Insect Macro Photography
A mating couple
I love the clean blurry background in the next two shots
A Hairy face
Archive for 'Photography'
Fireworks on 1st August in Romanshorn
We went to Romanshorn at the Lake Constance to take some pictures of the fireworks which started at 10:30pm. It was also the Summer Nights festival and therefore there were lots of people. But we had a pretty good location because the fireworks were actually let off on the sea (a few hundred meters apart from the coastline). With a wide angle lens we could capture the whole fireworks display as well as the reflections in the water.
Some hints for taking better firework pictures:
- use a tripod
- use a aperture of about f/11 , should be high so that the amount of incoming light is limited
- use lowest ISO value
- shoot in BULB mode
If the camera is in BULB mode the shutter is open for as long as you hold down the shutter. This is very convenient and gives you a lot more flexibility compared to the predefined exposure times.
Below are some of my favorite shots:
More pictures in the gallery.
Botanic Gardens Munich
The botanic gardens are situated near the Schloss Nymphenburg. It was created 1909 and has more than 15’000 different plants. The entrance charge is only 4 euros and you should definitely go there. You can walk directly from the botanic gardens to the Nymphenburg where you can find the Schlosscafe in the Palmenhaus. It is a nice place to have some coffee before visiting the Nymphenburg.
Dragonflies
Below are some macro shots of dragonflies from the last weekend. If you are very close to the subject it’s important to shoot with a big enough depth of field (DOF). One way to increase the DOF is to shoot with a high f-stop. I used f/8 and f/9 this time. Unfortunately if you use a high f-stop value your exposure time also increases, so make sure there is enough light for a sharp image.
Recently I found a online DOF calculator and there are even tools for your iPhone and iPod-touch to calculate the correct values when you are in the field!
f/8, 1/800 s, 100mm
f/9, 1/200 s, 100mm
London in June (3) – Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens
The correct name would be the The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew but usually one says just Kew Gardens. It is a vast collection of living plants (more than 30’000!) and the size is about 300acres. The entry fee is about 11 pounds. More pictures of Kew Gardens.
Rhizotron & Xstrata Treetop Walkway
This walkway gives you the opportunity to walk high above the ground through the tree canopy of sweet chestnuts, limes and deciduous oaks. If you are lucky you see birds, insects, lichens and fungi that rely on these huge organisms. The walkway is about 200 meters long and is really thrilling. You also have a great view of the vast 300 acres of Kew, as well as the London skyline. It is designed by Marks Barfield Architects, the architects of the London Eye. The pioneering structure of the Xstrata Treetop Walkway is an ingenious design based on a Fibonacci numerical sequence, often found in nature’s growth patterns. And if you have forgotten what the Fibonacci numbers are, here the reminder 
: 0,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,…
Temperate House
The central part of the Temperate House was designed by Decimus Burton and finished in 1861. It was very expensive and because of financial constraints the construction of the two side-parts was delayed until 1899. It is the largest glasshouse at Kew and the world’s largest surviving Victorian glass structure. It contains plants from Asia, Australia, Pacific Islands and Africa. You can even walk up and view the trees and plants from above.
Waterlily House
It is the hottest and by far the most humid house at Kew. There was immediately a film over my lens from the camera. The Waterlily House contains a large pond with huge lilies surrounded by other heat-loving plants.
London in June (2) – Richmond
A nice day trip you can plan is to visit Richmond and on the way back Kew Gardens. Richmond sits on the south side of the river Thames. If you have a 7-Day Travelcard for zones 1 and 2 (and I remommend to buy one if you stay that long) the return ticket only costs about 3 pounds. Below you can see the Richmond bridge which was built in the 18th century. 1937 they widened the bridge due to increasing traffic.
We enjoyed the Thameside walkway with the pubs, terraces and beautiful green parks. Again there were lot’s of squirrels in the parks..
Andrea attracting a squirrel…
London in June (1)
The Piccadilly Circus at night is one of my favourite places in London to take pictures. It’s so vivid and colorful that you have lot’s of opportunities to test different modes and parameters for your “perfect” shot. Below are a few examples taken without a tripod. I tried some different ISO values and aperture times to compare the results.
1/2s, f10.0, ISO 320
1/4s, f7.1, ISO 320
1/20s, f3.5, ISO 320
Zurich Zoo
This time we took the route to Dübendorf/Wallisellen. It is the longer way but you don’t have to drive through the city. I think it is the fastest way to get to the Zurich Zoo from Buchs. After the exit 65 it is about 20 mins to the parking spaces.
The shot from the bird below was taken in the Masoala Rainforest park.
This time we were lucky because I got some good close-ups of the lions although there was a wire frame in front of the lens.
More pictures in the gallery!
London – HDR Shots
The Royal Albert Hall. Made from a single RAW.
Piccadilly Circus at Night. Made from a single RAW.
Foto Praxis Extra 01/08 (HDR Edition)
Fotopraxis HDR Magazine
In the new Foto Praxis Extra Magazine (01/08) you can see one of my HDR landscape pictures. It is a special edition which covers everything about HDR like all the software tools you need or Photoshop tricks to get the best results.
They published a landscape picture I took a few months ago. It shows the Rheintal valley near Buchs in St. Gallen. HDR was perfect for this situation because of the bright sky/clouds and dark mountains in the background. You can download the picture from photocase.
There is also a small digital edition which covers some of the articles. You can download it here.
