Macro Photography

I love macro stuff. I love the little things. Especially outdoors. Maybe it is because our forest is so overwhelming when all the leaves come in and the brush is filled out. The forest looks like a green wall by mid summer. All of its secrets hide close to the ground or under prickly brush.

I discovered tiny things a long time ago. This is one of my all time favorites. The day was so hot and humid and I was frustrated. I only had a long lens with me and an old second hand camera. I crawled under some brambles and crouched. To my ultimate surprise, I got this.

And I was hooked on the little things to be found in the woods.
If it was little, I'd try and take a shot. Anything was game. I even searched for pocket cameras to carry that had a 'macro' feature.

[I am a killer on pocket cameras. I carry them in foul weather and have dropped them while riding mules. I am a pocket camera slayer. So far though, my Oly Tough TG6 has lasted over a year with me.]

My interest peaked the first time my husband took me Morel Hunting. I had a film camera that I carried with a fixed lens and getting things up close was a challenge.

Some day I'll share how I mortally wounded that camera. This is from 1999 shot with a vintage manual Canon with a fixed lens.

 

This whole Morel experience got me more interested in the Forest Floor than large landscapes. What can I say? Morels have a spell on me! 

And then I decided to try using a real macro lens. I got down in the dirt next to a log the other day and....

My intended shot was this:

What I got was this.

The hazards of having Charlie with me!

He did sit quietly while I rummaged around in the brush to find another shot of Spring Beauties.

I quit after that. It was hot, Charlie was hot. And a hen Turkey was clucking away somewhere close by.

Charlie was sure it was Godzilla.

Spring is coming on strong, so I'll be doing a lot of crawling around and searching for things like fiddleheads and other tiny things.

It is raining lightly so I challenged my hiking pal to hike in the rain with me.

Charlie says he is willing and ready.

I wonder what little things we will find?

Mirrorless Olympus OMD M 5 first impressions

I started looking at other cameras after lugging my most beloved and excellent Nikon D5200 around earlier this year in a sweet little sling pack.  
I love hiking and I took the time to hike Wildcat Mountain's Old Settler's Trail and Hemlock Trail.

There are some reviews of these trails that call the somewhat difficult.  Other reviews come them quite difficult.

Since I am now a 'native' of the area after living here 20 years, I am used to our hills and steep valleys.  It makes going to a place that is flat and well groomed rather boring.

However I missed the days when I had only a pocket camera and hiked.  Lugging the extra gear for those awesome shots took some of the joy away from the hike itself.

I have a fairly lightweight Olympus E 420.  They don't make them any more, but after over 10K clicks, I am wondering when it will give up the ghost.
I started by just browsing around and looking at mirrorless cameras.

Fuji makes an excellent one and I was lusting after the Sony a6000.  I even looked at Nikon.  Then I looked at the Olympus OMD M 5.  It is fashioned a bit like a retro film camera and looks very similar to the Olympus OM1 made in 1972. 

I had a Minolta XD similar to this one as one of my very first cameras.

I was able to take some excellent photos with this camera and enjoyed the fact that I had to figure out exposures.

This one is of my youngest son on the first day of school in 1990.

I did enjoy photography 'back then' and was pretty careful about figuring out exposures, settings, film speed, aperatures and the best lighting.

My sons playing with our pygmy cross goats.

Well imagine the nostalgia of finding this camera as a digital mirrorless camera.

Oh how I lusted after the OMD M1 when it first was introduced in 2013.  A weather proof camera?  Light?

I recall turning to my husband and saying. "I want that!"

The first OMD M 5 ran about $1,499.  Ouch, too rich for me.  But one can still hope right?

I found that this model was being 'discontinued' and replaced by a new model.

The price had dropped!  And I ordered it from B&H Photo. I will plug them ... I've never had an issue with B&H and they make sure their packages are signed for.

I've always had great quality items from lens caps to filters to lenses and cameras.

Okay.

Off I went with snowshoes along the Old Settler's Trail.

You are here

This is was fairly demanding even on a groomed trail.  In places it was slippery.  But the lightweighted backpack made it much more of a pleasure.

Foot bridge

This is the foot bridge over a steep gully.  The OMD has a touch screen for focus and shooting.  The screen in back can tilt so you can get as low as you want without trying to break your neck.

It also has an electric view finder, which I didn't like at first and by the end of the day and the hike I turned it off and used the back screen only.

I found I was able to set up photos quickly with the menus once I figured them out.

Lines and angles

The bright snow and the deep shadows produced some difficulty in getting a correctly exposed shot.  I was able to change the metering and adjust for this after some experimenting.

The white balance was more accurate in RAW or .ORF format and slightly blue tinted in .jpeg.  Overall though it was comparable to my other cameras.

I decided on the way home to stop at Winchell Valley Bridge over the Kickapoo River and see if I could get some slightly longer exposures and how easy would the manual selection work?

 ISO 200, f22, 1/6 second

4X ND filter

Both of these shots were taken at the same exposure.  I set the camera on the rail of the bridge and flipped up the back screen and simply touched where I wanted the main focus to be.

Easy peasy.  I felt like I was cheating.

It only took 3 hours for me to decide that I absolutely love this camera and will be taking it on most of my hikes.

I do have yet to try a few more things.

How will it preform with a macro image?  The lens is a 12mm-50mm lens.  I went with this lens because it also is rubber sealed and weatherproof.

I may end up adding a prime at some point.

My other test will be a few shots with an Infrared filter.

And a long exposure...long long exposure.  This camera allows you to watch your shot expose on bulb shots.

You can set it to update the image to your specifications.

Yeah.

That sounds totally cool.

Happy shooting!

Am I camera Crazy?

Mid February isn't supposed to be quite this cold.  Wow! This morning it was -12 F.
Yesterday it did warm up to about 10 degrees and if you could get out of the wind, it actually was pleasant.

I had put off my errands in town most of the week so yesterday I grabbed my list and went.

I really don't like going to town.  I especially dislike going on Saturdays.
But there you go, I really just ended up putting it off until I had no other choice.

However, I put my Olympus E 420 in a camera bag and brought it along.  Sometimes an opportunity will present itself and ... well, you never know.

Olympus E 420 kit lens

And it did!  I love this curve in the gravel road.  I wanted to explore some more, but there were chores to do when I got home.

Point and Shoot Fujifilm

And the road conditions on the ridge were getting a bit nasty.

Regarding my Olympus camera.  I do love it and it is generally my go to camera for hiking because it is a lightweight DSLR.  It isn't the tanks that the Nikons are.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Nikon and the Nikkor lenses.  But the Nikon D5200 is sort of a primadonna.

Apparently it doesn't like cold or damp ... or humid weather.

However it really loves doing Still Life photography!

Nikon D5200 with Nikkor 40mm micro lens

And I love doing this work with it.

So.
Naughty me.  I began to look into mirrorless cameras.

A few years ago I saw an ad for an Olympus OMD-D E-M5 Mirrorless camera.  A man sets the camera on a tripod and watches as a storm approaches.  Rain slashes the window he is standing by.  The camera is shown, water droplets are covering it.
Zoom into the back of the camera and live view. Lightening flashes and the man in the house uses his smart phone to remotely take a photo.

In 2012 this camera was $1,499.  Ouch, way beyond my reach.
Now the camera is being discontinued.  A new and improved model will take its place. The price was affordable even to me.

Kudos for Olympus.  Their mirrorless line will take all lenses from the previous DSLR's.  Nikon and other companies have all gone with special lenses.

The nice thing about the Oly lenses is that they are lightweight enough to work with a mirrorless camera.

Olympus E 420 kit lens

My Nikon weighs approximately 44 oz with a 'kit' lens. Generally I carry an extra lens with me while hiking.

The Olympus OMD-D E-M5 weighs 22 oz. with the M. Zuiko ED 12-50mm lens I ordered. 

Well there, the cat is out of the bag.

I am looking forward to hiking with the Oly.  I won't have to drag around a heavy weight tripod with it either, I can go for a lightweight one! 

I won't have to worry about snowfall getting the camera damp as it is weather sealed as is the lens.

Just color me happy.

My Nikon D40 is being retired.  I sent out an email to a friend who has kids who are interested in photography.

Nikon D40 free to good home.  It will get a good home and lots of use also.

Olympus E 420 kit zoom lens

I am looking forward to all sorts of great adventures and hiking with a lighter camera.

Now to figure out how to make these cameras earn their keep.

That is the hard one!

Oh and for those of you reading?  Happy Valentines Day...one day early!

Nikon D5200 50mm lens

Enjoy your Saturday.  It looks like mostly indoor work for me today.  

Just Stuff today

Just some fun today.
Here is some photos from our below Zero romp yesterday.

Cute shot of the Day!  Dixie:

Morris on speed, look at the snow fly!

Dixie making snow fly!

A bit more 'dog' play!

Has Morris got a happy face or what???

And then we end on the flop eared black and tan coon hound!
Flapping Dixie ears!

There you have it.
A playful hour in the cold, shot by my Olympus E-420 in .RAW format and converted with Olympus Viewer 2.