Photos and videos of our amazing 2D residents
- Thread starter Bosphorus1982
- Start date
XPan
The Living Force
Not a beauty exactly...
But it is my first macro image of a living insect I took just now, with the so called Macro "focus bracketing/stacking" technique. (I am totally amateur in this area of photography)
Focus Bracketing/Stacking Means:
You take many images (i took 14) in rapid session, but the focus will move ever so slightly for each photo. Then you stack the images in a special stacking software like Zerene Stacker, which only "takes out" the sharp areas in every image - blend them together. This results into a photo, with greater depth of sharpness on a tiny three dimensional object - which you normally can't get all sharp - to the normally extreme limited depths of sharpness with macro lenses.
The tiny dots are pollen which are all over my plants. The insect was cool. First it was in the middle of the leaf, but i didn't make good photos (hand held) - getting all wobbly. Ok, so went back to get a tripod. The critter then moved to the edge of the leaf... and stayed there for a while.
"Thank you for the portrait", i said. Then it flew away.
But it is my first macro image of a living insect I took just now, with the so called Macro "focus bracketing/stacking" technique. (I am totally amateur in this area of photography)
Focus Bracketing/Stacking Means:
You take many images (i took 14) in rapid session, but the focus will move ever so slightly for each photo. Then you stack the images in a special stacking software like Zerene Stacker, which only "takes out" the sharp areas in every image - blend them together. This results into a photo, with greater depth of sharpness on a tiny three dimensional object - which you normally can't get all sharp - to the normally extreme limited depths of sharpness with macro lenses.
The tiny dots are pollen which are all over my plants. The insect was cool. First it was in the middle of the leaf, but i didn't make good photos (hand held) - getting all wobbly. Ok, so went back to get a tripod. The critter then moved to the edge of the leaf... and stayed there for a while.
"Thank you for the portrait", i said. Then it flew away.
Lone herbal witch
Jedi Master
Look at the details, diaphanous parts and the harder body part..... amazing! You can even see the hairs on its antennas! Good job Xpan!
Ces images démontrent des détails impressionnants, les ailes diaphanes, les parties du corps plus solide, vraiment impressionnant! L'on peux également voir les "petits poils" sur les antennes! Bravo XPan. C'est une expérience de toute réussite!
The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a perching duck species native to the East Palearctic. It is sexually dimorphic; males showing a dramatic difference from the females It is medium-sized, at 41–49 cm (16–19 in) long with a 65–75 cm (26–30 in) wingspan. It is closely related to the North American wood duck, the only other member of the genus Aix. 'Aix' is an Ancient Greek word which was used by Aristotle to refer to an unknown diving bird, and 'galericulata' is the Latin for a wig, derived from galerum, a cap or bonnet.[4] Outside of its native range, the mandarin duck has a large introduced population in the British Isles and Western Europe, with additional smaller introductions in North America. Wikipedia
Wow! You are a so good photographer! What a beauty. What a mystery also. Who created these things? Nature is fantastic!
Here you have a video of 10 hours where you can see mouse playing. If you like little rats, you will enjoy seeing how funny they are. For my part, I love them. It can be for 2 reasons: maybe in another life I was a rat. That's why I never, ever killed a mouse or rat, never. The other reason maybe I was a cat in another life, that's why I like and have fun to see them.
XPan
The Living Force
This is so interesting, like you pointed out
I noticed during the past half year, while spending a lot more attention that including little things - and get even more baffled. That mystery in it all. The variation of insects and critters (the many details they have - is just, wow) and... well everything, including plants, flowers, trees... I dwell, i ponder, i get a feeling in my heart, because the more i look and observe, the more I get fascinated about the creation behind it all. To make all these creations... happen. The way all these things grow and unfold. (head spinning). It really goes way beyond what I can comprehend.
My husband Sal's best friend, who lives in Northern Italy - when she made a surprize visit here in Stockholm back in March, she gave us a little bag of flower seeds. Those i have been putting into the soil 6 weeks ago, and from there I saw those tiny little plants start growing. How can something so tiny... spring up from the soil, and grow each day, to lush plants with stunning colored flowers ?!? The joy along the road, is interesting - and there is a lot of joy attached to it, which I didn't realize before. As if following the journey of seeds enable a much closer relationship... (compared to just buying a plant or power). What a difference - I've never set seeds into the soil before...
Like you @loreta said, it is a mystery - it literally is. To watch so many things day by day, making me realize how fantastic and mysterious creation really is, connected to an inner presence of joy that is both gentle, wondrous and 'euphoric'... plus, there seem to be an invisible cord attached ... Is that a silent communication with the beings we observe, as we dwell deeper about them ? I can't quite put finger on it...
I may sound weird in my words... probably because my mind/being, also often seem to disconnect from nature, beauty, surrounding... because of all the ugliness that's going on, becoming increasingly aware of the dynamics that play behind the scenes (and of course the effects from massive destruction of many lullaby illusions we/I carried along the road of life). My heart buzzes between the ugly and the beautiful in life, constantly, like a disconnection and re-connection going on all the time. It's a bit exhausting.
So, every time i reconnect to nature and the mystery of little seeds, critters and other beings... it makes me feel like a boy in a toy store as if seen for the first time; with big eyes. (not the noisy, loud kind of boy). More like a heart/mind filled with questions about the wonders and appearances I observe. Regardless age, i always seem to get startled with the same amount of enthusiasm (when present in the moment)...
XPan
The Living Force
Agree. I would and never kill a mouse or rat !! They are incredibly cute. I can quite often see small rats or mice jumping around among the subway train rails in Stockholm... and smile
every time. (On the other hand, I've never been in a situation where hundred thousands of rats or mice run around... As a farmer, I don't know, how I would feel about that) *LOL*I remember in Berlin, there was a time around 1980, when youngsters used to have tame rats with them on the subway, often half hidden in their jackets, and interacted very gently with each other. I felt, that was so incredible to watch... and so beautiful. My father on the other hand, had a deep hatred towards rats - which I never understood - but it made me curious of course. And then realized, that rats and mice were incredibly cute.
Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, but also can be seen in Europe. They can be found in deep forests near calm ponds and small rivers. The family contains 116 species and is divided into three subfamilies and 19 genera. All kingfishers have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with only small differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
I love stories about people and mice. Thanks for yours!Agree. I would and never kill a mouse or rat !! They are incredibly cute. I can quite often see small rats or mice jumping around among the subway train rails in Stockholm... and smile
I remember in Berlin, there was a time around 1980, when youngsters used to have tame rats with them on the subway, often half hidden in their jackets, and interacted very gently with each other. I felt, that was so incredible to watch... and so beautiful. My father on the other hand, had a deep hatred towards rats - which I never understood - but it made me curious of course. And then realized, that rats and mice were incredibly cute.
Mice and rats are very, very pretty, and there's a reason why they're such important characters in fairytales. And in the illustrations too.
For a while I was a sales assistant in an exotic animal shop, in Barcelona, at Las Ramblas, selling everything from fish, iguanas, scorpions, spiders, tortoises, etc. to snakes. The problem with snakes is that they feed on little mice, and I wasn't able to see that at all. What a horror. I put myself in the place of the mouse. No, no, no. Then one day a customer gave me a little white laboratory rat. I took it to work every day and put it on my shoulder. God, she was cute. The children loved it.
In India there's a temple dedicated to rats. If one day I made a totem pole, I'd put a rat on it, that's for sure!
