Posts Tagged ‘nature photography’

4 September 2013. Managed to finish the entire loop, rather rare for a night walk. Copper-cheeked frog (Hydrophylax raniceps) Moulting nursery web spider (Thalassius sp.) Singapore tanrantula (Phlogiellus inermis) Stick insect (Necroscia ?prasina , formerly N. roseipennis – the 7 white rings on antennae are diagnostic) Nasute termites Brown mantid (?Statilia sp.) Moulting orthoptera Bioluminescent ‘shrooms (Filoboletus manipularis) Nocturnal duck

The many clusters of bioluminescent mushrooms (Filoboletus manipularis, among possible others) that we saw earlier in the week had all but withered. The sole bunch still existing in a decent condition was found near the end of the route, emitting a very weak bioluminescence. Singlets and another dying cluster could be found on an adjacent log, their glow barely discernable from the gleaming moonlight being reflected by surrounding surfaces on the forest floor. First, behold the X100S! 25-second exposure, f/4, ISO 5000, in-camera noise reduction off, auto white balance. The junk piece of a manual screw-in cable release I picked…

Venus Drive 14 August 2013, 2.3km Who’d have guessed that the X100S isn’t just a brilliant streeting camera, but does decent nature macro photography as well! First field test went better than expected: slapped on a Raynox DCR-250 close-up lens and used my Nikon SB-800 flashgun with a flimsy DIY diffuser softbox (it fell into a pool of murk when I was shooting the frogs), synced with a SC-29 remote cord. Everything is manual: exposure, flash settings, flash handling sans extension brackets. The only thing that’s stopping me from using manual focusing is that I’ve run of out free hands.…

aka ‘Everything looks better in B&W’, born of a running gag between me and a photographer friend when we went to see the Genesis world premiere at the Natural History Museum. I had a free guest pass sitting in my wallet from years ago. Ten years ago maybe. It had gone flimsy and was frayed at the edges, looking like the piece of antique that it was. The staff at the exhibition counter refused it, explaining that he couldn’t take it for that would be like ‘accepting a fake ticket’. He advised me to try exchanging it for an exhibition…