Camera Critter #3

Ahh...again we dig deep into the vast collection of photos taken by the wonder of the west, the modern day nobody, the one, the only Ashrunner and bring you the third installment of Camera Critter Sunday.

This critter is known as a Yellow-rumped Warbler and is common here in the spring and fall. Where they go during the summer, your guess is as good as mine...hehehe. I took this image about a week ago at one of my favorite photo sites, Fireman's Pond in Redmond, Oregon. There were several dozen of the birds around, but this is the only one who posed for me.

I hope you enjoy the image.

Camera Critter Time Again

It's Camera Critter Sunday time of the week again. And keeping with the prehistoric look theme, may I present a Western Fence Lizard.

Not only do I love this image, but most folks who have seen it, love it also. I found this little fella in the badland areas near the old golf course in Redmond. I first saw him on top of a tree stump and as I approached him, he disappeared down the side. I have a lot of shots of these common lizards, but none showing the underside which is a gorgeous blue color. So I approached the stump slowly and moved around the side of it even slower until I saw the lizard. He was in perfect position for the shot, so I took a couple, moved a little more, took a couple more, moved a little more and he disappeared.

But I got what I wanted. I hope you all like it.

It's Fixed

Well, as reported in my previous post, I had troubles with my browser seeing something everyone else was seeing. The operative word in that sentence, is had.

I no longer have the problem.

While talking to a friend of mine who probably would have invented computers in Ancient Rome if had been around back then, I casually mentioned the problem. His reply was short and simple. "Sounds like a firewall block."

Sure enough, I check my firewall ban list and there is a site banned on the day I signed up for Mr. Linky. I give it permission to pass and like magic...there is the list of names...something 70 or so now I think.

Well, I got a lot of catching up to do 8v)

To all those who offered there assistance, thanks.

Computers, Memes and Frustration

As I mentioned in my previous post, my good friend Misty started a Sunday meme called Camera Critters. If you haven't visited the meme page, you can by clicking here.

I joined this meme and made my first post on Sunday. For those of you have have seen my photo and commented on it, thank you. I do appreciate your visit.

However, due to circumstances I can not currently understand, I cannot visit other meme participants entries. Misty has told me there is a list of names just under the first post and clicking on any of the names will take me to the participants page, but my browser (Firefox) does not show the list of names. Microsoft's Internet Explorer probably would, but I want to use my favorite browser to visit the other entries.

When I do figure out why I can't get that list of names (I didn't believe there was one there until Misty sent me a screen shot showing the list...but it still could have been photoshoped in! 8v)) and gain access to the list, I'll start visiting and most likely commenting.

But please don't hold the fact that I can't visit any of the other entries. Someday I will...soon as I figure out the problem.

I wanted to pass this on to anyone who might be wondering if I visited their page. To those of you who have commented on my lizard photo, I have gone to a few of your pages and will visit the rest in the next day or two.

So, thanks for listening. We now return control of your computer monitor to you.

One Fine Day!!!

I went out shooting yesterday. It's been a while since my health and the weather have conspired to give me that opportunity. And a good shoot it was.

I bagged me a new species of lizard and some new shots of familiar lizards. I like shooting lizards...and I really do. I thought I enjoyed birds, but no...it's those creepy, crawly things which up close and personal have such a prehistoric look to them I like best. You can see a couple of the new shots on my photostream at Flickr.

So, since I am shooting more and more (I hope...it appears the weather in the high desert is going south again real soon), I hope to post more and more shots of the local fauna. I generally put my favorite shots on my Flickr site. But I still have a lot of great shots I just don't want to post at Flickr. And because of that, I was glad when a friend of mine, Misty of Misty's Musing started a Sunday meme called Camera Critters Meme (don't ask me what "meme" means, as I still ain't figured it out). I figure I'll put my "other" good shots linked to that meme here.

So to begin the fun, my I present -- "A Lizard"


I came across this guy yesterday, along the Dry Canyon Trail in Redmond, Oregon which is one of my favorite places to wander. I'm not sure what species of lizard this is. Show me anything else and chances are I'll be able to name it, but lizards? NOT! At least not yet. 8v)

So, if you enjoy critters of any type, check out the Camera Critter Meme here.

And if you know the species of this lizard, let me know 8v)

Close-ups, Filter and Macro Photography

I have found out one thing. Shooting moving objects with the 500D filter on the front of my zoom lens is not easy. I have yet to get an image I like using the filter. The biggest problem I have is I don't use a tripod. It's way to difficult to carry a tripod around in the field and setup for a shot of bug that probably won't be in position when I finish setting up. So I handhold all my shots. Since the 500D sets focus along a thin plane at about 19.5 inches, if I move out or in from the subject, the camera can't compensate outside of that thin plane. With practice I could probably learn ways to do it, but nothing I have tried so far has helped.

I really wanted the filter for close-up photography. As anyone who has looked at my photostream can tell, I do like getting close to bugs. I thought this lens/filter combination would be the answer to my desire to get closer. I guess I'll have to continue searching for that answer.

I know there are macro lens which allow for close up photography, but whether they work with good enough depth-of-field for my purposes or not, I am not sure. I should ask the question on one of the many sites of the internet which might know the answer, but I have found, that in most instances, the answers you get are not what you need. Either the questioner asks the question incorrectly, or readers misread the question, and when that happens, the question isn't answered and the questioner is left wondering just what the correct answer is.

Maybe I'll ask the question and hope for the best. 8v)

If there is a knowledgeable Canon equipment reader reading this entry, I'll ask the question here. You can send me your answer through this site. And now for the question.

When used at its closest focusing distance, how deep is the depth-of-field of the 100mm 2.8 EF Macro? Does autofocus work as I move in and out? Those are the most important questions I have. I probably need to know more, but those are the problems I have encountered with my current close-up combination.

Close-up Problems

I've been out shooting with a new addition to my shooting arsenal...the Canon 500D Close-up filter. When attached to the front of my 70-300 zoom, it allows for close focusing to about 19.5 inches. Boy does it bring things close up. 8v)

But the "in focus" layer is extremely thin. Hand-holding to get a sharp, in focus shot, is next to impossible, but not totally impossible. It just takes time and lots of shots. I shot 27 images of ants today, getting some rather close views. But every shot was out of focus. I need to figure out a way of steadying the camera when using that filter.

Every photographer reading this will probably laugh and say, "You need to use a tripod, you idiot." I probably should, but I ain't much for lugging a large, bulky, hard to handle tripod with me when I go shooting. There are times when one is called for, but generally by the time I set up a tripod for shooting, what I want to shoot is gone. Besides, that's what I got image stabilization for. Works great for most of my shooting, but the only way I'll be able to get the really little critters that I need to include in my photostream is by getting closer to shoot them. You see, it comes down to minimum focusing distance.

On my stabilized 70-300mm lens, the minimum focusing distance is 4.9 feet...right around 58 inches. When zoomed out to 300mm, it works well on large bugs. With the six megapixel size of my sensor, I can get a good enough image to crop to 50 percent and still have a usable set of different colored pixels. Chances are, I'll never be able to print a 50 percent crop at 16x20 inches, but who would want to see a bumble bee enlarged that big? 8v) What I do for my 800x600 web posted images works well. But it doesn't work on things smaller than a bumble bee.

I have gotten good images of Honey Bees, but they also include a large portion of the flower they were one. Cropping some of the flies I have gotten shots of also appear decent when cropped, but again include a lot of what they were on when I got the image. Because of that, I purchased the 500D close up filter. Another lens I have -- the 28-80mm lens -- close focuses a lot closer than the 70-300mm. It focuses at about 19 inches. But shooting a shot from 19 inches with an 80mm lens instead of the 300mm, means the image I shoot is a little more than 3 times smaller than one shot at 300mm.

There is another option for my style of shooting. Canon has a 28-300mm, image stabilized "L" lens. It close focuses to 28 inches throughout its zoom range. That would be the perfect lens for my style of shooting. One of these days I would like to get one. Great color, sharp images, but it is heavy...close to three pounds. Besides, it also costs $2,400.

Please send contributions to the "Get Ashrunner A New Lens Fund" through my Paypal account. 8v)