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1-P7120584



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Staff Winter Selection 2015
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SHOLLIDAY ThorJax rosiomorin A_daniels
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deonvanderwalt aprilchervick SEE_PODIO_Pablo-Klik
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carolt55 meganconley
Magnificent Capture
ErnieF scottiilanders
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1 Comment |
carolt55
 
carolt55 July 19, 2016
Beautiful capture!
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Behind The Lens

Location

This was one of my 1st series experimenting with macro photography. My new Olympus tg-2 included Macro as a scene option. On a chilly damp morning, I roamed my flower gardens near Denver International Airport to find this "Knight Overwatch" on his Echinecea perch.

Time

On a gray, chilly, overcast morning, this Grasshopper Knight was part of a Royal Grasshopper entourage delaying moving until later as the day warmed.

Lighting

This day of low clouds and drizzle, I was blessed with gray even light in the early morning. The insect royalty were not in a big hurry to get moving and posed well on the blooms, leaves, and stems around my xeriscaped, high mesa flower garden.

Equipment

The only option for viewing during the shot was to use the built-in LCD screen on the back of the body. With its underwater capabilities, it was a perfect choice for use in the long, slow drizzle of the day.

Inspiration

I was learning to use my tg-2, which I had recently purchased for an upcoming snorkeling trip. I shot this hand-held about 6 inches from this guest using the Macro Scene setting of my recently purchased Olympus tg-2 Underwater camera. The cool temperatures of the early morning allowed me to observe this Knight and his King and Queen as I approached through the sea of native wild flowers in my back yard Mountain Lea.

Editing

I used a free online package to crop and to brighten the colors to bring out the normal pink of this drought resistant flower.

In my camera bag

At the time, I had not yet bought my Sony Alpha-58 body with its 18-55 mm kit lens. Since then, I have bought and replaced a broken 60-300 mm Sony lens, with a 70-300 mm Tamron f/4.3-5.6 Zoom. For OCF, I use a Sony Speedlight. I, also, carry a Pro-Master tripod with quick release head and an Omen laptop with 1TB internal memory and a 4 TB external SSD for mass storage.

Feedback

Make use of the natural characteristics of your subject. Here, insects are immobilized in cool, wet weather.

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