Four years ago on a lark I drove from Boulder to Colorado Springs and then to Manitou Springs to take the Cog Wheeled Railroad to the summit of Pikes Peak. Little did I know that you needed reservations for the cog rail trip to Pikes Peak, and that all trips were sold out for the day. I was very lucky that someone in line before me was unhappy that their party was not all sitting together and turned in their tickets. Once I got on board the train, I realized that I won the lottery since my ticket was for the front seat. This allowed me to set up a tripod and camera to capture images for a time-lapse video for the train ride. So as not to annoy the other passengers on the train I used a small Gitzo travel tripod, my smallest camera body, and a small lens. Going up the mountain I used a 18-200 mm lens at 18 mm. Going down the mountain my seat was now in the rear of the train looking back. For this I used a 10.5 mm fisheye lens. This was a case of being in the right place at the right time!!!
Steam Engine at Pikes Peak Cog Railroad. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Topaz Define, and Photoshop CS5.
I got up early this morning to drive to the High Point monument in northern New Jersey. It was raining when I left, but I hoped that it would clear up by the time I got there. Just the opposite — heavy rain when I got there. Furthermore, the front gate was still locked. I gave up and drove back the long route along the Delaware River. Because of the rain there was very little traffic. I’ve used up most of my vacation this year between the Patagonia workshop with Thom Hogan and the Central America & Panama Canal Enrichment Voyage – Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop II with Michael Mariant. As such, I know that I am not going to be able to do a cross-country road trip this year so it was good to get a long drive in this holiday weekend.
When I got home there was a lull in the rain and I saw that the wild raspberries were starting to ripen. In order to get an image of a cluster of the berries in focus with everything else out of focus I took a series of images using a focus rail to adjust the camera to subject distance over a 3 cm distance with a macro lens. I then used Helicon Focus to make a composite image from the 20 images. The first image is the result. The next three images are the first (front focus), mid (middle focus), and last (back focus) images. Even though there was some (not much) movement due to wind, Helicon Focus did a great job adjusting the images so all of the composite images were correctly registered.
Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. Helicon Focus composite of 20 images.Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.Wild Raspberry Cluster. Early Summer Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
While working on my previous post “Wild Raspberry Cluster” I found this Dog/Wood Tick crawling up my pants leg. I was only outside 10-15 minutes getting the images for the Raspberry Composite. The only thing more persistent than the ticks this year are the SEO scripters sending me spam comments, especially to my 13-June-2011 post. I do allow and like comments for my postings (especially constructive criticism) as long as they are relevant to the post.
Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/29, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/51, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/51, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/45, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.
Some images that I took on a walkabout this morning in the Sourland Mountain Preserve. This was a test to see what I could photograph with a 500 mm f/4 lens on a monopod. The minimum focus distance for the lens is 12.6 feet (4 m) which is a challenge for close up images of insects.
The first image is a close-up of a Dragonfly. The second is what I believe is a Blue Grosbeak. The third is a Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly on Milkweed flowers. The fourth and fifth images are Snowberry Clearwing Moths (Thanks to Rick Sidler for the ID and link). It is larger (longer) than a Bumblebee, but its wings are small and transparent. It also was working the Milkweed flowers. The sixth image is Kermit the Bullfrog.
Dragonfly at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.Blue Grosbeak? at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/4, 1/100 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 500 mm, f/4, 1/100 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.Snowberry Clearwing Moth at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 500 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.Snowberry Clearwing Moth at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 200, 500 mm, f/4, 1/160 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.Kermit the Bullfrog at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 500 mm, f/4, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.
Summertime Nature in New Jersey. Sourland Mountain Preserve.
Morning Walkabout at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Wildflowers: Queen Anne’s Lace, Black Eyed Susan, Daisy, others.
Black Eyed Susan. Summer Wildflowers at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 205 mm, f/6.3, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.Flying Ant in a Queen Annes Lace Flower at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 205 mm, f/6, 1/500 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5Black Eyed Susan. Summer Wildflowers at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.Daisy – Summer Wildflowers at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.Summer Wildflowers at the Sourland Mountain Reserve. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 205 mm, f/6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CS5.
