Processing old stuff

Haven't had much time to shoot lately. but took the time to do some tidying up and found some old photos that had not been processed, including one of a very nice katydid i found in an abandoned quarry once. 


Moral of the story: getting the shot is just half the story - finding the time to organise and process them properly is the more important other half. 


K-X, Vivitar 105 + Kenko 1.5 TC

K-5, can't remember what lens =P

K-5, DFA-100WR

Beetle - Salad Dinner

Took a short detour after work to check out my usual hunting ground near my apartment. Main intention was to try out the new panagor 55 that arrived some months ago, but never got to use.

I first came across this lens abt a year ago - it belonged to a friend and after taking it out for one test shoot, i could not get it out of my mind. 

Its small, light and VERY sharp. The only limitation was that its a PK lens with no A contact so that complicates matters when using a flash. nevertheless, its a very good lens.

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Early Morning Shoot at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserves

Haven't had a chance to update for some time as my newborn princess demands my time and attention. Nevertheless, managed to find time to make an early morning trip to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserves 


The reserve is located in the north-west of Singapore. It is very popular among bird-watchers. 


Macro opportunities are pretty good too :)  


#1: Common sun skink - sun skinks are most easily found and photographed early in the morning, while they are sunning themselves. They're very shy and skittish so its important to approach gently when attempting to photograph them. 

#2: Jumping spider: very common resident of the local nature parks. The "high jumpers" of nature. This one's female, judging by its abdomen.

#3 Orange Fly: I see these flies often, but i don't know much about them other than they're probably Family Lauxaniidae.

#4 Leaf Footed Bug - I nearly mistook this for a assassin bug on account of its needle like mouth-part. But on closer examination (and subsequent research), its actually a leaf-footed bug nymph :)

#5 Brown beetle: a rather unexciting shot of a pretty unexciting brown beetle :)

#6 Black and yellow mud dauber: named for the nests which they build from mud, this attractive specimen landed in front of me just as i was preparing to pack up and leave :) 

Early morning shoot with the Voigtlander 125

I love this lens... ok... that felt good... let me say it again... I LOVE THIS LENS! *phew*


I had problems getting used to the minimum focusing distance - 38cm... its pretty long - which makes composition very challenging. Solution: PK-A extension tubes. Shortens the minimum focusing  distance to a more manageable distance, magnifies the subject and thanks to the PK-A contacts, passes the aperture information back to the camera so p-ttl still works :)


The challenges of using this lens are:


- Weight: its 600+ grams - double the weight of a D-FA100


- Focal Length: at 125mm, it works out to 35mm equivalent of 180 on an APS-C... its a little long for hand-held and when using it for macro, support is a must for me.


- Reputation: its a sharp lens. anyone who manages to screw up their shots with this lens can only have them-self to blame.


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Who am I?

I could not get a positive ID of this fella... so if anyone knows what it is, appreciate if you could just drop me an msg :)

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Stuff found near home

The things I can find at the park connector near my place never ceases to amaze me... Enjoy :)

#1 Weevil

#2 Jumping Spider

#3 Jumping Spider

#4 Jumping Spider

#5 Crab Spider

#6 Crab Spider

#7 Praying Mantis

Test Shoot: Elicar 90mm F2.5

Yes, LBA strikes again. When I saw a mint copy of this lens, I just HAD to have it to complete my collection =)

Not bad for a 20 yr old lens =)

Focus-Stacking Experiment #2 - Lynx Spider

Not entirely convinced of internet wisdom so decided to try something else... 


While most experienced macro shooters seems to take the approach of stacking by moving the camera (i.e. with focus rails), and advises against using the focus ring to shift focus because (a) it changes the size of the image and (b) it changes the bokeh. these factors will complicate attempts to stack if not properly dealt with. 


But having researched further, it seems that these factors are more critical when stacking images at HIGH magnification - 3x, 4x, etc... seems that at 1:1, both approaches are possible and will yield similar results. 


Hence, i decided to try the focusing ring method today - yes, it can be done and its much easier too.


- Select and process all the pictures selected for processing:





- 8 files selected and stacked - final output:

Not bad eh?

K5, Voigtlander 125, AF160FC

Making it Big - Magnifying Subjects: Satisfying or Irritating?

I've gravitated back and forth on this subject - is bigger always better? or should we aim for better composition and magnify only when it serves a purpose?

The key problem i think, is that once u magnify, the scope for composition is drastically reduced and the technical complexities  increases greatly as well - shallow DOF, more light needed to light up the subject, tripod... 

Oh nevermind... Its still fun to do once in awhile when the right subject comes along :)

~2x magnification. 

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it works better on a housefly than a lynx spider though...

K5, Vivitar 2x macro converter, Voigtlander 125

Jumping Spider

One of my favourite subjects: the adorable jumping spiders! they're so cute!

I missed focus for optimum sharpness though... sigh... 

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Giant Shield Bug - Pycanum Rubens

Ok. I exaggerate - maybe not "giant", but "adult" :)

It rained all weekend so there were a few perched on the branches drying themselves when i went out.

They were HUGE - abt 2 - 3 inches long.

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K5, Sigma 50mm F2.8, pop-up flash