Outdoor Ontario
Photography => Nature => Topic started by: Shortsighted on June 30, 2024, 05:52:35 PM
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One of the advantages of a medium telephoto lens when compared to a super telephoto lens, beyond the soft message of the wallet as opposed to the brutal beating that big glass has on supple leather, is that a shorter lens has a closer minimum focus distance. My Canon 300mm lens has a minimum focus distance of 1.5 meters. This characteristic of the lens remains constant even when coupled to a teleconverter (TC). With this in mind I went out the the garden with my 300mm lens coupled to a 2X TC and started shooting subjects at minimum distance. I set the camera to AUTO ISO so that the camera would choose whatever ISO setting it deemed was necessary, thereby ensuring that there was always adequate light to the sensor. I also set the exposure compensation 1/3 stop to the right to make certain of that requirement. I figured that if I press the eyepiece firmly against my face and pushed the very front of the lens hood against me face that I could handle 1/500 sec exposure. The lens with a 2X TC attached is f8 when wide open. I increased my Depth-of-field a bit more by choosing f11. There were no butterflies, just bee flies, black bees and blow flies. These subjects are very small, less than a centimeter in length. While not exactly a macro lens, this lens could capture these tiny subjects while standing beyond 1.5 meters away. I wonder what the minimum focus would be for James Web telescope? The absolute definition of useless information.
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-rbVrZJ7/0/LQqKc7xvFdhP3JWC5NTjwqmtX7JqtqnknqS5Jd5HK/M/Black%20Bee%2C%20cropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-rbVrZJ7/A)
Black Bee
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-PxdgFST/0/LXKpmnQ4BZ4KBPJQpjsHtrPnfT5gNgHf6KxLfFwf8/M/Fly%20on%20daisy%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-PxdgFST/A)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-6khMZrh/0/NQ9Ph7jXjLpQ4Z4nwnv4hKxWnwS7WvbnJW4gC3vsf/M/Fly%20on%20daisy%2C2%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-6khMZrh/A)
Blow Fly
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-SBzXHMs/0/MwcTsVsrSKfF4BDbtvTqXbgwkWj86pVNvhx86xZ5L/M/B%20fly%2C2%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-SBzXHMs/A)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-ZrS7RpN/0/NQB2D2pzmG8mDXh5sj6RNnhp3bpFZQrwN34x7VXZq/M/B%20fly%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-ZrS7RpN/A)
Bee Fly
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-ntsvNzn/0/LjTtnZMnDkwcqLXD7DdMwMDvzhvk9RfJswbk83jXD/M/Bee%20Fly%20on%20blade%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-ntsvNzn/A)
Bee Fly on blade
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Telephoto in the garden - supplemental ...
I went out back into the garden again with my 300mm lens coupled to a 2X tele-converter because I saw a dragonfly, possibly a skimmer. Even from a three meters away I still couldn't get the whole insect into the cropped sensor viewfinder, so I went back in and switched to a 1.4X TC. That combination worked better, but by then the dragonfly was already asking for overtime pay. I made the switch as fast as I could. I kept the ISO up over a thousand so that I could use f11 and a slight shift in exposure to the right (brighter). Every shot was hand-held because my feet, both of them lefties since first issued, were too awkward for the task, and besides, they were already serving a basic function (keeping my shoes warm). On the other side of the flower bed was another dragonfly, which I assumed to be a female Blue dasher. I could even just make out the grid pattern of the eye. Not bad for a non-macro lens. There was also a pair of skippers chasing each other around. The shot of the very center of an echinecia bloom was at ISO 5000.
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-TKWRF7D/0/MGRG5rf2sQS8Sj8VKH9bvNWkRRWKTtsDCWBHtrjrn/M/Skipper%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-TKWRF7D/A)
Skipper
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-t9hN6Mc/0/KXjWnFD5bfBzcPGqzg2ghgMqjLmK7C6QQd3qcc293/M/12-spotted%20Skimmer%2Cbehind%2C2-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-t9hN6Mc/A)
12-spotted skimmer
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-FR8mg9T/0/LdfKCV4JCNLT9WGt4hnQchKvLjz8tgrMc9CzJ7KZm/M/Female%20Blue%20Dasher%20on%20wire%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-FR8mg9T/A)
Female Blue dasher
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-dgpJqTz/0/MGQqgcVLMFpM75hf7pZvrwVF44jHKncvKgzHxvPCR/M/Skimmer%2Cside%20view%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-dgpJqTz/A)
12-spotted skimmer
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-gT6LFQp/0/KVXVNbk9qjZp6M4gd5qQ6d5MLKvt9mgn8G9ppj3ks/M/Echinecea%20center%2Ccropped-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontario/Outdoor-Ontario/i-gT6LFQp/A)
Very center of Echinecia bloom at ISO 5000
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They all look very good!