Posted on October 10, 2022
We have quite a few farms where we live now and it is fun to see fields of corn, cows, pigs and other farming activities. Which is strange because there is also lots of corporate buildings and retirement villages also. But it fun to see the mix of all of these together. There is one farm we pass as we are going to a local Preserve to photograph landscapes, dragonflies and birds with a display of tractors on their front lawn. These images were taken with a 14-140mm lens on a Panasonic m43 GH2 @ 140mm. (Full Frame Camera Equivalent 280mm). For this series I used PhotoShop for the Panoramas because I did not want to go uninvited on their Property.
Posted on December 6, 2021
Additional Panorama Images from the 7 Lakes Drive in Harriman State Park. Most images were taken with a Canon 24-105mm lens with a Canon 1D mkIV. The last image was taken with a Panasonic GH2 m43 format camera with a 14-140mm lens. The Featured Image is made from 2- handheld 24mm horizontal images blended in Photoshop for a taller image to get a little more sky & foreground.
Category: Blog, Cloudscapes, Colorful Trees, fall leaves, Landscapes, Panorama & Stacked Images, Panoramas Tagged: 7 lakes drive, 7 Lakes Drive Harriman NY, Canon 1D MkIV, canon 24-105mm f/4 lens, Harriman State Park, landscapes, Multi-image panorama, Multi-image panoramas, Panasonic 14-140mm lens, Panasonic m43, panoramas, Vertical Panorama
Posted on November 23, 2018
I am still going over images I shot earlier this year towards the end of Summer. Work seems to have gotten in the way of doing this sooner. This is from the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland, one of our favorite places to photograph. Especially for Eagles and landscapes. The clouds were amazing this day which was great for panorama landscapes. I liked the colors and brightness in the center of the Thunderhead cloud and shot the series so there was more darkness below the cloud. I thought it made the cloud stand out more and look more interesting. I was using 4 different cameras this day, depending on what I was photographing with lenses ranging for the Canon Bodies from 12-24mm, 24-105mm, 300mm & 400mm and a few macro lenses. We never know until we get there what we will find interesting to photograph. So we usually bring an assortment of lenses. Birds were scarce, so we concentrated on Dragonflies and landscapes. For this image I was using a m43 Camera with a Panasonic 14-140mm lens, equivalent to 28mm FOV on a Full-Frame Camera. I only used 2 horizontal images stacked because with a third it seemed too square to me and lost some impact. Lately I seem to be doing more panoramas or stacked images mainly for the practice & challenge of them working out. Plus it is fun (when it Works!) Also images tend to work out better when you have tried various techniques and know when to shoot more or less for certain situations. It does seem the wider you go with the lens, the harder it is to blend sometimes. Below are with the 12-24mm on a Canon Body.
Looking out from the middle of the Lookout Platform – @12mm, 3 Vertical images panorama
Opposite Direction on the Lookout Platform – Early am – 3 img horizontal panorama @ 12mm
4 horizontal images @ 22mm panorama – looking out from behind Information Kiosk
Looking down the Wildlife Drive by the Observation Platform – 2 img vertical panorama to include large main cloud
Category: Blackwater NWR, Blackwater NWR, Cambridge MD, Blog, Favorite Locations, Landscapes, Panorama & Stacked Images, Skyscapes & Clouds Tagged: blackwater National Wildlife refuge, bwr cloudscapes, BWR Panoramas, Image Stacking, image stacking wit photoshop cc, Panasonic 14-140mm lens, Panasonic m43, panoramas, thunderhead clouds
Posted on November 7, 2018
Still working on images from our walks at the Davidson’s Mill Pond Park. I liked the colors in the water with the Fall colored subdued trees behind the pond. The featured image was shot @ 14mm on a m43 format camera. The blue sky seemed to really reflect in the pond water setting off the floating fallen leaves. Then I tried 2 additional shots, one @ 41mm and then one @ 32mm. I liked the wider view “featured” image best of the 3. But sometimes you don’t know until you compare them all at once and then you can see which you like best.
Posted on November 5, 2018
Beginning of the trail through the woods
At the beginning of the trail, we heard someone behind us say “Excuse us! Be are just going to pass you. Then we realized it was a rider on a horse. Never heard them behind us!
Posted on January 16, 2018
A series of multi-image panoramas photographed at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ. Shot with a m43 camera @14mm. Featured image was 4 images, shot horizontally in sections, handheld, going from ground to the sky. Assembled in Photoshop. I find the m43 images take a little more care when assembling in Photoshop. Some need a little more “tweaking” or fine tuning than larger sensor cameras. But overall they are fun to use. A lot lighter to carry when you are wandering around looking for subjects to photograph. I still prefer my larger Canons, but sometimes it is nice to go “light”.
2 horizontal shots – stacked vertically in Photoshop. m43 format @14mm
A series of horizontal images, shot overlapping, from ground to sky. Assembled in Photoshop. m43 format @14mm
Category: Blog, Brigantine NWR, Oceanville NJ, Favorite Locations, Landscapes, Nature Still Lifes, Panorama & Stacked Images, Stacked Images Tagged: 14-140mm m43 lens, Brigantine Division, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Landscape, m43 camera, Panasonic m43, panoramas, Photoshop, photoshop panoramas
Posted on June 23, 2017
While roaming around looking for photo subjects, I noticed this Hoverfly working around this Goutweed. Thought it was an interesting contrast to the white goutweed with the dark body and clear wings. I also liked the yellow shapes on the hoverfly. Shot with the Canon 200mm FD Macro on a m43 camera body.
Category: Blog, Favorite Locations, Insects, Macro Photography, yard & pond Tagged: Canon FD 200mm f/4 macro, goutweed, hoverfly, Panasonic m43
Posted on June 21, 2017
After a rain, I went out looking for photo subjects. Our Dogwood tree had blooms on it so I started there. I found a bloom with water drops and a sun star on the drop. I was using a 200mm macro lens on a m43 body which also accented the sun star with the iris of the lens.
Posted on June 12, 2017
When I was photographing the clouds at Davidson Mill Pond, in one section I was by some of the bird boxes. This Tree Swallow was keeping an eye on me as I was somewhat near this Blue Bird box. I thought it would fly off, but it just seemed interested in keeping an eye on me, maybe seeing if I would get too close. I moved on before it flew off.
Category: Birds, Blog, Davidsons Mill Pond Park, Favorite Locations, Wildlife Tagged: 14-140mm Panasonic, Davidsons Mill Pond Park, Panasonic m43, Tree Swallow
Posted on May 6, 2017
The Main Fountain Garden at Longwood Gardens is about to reopen this month. We were there for the Tulip Gardens with more than 240,000 Tulips blooming around the gardens. The Main Fountain Garden has been closed for years during the renovation, but they were testing some of the fountains while we were there. This is a 10 shot panorama taken handheld at 14mm with a m43 camera. It was blocked off since it is not open to the public yet so there were no people in the way. I shot more overlapping shots than usual since it was such a long structure and it helped to avoid more distortion with the wide angle lens and the extreme length of the building. Processing the images in CC Photoshop 2017 seems to have less distortion at the edges than my old standby Photoshop CS6 Extended.