Hit and Miss 2020 Project Thread - Skitterbug aka Sandy

[Geoff F]

That is a much cleaner looking scene now, Sandy.

It was only a little spot but it drew my attention away from the main action.

[skitterbug]

That is a much cleaner looking scene now, Sandy.

It was only a little spot but it drew my attention away from the main action.

I agree since the main focus should be the bullfrog and the sprinkles landing on his head! <chuckle> Thanks for your help! Maybe for the fun of it, I'll put him in the monthly and see how it turns out! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

[skitterbug]

I tried taking a photo of them all lined up on a branch but the results didn't turn out the way I envisioned. Perhaps I'll post a pic of one of my efforts and maybe someone can tell me what I am doing wrong.... In the meantime, here is a close up of one of the cicada's shell. We've since had 6 inches of rain fall so most of them are washed off the tree branch. It has been an unusual time for us.

I used these settings: f/9 - 1/100ss - ISO200

Frozen In Time

[tbob]

Great detail of a fascinating creature. I would crop much tighter, as much as the sharpness of the cicada exoskeleton will allow. The blurry bits above really are not essential, and even detract.

[xpatUSA]

I like to shoot those shells too. A good few of them around here.

The convenient part is no motion and the consequent ability to wait for the best light ...

... not that live ones jump around much!

[Wavelength]

Excellent shot !!!

[Antonio Correia]

Excellent shot !!!

I agree with Nandakumar !

[skitterbug]

Hi Trevor - I tried cropping the photo but I was a bit unhappy that a prominent leg is a tad out of focus. So I tried another image of one that was more shaded but had webs fastened to it. Talk about being stuck in time! I chose these settings that affected DOF but over all I think it works fairly well. Better or worse?
f/5.6 - 1/800ss - 320ISO

[skitterbug]

Hi Ted - The shells do tend to stay stuck in one spot! The tree limbs don't though so I have to be cautious not to allow the slight sway bother the sharpness of the image.
The live ones like to startle me while I'm trying to get a golf ball out of the hole on the greens! They come buzzing out at me and I'll jump every time. Fortunately, it doesn't happen often but enough to give me pause when I am playing golf!

Thanks for commenting!

[skitterbug]

Hi Nandakumar and Antonio - I really appreciate that you like The image! It was fun getting out with the camera! Thanks for looking and commenting!

[skitterbug]

I've been using auto setting for ISO. I'm not sure I like it much since it seems like the camera chooses high numbers most of the time. This photo had f/11 - 1/400ss manually set and the camera used 8000 for ISO.

We had freezing temperature last night (01Oct2020) so the flowers are gone. And today it is snowing! <YIKES>. Thought I'd share this photo that I enjoy simply because of it cheeriness.

See Me!

[joebranko]

Very nice! The flower is very sharp and love the bokeh in the background.

[Wavelength]

A beautiful flower with its but waiting to bloom next...

[skitterbug]

Very nice! The flower is very sharp and love the bokeh in the background.

Hi Joe - Thank you for commenting! I was pleasantly surprised with the way this image developed! It really does make me smile!

[skitterbug]

A beautiful flower with its but waiting to bloom next...

Hi Nandakumar - The little flower bud did seem to work in this image and I had various thoughts about this visual. First off, I liked the way the open dahlia was reaching toward the sunlight, so open and so in full color. And then the little bud, trying to emulate with enthusiasm and eagerness. Unfortunately and sadly, the little bud didn't get its chance, we had severe frost/freezing weather and the dahlias are finished for this year. We will need to dig the bulbs and tuck them into our cellar for safe keeping until next spring, when the growing cycle can start again!

Thanks for your thoughts about this image.

[Geoff F]

Does your camera allow you to set a maximum Iso value when using the auto setting?

I have mine set to a max of 1600 but normally use manually adjusted Iso values, except when shooting video where limited auto adjustment can be useful at times.

[skitterbug]

Does your camera allow you to set a maximum Iso value when using the auto setting?

I have mine set to a max of 1600 but normally use manually adjusted Iso values, except when shooting video where limited auto adjustment can be useful at times.

Hi Geoff - sorry for the delay in my reply. My computer decided to cause me grief. Fortunately, I was finally able to resolve it. There is a lot to be said about timely backups. My backup was off by two months so hopefully, I haven't lost anything of great importance.

I looked at the camera menu and find that yes, I can set a limit to ISO values. Thanks for the suggestion!

It has only been this year that I have relied on auto ISO thinking it would be one less worry. Maybe I'll use it on "normal photography type days" but not in situations that are darker or brighter than it should be. Anyway, I'll work on my technique!

Thanks again!

[Cantab]

Hi Geoff - sorry for the delay in my reply. My computer decided to cause me grief. Fortunately, I was finally able to resolve it. There is a lot to be said about timely backups. My backup was off by two months so hopefully, I haven't lost anything of great importance.

I looked at the camera menu and find that yes, I can set a limit to ISO values. Thanks for the suggestion!

It has only been this year that I have relied on auto ISO thinking it would be one less worry. Maybe I'll use it on "normal photography type days" but not in situations that are darker or brighter than it should be. Anyway, I'll work on my technique!

Thanks again!

I can't remember if I've mentioned this previously but until a year or so ago, I used to turn up my nose at all automatic settings, including auto ISO. But more recently, I find I often turn to auto ISO. Doing this may be a sign of increasing laziness; on the other hand, auto ISO often does a pretty good job unless there's something unusual about the scene (or if it's a very important photo).

[skitterbug]

I can't remember if I've mentioned this previously but until a year or so ago, I used to turn up my nose at all automatic settings, including auto ISO. But more recently, I find I often turn to auto ISO. Doing this may be a sign of increasing laziness; on the other hand, auto ISO often does a pretty good job unless there's something unusual about the scene (or if it's a very important photo).

Hi Bruce - I've done it both ways now and feel there are good to both methods. I'm lucky because most of the images I am capturing lately can be redone if I don't like what I see on the computer screen! <smile> If we ever are able to travel unfettered again, then I'd definitely want to have my camera settings plan in place to turn out those exquisite images..... <laughing at myself> But still, I'd want decent results. So work I must!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[skitterbug]

Our nice weather continued into the first couple of weeks of November. It was a treat but looking out the window today, shows a much drearier picture - which I didn't take. <LOL>

I'm still playing with auto ISO versus manual choices. This image was set to automatic. I think I am fortunate that my camera seems to handle the noise problem fairly well. So the rest of the usual settings were f/11 and 1/125ss. This is a puffball or at least that is what we call them. They can be eaten if harvested at the proper time. I haven't developed a fondness for them other than to see them in the wild. Not that I consider our yard "wild" but hey, it becomes so when I spot some of the wildlife and plant life that are located here.

Puffball or maybe it should be called Salad Fixins'

[IMG][/IMG]