I recently had the opportunity to photograph some dragonflies at the RBG (Royal Botanical Gardens) that were frequenting one of the ponds. The breeze was a bit calmer than it has been in the past so I decided to try my hand at some Handheld Hi Res images, as well as capturing some dragonflies in flight.
Category Archives: Animals
Benefit of Custom Modes
This article discusses the benefit of custom modes and illustrates this with 18 recently captured consecutive handheld images of a kingfisher in flight.
A few days ago I went to Hendrie Valley early in the morning to see if I could capture any images of birds-in-flight. This season has not been particularly productive so my level of optimism was modest.
Bird Photography Fundamentals
There are four bird photography fundamentals we can keep in mind that help add some interest, action, and drama to our images. Rather than camera gear based fundamentals, they relate to the kinds of behaviours that birds exhibit. To state these four bird photography fundamentals as politely as possible these include flying, feeding, fighting, and fornicating. I like to call these the “four F’s” of bird photography. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we should stop photographing perched birds.
Terns at Grimsby Harbour
This article features a number of new images of terns at Grimsby Harbour with most of the birds in-flight. This has been an unusual spring birding season with some locations like Hendrie Valley not being very productive.
Practical Limits
Working within practical limits is something that we all face on a regular basis, regardless of the camera gear that we may own. Rather than blindly accept what other people think the practical limits of specific piece of photographic equipment may be, it is important for each of us to do our own experimentation. This enables us to establish what we consider to be the practical limits of various components of our integrated camera systems based on our photographic style, image use, and our individual skill sets.
Focus Stacking with 100-400
This article shares some in-camera focus stacking test images captured handheld with an M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS zoom lens. I really didn’t know what to expect using my E-M1X’s in-camera focus stacking capability with this particular lens. In the past I most often used the M.Zuiko PRO 40-150 mm f/2.8 zoom or the M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro with in-camera focus stacking.
The 100-400 does have a reasonably short minimum focusing distance of 1.3 metres, so I thought this test was worth a try. These test photographs fall under the ‘let’s see what happens’ category.
Redefine Camera Systems
We live in a photographic age that is causing us to redefine camera systems well beyond our previous, and simplistic, two dimensional view. It wasn’t that many years ago when many photographers only considered two factors. The camera body. And, the lenses associated with it. In the past some cameras were bought more because of the lenses that could be married to it, rather than specific attributes of the body itself.
Twelve-spotted Skimmer In Flight
I visited the Royal Botanical Gardens yesterday and was able to capture some images of a twelve-spotted skimmer in flight. These were some of my first images of dragonflies captured during the 2022 season.
Comfort and Ergonomics
When using camera gear for extended periods of time, the importance of comfort and ergonomics can become a critical factor. This month marks the third anniversary of the purchase of my first E-M1X. I loved the camera so much that six months later a bought a second one. My love affair has only deepened over time.
Oriole Leaving Pond
Yesterday I had my first ever opportunity to photograph a Baltimore Oriole leaving our backyard pond after taking a bath in it. We usually have a few weeks during the late spring when Baltimore Orioles visit our backyard. They regularly feed at our hummingbird feeders and will also consume orange sections that my wife puts out for them. Neither my wife or I had ever previously seen them take a bath in the pond, as they tend to be quite skittish birds.