035 Misc Photography Crew

[Frnkd]

Nice Moonshots, Frnkd. Did you see the eclipse where you are?

Yes, it was pretty amazing watching it progress. First time I stayed up so late for a lunar eclipse. trying to function now, with 5hrs of sleep.

[pvsampson]

Good one Frank.Didn't get to see it here as it was pouring rain.

[Mark1T]

Yes, it was pretty amazing watching it progress. First time I stayed up so late for a lunar eclipse. trying to function now, with 5hrs of sleep.

That's great you experienced it. Worth the lack of sleep and you'll recover

Good one Frank.Didn't get to see it here as it was pouring rain.

That's a shame, Pete.

[pvsampson]

Close encounter of a local today.Not cropped,just....close.Red Belly Black.

Excuse the focus being a little out.I didn't want to spend too much time so close and push my luck.

[Mark1T]

^^ Pete, that is a wicked-looking snake. Do you hear of many snake bites (any snake) around your area?

Well, I read that the Red Belly Black is generally not fatal, but still can inflict pain and make you very sick. Can be deadly, though.

[acrawlingchaos]

Great shots Pete, good to see you hitting the wild life hard. The fly is pretty damn amazing.

Frank, I wanted to try and get the blood moon but we had solid overcast. Seems to be the case on a lot of sky activity around here.




I was able to get a pano of the Milky Way.






Also... switch up some glass...

Traded the 70-200mm 2.8 for a Rokinon 24mm 1.4 (will use for next milky way attempt)
Trade the 105 Macro for a Sigma 150mm Macro. I can put my 1.4 tele on the lens and still retain AF.

[jmelanson]

Bought a DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus drone last week. Here are some of the first images out of it. 14 megapixel camera on board, also does 1080p video through a 3 axis gimbal. This thing is awesome!









You can see me on the pier, bottom, just left of center.



And here is my first video compilation from it.

[Frnkd]

Bought a DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus drone last week. Here are some of the first images out of it. 14 megapixel camera on board, also does 1080p video through a 3 axis gimbal. This thing is awesome!









You can see me on the pier, bottom, just left of center.



And here is my first video compilation from it.

I have a friend who too got a drone, the videos he has take is just amazing. His big fear is crashing in the ocean, lol. So we expect some great vids
Besides your photos, yes?
Looks like fun.

Great photos and video

[Frnkd]

Great shots Pete, good to see you hitting the wild life hard. The fly is pretty damn amazing.

Frank, I wanted to try and get the blood moon but we had solid overcast. Seems to be the case on a lot of sky activity around here.




I was able to get a pano of the Milky Way.

Love your night photos, eiree and mysterious

[pvsampson]

Nice night shot ACC,and waiting for some macros from the 150mm!

JM,pretty cool "toy" to play with,excellent results.

[DocHoss]

Close encounter of a local today.Not cropped,just....close.Red Belly Black.

Excuse the focus being a little out.I didn't want to spend too much time so close and push my luck.

WOW - I bet you can see yourself in its eyes in the full size version

I was able to get a pano of the Milky Way.

Wow, that's fabulous! You'd have a blast with the southern skies.

JM,pretty cool "toy" to play with,excellent results.

I agree - would love to have one!

[DocHoss]

See anything unusual in this picture?





Look here:




Look closer - it's Jupiter. Not easy to see in the daytime, but if you know just where to look!




Finally, a shot at dusk through my little telescope. Would like to try stacking some time and see what I get.

[pvsampson]

Salticidae I got yesterday.Only about 1mm in length,and haven't been able to identify species as yet.

[pvsampson]

This caterpillar can retract those red "horns" and they are at full extension here.Just touch it on the back and out they come.

[pvsampson]

[DocHoss]

I love salticids - such little cuties!

Salticidae I got yesterday.Only about 1mm in length,and haven't been able to identify species as yet.

Exceptional picture! You're really doing great with your macros.

[pvsampson]

Thanks Doc. I joined an amateur Entomology page,and it has been identified as Opisthoncus species likely parcedentatus.The other is Hypoblemum albovittatum,a White Banded house jumper,and the caterpillar is an Orchard Swallowtail,Papilio aegeus.

[pvsampson]

[DocHoss]

Thanks Doc. I joined an amateur Entomology page,and it has been identified as Opisthoncus species likely parcedentatus.The other is Hypoblemum albovittatum,a White Banded house jumper,and the caterpillar is an Orchard Swallowtail,Papilio aegeus.

Cool!


A bit late with the eclipse, but here are a couple of pics.

Moon around mid-eclipse





Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2 was visible to the naked eye during totality. I was barely able to see it due to the light pollution here, but it was easy in binoculars. The line points to it. Those who are familiar with Sagittarius should be able to see the Teapot asterism.





Male Western Bluebird

[pvsampson]

[rutka]

Thailand

[pvsampson]

First Mantis capture.I thought at first the white spots may be parasites,on further investigation discovered it is the Ocelli reflecting the flash.

[Mark1T]

Doc, great shot of the beautiful Bluebird. We have several of them at our lake home and they are very wary, so I am curious how you got so close to get that shot?

Pete, awesome shots. You must have a very fast shutter speed for that dragon fly shot.

[pvsampson]

Pete, awesome shots. You must have a very fast shutter speed for that dragon fly shot.

Thanks. I played with different speeds but that one was 1/4000s at f/2.8.The wings are going so fast that I could see no discernible difference between that speed and 1/1000s.

[whatevergirl]

Was up till 2am taking photos of the blood moon.

Your insomnia gives us special things to look at.

Really nice shots!

edit, rutka, really like that pic of thailand.

[DocHoss]

First Mantis capture.I thought at first the white spots may be parasites,on further investigation discovered it is the Ocelli reflecting the flash.

Great shots, as always, but this one in particular con give one nightmares.

Doc, great shot of the beautiful Bluebird. We have several of them at our lake home and they are very wary, so I am curious how you got so close to get that shot?

Just lucky. It flew in and landed on a nearby sign post and stayed long enough to snap a few shots. Flew off before I could adjust my settings though.


Here's a strange little fly that was on my Tylecodon decipiens last fall. This species flowers as it comes out of summer dormancy, before the leaves come out.

[KBKB]

Here's a strange little fly that was on my Tylecodon decipiens last fall. This species flowers as it comes out of summer dormancy, before the leaves come out.

That's an excellent shot!

I see that there are many good shots, both macro and otherwise, posted to this thread. Thanks to whatevergirl for sending me here!

[KBKB]

The problem that I have with nearly all of my macro shots is nailing the focus. Here's an example:



That shot was taken with a 60mm Venus/Laowa macro lens attached to my Sony NEX-7. I was hoping to focus on the front of the nearest palo verde blossom instead of further in. It's not horrible, but it's also not what I wanted.

I purchased a focusing rail a while back, hoping that it would help with shots like this. It hasn't - even the slightest breeze causes the subject to move.

I do okay if it's a static subject - using the same lens, and a tripod with focusing rail, I blended 12 exposures to make this photo of a dime:



Here's one of the twelve exposures:



I do better with subjects that are further away; all of these were taken with the same 60mm lens and camera.

[pvsampson]

^^^^ With any macro shot,depth of field will be an issue. Aperture plays a major part in getting that right as well,and when I was first playing with macro I was too wide and then got some advice and started using between f/11 and f/14 and it made a huge difference.Anything on a leaf,branch,flower will move.Any creature will move.It just takes patience and practise to get the right shot.,and distance will be a determining factor on which part of the subject is in focus as well.

You have your stacking worked out,so try taking several pics of your subjects at different distances then stack them.

[DocHoss]

That's an excellent shot!

Thank you!

I purchased a focusing rail a while back, hoping that it would help with shots like this. It hasn't - even the slightest breeze causes the subject to move.

I do okay if it's a static subject - using the same lens, and a tripod with focusing rail, I blended 12 exposures to make this photo of a dime:

Wow, those are amazingly good. What do you use to combine the shots?