Today's Guest Blogger Pat Porter Gets Up-Close-and-Personal with Bugs

October 11, 2015

Above: The Robber Fly
Canon 5Ds, 180mm macro, f/13, ISO 1000

I would like to start by thanking Rick for inviting me to be a guest blogger on his site. I'd also like to thank and Juan Pons, the co-host (along with Rick) of the DPE podcast, for his insights. Rick and Juan both have the heart of a teacher, and their many excellent podcasts have helped me improve my photography skills.

I work for Texas A&M University as faculty member in the Department of Entomology and am an agricultural entomologist. In my job I am surrounded by insects three seasons per year and get to see the devastation they cause, but also the beauty inherent in them. Insects can present special challenges for photographers and here are some of my techniques for photographing them.

Rick says that, “The name of the game is to fill the frame.” However, the 1:1 nature and minimum focusing distance of most macro lenses makes it hard to fill the frame when photographing insects, so the quality of extreme crops becomes important. In a bout of enthusiasm I purchased a Canon 5Ds body and headed to the field. The cropped robber fly image and the screenshot of the applied crop make a statement about the benefits of 50 megapixels.

Above: Whitelined sphinx
Canon 5D MkIII, 100mm macro, ISO 1,250, 1/2000 second

Almost all of my insect photography happens in minutes as I encounter things in the field; I am there to work on insect pest problems and don’t have time to set up gear like flashes and reflectors. All I carry is a tripod, camera body, 100mm and 180mm macro lenses and a 24-105mm (for general use). The 100mm lens has image stabilization and frees me from a tripod so that I can move around and react quickly, and the image above is an example of that freedom.

However, the 180mm, while not image stabilized and usually requiring a tripod, lets me stay a bit farther away from flighty insects. Another plus of this lens is that it accepts a 1.4x tele-converter, and I have not seen any quality reduction when using the tele-converter. Raising the ISO above 1000 allows me some freedom for a fast shutter speed and the reasonably good depth of field provided between f/11-f/16. F-stop values higher than f/16 usually result in image softness introduced by diffraction.

Above: Whitelined sphinx and skipper

Perhaps the hardest thing to do in insect photography is to capture action. Big and showy insects like in the image above are easy for most people to see, but there is also a lot of action that takes place on a less noticeable scale. I have a three-legged stool that I take to the field when I have a little extra time, and I have found that sitting quietly for five to ten minutes and looking carefully at the nearby plants often pays big dividends. When action shots are possible I do not hesitate to push my equipment beyond reasonable limits if necessary. This is because the action has entomological value in terms of behavior, and sometimes this is more important than a technically superior photograph.

Above: Collops beetle
Canon 5D MkII pushed beyond its limits; tiny 3/16” Collops beetle attacking an even smaller weevil. Canon MP-E lens, ISO 2000, f/14, 1/640 second.

Having said all of this about using expensive gear and lenses, I would like to conclude by saying that several simple point and shoot cameras can provide a much more pleasant and less compressed perspective for insects than can be attained with a macro lens. I attended the inaugural Bugshot insect photography workshop a few years ago and there were several older, established photographers who brought a fortune in camera bodies and lenses. And then there were entomology graduate students who brought empty pockets, point and shoot cameras and a knowledge of insect behavior and biology.

At the end of the workshop when reviewing images it was easy to see that enthusiastic but knowledgeable people with “cheap” cameras took much more dynamic and exciting images than the established people with expensive gear.

Above: Xylocopa wasp, Salvador Vitanza.

As an example of what a point and shoot can do, above is a photo taken by my colleague in El Paso, Dr. Salvador Vitanza.

For more of my work, please visit my website.

Click here for info on Bugshot Insect Photography Workshops.

• • • • •

Thank you Pat for sharing your close-up photographs – and vision – with us. Amazing work.

Explore the light,
Rick

What's new? My 36th book: Creative Visualization for Photographers.

A Giant in the Medical Community: Dr. John E. Sarno – Healer, Author and Friend

October 10, 2015 in Back Pain, Chronic Pain, Dr. Sarno, Neck Pain

Although he may be small in stature, Dr. John E. Sarno, now retired, is a still giant in the medical community. Many years ago, he cured me – without surgery, drugs or exercise – of "incurable" back and neck pain. He has also cured just about everyone I have sent to him.

This photo was taken a few years ago in Dr. Sarno's office at the Rusk Institute in NYC.

If you are hurtin', or know someone who is hurtin', check out the good doctor and his

book.

Take good care,

Rick

Excerpt #4: Creative Visualization for Photographers

October 09, 2015

This week on my blog: I am running excerpts from my latest book, Creative Visualization for Photographers. Both the e-book and paperback versions are available!

Excerpt #4

The space-time continuum is a mathematical model that combines space and time into a single idea. That concept came to mind when I took this photograph of a lenticular cloud near Mt. Rainier in Washington state - where I am leading a photo workshops in 2016.

If you had been there, you might have chosen a different space (composition) for your photograph. You might have taken a wider or tighter shot, or you may have composed your image vertically.

What about time? You may not have pressed the shutter release button at exactly the same time as I had, so the clouds might have been in slightly different position. You also may not have used the same shutter speed that I used, which could have affected the movement of the clouds in your photograph.

Back home, you probably would have processed the image differently, perhaps making it a more saturated images or a black-and-white image.

When you think about, a photograph you take is a singe idea – of your individual vision. Acting on your ideas, and accomplishing your goals, will give you a good feeling about your work.

With your photographs, you convey, and share with others, your own individual feelings with time (moment you take the shot) and space (your exact composition).

That's kinda cool - and you should be happy that you are a photographer!

Explore the light,
Rick

"I Hate HDR" and "I Teach HDR the Right Way"

October 03, 2015

I teach HDR on most of my workshops. The next HDR workshop will be in Atlanta, GA later this month. We'll shoot at Old Car City and the Southeastern Railway Museum. Great fun!

Want to have some fun? Do a web search on "I hate HDR." Tons of pages will come up.

In that search you will find a photographer who says, "I teach HDR the right way."

As my dad used to say, "To each his own." I say, "Why hate anything?" And, my take on teaching HDR - or creating HDR images - is that there is no "right way" and no "one way."

It's all personal, like all art.

Some folks like realistic-looking HDR images, such as the image above, while others like super-saturated images with the grunge look, like the images below.

I don't teach HDR the right way, I simply teach it my way - which covers creating all types of HDR images.

The HDR program I recommend most is Photomatix from HDR soft. You can save 15% on Photomatix when you use this code - ricksammon - upon checkout from the HDR soft web site.

Here is post I did on the latest version of Photomatix. The above image is from that post.

One tip I do offer when it comes to HDR: The subject often suggests the HDR effect. For example, you probably want a natural-looking HDR image for a landscape, while the super-saturated/grunge effect may look good on a photo of an old car.

As with all your photography, I say follow your heart. Or as Ginger Baker wrote, "Do what you like."

South East Railway Museum near Atlanta, GA.

If you want to get good at HDR, put yourself in a very high-contrast situation: shoot indoors and get details inside and outside. If you can see into the shadows and if your highlights are not blown out in your final HDR image, you are on your way to creating a good HDR image - your way. The image directly above illustrates that technique.

All my 2016 photo workshops are listed on my 2016 Workshops page.

Explore the light,
Rick

No Other Old Car City Photo Workshop Offers This Much!

October 02, 2015

Above: Old Car City. Model photography is included in my October 2015 Old Car City/Southeaster Railway Museum photo workshop. Canon 5D Mark III, 17-40mm lens.

Registration is open for my October 2015 Canon EOS Destination Workshop: Capturing the Classics: Old Cars and Antique Trains. I can't wait to return to Old Car City and the Southeastern Railway Museum - both of which are located outside of Atlanta, GA.

I'll be teaching: composition (the strongest way of seeing), "croposition" (combining composition with cropping), storytelling, lighting, HDR – and how to use reflectors, diffusers and speedlites when photographing a model.

My friends from Canon will be there to loan you the newest cameras and lenses (including fish-eye lenses and super-wide-angle lenses) to photograph some of the oldest cars in the country. You will also have plenty of time to process your images – for our group slide show/critique session. And, you'll even get to make a print or two on Canon printers.

No other Old Car City photo workshop offers this much. In addition to the teaching, model session, processing and printing, each workshop participant will receive an autographed copy of my three favorite books: Creative Visualization for Photographers, Exploring the Light and Travel and Nature Photography. In addition, everyone will also receive a free download code for two of my on-line classes: Master the Art and Craft of Bird Photography and Master Landscape and Seascape Photography - both available in my on-line store.

All participants will also received an SD card loaded with Perfectly Clear (see my Plug-in page) for both Lightroom and Photoshop. Thanks to my friends at Athentech for your support!

Total value of these items is over $250.

Above: Lounge car, Southeastern Railway Museum. Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 15mm lens.

Here's a look at some of my favorite photographs from my previous trip to Old Car City and the Southeastern Railway Museum.

The lounge car photograph (above) and the mail car photograph are HDR images, created in Photomatix. I recommend Photomatix for this workshop. You can get a discount on Photomatix on my Save on Plug-ins page.

Above: Old Car City. Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 17-40mm lens.

I removed some of the reality from my images in this post either by using a fish-eye lens, by altering the true color of a scene, by applying a plug-in, by shooting HDR, by selectively blurring parts of an image – or by using a combination of all these techniques.

I can show you how to apply digital enhancements during the workshop. Of course, I'll show you how to get awesome in-camera shots, too.

Above: Southeastern Railway Museum. Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 17-40mm lens.

About removing some of the reality from a scene: When we remove some of the reality from a photograph, the photograph can - but not always - look more artistic.

Photoshop, Lightroom and plug-ins make creating artistic images relatively easy - if you have a creative vision.

Above: Old Car City. Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 24-70mm lens.

On my workshops I stress light and composition, the topics of my two latest classes on Kelby Training. The picture above (taken on my previous workshops) of our model Hanna (she's coming back for this workshop) illustrates the benefits of shooting on an overcast day, when contrast is low. It also illustrates creative composition: shooting at an angle creates a sense of depth in an image, the Bel Air insignia adds a sense of place to the image, and shooting at eye level helps the viewer of the photograph relate to the subject.

Above: Old Car City. Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 17-40mm lens. Effects added with Nik Color Effects Pro. Several Photoshop CS6 enhancements.

Above: Old Car City. Like abstracts? You will find them in pealing paint and in rust at Old Car City.

Another element of photography we talk about on my workshops is the importance of cropping. In the above photograph, the extremely tight crop (I know it's extreme) emphasizes the fins and tail lights of this cool Caddy.

Above: Southeastern Railway Museum. Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 17-40mm lens.

Yes, the railway cars and old automobiles are awesome subjects. But hey, I especially enjoy photographing people on location. That is why I was so glad our model Hanna is returning!

I hope to see you at Old Car City and at the Southeastern Railway Museum - where we not only make good pictures, but where we also have a ton of fun.

If you can't make that workshop, all my workshops are listed here.

Explore the light,
Rick