A Glass Menagerie - Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS5

I carry a camera with me every day. Today, it happened to be my little waterproof Lumix TS5, which I was bringing in to work to loan to a friend. The camera has accompanied her to Central America, and is now on its way to Tibet.

 

Anyway, the building where I work represents one of the world's largest installations of structural glass. Walking to my office, I noticed these apparently random tracks on the condensed water droplets on the outside surface. Obviously not guided by gravity, these tracks twist and turn, intersecting themselves and wandering both up and down. After looking at a few of them closely, I determined the source.

 

Slug, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS5

 

At about 1 1/2" in length, these guys cover some territory.

 

Further down the hall, I found this predator:

 

Praying Mantis, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS5

 

I'm not sure if a mantis will eat slugs, but I have a suspicion they will. Quite an interesting little world in operation just on the other side of the glass...

 

The TS5's macro capability came in handy here. The wifi did as well, allowing me to quickly transfer the images to my iPad so I could include them in this morning's post.

 

Then, I look up from the table where I'm writing and see this:

 

 

I grabbed this shot with the iPad's onboard camera. Okay, digital imaging can be pretty cool.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Calm Maui Sunrise

Calm Maui Sunrise, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS5

 

This is exactly the type of calm seas I hoped for on the day of our scuba trip. The weather gods smiled upon us, and it was a wonderful trip.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Spider's Web, Waihe'e Ridge, Maui

 

Spider's Web, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Sigma 60mm f2.8 Art Lens

 

From my sunrise hike up Waihe'e Ridge in Maui. Sometimes jet lag can be a good thing. Today, it made it awfully easy to be up before dawn for the drive to the trailhead.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Long Shadows - Waikiki Beach

 

Long Morning Shadows, Waikiki, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Sigma 60mm f2.8 Art Lens

 

In this scene, I was struck by the extremely long shadow projecting from the person on the beach, and an even longer one from a palm tree not visible from this viewpoint. This highly directional strip of light was coming through between two large hotel towers. I took this from the 19th floor of the hotel.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

lions, tigers, and... BEARS! Oh, My.

Okay, no lions or tigers, but on the drive in to my local kayaking spot here in Northern Virginia this weekend, I did see foxes (4), deer (dozens), and a black bear!

 

Black Bear (Ursus americanus) in Suburbia, by Reed A. George

Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR Lens

iso 3200, f4, 1/125 sec.

 

Keep in mind, this is in Northern Virginia, where the townhouses and strip malls are rapidly gaining on the trees in number. It was a pleasant surprise to see this beautiful animal here. Also a little troubling. I'm concerned for his (her?) future.

 

It was just after 6:00 AM, and the light was low there in the early morning shade. I didn't have time to make adjustments, other than to crank the iso up as far as I felt comfortable with. Luckily, that got me to a shutter speed where one or two exposures came out sharp, even though I was handholding the big 200-400mm lens, zoomed to 400mm.

 

The approximate focus distance is 29.9'. That bear could cover that distance in less than one second. Thankfully, he didn't.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Leica M9 - Still Something Special About It

 

Teen Style, Morning Light, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm f1.5 Lens

iso 500, f1.7, 1/15 sec.

 

Yes, there's still something unique about how the Leica M9 sensor renders an image. Nothing in your face, for sure. But, this is basically the tonality that I had in mind when I made this shot on the way out of the house this morning. There's something subtle about the way this camera draws.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

From My Morning Walk in Tokyo

 

Tsukishima Boat, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Carl Zeiss C-Sonnar 50mm f1.5 Lens

iso 400, f2.8, 1/750 sec.

 

I am in Tokyo today as I write this. One good thing about the jet lag I'm suffering with - it gets me out for sunrise walks and photography.

 

This morning, I took the morning train one stop from where I'm staying, to Tsukishima. It's a nice little island section of Tokyo, with some nice boats and morning reflections. I hope you enjoy the view. This is a jpeg directly from the camera.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Another Wildlife Shot From An Unlikely Camera and Lens - Leica M9 and Canon LTM 135mm f3.5

Black-Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Canon LTM 135mm f3.5 Lens

iso 320, f4.8, 1/180 sec.

 

I took this shot last week in Maui. I was driving to a likely beach for my sunrise walk when I saw this guy in a pool of water next to the road. I pulled over, put the longest lens I had on my M9, which was the 135mm Canon, and started slowly approaching. He flew off, but then later returned. Waiting long enough made him less sensitive to my presence. Patience paid off, and he finally approached me this time, staying long enough for me to get a few shots.

 

Using a rangefinder and relatively short telephoto lens is not the proven method of shooting birds. It worked here.

 

I didn't really appreciate this shot until I took a longer look on a big monitor. I decided to print it at 13"x19", and that's when it really came to life for me. In addition to the awesome detail rendered in the bird's eye and feathers, the circular ripples in the water surface (rain? I don't remember) are an important element. Finally, the bird's reflection in the water surface is another nice secondary element. Overall, I'm quite pleased with this shot.

 

For me the bottom line is that different gear leads to different images. For example, if I shot this with a longer telephoto lens on an SLR, I'd probably miss the water ripples altogether, and using a wider aperture would prevent me from getting both the eye and feathers in sharp detail. So, I'm glad my choice of equipment challenged me to get what I did, perhaps even better than a more traditional birding rig would have allowed. Or maybe next time that I do have a longer lens, I'll be sure to include more of the surroundings, and get more depth of field. Either way, I'm learning about alternative compositions and elements.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com