More Olympus Stuff

This should give you some ideas of the details that I can get with the TG6. It requires some maneuvering about on the ground, but it is easier than using a larger camera. I could try it with my regular DSLR Olympus and the macro lens, but being able to go into microscope mode is pretty fun.

It was still pretty dark in the creek bottom when I took these shots so they are a bit 'noisy'. Still, I can live with that because it is so fascinating to see the frost this close!

Perhaps they would have turned out better if I'd had the little LED light attached to the front of the camera. Well. I can always try that again!

Meanwhile, these next few shots were taken last week during the big freeze. I just never got around to posting them.

Olympus OMD EM Mark iii with a kit lens 14mm-150mm
It is sort of an all around lens that can take the wide angle and use a zoom also. It cuts down on the amount of 'gear' I take along with me. It is the camera on the right below.

I do have a macro lens for this camera, but getting those shots under the leaves are nearly impossible unless I dig a hole in the rocks next to the leaves.

The above shots were taken with a Neutral Density Filter and I used a tripod for the long exposures.
When we have a real hard cold snap, I love going out and finding the ice that gathers on twigs, grasses, and roots along the creek.

I need some more time with the TG6 to work out how best to use it on hikes. I certainly won't be taking super long exposures like the ones above.

One more cool and awesome thing. I can remotely operate either camera with an Olympus Share app on my Smarty Phone. It eats up battery quickly on both the phone and the camera. But it is fun to use in certain instances.

One last shot and then I am caught up. On that very cold hike, I took my little point and shoot infrared Canon ELPH camera.
Infrared is not as awesome in the winter. However, you still can get some interesting shots.

Well that was a mish-mash of 'stuff'.
But there you go.

I do like experimenting in photography. It gets me out of the house and keeps me moving right along. All of these photos are within 30 minutes of walking trails around where we live.

I am very lucky aren't I?

Focus Stacking

I like to shoot small things with the camera. One of my frustrations is the fact that if I shoot an insect with the macro lens, I generally only get a portion of the 'bug' because of the limitations of the camera's focus ability.

Here is an example.

An Imperial Moth Caterpillar on my Flickr page:

Just the face of the insect.

Live shots are a challenge to get right.

However, a nice full shot of something like a mushroom would look so much nicer if the full mushroom were in focus.

The bunch was too much for a proper focus. So I got out my mini tripod and focused on each of the little buggers and then tried to put it all together in a photo program.

I failed.

So I finally decided to try a focus stacking program. I have 30 days to decide if this is something I like.

Helicon Soft is the name of the program.

Here is a shot from two days before that I'd failed miserably on a manual focus 'stack'.

This was run through Helicon.

...Oh by the way, these have been Identified as Common Puffballs also known as Gem Studded Puffballs...

4 images stacked:

Then two days later:

The details came out amazing! 

I found that I can go into manual focus and my camera has a manual focus assist which turns things red to tell you what parts are in focus.

So yesterday, I started to experiment.

I didn't find cool fungi as I was hiking new trails and just enjoying the scenery... but I wondered how much depth I could get if I stacked a landscape scene.

Unstacked, one shot:

It is nice and it would have pleased me just fine. I could have shot with an infinity type setting and would have probably been satisfied. But I wanted to see how stacking...stacked up.

4 stacked shots at different focal lengths:

Oh...I liked it!

Here is another one. Not focus stacked:

So I really loved this spot but wanted the viewer to feel the whole breadth of the place....

So I stacked it from front to back. I wanted the forest in the back to be in focus.

This one gives me a feeling of actually being in there... the immense forest and the small me.

I tried other items like some rocks and a flower seed head. There was no amazing before and after, just clarity which was nice.

But there you go. My experiment in focus stacking with Helicon Soft and manual focus.

Yes I keep experimenting with my camera and photography, it is what gives me some mental breaks from the other things going on in our lives.

Goat Photo Bomber...

I was testing out a feature called *in camera HDR*. I put the camera on a tripod and set it up.
Sven managed to dart into the photo on one of the shots.

Now that the forest floor is springing to life, Sven is in goat heaven on our walks.
He nibbles and catches up. Today he learned a bit about soft creek banks as the dirt collapsed under him and he rode a pile of dirt and rocks down the ravine.

He shook his head and soldiered on.
Charlie kept a sharp eye on him.

We have been extremely wet this year. So wet in fact that when the township graded the road on the ridge -- they do this to fill the pot holes in with loose gravel -- ...and then it rained and rained more...
well.
When I went to town yesterday, imagine my surprise when I turned off our little dead end road and suddenly felt like I was in a road rally with slushy mushy gravel mud conditions. The Subaru handled it but it weaved and wobbled and bobbed side to side all the way out to the black top. The vehicle is now mud colored and no longer blue....

Anyway back to the goat adventure. Sven was ecstatic about being out with us and ran up and down the trail doing goatie things like bouncing, running, leaping, and doing sideways jumps. He even got exuberant enough to come up to me and try a head butt. His head met my stick and he decided not to mess with me.

He stopped often to nibble and experiment on different flavors that the woods offered.

I can see where goats would be incredible for cleaning up forests. They will eat the unwanted plants. My Dexters did the same thing however they left larger poo piles.

Donkeys did much of the same thing, but they and the Dexters cost much more to feed in the winter time.

Anyway.
We had an excellent walk about the land. I went into different sections of my property that I don't normally get to because by mid summer it is just too overgrown.

These were pretty neat and very different than the other ferns on our land. I think they may be Cinnamon Ferns. Not sure, but now that I know where they are I can make my way back to see them as they unfold.
Sven didn't eat them.

However, as I knelt to take some shots of Anemones ...

And then sat back to adjust my settings...

A curious goat walked up and stared at me then proceeded to eat all of the blossoms of this plant. I swear he winked at me as I moaned to him.

Later on I set up the tripod at the creek. Charlie wandered around and then sat on a rock next to me.

I set this shot up and took a few versions of it.

Next thing I know, I feel the gloves being pulled out of my pocket. Sven. He then reaches over and starts to nibble on the camera strap.

SVEN! NO!
He was unimpressed and very goat-like. I bonked him on the nose and he just shook his head.

I can say this. I am having fun with both Charlie and Sven and going on our walks. It sure kept my mood upbeat on a dull dreary day. I started my day with CrossFit learning a new skill and got to enjoy time out in the woods.
Even IF I had a Goat Photo Bomber/Pest along.

Friday is a new adventure. I'm going to be a *guide* for another photographer and take him to a few different spots so he can enjoy what our area has to offer.

Today? Off to the VA after CrossFit this morning....