GREAT LIGHT FOR QUICK SHOT WITH MANUAL FOCUS

Despite a busy life at the moment I try to take a few minutes for photography whenever I can. Spring is early this year and reveals beautiful things in nature and all what it takes is to have an eye on the light. I think it is important to have a vision for what would make a good subject already ahead of time, but wait until the light finally makes the difference between just a documentary shot and a photo that may please our senses.

I made this picture with my old macro lens, the SIGMA 150 f/2.8G. I haven’t used this piece of glass since quite a while, although the sharpness of this lens has always impressed. Since eye sight is not getting better with age I rely most of the time on the autofocus system of my NIKON Z6II camera. Older lenses that do not have their own autofocus motor, like the SIGMA 150, can only be used in manual focus mode on Nikon’s mirrorless cameras. The sharpness and rendering of this lens is still great but it takes a little bit longer, especially in an awkward position while lying on the ground. Sure, we can employ a low tripod for this kind of a shot. We can do focus stacking and all kinds of macro-voodoo these days, but I’m always afraid the great light is gone before the camera is even mounted on the tripod…😉

FEELS LIKE IN A TV AD…

Hackberry Emperor

In the last few days hundreds, if not thousands, of Hackberry Emperor butterflies have emerged and flutter around. It feels like in these TV ads that try to sell you everything with a tropical touch. Well, we have plenty of the larval host plants around here, the hackberry tree. It is not uncommon to see many of these butterfies at this time of the season but these are by far the highest numbers we have seen since we live here above the Little Maquoketa River Valley near the Mississippi. The males land on everything that is bright, sunny spots or just bright objects, and await the females. They don’t hesitate to land on your skin and I read that they readily land on people to drink sweat for salt.

An event like that is a perfect reason to get the old, well trusted SIGMA 150/f2.8 macro lens out of the bag. It doesn’t focus very fast in comparison to more modern lenses, but if it locks on, the sharpness is absolutely wonderful.

A HIDDEN GEM

White Pine Hollow Preserve, Iowa

One of the hidden gems in the landscape of the driftless area here is White Pine Hollow State Preserve near the little town of Luxemburg, Iowa. You can’t drive in and I recommend some solid hiking boots if you like to explore this area. Except for the hollow that leads down to the bottom of the canyon there are no trails and some sense of direction is recommended. If you don’t mind a hike through washed out and rocky terrain and can master a couple of small river crossings, you will be rewarded with tranquility and the beauty of nature. And now, during these unusual times, it is a place where social distancing is easy to maintain. We hiked yesterday for 3 1/2 hours and didn’t see a single soul. Well, have a look what we found…

Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale)

Big patches of Wild Leek (Allium tricoccum)

Round-lobed Hepatica (Anemone americana)

NATURE CLICKS #433 - PAINTED LADY

Our yard is the feeding ground for many different butterflies, including three different species of swallowtails. They are all here theses days but I still couldn’t resist to point my lens at one of the most common butterflies in North America and even around the world, the beautiful Painted Lady. Joan manages to grow a nice patch of Purple Coneflowers every year in the yard. The butterflies like them and they make for a nice background.

Although a little slow with focus, the 12 years old SIGMA 150, f/2.8 is still sharp as a tack and a macro lens I always have recommended. The newer models have OS (optical stabilization) and probably have faster focus, but I’m sure they are as sharp as the old one in my bag.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM, @ 1/800 s, f/8, ISO 400

SUMMER FUN

We had some summer fun with the grandkids in the backyard this afternoon. Beside “water battles” and other kids entertainment we watched our little House Wrens being fed by their parents, looked at butterflies, and collected acorns and other nature treasures. During a break this small dragonfly caught my eye. I believe it is a Four-spotted Skimmer, but I’m not sure.

I didn’t shoot the SIGMA 150, f/2.8 wide open but at f/4 it still had a very shallow depth of focus. By exposing strictly for the highlights the not so pretty background of our compost bin got thrown out and the dragonfly stands out nicely.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

THE BEST LENS OR CAMERA?

Black-winged Damselfly

The answer is always the same. It’s the one you may have with you when the light is right and a subject of interest is present. I like the walks in the evening with our dog Cooper and try to go to different places every time. Today we went down into the valley below our bluffs. There is an abandoned gravel road, perfect for a quite walk, nature observations, or just to calm down after a busy day. I don’t have to take the dog on the leash since there is no traffic, and Cooper waits patiently if I stop and fiddle away with the camera.

The Nikon Nikkor 70-200, f/4 was not the perfect match for a shot of this Black-winged Damselfly but it was the lens I took with me for our walk. A real macro lens, like my SIGMA 150, f/2.8, works much better, not just because of its true 1:1 magnification, but also because of its shorter minimum focal distance (MFD). Well, not exact macro quality, but I like the light, the shadow of the insect, and overall a damselfly is just a beautiful insect...

NATURE CLICKS #384 - GREEN CLEARWING

Green Clearwing, Mississippi River, Deere Dyke, Dubuque, Iowa

What do you do if you find a nice subject in great light that would require a macro lens and all what’s available is your widest lens? Some may say, enjoy the view and keep going. Well not me, I tried to get as close as possible with a 35 mm focal length, and I mean really close, only a few inches away. This still doesn’t do the trick, there is a reason that a true macro lens has at least a reproduction ratio of 1:1 and a longer focal length. I shot the beautiful Green Clearwing in a reasonable size but still way too much of its surrounding. To make this image work a pretty hefty crop was applied in post. Not my usual way to solve a problem. but hey, it’s a dragonfly in killer light… 😊

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, @ 35 mm, 1/320s, f/4, ISO200, B+W F-PRO Kaesemann High Transmission Circular Polarizer MRC filter

STILL IN GOOD SHAPE

Giant Swallowtail, Little Maquoketa River Valley near Durango, Iowa ----

How would summer be without butterflies? During the last few days we saw a couple Giant Swallowtails, a Red Admiral, and one Tiger Swallowtail. Not all of them look photogenic. Some have missing tails or parts of their wings. I’m not sure who is in charge of that. Maybe birds tried to prey on them, but it is not so uncommon to see a swallowtail with missing parts of their wings. However, this Giant Swallowtail was still in pristine shape, with a wonderful dark color.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, @ 1/1600 s, f/4, ISO400

 

FROM GREEN TO GRAY

Nikon D300s, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

The Gray Treefrogs are able to camouflage themselves from gray to green or vice versa, depending on the substrate they are sitting. This one was about to change quickly its color  after I found it under the tarp that covers our kayaks. Making the picture with the frog hanging on the orange or blue plastic boats, well, this is not what I really like. Putting the frog onto a tree stump gives it a much more natural setting. Being fast is key because these frogs are nocturnal and like to hide again. The photo doesn’t necessarily tell much about its size. I was pretty close with the Sigma 150 mm, f/2.8 macro lens and with a 1:1 magnification ratio you can easily fill the frame with this probably about 35-40 mm long critter.