TWIP Focus Stacking a Praying Mantis

So this week, I found a baby praying mantis in the backyard and decided to capture it for my collection.  Praying Mantis are some of my favorite insects just due to their shear coolness.  I am unsure if it was a male or a female, but believe it to be a female as it didn't appear to have wings.  Females are larger and cannot fly due to them not having wings.  The males are much smaller and are the flyers of the bunch.  

This photo took place in my boxwood hedge which provided excellent camouflage to the bug.  No one saw him there but me.  I am pretty good a spotting little things as I was really into macro photography when I first started this journey, so I tend to spot things most don't.  

He was very keen to keep an eye on me even though I caught him glancing at a cricket in the area a time or two.  I was hoping that he was going to pounce on the cricket so I could get some carnage, but he was more interested in me not squishing him than food at the time.  I bet the cricket would have been more than enough for this guy as he was so small.  I used my macro lens with a 36mm extension tube and a continuous macro light to photograph this little guy.  

I ended up using 15 of the 30 photos I took of him in this position to make the below photos.  My previous focus stacking tutorial on here will give you a better idea about how I stack my photos.  It is pretty simple, I import the photos into lightroom, verify the photos I would like to see stacked together, and then import them all into photoshop.  Now photoshop doesn't do as good of job, at least the version I have, as some of the dedicated focus stacking software out there, but it works for what I use it for.  

In photoshop I align the layers and then stack them together.  I then touch up the resulting image as best I can and there you have it.  Takes about 10 minutes per picture if you were looking at it in a time sort of way.  

Here is the baby mantis.  As always, click on the photo for a larger version.  Like my Facebook for more of my work Facebook.com/alderimages.

TWIP Canon Telephoto Taking on Butterflies

My vehicle has been having trouble for a couple weeks, so I decided to try and play mechanic and fix it.  So far so good.  I decided to run to Heron Haven on my drive around town to make sure everything was working, and thought it was about butterfly season...just maybe there would be some there.

Well, I wasn't as lucky as I thought I would be but I did see my three favorite midwestern flyers.  I saw a monarch butterfly, a black swallowtail, and a tiger swallowtail.  I was able to catch up to and capture the first two but the latter always was one step ahead of me.  He would either be out of the butterfly garden or inside, depending on where I was not.  He was sneaky to say the least.  I did get another photo to add to my collection of flowers.  I have something planned for those, so all was not lost.

Today, I shot butterflies with the Canon 300mm f/4L IS and my 6D.  I really like the clean crisp files of the 6D over any other camera I have and from initial reviews, may stick with this for at least one more camera iteration.  While the new 6D has all of the focus fixes I was looking for, I just love the images that come from the 6D sensor.  Taking photos of butterflies with a Telephoto lens like the 300 can be a challenge.  You have to be a little ways back from them, so there has to be a lot of room to move.  The bonus is you can be a ways back from them and let them do their thing.  I prefer it this way as I don't like to disturb nature when photographing it.  Shooting the photos of the flowers held a whole new issue, but I won't go into that.

Enough talk, here are some photos.

As you can see, the swallowtail seem to be a pecking piece for the nearby birds.  Poor guy is missing half of his cool wings.

TWIP Poor Man's 50 mm v 85mm v 100mm v 200mm Lens Test

I have a host of lenses I like to use on a regular basis.  I fiddle here and there with most of them not letting them gather a whole lot of dust.  Since upping the bar to a full frame I have found it interesting the actual lenses I use for the stuff that matters.  So I began getting the itch of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) again.  It may be that the camera that I have wanted was just announce or the fact that I have been itching for a lens for some time, but now am second guessing if I want to get rid of an old lens that I have and replace it with something a little better or possibly something totally new.  It's tough to distinguish, but I have been watching a lot of test videos of comparisons so I went through my stuff and didn't really have anything like this from my gear and how I shoot.  Now granted, I love my Canon 70-200 f/4 L IS.  It is the sharpest lens out there for a zoom.  I love it, but it doesn't get me to 2.8 which would give me lower light ability.  Now, I have lived with this lens for a long time and really don't feel the need to change, but I was interested in what 200mm compression looked like up against the lowest apertures on some of the other lenses I had.  Thus, I am going to give a go with a poor mans test of non-L lenses for my general thoughts and if I really want that shiny new 85 or a crusty old 135.  So, here are a couple shots of comparison.  I made my middle and littlest help me, which even though they got to blow dandelion seeds all over the yard, it didn't make them very up beat about the process.   I guess that 5 minutes could have been better spent.  

So I tested 4 lenses.  I have a 50mm 1.4, which is a really old lens and I would anticipate Canon upgrading any time in the near future.  I love mine.  It is very sharp even at 1.4 which most aren't.  I got a good copy.  I tested the 85mm 1.8., again, consumer lens but I really like mine.  Then tested one of my favorites, the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens (not the IS version).  This lens is also crazy sharp and I have no need for IS on this lens. I have never had the need to spend the extra $500 for the pretty red ring and IS.  Lastly, I tested my 70-200 f/4L IS at 135mm and 200mm just to see what it would look like and the bokeh (background blur) that would be shown.  I tried to maintain the same composition in all of the photos so I could see what the background was going to look like.  I think it did a pretty good job to what I was thinking.  Here is what I came up with.

50mm @1.4

85mm @ 1.8

100mm @ 2.8

135mm @ 4.0

200mm @ 4.0

The 200mm and 135mm area definitely show the compression of the background a make it to almost nothing.  I really wonder what f2 would look like at 135mm.  That is a lens I have looked at for a long time.  May have to borrow one and see what results I get.  I also really like the way the 85mm looks.  Still gives the roundness and less compression than the longer distances, but a nice blur with some inclusion of the background.  Now the lens I have been itching for is the 1.4 version of this lens that you can actually use at 1.4.  Canon does make a version with a 1.2, however that baby is expensive and for what I do, I can't justify the price.

The reason I am more interested in the 85 version, is I used to shoot primarily on a crop sensor with my 50mm.  If your shooting canon, the crop sensor has a 1.6x field of view of a full frame, meaning what your actually seeing is the lens distance x 1.6.  So my 50mm was actually much more like the 85mm lens on my full frame.

I think this little test made up my mind...now I just need to win the lottery.

TWIP - Who Knew Opossums Like Pizza Hut

So, I was lazy and set the pizza box on the deck table with a couple pieces of crust left over.  A few hours later we heard rustling on the deck.  The dogs and I were confused, so we went to check it out.  Much to our surprise was a visitor finishing off the leftovers.  You wouldn't believe how we were no more than 7 or 8 feet from each other, me and the drooling canines behind the patio door and him just hanging out on the table.  This baby opossum continued his meal watching our every move as I snapped away.  Once he finished up, he climbed off the table, left the deck and over the fence.  

TWIP HDR from the Platte

Last week the cub scout pack my son belongs to, took a den activity to the airboat tours location close to our home.  I had been on boats many times, but never an airboat.  Thought this would be an awesome experience for both of us.  The boat tour was on the Platte River, so I was pretty familiar with what it was like especially growing up around the Niobrara River.  Deep spots with tons of sand bars.  The tour was interesting and the boat ride surprisingly smooth.  I would definitely do it again.  I kept the camera tucked away as I didn't know what to expect in terms of water spray, but if I would have remembered my camera strap, I would have had it out almost the whole time. No splash at all.

We stopped a couple of times for the guide to show us different parts of the river and wildlife along the sides.  We even made a stop on the sand bar so the kids could say they stood and played in the Platte.  Yep, right there in the middle of the river.  40 feet of water on either side, but yet it was 6 inches deep.  Just as I remembered the Niobrara when I was a kid.  The clouds were pretty cool giving way to some great sun rays.  I shot a couple of HDR shots from the boat, which is challenging afterwards to line up.  I even tried a new technique using Raya Pro of which I liked the output, but lining up the images was very tough...still wondering if I did something wrong.  Either way, I'll put it out there to view. 

The top shot was from earlier in the day as we were leaving.  The sun rays kissed the top of the church tower.  

 

This is a pano done with an iPhone 6 as I didn't want to get my camera out and chance it.

These are the two HDR shots.  The top was done using NIK filters and were taken from 5 separate shots.  The bottom was done using Photoshop and Raya Pro.  As you can see, the tree on the left side doesn't quite line up right, but I tend to like the softer tone of the photo.  Guess I have a little work to do on mastering luminosity masks.

This one lined up a little better.

This is a 6 shot vertical panorama taken and adjusted in Lightroom.  No HDR.

TWIP After the storm

This week in pictures is after the storm.  We had a rather large storm come through the area producing many tornados and winds that were crazy.  Our area of town was spared some of the worst as the storm weakened slighted as it went through, but quickly intensified again as it went through town.  After the storm had passed, it was perfect timing for the sun to pop from under the clouds and highlight the already very cool looking mammatus clouds.  Here are a couple of the quick shots I was able to get.  The area I was in was filling up quickly with water as it is a collection lake for runoff.  The water rose probably 6 inches from the time we go to the spot until we left.  I did collect one tick as well, which was surprising as I was there less than 15 minutes and the grass was cut very low.  Guess predictions were right that ticks are going to be very bad this year.

TWIP #2

I started this blog a long time ago to follow my photography journey.  I have neglected it for a very long time and feel that it may be time to begin again.  I have many photos on here from prior years and looking back, I would say I have vast improvement over my old self.  However, that being said, I have lots to learn and do to improve every day.  I was planning on doing a TWIP (this week in pictures) for my 52 week project.  I plan on posting 1 photo each week that I have taken that I deem to be a favorite.  I am going to use this as a motivation for making and improving my picture taking ability.  In addition, it will get me outside to actually take pictures which is something I have struggled with in the past couple months.  Making time for family, activities and work have really put a damper on my "getting out there".  So, this week we are experiencing a so called "icemageddon" storm that has shut down may locations around the midwest.  I captured this sunset pre-storm and would like to share it with all of you.

The clouds were really crazy, but were vanishing quickly as I headed to my location.  I was happy to capture these before they were gone.  Thank you for looking.

As always, you can click on the image for a larger size or go and visit my website.  

http://www.alderimages.com/sunset

2016 Landscape and Nature Favorites

It's hard looking back on the year and reviewing your favorite photos.  Each photo has a meaning behind it and a reason why you took it.  Take for example, one of my waterfall photos.  I had a day to go on a hike with my kids.  It wasn't so much about the photo but the first time my kids had ever seen a waterfall in real life. The meaning behind that particular photo is more about the memory of the hike with my boys than the actual photo.  I did have a few like that this year.  Take for example my first entry from this year.  It was extremely dark, so the boys were all able to see the milky way clear as day without all of the light pollution of the city.  They were fast asleep when I went back out to do this star trail.   I was also able to capture the following photo for some very special people in my life that had never seen anything like the photo I provided them.

M's Pub, a famous building burned in a massive fire earlier this year.  I was able to stop by and capture a couple of photos as the OFD worked hours on end to put out the blaze.  The frozen building left behind made for a beautiful photo.  My first trip to Arizona made this years pictures.  I was amazed at the sun bursting to light behind the red mountains.

The hawk photo is a staple in my yearly pictures.  We have a couple that get really close during soccer games, so I always spin for a shot.  This year I happened to catch the moon in the photo.  The ginger bread man in the tree was a dedication to a young boy who passed.  I thought this was a touching tribute in the trees of the arboretum.  The old 370 barn was a sad photo.  This barn was famous as it was one of the last standing embodiments of the old days of Omaha.  This barn was torn down and the property sold to make way for a commercial development.  It was a lonely reminder of the past in an area booming with new development.  This may have been my favorite photo of the year.

I caught the Perseids meteor shower this year.  While I only caught a couple of meteors, my favorite photos of the night were the two panoramas of the milky way I was able to capture at 3 in the morning.  Also took a photo of the first supercell this year.  That was an interesting experience.  Disney was in there.  Last but not least was the first Husker game for my oldest.  That one I am going to print big, not because it was the best picture but rather the meaning behind it.

I did do some other photo stuff this year and those hold a place in the memory bank as well, but these are my nature and landscapes for the year.  I hope everyone had a wonderful year and hope to continue to provide you with more of a view from my lens in 2017.

Family Sessions

Well, fall is kind of winding down the with introduction of snow.  Leaves have pretty much made an exit for the year, but I was able to grab one last family before colors vanished.  This was a very early morning shoot and we happened to capture a little frost on the ground to make a very dynamic color pallet for some of these photos.  Thanks again for letting me spend time with the family and capture some memories for you!