Where’s the aperture ring?

Modern Nikkor lenses: 60mm F2.8 Micro Nikkor with manual aperture ring (left) and 18-200mm F3.5 – 5.6 VR zoom. Notice the absence of the aperture ring on the zoom. Image made with Nikon D2Xs and 200 mm F4.0 Micro Nikkor and flash.

With today’s electronic technology-driven cameras, many of our exposure controls are as convenient as a finger push on the camera body. And with experience, we never have to remove our eye from the viewfinder.

The shutter speed and aperture selection is controlled electronically through the selector wheel on the camera body. However, in natural science photography there are cases where electronic aperture selection is not possible because the electronic connections between the lens and the camera body are not workable.

Do I mean the camera malfunctions? No, not at all. What I mean is that, through the addition of some components between the camera body and lens, the electronic circuitry is interrupted. This happens with some extension tubes and bellows (below), as well as microscope adapters. This is not uncommon, nor does it really pose a problem when you are aware of what’s really happening.

So without electronic aperture selection, apertures need to be selected manually with the aperture selector ring and the exposures made in Aperture Priority (or Av) shooting mode. The camera will measure the light that falls on the internal metering sensor and set the shutter speed appropriately.

There may be one problem, however. Some lenses do not have a manual aperture selection ring on the lens barrel. Nikon calls these lenses “G” lenses. We fondly call them “gelded” lenses. Many Canon lenses are without the ring as well. So, it ends up that these are not really appropriate for this type of photography. We need to look for those lenses with aperture rings available. There a number of current Nikkor optics with the aperture ring. The 60 mm, 105 mm, and 200 mm macro lenses still have the aperture selector ring. Also the series of manual Nikkor lenses from 20 mm to 105 mm also retain the aperture selector ring.

Fortunately, under the correct circumstances, many older lenses (Canon and Nikon, too) may be used on modern D-SLR cameras. These lenses frequently have the aperture selector ring. And with adapters, Nikkor lenses may be used on Canon EOS series camera bodies. This is a nice option due to the great selection available  of Nikkor optics.

These boots have done some walking!

After leaving the service in 1971, I reinvested in some more modern camping and hiking equipment along with photography gear. New technology mountaineering equipment was arriving on the market that replaced war surplus tents and sleeping bags. One of my new investments was a good pair of boots.

My first pair of mountaineering boots. Nikon D2Xs, 60 mm F 2.8 Macro Nikkor, Flash.

The boots I acquired are a pair of Galibier guide boots made by Richard Ponvert of France. These boots have served me very well for many years. They have walked untold miles, climbed Fourteeners in Colorado, endured minus 40 degree temperatures in British Columbia and kept my feet dry in raging streams and mines in Mexico. But, sadly over 4o years later they have become obsolete.

Today, these great boots are still made but somewhat hard to find, especially here in the States. Galibier was a pretty well regarded footwear maker in the 1970s and 1980s and was a manufacturer that helped pioneer new innovations in boot making. They were excellent boots for that day and age. Also heavy (about 5 pounds) and very stiff. But they were rugged, could take almost any punishment and gave exceptional support.

Modern materials have brought many advances to the boot making industry. New waterproof and lightweight materials have replaced the heavy leather uppers, new breathable fabrics now line the interiors and Vibram® lug soles have become industry standard. What we get today is a superb boot with less than half the weight for a somewhat more moderate price.

So yes, I too, have made the move to a more modern boot. Do I think they are better? I would never believe that they are as tough and perhaps supportive as the Galibiers, but the weight and comfort make a ton of difference.

© 2013 Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.

Move the Mole Hill, not the Mountain

In macro photography we are supplied with a variety of components for fine-tuning focus. This equipment includes focus slider rails and built-in sliders as part of a bellows. All of these devices facilitate changes in focus by moving the camera closer or more distant from the subject.

All of these components work quite well; some better than others. A well-made slider (above) can provide infinite adjustments in focus with extremely small changes in distance.  These are ideal for gross specimens or single shot macro images.

Bee head. 53 images stacked in Helicon Focus. Nikon D2Xs, 50 mm flat field EL Nikkor lens on bellows, two SB-800 flashes, tripod. Image magnification in camera: 1.6X.

However, when enhanced depth of field of tiny subjects is required through focus stacking, moving the camera may not be the most ideal method of changing point of focus. With very small insects like the bee above for instance, many exposures–perhaps 50 or more– must be produced over a distance of less than one centimeter.

Several problems are presented. First, the mass of the camera, bellows, and lens assembly is great. Moving it smoothly and accurately may not be possible. Second, the focusing rack and pinion may have coarse threads, not suitable of minute adjustments.  Further, the camera, bellows and lens combination when moved is subject to unwanted vibrations. The answer therefore, is to move the subject, leaving the camera solidly stationary.

Macro subjects like those encountered for focus stacking are most frequently tiny and present no above mentioned problems. They are small, lightweight and can be easily and smoothly moved. And making repeated movements at uniform dimensions is practical. All this suggests that moving the subject instead of the camera is an ideal solution.

In my photography, I use two devices. For single shot macro I have converted an Olympus microscope stage for an X-Y-Z motion platform in the image below. It has a movement of 3 inches in left-right and fore-aft directions and a vertical movement of just under 1 inch. In addition, it has a 2 x 3 inch hole for sub stage illumination. All movement controls are under the stage so they are perfectly out of the way.

For focus stacking I use a single-axis micrometer linear positioning stage. Movements are possible along the lens axis for focus stacking in uniform increments as small as 0.001 inch. The movement for this stage is only one inch, but that is more than adequate for most focus stacking tasks. To center and align the subject, I use the gear head on my heavy duty Gitzo tripod. As illustrated in the photograph below, everything is locked down tight. Consistent, vibration-free images are possible with this set-up.

For the ultimate in focus stacking, a motorized linear positioner like StackShot® by Cognisys makes life easy. The price is affordable if a lot of focus stacking photography is required. Even with the StackShot it still makes perfect sense to move the mole hill not the mountain!

© 2013 Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.

Texas photo workshops seem worlds apart

Happy New Year! To start the New Year out right, I will lead a series of nature photography workshops in 2013. While all are in Texas, the subject matter seems worlds apart. They range from an African wildlife photography workshop at
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center and another wild bird photography workshop in far South Texas. Let’s start in order.

The first workshop will be held on February 22-24 on the Laguna Seca Ranch in far south Texas only a few miles from Edinburg and the Mexican border. This ranch is a well established for bird photography with permanent blinds and water features. The timing of this workshop will allow the participants to capture images of south Texas and northern Mexico specialties, as well as migrant species. The details of this most economical workshop are found here: http://www.thenatureconnection.com/SoTxBirdPhotoWS.html .

The next workshops feature Africa in Texas at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center near Glen Rose, Texas. Four workshops will be featured in April, June, September and October on the 1,900 acre facility. One- and two-day workshops are offered, with the two-day workshop featuring lodging overnight at Safari Camp in the heart of the center’s wildlife preserve. For more information visit http://www.fossilrim.org/workshops.php.

All workshops feature copious hands-on instruction, plenty of great subjects and are limited in participant numbers to assure lots of individual attention. To download a flier for either of the workshops click on the link below:
South Texas Bird Photography Workshop:     RGV Bird Photography
Fossil Rim Wildlife Photography Workshop: FR WildlifePhotoWS

© 2013 Brian Loflin. All Rights reserved.

Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico

I had the pleasure to lead a photography trip to this fabulous New Mexico birding hot spot for a few days in early December. Bosque del Apache NWR lies on the Rio Grande about halfway from Las Cruces to Albuquerque, NM. This National Wildlife Refuge is an amazing photography destination as it is the resting spot for migratory water fowl in late winter. The birds are there by literally tens of thousands, always an impressive sight! As it turned out, the weather was somewhat mild and photo perfect. I thought I would post a few images from the trip.

One of nine thousand Sandhill cranes takes off in the early morning light. The birds slept overnight in a shallow pond right by the roadside. They would take off by ones and twos and in very large masses, often right over our head.

With a wing span of six feet, Sandhill cranes are elegant fliers. They feed in dry fields during the day and return to shallow water at night. At Bosque del Apache the massive numbers of these large birds presented many photographic opportunities as well as a cacophony of sound as they vocalized to each other.

Snow geese were everywhere! Frequently they would take flight in an explosive liftoff by the hundreds. Often, they would circle and come right back. Later, they may explode again and move to another field or other part of the refuge system.

My good friend and photographer, Dolph McCranie with poster enumerating Bosque’s bird count for the time we were there. As you can see by the numbers, finding a subject was an easy task.

A bobcat was a very lucky find. This cat was stalking a small group of Mallard ducks when I spied it near a small canal. A slow, careful approach resulted in a relatively nice image.

After shooting birds, many of the group photographed other sights in and around Socorro, NM, like the interior of the Capitol Bar, one of the oldest in the Southwest and in business since 1896.

All images Nikon D2Xs and Nikkor optics including 600 mm F 4, 80-200 mm F 2.8, 28-70 F 2.8 and 15 mm F 3.5.

© Copyright Brian Loflin 2012. All rights reserved.

South Texas Bird Photography Workshop

Sharp-shinned hawk, Harris hawk and Crested caracara from the South Texas Bird Photography Workshop. Nikon D2Xs, 600 mm F 4 Nikkor lens. © Brian Loflin 2012.

Photographers from Austin and Houston, TX and Athens, GA gathered for a three-day bird photography photography workshop featuring South Texas specialties at Laguna Seca Ranch near Edinburg, TX. The workshop was led by Brian Loflin and provided hands-on instruction in photographing birds from purpose-made permanent blinds and on a variety of natural perches and in flight. Twenty species were seen and photographed by the participants, including South Texas specialty birds, Pyrrhuloxia and Green jay.

Laguna Seca Ranch is a 700 acre facility deep in the South Texas scrub brush country just a few miles north of the USA-Mexico border, yet minutes from the city of Edinburg, Texas. The ranch has prepared four permanent blinds with year-round water features and feeders. An additional blind is prepared specifically for attracting raptors.

Thus workshop is again scheduled for February 22-24, 2013. For more information about this exciting experience you may download the information HERE.

Brian Loflin is a seasoned biologist and natural science photographer. His photography and writings have been published worldwide. Brian hosts this workshop and a variety of others several times a year. For more information about this and other workshops and classes visit www.thenatureconnection.com.

Male Pyrrhuloxia and Green jay are two of the South Texas specialty birds photographed during the South Texas Bird Photography Workshop. Nikon D2Xs with Nikkor 600mm F 4.0 telephoto lens. © Brian Loflin 2012.

© Brian Loflin 2012. All Rights Reserved.

Six great tools for photography

How many times have you been asked the question, “What kind of camera do you use?” Or, “Is that made with a prime lens?” I hear that all the time. Many of my students are always focused on the cameras and lenses. And sometimes, not much else.

While the image capture apparatus is certainly important, how you make the picture is even more so. And as a follow-on to that statement, the little regarded accessories often save the day.

While it is true that we need a variety of tools that may be specialized or single- purpose, I have several basic tools in my armamentarium I would not like to do without. Each one is very inexpensive, quite handy and readily available through most hardware stores.

Nikon D2Xs, 60 mm, F2.8 Micro Nikkor lens, electronic flash with softbox and reflector.

These six tools include “A” style spring clamps, ball bungees, blocks of wood cut to a variety of dimensions,  bungee cords of various lengths, carabiners with a rope loop, and spring-style wooden clothespins.

The “A” clamps will hold a lot of things like backgrounds, reflectors and flags and are useful for making tents from foam core boards.  Ball bungees tie up extension cords, secure lighting cables to overheads and booms and of course, to stretch tarps, silks and butterflies to frames. One photographer claims to mount his speedlights on furniture with them.

Blocks of wood in a variety of sizes make their home propping up or elevating objects in still life or table top arrangements. I have a large bucket of pre-cut pieces from 1/2 x 1 x 1 inch to 2 x 4 x 8 inch material.

In my outdoor photography of plants and flowers, bungee cords work well to pull back vegetation and other unwanted material from the subject area. These are also great for stretching as a clothes line to support fabric backgrounds and diffuser material. I also use them to make light stands behave in their closet.

Carabiners are exceptionally handy, spring closing, safety clamps originally designed for mountain climbing. But, small light weight “beeners”, when married to a short loop of rope, are handy for hanging set weights, corralling coils of extension cords and safely securing lighting fixtures when in use.

And of course, the wooden spring clothes pin has many magical uses. More commonly, close pins are used for clamping gels and sheets of diffusion material to barn doors of lighting fixtures. Called C-47s in the movie industry, it is thought they received this highly technical nomenclature because they were once located in Row C-Bin 47 in the lighting department’s grip storage.

So remember, when you admire nice photography there may be just a few dollars worth of these special tools holding a very expensive set together in front of the camera and lens.

© Copyright 2012 Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.