My macro journey

[BrokenolMarine]

Okay, I did a lot of further searching. This is a "Spotted Orbweaver" and they will bite in Self Defense if you mess with them. But, the information states that their "venom" is not dangerous to Humans. It didn't say if the bite was painful, but they are good sized boogers.

[markiver54]

I'm guessing Wolf spider,

[clovishound]

Looks similar to this guy.

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[clovishound]

The Pup wanted to go today, and I let her use the flash, so I had to shoot everything available light. That was a learning experience, and felt very confining. I do have a better appreciation for the benefit of available light in some subjects.


This one would have been totally different and not as good, IMO, with flash. I love the bokeh (circular highlights in the background) and the backlighting in the rose, as well as the color contrasts.

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This little guy surprised me by landing on the back of my hand while trying to photograph another dragonfly.

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Had to settle for mostly plants and flowers without the flash. I focus stacked this one to get all the subject material in focus.

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This one is to get ready for Halloween.

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[clovishound]

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[CT_Shooter]

Wow. Love the reflecting spectrum of color that's glowing in the dew drops hanging from the flower petal. Fabulous.

[markiver54]

Wow. Love the reflecting spectrum of color that's glowing in the dew drops hanging from the flower petal. Fabulous.

My thoughts exactly!

[clovishound]

The drop of water acts like a fisheye lens, giving a curved view of what's behind it. Upside down. In this case it's more flowers on stalks.


You can see what it is better in this image. I couldn't seem to get the color right in this one, although I like the image in the drop better in it.

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I even tried this trick. Interesting, but didn't work for me or the Pup.

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[CT_Shooter]

I even tried this trick. Interesting, but didn't work for me or the Pup.

I agree with you and your daughter. The full color image is exquisite. That "snow globe" of water in that photo is outstanding. The B&W image... not so much.

[clovishound]

The Pup and I decided to take advantage of the cooler weather and sneak out and take some pictures before my wife comes home from rehab next week. After she gets home we probably won't be able to go out together for a while.

Since they mowed the wildflower field at Cypress last week, we decided to go to Magnolia. There were fewer insects than earlier in the year due to cooler weather. It was in the upper 40s this morning, but lots of bee activity.


I really like this one. The bee was sleeping on the flower and was still covered with dew. A little oversaturated, but trying to dial it down resulted in the orangey shadows looking really weird. I may work on that later and try and improve it.

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I would like to try this one again, but position the camera so that the entire background is black. This is actually 6 individual images stacked together to get the entire stamen in focus.

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I love the soft texture of the bee in this one. Had issues with the pedals of the flower being blown out. I was able to bring the levels down, but still not entirely happy with the result. That's the problem with very light colored background and a very dark subject. I actually nailed the exposure pretty much in the middle, or it would have been a round file image.

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Not a macro, but I like it so I thought I'd post it here, since it was taken along with all the other macro shots.

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FYI, if you want to view any of these images in a larger format, just right click on the image and choose "open image in new tab". A new tab will open and you can view it in a much larger format. Many of my images look much better larger, rather than the small sizes the forum posts.

[CT_Shooter]

The bee was sleeping on the flower and was still covered with dew. A little oversaturated, but trying to dial it down resulted in the orangey shadows looking really weird. I may work on that later and try and improve it.

This bee was likely not "sleeping", but grounded by the cold morning temperature, rendering it unable to fly. Regardless, it's a truly beautiful image enhanced by the dew drops that formed on it. Thanks.

BTW, I do enlarge your images (and others) in a new browser tab. Totally recommend it.

[clovishound]

Well, getting ready for my wife to come home from rehab tomorrow and had to go the back door of the garage and saw this little guy staring at me. Ran and alerted the Pup and grabbed my camera. Got a couple decent shots.

This was probably the best. Haven't seen the Pup's yet.

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Managed to get the tongue out a little on this one.

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[clovishound]

Another backyard encounter this afternoon.

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He was very cooperative. Wish I had a really high magnification lens to get a picture of just the eye.

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[clovishound]

Well, I don't have a high magnification macro lens, but I thought I'd see what I could do enlarging the eye using the first picture.

Topaz, Lightroom and the Z5 came through.

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[CT_Shooter]

He was very cooperative.

More fabulous photos, CH. Thanks, again.

This is a female; not that it matters to anyone but her and other toads. The "ear" of frogs and toads is that oval colored shape (the tympanum) beside their eyes. If it's larger than the eye, it's a male. Otherwise...

[clovishound]

My apologies to the girl toad.

I'll try and be more observant now that I know the difference.

[markiver54]

Thanks for keeping the pics coming CH...great!

[clovishound]

Well, with the wife recovering from a broken hip, I've not had a chance to go out and about to shoot. She's progressing well, and I hope to be free to spend a few hours away in the next month or so. When I saw the toad, I decided to take advantage of the moment. Unfortunately, this is not the best season for macro work. Most of the smaller critters are not out and about.

[clovishound]

I've really been wanting to get back out and do some shooting with the camera. I managed to do that today. It was a nice, fairly warm day. There were a few critters out and about at Cypress. Unfortunately, I discovered that just a couple months out of the loop had me rusty. I struggled with issues I thought I had behind me.

This was my favorite.

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This one had some problems with blown out highlights. A switch to B&W fixed that rather nicely.

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I really like the textures of this one, even if it is a little pink.

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This one has all the elements, but for some reason just doesn't thrill me.

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[CT_Shooter]

This was my favorite.

Mine, too. Beautiful image. Thanks.