Primrose HDR made simple

Texas wildflowers are out and about. This is not a great year like last, but flowers abound if you search. One of the more common this week is the Showy primrose (Oenothera speciosa). It is not a spectacular flower, only about 2 in across.

To make this flower stand out in a photograph I decided to produce a simple HDR (High Dynamic Range) image with only two frames 1.0 F stop apart. The first was exposed on the money and the second, under exposed. Combined in Photomatix Pro 4.0.2 software, the resulting frame has more “pop” than the single frame.

With HDR photos of wildflowers windy conditions are a severe handicap. Wind breaks and high shutter speeds can help. However, making several images without movement is rarely possible. Therefore, it’s nice to know that a combination of only two images will still produce pleasing results.

Image capture with Nikon D2Xs and 200mm F4 Micro Nikkor lens in natural light.

© Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.


Macro panorama

Most frequently macro photographers have learned to align the long dimension of the subject with the long dimension of the image frame and to move in as close as possible to get a frame filling composition. In macro imaging that means the magnification ratio of the resulting image is limited by the maximum angle of view of the lens used.

Today, with the advent of digital imaging, a method has been devised to increase magnification by turning the camera axis with the long dimension across the subject long dimension centerline. Then, a series of overlapping images can be made and stitched together seamlessly in the computer, increasing the magnification by a factor equal to the aspect ratio of the camera sensor or about 1.5 to 2.0 times (or more) the original. This will produce additional subject detail often required in macro reproductions. Multiple rows of stitched images can increase the magnification even more substantially.

Let’s look at the images below:

In image 1 above this fossil fish has been recorded at a magnification of 0.18 X in one shot with a Nikon D2Xs and a 60mm F2.8Micro Nikkor lens. In image 2 the reproduction is 0.68X using five overlapping images stitched in Photoshop CS-5. (In this blog the two images are reproduced at the same width. In actuality, the larger image is nearly twice a large.)

Image 3 illustrates the setup used. Camera is mounted on a heavy vertical stand and the specimen is on a X-Y mechanical stage as seen in detail in image 4. Lighting is with two SB-800 speedlights in Nikon Advanced Wireless i-TTL mode. Notice the master flash is connected to the camera via a dedicated SC-29  remote cord.

© Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.


Teaching wildflower photography

Recently I was invited to teach a short workshop on wildflower photography at the Mueller Development prairie at the site of the old Austin airport. The weather was nice but for the wind. Wind seems to always provide a hardship for flower photography. I coached the attendees including my dear friend and long-time colleague, Cindy Dyer, how to make a wind break from three sheets of foam-core board hinged together into a triangle. This bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) is one of the resulting images of the day.

Nikon D-300 with 105mm F2.8 Micro Nikkor. Natural light, diffuser.

© Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.


Leafcutter ants

Leafcutter ants (Atta sp.) harvest a wide variety of leaves and store them underground in their nests.  Leafcutter ants have a  social structure that is regimented into finite divisions of labor. This worker is carrying a leaf cutting many times its own body weight back to the nest. This plant material is not for food, but is a substrate media upon which a fungus is cultivated for food for the colony. Shot in Costa Rica with Nikon F5 on Fuji Provia 100 film with 55mm F3.5 Micro Nikkor (1:1) and flash.

© Brian Loflin. All rights reserved.


Leafcutters, Austin style

Many folks believe that leaf cutter ants live only in the rainforests of the world. Contrary to that belief, this leaf cutter ant (Atta texensis) is a resident of Austin. Several large colonies are found in the area and increase in distribution throughout south Texas. Nikon D2Xs with 200mm F4 Micro Nikkor. Natural light and fill flash.

Texas Bluebonnet

Lupinus texensis

The Texas bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) is the state flower and is a sure sign of spring around the state. Often in wet years large expanses of this and other wildflowers cover the roadsides, medians and pastures and fill the air with a wonderful fragrance. Nikon D2Xs with 105 mm F 2.8 Micro Nikkor.