Welcome
This year february is looking more like we are already spring, warm, nearly no snow on the ground and spider are active in the forest !
Here is some shots taken this week before we finally received about 10-15 cm of snow on February 24th.
Both taken with Pentax K20D, Pentax DFA100mm Macro WR, at f/16, tripod.
In the last 2 years i developed a passion for photographing Frogs and Toads in their environment and trying to compose beautiful shots. Here is my favorite collection of 2011, hope you will like them ! In 2012 i will try to take different kind of photos, so stay tuned , spring is slowly coming here in Montreal.
The Pentax DA14mm is the 14mm lens that have the closest minimum focusing distance on the market (correct me if i’m wrong). It’s a great lens to show a flower, mushroom or a frog in it’s environment by getting close and frame your subject with a background that will enhance it. It takes some practice to get the most out of that lens at close range, the lens hood can nearly touch your subject at the minimum focusing distance and also cast shadows. When i’m photographing that close i now remove the lens hood, especially when photographing frogs.
With the Shake Reduction of my K20D i can handheld that combo to take photos of subjects close to the ground or in situation when it’s hard to position a tripod. In some occasions i was holding my camera in one hand trying to photograph a frog while keeping my balance on the shore of the pond, the frog was certainly laughing at me !
The image quality of that lens is very good but the corners are not as good, so don’t put important elements in the extreme corners of the frame. The only thing i wish is that Pentax would update it as a WR lens !
This photo of a Green Frog was taken on a sunny morning on a small pond, the frog was lit by the sun and the contrast was too high with the surrounding vegetation for my taste. I took off my shirt and hang it up on some cattails to shade my subject and it’s environment.
Taken with a Pentax K20D, ISO 800, 1/25 sec. at f/10 handheld with SR activated.
When i found this Stemless Lady’s-Slipper (white specimen, habitually they are pink) i knew i wanted to show that beautiful flower in it’s environment, so i choose my DA14mm for the shot. I was lying on my stomach on the ground and use the help of SR to steady the camera.
Taken with a Pentax K20D, ISO 500, 1/10 sec. at f/9 handheld with SR activated.
Over the years i can say that i developed “my photographic Eye” for finding small subjects in the natural world. When i walk in a forest my eyes are always scanning for something interesting on the ground or the trees, even when i don’t have a camera with me i’m looking at the world around me to see what i can find. Having a Macro lens or a lens that can do “close-up” is very useful for that kind of photography, i use all my Macro lenses (35mm, 50mm and 100mm) or sometimes i will use extension tubes with a 150mm or 200mm lens.
When the light is not so good you can always photograph small subjects, you can block the sun with your body or shirt if necessary. Rain is great since it adds raindrops to your subjects and the colors are more saturated. In autumn cold nights can bring frost on the ground and you suddenly have a lot of great new opportunities but you have to shoot fast before the sun melt the frost!
The advantage of that kind of photography is that you don’t have to travel to an exotic country to find inspiration, it can be done at your local Park, a nearby forest or even in your own backyard. Take your Macro lens and go outside to find new subjects and experiment some new compositions.
When i’m going to work i often take with me a camera and i stop to a local Park that i can find different subjects depending on the temperature or season. This shot was taken on my way to work, the day before it was raining and during the night the temperature dropped quickly and the raindrops were all frozen on the leaves that were on the ground.
Taken with my Sony NEX-3, SMC Macro-Takumar 50mm/4, ISO 200, at f/16,Tripod.
I found this interesting ice on the shore of a beaver pond on a cold morning at sunrise. I tried different angles but this one is my favorite.
Taken with a Pentax K20D, DFA100mm Macro WR, ISO 100 at f/16, Tripod.
This week of January 16 to 22 was a cold one, temperature dropped to around -25°C during the nights in the region of Montreal. I like those kind of temperature especially when a warm day is followed by a cold night, fog and/or frost are more frequent with that combination. When it happens i look for habitat where there is free water during the winter because it’s the best places for great photo opportunities !
I took my camera with me on my way to work and took some shots during the week but my favorite came from yesterday morning at the old Canal Soulange in Pointe-des-Cascades. There is some waterfalls along the old canal, not natural ones but fun to shoot anyway. I tried different compositions and lenses but i finally like this one because it shows enough to give an idea of the place to the viewer and at the same time we can see all the details in the ice.
Taken with a Sony NEX-3, Sony SAL70-300mm/4.5-5.6 G series, ISO 200, 1/15 sec. at f/11 at 70mm, Tripod, RAW.
Photographing animals in a Zoo is not like being in the wild, but if you’re ready to accept photos taken in a Zoo as a chance to get close-ups of hard to find or get close to animals, then you can get some great shots.
One of the hardest thing in a Zoo is trying to compose your shots without showing the fences or other human made structures unless you want them to be part of your composition. I use a long lens near wide open aperture, i shoot with my 400mm at f/5.6 and if i can stop down when the background allow me i will use f/8 to get some depth of field.
I prefer an overcast day to shoot in a Zoo because the fences can be very reflective when the sun hit them and they can show in your photos even if they are out of focus. Sunny days can be good also if you can avoid fences and go early or late during the day. By placing your lens as close as possible against the fence and using a wide aperture the fence betweem your camera and your subject will become invisible in your photos. When doing this i use manual focus because the AF of the camera can pick-up focus on the fence instead of on your subject.
Winter is a good time to go also, snow will cover the ugly ground often found in the enclosure of the animals, your subjects will have their winter coat on as well. Falling snow can add atmosphere and give a different look to your photos.
Shoot a lot and have fun, you never know when you will get a great shot !
Both shots taken at the ZOO Ecomuseum of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue on the West Island side of Montreal.
Pentax K20D, Pentax-67 M*400mm/4, at f/5.6, Tripod.
I have been using Pentax 35mm SLR and DSLR for a long time when i bought my K20D, i didn’t care much about the Shake Reduction (SR) system. The advantage of in-body image stabilization is that all lenses are stabilized, even my old Takumar (M42) lenses ! I learned to like SR by using it more and more, sure i prefer to use a sturdy tripod as often as i can but there is time when a tripod is not practical.
I do a lot of frog photography, the lens i use the most often is my DFA 100mm Macro WR handheld and i crawl on the ground to have a frog eye’s view, so SR is handy for that kind of shots. If my shutter speed is very slow i use a ziploc bag filled with sand to stabilize the lens to help SR, i was able to shoot at very slow shutter speeds with this technique. I also use lenses from my 14mm up to my 100mm Macro lens for taking frog shots handheld. I don’t use SR often with my 400mm lens (about 8.3 pounds of glass and metal), i prefer to use it on a tripod.
I think it’s even useful with wide angle lenses when i want to go very low to the ground when i want to show frogs, mushrooms and flowers in their habitat. I certainly got photos that i wouldn’t have been able to get with a tripod because i needed to get in a position where it would have been impossible to set-up a tripod.
The photo of this young American toad was taken with a Pentax K20D, DFA 100mm Macro WR, ISO 800, 1/5 sec. at f/9.0 handheld with SR and braced on a small bean bag.
First post on my Blog here, i will regularly post a photo and describe the technique, equipment used and conditions in which it was taken.
When i woke-up it was -15°C outside, a good temperature to shoot around rapids of a river! I went to a river close to my home i knew there will be some ice forming on the rocks in the rapids. There was some fog over the river and some ice had formed on the rocks!
I took photos with different lenses, from my 14mm to 50-135mm lens, my favorite shot was taken with my 35mm Macro lens directly into the rapids. The rock covered with ice got my attention because it looked like a reptile back (or a Dinosaur back spine). You need a good pair of warm and waterproof rubber boots to go into that cold water. When i was finished shooting my tripod was covered with ice, the lower part of my tripod leg were frozen in ice and couldn’t close them. My camera is weather resistant (Pentax K20D) so everything was OK, my lens (Pentax DA 35mm Macro Ltd) is not sealed but the water frozed quickly on cold lenses, i used my nail to remove ice on the lens.
The photo was taken with my Pentax K20D, DA35mm Macro Limited, ISO 100, 1.3 sec. at f/16, tripod and Mirror Lock-up (MLU). Since i always shoot in RAW i did some Post Processing in Photoshop, i did use the burn tool on the rock to put back some character to it.
