Archive for category Animals
January 29, 2012 – Bee and Flower
Posted by Dave in - Best of Dave's POTD -, Animals, Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on January 29, 2012
Bee and Flower
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Umm. Wow. Been awhile, huh? Well, here’s one to hold you over until I decide to start blogging again.
Subscribe to the Picture of the Day via: Popularity: 9%
June 24, 2011 – Ladybug
Posted by Dave in Animals, Macro, Picture of the Day on June 24, 2011
Ladybug
Friday, June 24, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=2533
So, here’s a ladybug. I used my Tamron 90mm macro lens that I picked up used at Glazer’s a year or two ago. The more I use it, the more I’m convinced that it doesn’t result in quite as nice of images as my Minolta-mount Kiron 105 that I got on Ebay. But, it’s a heck of a lot easier to use. That’s because it’s actually a modern, electronic lens that is designed for working with a Canon body, as opposed to an old, physically actuated lens that was designed for a mount that I’m not even sure they make anymore. The reason that makes a difference in usability primarily comes down to the aperture. With modern lenses, the aperture is held wide open as you’re focusing and composing, then it’s closed down to the desired size when you hit the shutter button. The minolta-mount lens has the same idea, but it’s done physically – meaning there’s a little spring-loaded rod in the mount that, when moved to the side, holds open the aperture. When you hit the shutter button on a camera that uses that mount, it then moves something out of the way that was previously holding that rod in place, thus the spring that I mentioned then closes down the aperture. But obviously, a modern Canon-mount camera doesn’t support that.
So, the upshot of all that is that when you’re using the Kiron lens, you have to close down the aperture before taking the shot. Which means that you’re restricting the amount of light that you have to focus with, sometimes severely so. And, to make matters worse, you’re enlarging your depth of field at the same time. So it becomes extremely difficult to tell if you’re focused on just the spot you want, particularly so when you’re taking macro shots, where being off by a millimeter or less can ruin the shot. Yeah, it’s hard. So, that’s what I mean when I say the Tamron is easier to use, because you can use the wide open aperture to focus, and it’ll automatically step down when you take the shot. But the images aren’t as nice. So it goes.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron 90mm macro lens with Opteka extension tube and Phoenix macro ring flash. 1/160s, f/16, ISO 100.
Popularity: 15%
June 15, 2011 – Bee and Poppy
Posted by Dave in Animals, Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on June 15, 2011
Bee and Poppy
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=2515
Well hello there, folks. Looks like Tuesday never happened, huh? That’s too bad. This is the picture I was planning to post, before the day just kind of got away from me. Remember on Monday how I was talking about taking pictures of bugs that were flying? Yeah, turns out it’s hard.
The focus is really the hardest part. I mean, sure, you could just zoom way out and all that. But (in case you didn’t notice) I have a bit of a macro obsession. I want to get in close. I want to be able to see the little hairs on the bug’s body. I want to see the romantic bits of flowers. Actually, that’s jumping ahead a little bit. But since it’s done, I’ll go ahead and mention that: I figured the only way it would be even kind of possible is by hanging out near flowers. That is, hanging out near places where there’s a good chance they’ll be landing and/or taking off. Then you can at least try to just focus on the flower, and then be quick on the shutter when a bug flies by. There’s still a good chance that the focus will be a bit too close or far, but then you at least stand a chance. But it’s still tough, because bees like to go to where there are hundreds of flowers. Meaning, if you decide to just focus in on one in particular, you’ll probably be sitting there all day while they land on every single flower there except for the one you’re focused on. It’s annoying.
So, I compromised a bit. I didn’t get in as close as I’d like to, because then it would have been just plain impossible. I zoomed out a bit, and then I just took lots and lots of frames. And then a couple of them turned out okay. It was also annoying that the sun which I had been counting on disappeared behind the clouds as soon as I went outside. Meaning, I had to crank the ISO a bit in order to keep the shutter speeds fast enough. (That’s another problem. Those suckers are MOVING – so if you’re using anything less than like 1/1000s, you’ll get motion blur.)
So, right. It’s hard. Here ya go.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens. 1/1250s, f/5.0, ISO 400. Focal length: duh, 90mm.
Popularity: 11%
June 10, 2011 – Ant, Lupine
Posted by Dave in Animals, Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on June 10, 2011
Ant on Lupine
Friday, June 10, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1733
Hey, lookie here, this is the 5th post this week! I actually did it – I actually posted one picture here per day on, umm, the picture of the day. I think I deserve a pretty serious pat on the back for that one. Also, I’ll probably over-compensate now by not posting anything else for a month and a half. Hmm.
These are lupine flowers. You see them a bunch up in the mountains here in Washington. That’s an ant. You see them a bunch just about everywhere in the world I’ve ever been. Okay, that’s all I’ve got.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300mm VC lens. 1/200s, f/6.3, ISO 200. Focal length: 300mm.
Popularity: 12%
June 6, 2011 – Spider
Posted by Dave in Animals, Macro, Picture of the Day on June 6, 2011
Spider
Monday, June 6, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=2020
Just a quick post today to let you know that I haven’t forgotten about you all. I mean, I almost forgot about you all. But I kind of just barely remembered you when I was grabbing a cup of coffee. So in some respects I *did* forget about you all, just… not permanently. But don’t worry! I still love you all! As much as I ever loved you all. Which I guess means that I still … umm … don’t actively dislike you all. Umm… here’s a spider.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron 90mm macro lens with Phoenix macro ring flash. 1/160s, f/20.0, ISO 100.
Popularity: 8%
May 18, 2011 – Bee and Flower
Posted by Dave in - Best of Dave's POTD -, Animals, Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on May 18, 2011
Bee and Flower
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1961
Let’s go with this one today. It’s (yet another) bee with (yet another) flower. But it’s Wednesday, and this makes me 3 for 3. I think these are lavender flowers or something? Hmm, whatever, not important. They’re nice enough to look at.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens. 1/200s, f/5.0, ISO 400. Focal length: 90mm.
Popularity: 19%
May 5, 2011 – Parrot
Posted by Dave in Animals, Picture of the Day on May 5, 2011
Parrot
Thursday, May 5, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1129
Yeah okay, so, it’s a parrot.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300mm lens. 1/400s, f/10.0, ISO 400. Focal length: 300mm.
Popularity: 10%
April 21, 2011 – Elk
Posted by Dave in Animals, Colorado, Picture of the Day on April 21, 2011
Elk
Thursday, April 21, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1799
Hey look. There are some elk up on that hillside. Yawn.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300mm VC lens. 1/200s, f/18.0, ISO 200. Focal length: 300mm.
Popularity: 16%
April 5, 2011 – Bee and Flowers
Posted by Dave in Animals, Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on April 5, 2011
Bee and Flowers
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=2013
Don’t worry, I’ll inundate you guys soon with a bunch of Hawaii pictures, it’s definitely coming. In the meantime though, I’m just going to toss out a few more shots from the archive. Like this one. And no, this one isn’t from this year. I haven’t yet started going outside to take bug pictures this year, I think it’s still a bit too cold for them (the bugs, not the pictures), and besides, the flowers haven’t really started blooming yet. (Although some of the trees have…)
Obviously, I used a flash in this picture. The fact that it’s so obvious is actually one thing I don’t really like about it. The bee’s “skin” was just too reflective, so I got that crazy shine. I mean, in some ways it’s neat, because you can really see all the little grains of pollen stuck to his head, but using artificial light like that almost feels like cheating. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll get over it.
In other news, I believe the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival has started. Meaning, I’m pretty sure it officially goes from basically the beginning of to the end of April. I haven’t actually put any effort in to see if any tulips are actually blooming yet (although there are some daffodils blooming locally, so those are probably in full effect up there), but it’s probably time to start looking for a nice weekend day to head up there. If you’re a photographer, and you’re at least somewhat in the area (BC counts!) it’s totally worth checking out, you can have a lot of fun playing around with lots of different theme ideas. I’m tentatively planning on making it up there sooner or later, so maybe I’ll see you up there?
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro lens. 1/160s, f/16.0, ISO 100. Focal length: 90mm.
Popularity: 15%
February 9, 2011 – Aaaaaah, a Fly!
Posted by Dave in Animals, Macro, Picture of the Day on February 9, 2011
Fly
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1972
Aaaaaahhh!! There’s a giant camera in my face!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens with Opteka extension tubes. 1/800s, f/5.0, ISO 800.
Popularity: 19%
January 21, 2011 – Spider
Posted by Dave in - Best of Dave's POTD -, Animals, Macro, Picture of the Day on January 21, 2011
Spider
Friday, January 21, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=2021
Welcome to Friday! That means the week is over, which is probably a good thing. I had a really hard time picking an image for today, as it turns out. Not because I just wasn’t finding anything good to toss up here, but because I had no idea what kind of picture I should go with. I had my buddy Roy help me pick one, and the choices I gave him ranged from stuff like this, to flowers, to snowy mountains, to some east-coast fall-color stuff. But out of the eight choices I sent him, he picked this one. Sorry that it’s a bit, ahh, disgusting.
As you probably know, I spent a fair bit of time this summer running around after bugs. As it turns out, there really aren’t very many interesting ones here in Seattle. I mean, if you were to head out into the actual, you know, woods, you’d probably find a few, but if you’re just looking at what’s running around my neighborhood, there’s really not much. There are a couple different kinds of flies, and a couple different kinds of bees. And then there was predominantly one kind of spider, which you’re looking at right now. Almost all of them that I saw were probably around an inch across, so not really exceptionally large in any way (although not too small either, for sure), although I saw some slightly larger ones as the summer came to a close. As it happens, it can be pretty difficult to get a decent shot of these guys, because they tend to hang out right in the middle of their web. But, webs move. So, while I’m trying to focus on the spider, the web can move several inches in either direction with even the slightest breeze. And there are almost no times at which there is no movement. If you’re not using a flash, it’s not as big of a deal, because then you can just let the shutter rip (although since you’re not using a flash, you’re probably using a longer shutter speed, which can cause problems due to the movement itself.) But if you’re using a flash (particularly a really cheap one like I was, that takes forever to recharge), it can be a real pain in the butt.
But, it’s not impossible, and then you get stuff like this. I’m not saying stuff like this is particularly great, I’m just saying that this is the kind of stuff you get, you can be the judge for whether it’s worth it or not.
Anyway, have a great weekend!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron 90mm macro lens, Phoenix macro ring flash. 1/160s, f/20.0, ISO 100. Focal length: 90mm.
Popularity: 13%
January 7, 2011 – Bee and Flower
Posted by Dave in Animals, Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on January 7, 2011
Bee and Daisy
Friday, January 7, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1718
Wait, what?? This blog is still getting posted to? Man, I thought it was dead there for awhile. But then, BAM, just like that, a new post.
That’s right, folks, I’m getting back on the horse! The horse meaning, of course, the habit of occasionally posting pictures, maybe a few times a week if you’re lucky. I spent some time out of town over the holidays and all that, but I’m back now. Perhaps eventually I’ll even toss up a couple photos from that trip. But, not today. I haven’t even downloaded them from the camera yet, honestly. Hopefully soon, we’ll see.
In the meantime, here’s another insect and a flower. It’s true, this one is very similar to a photo I posted a long time ago. But, while it was taken at the same location (the Rose Garden in Woodland Park), it was taken about a year later, using different equipment. So it’s totally fair game. Because, you know, it’s all a game, with rules and stuff. And I hate breaking the rules.
Have a great weekend everyone! I’ll try and put up at least two posts next week, but I totally want to ease everyone back into this, so I’ll definitely take it slow.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron 90mm macro lens, Phoenix macro ring flash. 1/160s, f/20.0, ISO 100.
Popularity: 19%