macrophotography – Photo rumblings and whispers

Measuring campaign in the Alps

Pedro J. Aphalo 2019-06-19 2020-12-19Lichens, Photographs, Plants, UV-induced fluorescence 0

I joined a field measuring campaign organized by my collaborator T. Matthew Robson with the participation of José Ignacio García Plazaola and Beatriz Fernández-Marín from the University of the Basque-Country (see Matt’s CanSEE and my SenPEP blogs for information on our research). We spent the last week of May the at 2100 m a.s.l. in the Alps at the Jardin Botanique du Lautaret measuring solar radiation and the responses of plants to it. I did some measurements of solar radiation but spent most of the time photographing plants and lichens to record their optical properties in the ultraviolet-A, visible and…

How small a spectrometer can be made?

Pedro J. Aphalo 2019-02-13 2019-02-13Equipment, Photography 0

[I will update this post after testing the sensor] In a recent post I described a miniature two-channel UV-A sensor with digital interface. Here I will describe a miniature and low cost spectrometer, type AS7265X from ams. It does not used a grating as monochromator, but instead each of the 18 channels has a different interference filter deposited directly on the silicon chip. The FWHM is 20 nm, and the wavelength range from 410 nm to 940 nm. The spectrometer consists in three separate sensor units working together. The interface is digital, and temperature compensation and analogue to digital conversion…

Photographing insects: lenses

Pedro J. Aphalo 2017-10-22 2018-06-18Photography, Techniques 1

Last week I was asked about what objective I use when photographing live insects in the field. I do not always use the same objective, so I will describe the two I most frequently use. Neither do I use what would be the most suitable or state-of-the-art optics.

Macro extension tubes (lens mount)

Pedro J. Aphalo 2017-09-13 2018-06-18Photography, Techniques 0

This is the third of three instalments on the comparison of three sets of macro extension tubes for MFT cameras: Macro extension tubes (description), Macro extension tubes (glare), and Macro extension tubes (lens mount).

Macro extension tubes (glare)

Pedro J. Aphalo 2017-09-11 2018-06-18Photography 0

Second part of my comparison of three sets of extension tubes.

Macro extension tubes (description)

Pedro J. Aphalo 2017-09-06 2018-06-18Mehods, Photography 0

This is the first of three instalments on the comparison of three sets of macro extension tubes for MFT cameras: Macro extension tubes (description), Macro extension tubes (glare), and Macro extension tubes (lens mount).

Focus stacking

Pedro J. Aphalo 2015-10-23 2018-06-18Photography, Techniques 0

Focus stacking is a method for increasing depth-of-field in photographs, consisting in merging a set of photographs obtained using focus-bracketing. In this post I explain how it works, and why it is specially useful in macro photography.

Bracketing

Pedro J. Aphalo 2015-10-18 2018-06-18Photography, Techniques 0

[post revised on 2017-10-21] Definition and explanation Before describing different types of “image merging” workflows, I will explain some terms that I will be using in this blog. Today I will explain the meaning of bracketing. Bracketing consists in acquiring a series of images with different camera settings. The word bracketing comes from the idea that we have a target value for the setting, say exposure, and we acquire images with this exact target setting and settings both at slightly large and slightly smaller values (bracketing both “sides” of the target). At least three images need to be acquired for…