A quick test of possibly the best bird/wildlife action photography combo

Ever since OM systems (erstwhile Olympus) launched the OM-1 and the Olympus 150-400mm f4.5 lens, it has been garnering a lot of interest. And me being a nature lover and photographer, wanted to give it a try! Some calls to the ever helpful Mr. Ravindra from OlympusPro India got that combo in my hands for some tests. Wanted to see what the setup was capable of. A quick dash to a nearby biodiverse location on a winter morning to set the ball rolling. The OM systems OM-1 is a true flagship camera

• AF modes and zones with varying sensitivity to cater to various styles of wildlife shooting
• Customizable burst rates
• Top of the line AF AI-based tracking. It blew my socks off!
• Extremely customizable and priceless ProCapture mode for people who enjoy action photography
• Ergonomic and thoughtful button placement across the body and lens

The lens at 400mm stays open at f4.5, using the built-in 1.25x TC at the telephoto end makes it a very impressive 500mm f5.6 - this being the FF equivalent of 1000mm f5.6 Right off the bat, the reach easily outweighs the weight of the setup. Compared to anything else in it's class, the lack of weight is phenomenal.

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Trying this on birds, the AF lock was precise with a ton of detail to show!

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Shooting birds in-flight was a breeze, Continuous AF coupled with Bird AI tracking ensured the keeper rate was through the roof. A shot I had struggled with so far, not perfect, but I'll gladly take this

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A lot of non-MFT photographers often talk about the Bokeh being not so smooth, this lens design has taken that into consideration and the Bokeh quality has gotten better. Putting distance between the subject and the background is always key, making it work right brings out the best isolation.

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Isolation isn't the end-all for wildlife, using the environs does make frames a lot more appealing.

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A shot of the full moon, handheld @ 1/4th of a second!:O

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With a pretty close minimum focusing distance of 1.3m it doubles up as a lovely close-up lens too.

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Some of the third party applications such as Fastone aren't equipped to handle the brand new .orf files, they'll catch up soon. Used IrfanView with the latest set of plugins to cull and manage the huge buckets of burst images.
Thoroughly impressed by the capabilities of this setup, arguably one of the best money can buy. Should pick this up again with a visit to another location!
Cheers!
Hayath

Exploring Valparai

Had a quick, last-minute visit to Valparai. The long weekend ensured the bus ticket prices were sky high and the jams on Hosur road really long.

Managed to make up for some lost time by taking hiring a cab from Pollachi. Couldn't get to see the Nilgiri Tahr or the famed Leopards, well that'd be for next time.

Thanks to Raju sir for the wonderful hospitality and Pavan for the company, a thoroughly enjoyable trip!

Here's a quick video slideshow of the sights and images from Valparai...

Till the next one..
Cheers!
Hayath

Macro photography technique

Thankful to be getting a lot of great feedback from different fora on macros, a lot of this has been due to openly shared knowledge and techniques by selfless folks.

Thought it would be only fair to keep "paying this forward"

Will try breaking down technique (or the lack of it :D ) -

1. Magnification: The Zuik0 60mm on a MFT sensor provides decent magnification. However as needed I often add on an extension tube and Raynox DCR 250

2. Focusing : High magnification requires high precision. Most times the camera is set to the smallest focus area selector possible. Contrast on edges/wings/leaves is often used to lock on AF. In tricky situations, I will switch to MF (have configured the FN1 button for this) and sway the setup to bring things in focus.
Staying as perpendicular to the area of focus one's interested in helps make use of the razor thin DoF to it's max.

3. Exposure : Plays a critical role in showing detail and right colors/texture. The black background in most of my images is predominantly due to the overall exposure, I shoot what one would call "full flash photography" - if an image is taken at the native exposure, it would essentially go fully black, exposure is defined by the "reach and intensity" of flash. Plus, most of the insects I shoot are found under thick canopy/shade.
My settings generally are ISO 200, 1/160, f10-13, Flash on ETTL with FEC based on subject
External flash helps add microcontrast and also freeze motion to an extent. I also diffuse the light enough to make it soft, that way both highlights and shadows are decently exposed

Earlier thoughts on macro technique and lighting can be found here -
http://iridealone.blogspot.com/2018/04/high-magnification-macro-and-lighting.html

Thoughts on macro photography with lenses already present in your kit -
http://iridealone.blogspot.com/2012/06/macro-for-not-much.html

Link to the simple two stage diffuser -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hayath/44807796464/

Cheers!
Hayath

The biodiverse Indraprastha - Spider meet 2018

Got the opportunity to be part of this year's Team Saaliga Spider meet at Indraprastha, Mysore. Team Saaliga has been doing some great work in spreading awareness about spiders.
Wriggled out of Bangalore to reach just past lunch time. Was amazed to see myself surrounded by lots of shrubs (and definitely not by chance, this is a result of decades of intent and proper execution). Entering the gates and gazing around I could notice something almost on every single plant/leaf. That was just a trailer, so to speak, of the biodiversity we would feast our eyes on later at night.

A heady mix of researchers, nature lovers - we were in for some great learnings. And for me, personally, not having to feel as a misfit :D
Quick welcome session and introductions set the tone for the highly interactive talks on Spiders. Anatomy, behavior, hunting and breeding strategies discussed in detail, with some great visuals. With new found knowledge, we were all set to observe better in the field. Some lipsmacking snacks followed the official release of Team Saaliga logo by the Mysore DC.

Spilt into two teams, we set out to explore. We wanted to explore and cover a lot of area, but the rich density of life ensured we were moving at a snail's pace. Almost every plant giving something to observe.

We started with this Crab spider (Thomisidae) blending in perfectly on a flowery branch


The Social behavior of the Chikunia spider, multiple spiders with their spiderlings in close proximity


Cellar spiders in plenty, many of them holding onto their eggs bundles




Most corners/gaps between leaves were taken up by Orb weavers


Wrapping up freshly caught prey with silk from it's spinnerets


Signature spiders were found in plenty too, owing to the abundance in prey the relative size of almost all spiders we found were LARGE!


Some pretty flowers around!






Dandelion, looking like a bursting firework


A hunstman lying in wait to ambush anything that gets close


A beautiful Dartlet


Palm dart


Mating moths


Freshly moulted cockroach


Weaver ants tending to scale insects




A funny looking Derbid planthopper


The wing shape is unique and fascinating!


Long legged fly


Cricket nymph



Resting honeybee


A few more fascinating spiders

Long jawed spider, Tetragnathidae


Sac spider


Wolf spider


The devil! Portia sp


The Mirror spider, Thwaitesia sp.  Couldn't manage a side-on image showing the "mirror"



This beautiful Crab spider


Comes in white too!


The striking Hamadruas




Brettus juvenile


Perfect moult of a Huntsman


If you're a thirsty bee/fly, there's no way you'd notice that camouflage. In fact Sumukha mentioned the UV emission from the spider attracts the bee/fly closer


Tree trunk spider, Herennia female


Two striped jumping spider, Telamonia female.


Some images to showcase how effective and critical spiders are as pest control, maintatining the delicate balance in the ecosystem
Crab spider, with honeybee kill


Parawixia with grasshopper


Rhene feasting on Chironomidae



Indraprastha is the brainchild of Mr.Chandrashekar, having taken up Organic farming and put it into perfect practice - the place truly is a rich biodiversity hotspot. Species covered here are a miniscule subset. The team was able to identify 81 species of spiders.

The hospitality and great food from Team Saaliga and the APC family was amazing to experience :) Thank you for opening the gates and our eyes to the wondrous world at Indraprastha!

Cheers!
Hayath