An early start this morning, I went out with a small Nottinghamshire wildlife trust group to see some moth traps being opened for a regular survey.
I didn't realise how many species of moth we have - it's well into the hundreds.
(And yes, I know this is not perched on a poplar, but I think it was getting a little sleepy by this time in the morning, and it happily transferred from our pencil onto the Meadowsweet)
A couple more after the jump.
I was absolutely knackered after work today. I flaked out on the sofa and woke myself up a couple of times with a particularly horrendous snore.
Predictably, now it's approaching midnight, I've perked up nicely and don't want to go to bed (as usual).
I've got a few daffodils on the go at the moment, so I thought I'd give them a spot of macro treatment. This one's a 4x magnification shot, un-stacked this time.
I 3D printed a grid for my Godox MF12 flashes the other night, and gave it a go here. It seems to work OK.
It's quite interesting working at this scale, even a small flash like the MF12 has the look a much larger light would have at a more normal scale, but you still need quite a lot of power.
This one's my submission for this week's 52Fframes "Macro" challenge.
It's a 2x macro shot, and is a focus stack of 60 frames.
[Rant Redacted]
I crashed out hard after work today and fell asleep on the sofa, so I never got round to going out for a walk (or doing anything else).
I was reaching for the backup bucket, but I finally managed to haul my vast bulk off my lazy backside and took this flower off my Fuchsia for a bit of macro treatment.
The Fuchsia has just burst into flower in the last couple of days, and is looking lovely. Granny Pat would have been most pleased with it, and I'm reminded of her every time I see it.
This one's made up of 62 shots stacked in Helicon Focus.
Judging by the amount of retouching I had to do to make this presentable, my sensor is about due for a good clean!
I had no idea what this bush actually was until fairly recently. It grows like wildfire every year, completely taking over my garden path, so I've always referred to it as the triffid.
It seems to have a particularly potent scent this year, particularly in the evenings. It's a shame I can't post the smell online!
This is a focus stack of 20 shots, fairly crudely done by turning the focus ring carefully by hand between shots. Stacked in Helicon Focus.
I tried using Helicon Remote initially to control the camera, but the minimum step size seemed to be massive for some reason, so I abandoned that because I wasn't enjoying the process.
But certainly glowing.
I went on a glow worm hunt with a local wildlife group this evening. I'm not unhappy with the results 😊
A few more after the jump.
I pinched out the tops of the stems on my basil plant the other day, as it was heading skywards at an alarming rate, and I prefer having tasty leaves to eat rather than miles of stem to look at! This seems to have had the desired effect of making it sprout lots of tiny little leaves further down the stem.
This one's a 3x macro made by focus stacking 64 individual shots with Helicon Focus. I find the process quite interesting to watch, so I've added a little time lapse video of the stack being created (after the jump) for anyone who cares.
This is a shot (or at least a subject) I've been meaning to take for quite a while now. This spider has taken up residence in my boiler's pressure relief vent tube, and I regularly see a couple of legs sticking out as I unlock my door.
This evening, I set up the camera and flashes, and waited patiently to catch the rest of the beastie.
Sorry to any arachnophobes in the audience!
I used three diffused Godox MF12 flashes; two on the lens ring, at the top and bottom, plus a third on a stand to the left, filling the shadows and background.
I was just about to leave the house when I spotted these flowers on my basil plant, and temporarily shelved my plans to photograph them.
This basil plant has lasted remarkably well - every time I've bought one of these supermarket living herb plants in the past, it's snuffed it within a couple of weeks, but I've had this one for several months so far without killing it!
This is a stack of 9 shots taken with Helicon Remote, and stacked in Helicon Focus.
This one's a possible 52Frames submission for this week's "Details" challenge, assuming I don't get anything else.
This is a 37 frame stack, shot with the WeMacro rail and processed with Helicon Focus.
Whatever, it's broken now!
This is my submission for this week's 52Frames "Egg" challenge. A bit of an odd one, but c'est la vie!
The egg made a pretty tolerable mug cake, too.
You've only gone and broken it!
Again!
Part of the cause of a minor meltdown I had last week. I destroyed two small drill bits in as many minutes trying to make holes in copper parts. I thought I'd exorcise the demons by taking macro photos of the victim!
48 photos taken with the WeMacro focus rail, stacked in Helicon Focus.
My friend gave this orchid to Lucy years ago when he borrowed me for a day's DIY-ing, and it's sat on the windowsill ever since.
It came with dire warnings about not overwatering it, so I've always tried to keep up with watering it, but not drowning it.
It never looked as good as when it was new though, and I thought it was slowly dying over the last several years.
A few months ago, I noticed that it was looking particularly sad, and I thought there wasn't much to lose with it, so I hoiked it out of the pot and tidied up the roots, which were growing out of the top of the pot, and had been half-eaten by bugs, and I've been watering it much more.
It seemed to like the treatment, and has had a burst of new growth. When I got home this afternoon, I noticed that this lovely flower had appeared.
I was a bit frazzled after work this evening, and had very little inclination to shoot (or even do) anything.
I eventually nipped out to the car to grab something, and noticed that this chunk of moss had appeared on my lawn. It seemed like a decent candidate for a macro shot.
Once I started exploring it with the lens, I found this little patch of white-tipped fronds that I thought looked interesting.
This is at 3x magnification, and is a stack of 50 images.
Stacked with Helicon Focus.
This has ended up looking like a thermal image, but it is in fact a 5x macro of some foam handwash with some slightly silly lighting applied.
I've included an earlier shot, and a quick behind-the-scenes snap of the contrivance I shot this with after the jump.
I have felt oddly unsettled today, and haven't been able to shake it all evening. I think it's mostly work related, but it is getting a bit old.
This is the same plant I shot a few days ago, but properly out now. It smells remarkably strong!
A couple more after the jump.
A macro shot of a grater (of all things...)
I've got started on the daffodils very early this year! I didn't know you could get them in the middle of winter, but my Mum found some.
This is a focus stack of 15 photos, although there isn't a great deal to choose between this stack and a single frame shot at f/22 - this stacked one is a little sharper overall, so I went for it.
This is the first outing for the MP-E 65mm macro lens on the R5.
I have been a bit bait-and-switched by this virus today - I woke up feeling quite a bit better, and a couple of hours later, my temperature shot up again.
One more after the jump.
