Friday (06-July-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime in New Jersey.

Focus Stacked Macro images of a Bumble Bee on a Pink Zinnia Flower.  Fuji recently released a firmware update for the Fuji X-T2 and X-H1 mirrorless cameras that allow the camera to take a series of focus bracketed images. The camera starts with a user selected near focus point, then for each subsequent image changes the focus point an increment further away (toward infinity). The bracketing settings are number of frames (2-999), step (1-10), and interval (seconds). Each of images below are focus stacked composites of 25 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec) with a step of 10, and interval of 0 seconds. I used the Helicon Focus program to process the focus bracketed images to create the focus stacked composite. The result is an image with a depth of field much greater than could be obtained with a single image even with narrow aperture.  Note the tiny mites on the back of the bee.

Bumble Bee on a Zinnia Bloom. Focus stacked composite of 25 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). Images processed with Helicon Focus. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bumble Bee on a Zinnia Bloom. Focus stacked composite of 25 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). Images processed with Helicon Focus. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bumble Bee on a Zinnia Bloom. Focus stacked composite of 25 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). Images processed with Helicon Focus. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bumble Bee on a Zinnia Bloom. Focus stacked composite of 25 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). Images processed with Helicon Focus. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bumble Bee with Mites on a Zinnia Bloom. Focus stacked composite of 25 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). Images processed with Helicon Focus. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bumble Bee with Mites on a Zinnia Bloom. Focus stacked composite of 25 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). Images processed with Helicon Focus. (DAVID J MATHRE)

As noted above, I used a setting of 25 images, step size 10, and interval 0 seconds. I chose 25 images because that is about the number of images that can be taken (raw + jpg fine) in a burst before the buffer fills and the interval between images becomes longer. This allowed me to take the images hand-held (without using a tripod). I am not sure what the interval represents, and if it is different with each lens. The setting of 25 images and step size of 10 gives me a about half an inch of “in focus” range at a close focusing distance. Saving only jpg images would permit more images to be taken (deeper depth of field) and/or a smaller step size (greater resolution). I still have a lot to learn about using the focus stacking capability with this camera. Lots of trial and error. I am glade that digital memory is cheap, although processing lots of images takes time.

Friday (06-July-2018) — New Jersey

Home Cooking. Hearty Rye & Whole Wheat Bread.

Rather than Maple syrup the special ingredient this time is Spruce Tip syrup from Alaska.

Hearty Rye & Whole Wheat Bread Recipe: Rye Flour (1 cup); Sprouted Wheat Flour (1 cup); Whole Wheat Flour (1 cup);  Flax Seed (1/4 cup); Chia Seed (1 tbs); Dill Seed (1 tbs); Anise Seed (1 tbs); Caraway Seed (1 tbs); Fennel Seed (1 tbs); dry milk (1/4 cup);  cocoa (1 tbs); instant coffee (1 tbs); salt (1 tsp); egg (1 large); flax oil (2 tbs); water (1 1/4 cup); Spruce Tip syrup (1/3 cup). Above ingredients added to Panasonic Bread Bakery. Yeast (2 tsp) added to yeast hopper and the unit set for Whole Wheat Bread (Rapid) and started. Three hours later, the loaf of bread was removed and allowed to cool.

Hearty Rye & Whole Wheat Bread. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/2.8, 1/10 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Hearty Rye & Whole Wheat Bread. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 18 mm, f/2.8, 1/10 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Four-Years Ago (06-July-2014) — Scotland

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 36: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Scotland.

Ten, Twelve, Eighteen, and Twenty One Year Old Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Image taken with a Fuji XT-1 camera and 32 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 800, 32 mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC.

Scotch Whisky Tasting - Glengoyne Distillery. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Zeiss 32 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 32 mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Scotch Whisky Tasting – Glengoyne Distillery. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and Zeiss 32 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 32 mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)