Wild Flowers - Sandy Hollow, Australia

Wild Flowers - Sandy Hollow, Australia

We were up at a friends farm in the upper Hunter Valley in New South Wales over the Easter weekend. On one of our walks I noticed that the wild flowers on the side of the road were back lit by the setting sun. It's not the sort of shot I take often but I thought I'd fire off a few frames and see how they turn out.

More photographs inside.

Wild Flowers - Sandy Hollow, Australia

I have started cropping images in a 2:1 ratio (first and third image as well as a few previous posts) and so far I've liked how they have turned out. This time I actually took the photograph with that particular crop in mind. Since this is not the usual type of shot that I upload on the blog, I'm pretty keen to see what you guys think. Please drop a comment below if you have a minute to spare.

 

Wild Flowers - Sandy Hollow, Australia

All the photographs on this post were taken with the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens. Since the shutter speed was quite fast, I didn't have to use a tripod.

Macro Daisy

Daisy

I hadn't used the macro lens for a while so decided to pull it out earlier this afternoon. As usual, I didn't have any particular subject in mind and decided to photograph whatever I found. These small Daisies seem to be all over the place at the moment so I photographed a few of them.

More photographs inside.

Daisy

As usual with macro photography, the biggest challenge for me was composing the photograph while  holding the Canon 430EX II with one hand and the camera in the other. I probably should have gone into the house brought a light stand or a tripod to make life a bit easier.

Daisy

These photographs were taken with the Canon 7D and the 100mm macro lens. For lighting I used a handheld 430 EXII. The photographs were taken at an aperture of around f14-16. The flash was firing at 1/8 or 1/16th. I didn't use ETTL for this shot. I set the power of the flash manually and moved the flash around until I was happy with the level of light. The photographs were taken at 1/250.

Macro Hydrangeas

Blue Hydrangeas

I'm pretty new to macro photography and I've got a fair bit to learn. The Hydrangeas are in bloom and  since they make good macro subjects, I took the opportunity to practice a little. The hardest part of taking these photographs was the lighting.

More photographs inside.

 Pink Hydrangeas

In order to achieve a greater depth of field, relatively small apertures are used in macro photography. The photographs on this post were shot at around the f14 mark. Because of the small apertures, artificial lighting and a tripod are pretty much essential.

Blue Hydrangeas

I used a Canon 430 EX II to light these images. The flash was handheld and triggered via the 7D's flash trigger system. I think I fired the flash at around 1/8th power. I'm still not too happy with the dark areas on the image and I will probably look at using a second flash to light up those spaces. However, I do think the shadows give the photograph a bit more depth and I'd have to figure out how preserve them.

Pink Hydrangeas

I used the Canon 100mm macro lens and the 7D for these photographs.

32/52 - The Rose

The Rose

This weeks entry for the project was fairly quick and pain free. I used a single strobe and the macro lens to produce the shot above. I did move the flash around a bit to add a bit more depth to the image by creating shadows of the layers of petals. I converted the shot into a black and white image and I'm quite happy with the result.

Lighting setup shots and a black and white version after the jump.

Lighting Setup - The Rose

I used a Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/16th to light the flower. Looking down at the end result, the strobe was positioned at about 2 o'clock. The flower used for the shot is highlighted in the setup above.

Here's the black and white version.

The Rose in Black and White

Macro Bee

A Bee settled on a Jasmine

I pulled out the macro lens a few days ago to try my hand at photographing live insects. It was interesting to say the least. I had been photographing flowers with the lens earlier and had the extension tubes on. I was lazy and didn't bother taking it out which made photographing insects a bit harder. 

More shots after the jump.

A Bee settled on a Jasmine

I first tried to pre-focus on a flower and wait for the Bees to settle on it. Half an hours wait without a single Bee landing on the flower was quite frustrating. Having got sick of waiting, I changed my approach and decided to move close to the Bees once they settled on a flower. Lighting was a bit more difficult as I had to hand hold the flash ( I didn't want on axis light so couldn't mount the flash on the camera itself).

A Bee settled on a Jasmine

This time I was able to ask my sister-in-law to help me out by holding the flash (she didn't seem to mind). I need to find a long term solution for this as it can become a bit of a problem. My options are getting a macro flash or looking for some sort of bracket to hold the flash.

Pink Gazania

A Pink Gazania

I played around with the macro lens and the extension tubes over the weekend to get used to using them. I found this Pink Gazania in the garden and decided to use it as a subject. It's actually quite a small flower and I was relatively happy with the results of my first macro shoot. However, I must admit, it took me a lot longer to find the name of the flower than to photograph it!

More photographs inside.

A Pink Gazania

I used a tripod for these shots but didn't have a light stand for the flash and had to hold it with my right hand while releasing the shutter with my left. It wasn't the best position to hold the camera steady but a shutter speed of 1/250th helped. These were taken at an aperture of f/11 and the flash was fired form very close to the lens.

A Pink Gazania

I'm not sure if I actually needed the extension tubes for these shots but I wanted to use them anyway. In the coming weeks I want to use the macro a fair bit and really familiarise myself with apertures, lighting and when to use extension tubes! In other words, watch out for a whole bunch of macro shots on this blog. 

Gloriosa superba

The Flame Lily (Gloriosa superba) photographed in Anuradhapura 

The Flame Lily is a tuberous climbing plant which is native to tropical central and southern Africa. It also grows wild in Sri Lanka and is also the national flower of Zimbabwe. Every part of this plant is extremely poisonous and can be fatal if ingested. It is called Niyagala in Sinhalese and is synonymous with suicide. Read on for more info and images.

The Flame Lily (Gloriosa superba) photographed in Anuradhapura 

These plants are known to reach around 2.4 meters in height and bloom between the months of November and March. The plant grows in sandy-loam soil, in mixed deciduous forests and is very tolerant of nutrient poor soils. Although ingestion of the plants can be fatal, the sap from the tips of the leaves is used to treat pimples and other skin problems. The tuber is used for the treatment of bruises, sprains, colic, chronic ulcers,  haemorrhoids, and cancer. 

The Flame Lily (Gloriosa superba) photographed in Anuradhapura 

These images were captured in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. I used a Canon 400D  with the 50mm f1.8 lens. 

The Blue Lotus

A Blue Lotus photographed in Arankelle

The Blue Lotus, also known as the Red and Blue water lily, Blue star water lily and Star Lotus is native  to the Indian subcontinent. It has now spread to many countries and is valued as a garden flower. More images and info after the jump.

 
A Blue Lotus photographed in Kandy

The Nymphea nouchali is a non-viviparous plant that has submerged roots and stems. Part of the leaves are also submerged while others rise slightly above the surface. The leaves themselves are round and green in colour. The leaves usually have a darker underside.

The flower of the water lily comes in a variety of colours, ranging from violet blue to white, purple, mauve and fuchsia. The flower has 4-5 sepals and and 13-15 petals which make the flower look like a star when you look at it from above.

A Bunch of Blue Lotuses photographed in Anuradhapura

The Blue Lotus is the national flower of Sri Lanka and is referred to as Nil Manel. The flower has been mentioned in Sanskrit, Pali and Sinhalese literary works since ancient times as a symbol of virtue, discipline and purity.    

Blue Lotuses photographed in Kandy

The lotus is considered a medicinal plant in Ayurvedic medicine and is used to treat indigestion. Recent experiments are supposed to have confirmed that the plant has medicinal properties as an anti-hepatotoxic and an anti-diabetic. It's tubers can be used as food items and they are usually boiled or roasted before consumption. 

A Blue Lotus photographed in Kandy

These shots were taken with the Canon 7D and the 400D. I think I used the 50mm f1.8 lens to capture these shots.

  

Glassy Tiger

The Glassy Tiger is a common butterfly found at an altitude of up to 5000 feet, over most of the island. More info on the butterfly and the image inside.

Click here for techs.

With a wingspan of 65-80mm it is the slowest of the Danaids. It spends much of its time between 5 and 10 feet and rarely flies up into the canopy. It is the most shade loving of all the Danaids and is frequently seen nectaring on flowers in the undergrowth. It has a chemical defense that protects it against predators. When handled, it plays dead and emits a foul smelling substance. The sexes are similar.

The male has scent patches on the hind wing. The pouch shaped patch on vein 1 is larger than the pouch on vein 2. Both are more swollen and visible on the underside than on the upper side. The markings on the Glassy Tiger are uniformly grey. It is also the smallest butterfly in the group.

The Glassy Tiger is similar to the Blue Tiger, Dark Blue Tiger, Female Dark Wanderer and the Common Mime.

The fact that it is slow in flight probably helped me when it came to capturing the image above. I followed it as it settled on a number of different flowers until I finally got the shot I was after. I used the 100-400mm lens for this and therefore I didn't have to get too close to it. I came across this butterfly in the middle of the afternoon which is probably the worst time to photograph Butterflies. The best time to photograph them is early morning before they "warm up" in the sun and become more active. Make sure that your shadow does not fall on the subject when you approach it as that tends to disturb them.

I've got more shots of this butterfly at http://devwijewardane.blogspot.com/2010/04/glassy-tiger.html