This article features five M.Zuiko 100-400 mm HHHR test images captured at the Royal Botanical Gardens, along with 100% crops of each. As regular readers know I enjoy pushing myself and my camera gear with various challenges, just to see what will result. On a personal basis I don’t spend any time pixel peeping my images… but I do appreciate that some readers would like to see some 100% crops periodically so I included them in this article.
Wasps In-Flight at 1600 mm
This article features a selection of photographs of wasps in-flight at 1600 mm efov, captured handheld at Grimsby Wetlands. As regular readers know, from time to time I like to give myself a specific challenge… and push my camera gear… just to see what will happen.
Landscapes Using f/2.8
This article provides some simple techniques on photographing landscapes using f/2.8 with a wide angle constant aperture zoom lens.
We can risk some image softness from diffraction when we stop our lens down further than is needed to achieve deep depth-of-field. Diffraction is not only a potential issue when using smaller sensor cameras like M4/3, but also with high density full frame sensors.
Two Key Questions
This article shares two key questions that I do my best to ask myself… and answer… when I’m out in the field with my camera gear. I’ve found these two key questions have helped me make the most of the photographic opportunities that present themselves.
Monarch Butterflies
Often in the July/August time period I have opportunities to photograph Monarch butterflies as they visit various blossoms in my backyard. One of their favourite spots is a large butterfly bush that is adjacent to my back deck.
A few days ago I spent some time sitting in a lounge chair on my back deck photographing Monarch butterflies. It was one of the most productive butterfly photography sessions that I’ve had in quite some time.
Clearwing Hummingbird Moth
For only the second time in my life I recently had the opportunity to photograph a clearwing hummingbird moth… right in my own backyard. It was almost 5 years ago to the day that I shared some photographs of a clearwing hummingbird moth that was visiting a butterfly bush adjacent to my pond.
Importance of Breadcrumbs
As each of us goes through life, the importance of breadcrumbs left behind by others, and the ones that we create, can become invaluable. Life’s breadcrumbs come in many forms. It could be a first hand, personal interaction that we had with another person that proved pivotal in our life’s journey.
Bees In-Flight Test
This article shares a selection of bees in-flight test photographs and discusses some of the issues considered when creating these images. All photographs were captured handheld in my backyard during a single, relatively short photo session.
Online Birding Reference
Our thanks to one of our readers, Ray Miller, for sharing an online birding reference… ebird.org… which was helpful for me to discover some additional local birding locations. It is always helpful to communicate with other people who enjoy bird and nature photography to learn about local bird populations, seasonality etc.
Observing Nature
Observing nature is one of the most important things that photographers can do to increase their success rate when photographing wildlife. This article shares a selection of photographs of dragonflies and discusses how observing nature contributed to creating these images.