to the grocery and was caught by a tangle of brush across the road, bordering the drive and parking lot of a bank. There were some birches in the classic “bent down by ice” posture, and lots of ice-bound buds along the branches in the tangle.
In-camera HDR. Sony HX90V at 24mm equivalent field of view. Processed in Lightroom.
Calico Pennant
Calico Pennant. Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, ME
I always look forward to the first Calico Pennant of the season. I found some teneral (newly emerged) Calicos at Day Brook Pond a week ago, but did not find any adults until yesterday. There were hundreds around the pond…males outnumbering females about 6 to one…but then the females had probably already dispersed for the day to feeding grounds further from the water. I did find a mating wheel. Calicos are relatively easy to photograph as they settle out frequently on perches that are predictable, once you know what to look for…and sometimes sit sunning themselves for 60 seconds at a time.
This shot is a tele-macro shot, taken handheld at 4000mm equivalent using Digital Fine Zoom on the Nikon P900. I had to back off to the minimum focus distance of 16.5 feet to get the bug in focus. 1/500th @ ISO 140 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
River Jewelwing
River Jewelwing, Emmons Preserve, Kennebunkport ME
I took a photoprowl around the meadow loop at Emmons Preserve (Kennebunk Land Conservancy) yesterday morning. I was looking mostly for dragonflies, and on a somewhat tight schedule as I had to have the car back. One of the first dragonflies I saw was what I thought was a female Ebony Jewelwing, and up at the top of the meadow I photographed several…enough to inspire me to make a quick mile hike through the forest to the little set of falls on the Batson River where the males hang out. And there were males, hovering, dancing, and darting right over the rapids where the fall enters the pool, where I have seen them every year. I was a bit bemused though, as it is at least a month earlier than I have ever seen Ebony Jewelwings at Emmons Preserve…and this in a spring that is running late, even as we approach summer. Of course when I got back to the computer and processed the images I realized that they were not Ebony Jewelwings at all…they were River Jewelwings…a species I have never seen at Emmons, or anywhere else! The difference is that the Ebony Jewelwing has a completely back wing (bright black in the male, if that is a possible construction, and dull black in the female), River Jewelwings have black only at the tips of the males wings, and the female wings are smoky overall with perhaps a bit of darkening at the tips…though I could not observe any darkening at all. River Jewelwings! On my patch!
Female River Jewelwing
Nikon P900 at 550mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 100 @ f5. Processed and cropped for scale in Lightroom.
Bee in Beach Rose
Bee in Rugosa Rose (Beach Rose), Back Creek, Kennebunk ME
It rained off and on most of yesterday, but about 3 pm I decided to go for a photoprowl on my bike anyway. I pushed through what turned out to be a thin band of light rain and got to the marsh behind the beach in time for the sun to come out. I had some fun chasing bees in the Beach Rose along the road (among other things). The wet flowers, and the freshly washed bees, made for vivid images. I did some tele-macro, and then switched to actual macro as the bees were so busy feeding that they did not seem to mind a close approach. This one was captured at about 80mm equivalent field of view in Close Up Mode.
Nikon P900. 1/320th @ ISO 100 @ f3.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Pink Lady Slipper Orchid
Pink Lady Slipper Orchid, Rachel Carson NWR Headquarters Trail
Yesterday I posted a panel of May wildflowers from Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge that included a cluster of Pink Lady Slipper Orchids. It was afternoon when I found them, and by then the sun was off the little glade where they grow. I went back yesterday morning to see if I could catch them in the sun. It takes a warm morning sun to bring out the richness in the pink flesh of the bulb…or late afternoon if you can find a patch with the right light.
Nikon P900 in Close Up Mode at 80mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ f3.5 @ ISO 100. Processed and cropped slightly for composition in Lightroom.
May Wildflower Smorgasbord
Rachel Carson NWR Headquarters Trail
I took a turn around the trail at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge headquarters yesterday afternoon, looking mainly for spring wildflowers. We have a later-than-normal spring this year in Maine, and flowers that are normally blooming the first week in May are just now coming into flower. Here we have, top left clockwise around the outside, Wood Violet, Star Flower, Geranium, Two-bead Lily, Painted Trillium, and Pink Lady Slipper. The inset is Spring Beauty, with Wood Violet in the background.
Nikon P900 in Close Up Mode. Mostly at about 100mm equivalent field of view. Auto exposures. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage. Coolage makes this kind of panel relatively easy to assemble.
The Physics of Ice?
Ice covered cobble at the beach.
I have been trying to get my head around the physics of this ice covered cobble, found on our local beach, yesterday. If you look closely you will see that the whole cobble, which was about the size of a grapefruit, is coated in a smooth shell of ice about 3/8 of an inch thick…very uniform…very tight. Though it appears clear at first glance, as though the stone had been dipped in poly-carbonate or liquid glass, looking even closer shows that the shell is made up of a lacework of tiny ice bubbles fused into the tight shell. This was not the only one. The stone had to be within a certain size range…not much bigger or smaller than this…and it had to be pretty much perfectly round and relatively smooth itself. As you see from the photo, other stones near this one were not effected the same way. I still can not imagine the mechanics of the process. It was very cold the night before…but, still, how did the receding tide produce this effect? (If you know the answer, feel free to post it in the comments.)
Sony HX400V at 45mm equivalent field of view and macro. In-camera HDR. Nominal exposure (Program shifted for greater depth of field) ISO 80 @ 1/1000th @ f6.3. For scale, the snow drift at the edge of the sand is at least 5.5 feet tall. 🙂
Icy Fantasy
Ice coating moss and grass in the front yard
We woke yesterday to a layer of ice over everything. I hurried my breakfast to get out as soon as there was light enough, and before the layer melted. I might as well not have hurried. When I went out at 6PM to run an errand I still had to chip a half inch of ice off the car before I could go. 🙂 I took lots of subjects, lichen covered branches, leaves, etc…as I walked around the front yard, but I particularly liked this set of macro shots of grass and moss.
Sony HX400V at about 60mm equivalent field of view from inches away. Using Program Shift, I dialed the f-stop down for greater depth of field and counted on the image stabilization built into the lens to cover the resulting slow shutter speeds. I also took a burst of images on each subject to ensure I got at least one critically sharp.
Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Photastic Pro on my Surface Pro 3 Windows tablet.
Milkweed!
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I know it seems odd, but I have been waiting patiently for the Milkweek pods to burst. There were great fields of them at the Wells National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farm. They have, as of yesterday, only preserved one small section below the house. The rest have been mowed before the pods could burst. It will be another week before they all ripe and ready for release, but I captured this early pod, just in case they get the mower down there in the next few days. I love the fine silky fibers and the way they catch the light. The seeds themselves have an interesting shape and texture, and the wind is always making new patterns. What is not to love?
Sony HX400V at 55mm equivalent field of view. Macro. ISO 80 @ 1/400th @ f7.1. I used Program Shift for greater depth of field. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
Madrone Curls
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I love the bark of Madrone. I only get to see it when visiting California, but it is always a treat. It is such an unlikely bark for any tree to have. I can’t believe it is actually very functional, but there it is.
Sony HX400V at 38mm equivalent field of view. Macro. ISO 80 @ 1/60th @ f4.5. Program shift for greater depth of field. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro tablet.