Lights! Camera! Robins!

I heard a commotion near my front door about a week ago. A series of shrill warbles that sounded like a robin. Upon investigation, I found that a female had built a nest in a yew bush right outside the door at about eye level. I presume the commotion was to announce the laying of a clutch of four eggs.



Not being one to waste an opportunity when it's handed to me, I've scouted various angles of view, planned placement of lights and cameras, and will document the robin family over the course of the next three or four weeks.

Mama's already gotten a taste of being in the limelight. The top picture looks as if it were taken in the late afternoon sun. Oh, no. Mid-day. Flash on a light stand ten feet away, zoomed and gelled to simulate late day sunlight and put a catchlight in mama's eye. White balance on camera adjusted to heighten the effect.

Mama took it all in stride. No prima robin she.



More to come.

Mmm ... nectar

We both struggled to get what we wanted. I wanted a picture and the hummingbird wanted food. The bird came back to the feeder again and again, despite my presence just five feet away. I'd fire off a shot and scare the little guy off. He'd come back for his meal and we'd repeat. After I got a few shots worth keeping, I let the bird eat his fill. Bounced flash fired by wireless trigger.

And you thought YOUR morning commute was a pain ...

Brook trout swimming upstream. Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Jellyfish

Looking very much like a nebula in the outer reaches of the universe, a jellyfish floats in its particle-strewn tank at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Only the universe inhabited by this creature is deep under the ocean of this planet.

Fascinating creature.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Sparrow

But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.

Matthew 10:29

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Aaaaaand ... I'm back!

Spent some time in the northern parts of Wisconsin last week. Started by photographing a family on a Lake Michigan beach and ended with a few days in Door County. Experienced every type of weather Wisconsin can throw at you in July -- fog, heat, humidity, storms, sun, clouds, rain. Great for pictures.

This is the Sturgeon Bay North Pier Lighthouse, which I've photographed many times. This time, it was socked in by pea-soup fog. The lineup of seagulls on the overhead catwalk seemed to imply that air traffic control had imposed a ground stop on all flights around the lighthouse, save for one intrepid gull launching himself into the great unknown.

More pictures and stories to come.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

The aviator

My wife had a hankering for photographing dragonflies. I had a hankering to photograph storms expected to sweep through the lower tier of Wisconsin counties. What to do?

Make a stop at Volo Bog, near Ingleside, Illinois, just a few miles from the state line on the way to the Badger State. They got dragonflies aplenty there.

This fella (we could tell because we could hear the beating of his wings) continually circled a stand of wildflowers near the parking lot. He would dart about, then hover and glide, then take off again. After a lot of trial and error, I found that I could focus on him while he hovered. I moved around the bed of wildflowers, getting a good angle on the sunlight as well as a clear shot of the sky and waited for Mr. Dragonfly (a common green darner) to circle back and hover. One hover brought him to within a few feet of me and I was able to fire off three shots. This is the best one.

Dragonflying complete, we headed into Wisconsin to visit Kenosha and Racine.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

He feeds the sparrows

OK, so I helped a little. Psst, hey buddy ... you got some doughnut crumbs on your beak, there.

Outside the Apple Haus, Long Grove, Illinois.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Young'un

A young red winged blackbird surveys the fog-shrouded landscape. Moraine Hills State Park, McHenry, Illinois.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Occupying a thin slice of time and space

But then again, aren't we all?

A butterfly on a wall fits neatly into the shallow depth of field of a telephoto lens. Peck Road Farm butterfly house, Geneva, Illinois.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Gimme shelter

A spider hides out under the petals of a coneflower. Moraine Hills State Park, McHenry, Illinois.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Rocking the poor man's macro

A photo of a hover fly, not hovering. The guy was hanging around on a seed pod at the top of a stalk of grass next to my garage (don't ask why my grass is seeding out).

I don't readily have $1000 laying around to spend on a macro lens, so I make do with a couple of cheap 50mm f/1.8s taped together, face-to-face. A new 50mm lens will set you back just $130 or so. When not shooting bugs, the 50mm makes a great portrait lens (on a DX sensor camera, it's equivalent to a 75mm). The other lens is an old manual job from an older film camera that doesn't get used any more.

A couple of people have asked about the setup I use to shoot insect macros. I've posted photos of the lens combo, flash setup and sample pics on the James Jordan Photography page on Facebook. There's a pretty thorough explanation of how I go about using the equipment and how I approach shooting bugs and other small things. And if you're also on Facebook, be sure to "Like" my page, mkay?

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Turnabout's fair play

We've made the turn from spring to summer and with that, it's time for me to do my annual "turn the lens around and shoot something small" photo trekking.

In this case, I gaffer-taped two 50mm f/1.8 lenses together face to face so the back of one of the lenses points toward the subject. I can focus down to less than half an inch with this setup. Add a flash on a bracket that dumps light just past the lens and I can shoot just about anything that will stay still long enough for me to move in. You lose the corners of the frame, but a little cropping takes care of things nicely.

This damselfly was one of dozens flitting about my backyard yesterday, enjoying the warm weather.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Itza bird

And that's about all I know about it at this point. A kind of speckled-stripey-sparrowy-finchy looking thing. Spotted at Moraine Hills State Park, McHenry, Illinois.

Perhaps one of my more ornithologically persuaded friends can help with an ID.

Thanks in advance.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Buoys and gulls

Saw plenty of both last weekend in Door County, Wisconsin. These two both had a nice blue background.

Photographs © 2010 James Jordan.

Rubbernecker

Yeah, it's Photoshopped. Couldn't resist.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

The need for speed

I'm naturally averse to using high ISOs. Blame it on my days as a film photographer shooting landscapes. The grain (or noise) associated with pushing film to the upper limits of speed was a price that I was seldom willing to pay. I determined never to go beyond 400 ISO. That "speed limit" was something I carried over in the switch to digital.

I'm more willing now to pay the price for the ability to shoot in low light conditions. Being paid to cover events and weddings in less than ideal lighting does that to you, I guess. You do what you gotta do to get the pictures people want. 800 ISO became my new friend, along with a software program designed to reduce digital noise.

This fella was shot at 1600 ISO -- formerly a no-man's-land for me. A very small amount of on-camera flash was used to give the bird a catchlight in its eye, but that's all. The heavy lifting was done by my camera's sensor.

Not sure that I'll make a regular practice of shooting at 1600, but with photography, at least, I've learned to never say never.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Oh, deer

I'll betcha that if you had told this king of the forest that he would spend his afterlife overlooking the display of camoflaged boxer shorts at the Bass Pro Shop, he would have laughed in your face.

Maybe he'll listen next time.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Who's entertaining who?

Simultaneous primate entertainment at the ape/human exhibit, Henry Vilas Zoo, Madison, Wisconsin.

Photograph © 2010 James Jordan.

Zoo photography can drive you batty

Cuz the light's seldom right. This cuddly little guy was hanging around the bat exhibit at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin. The exhibit itself was dimly lit with red light, just like an old photographic darkroom. Shadowy winged creatures of the night hung from various objects in the glass enclosure.

I lit the puppy up with a hand held flash unit to the left side of the enclosure. If I had more time (and permission), I would have gridded the light to form a tighter spot of light on the bat then added a second flash with a red gel and fired it at the background to up the creepiness factor. Oh, well, maybe next time.



Ms. Honeybee was located in one of those beehive-behind-glass-in-a-dark-corner-of-the-room displays. Several hives were going at once, some with a ton of bees, some not so much. I shot a couple of the crowded hives with flash held at nearly a 90 degree angle to the glass for some nice sidelighting. One hive contained just a handful of bees, and I framed up a lone worker on the honeycomb.

To me, the shot speaks to the decreasing bee population worldwide and could be used to illustrate articles on the subject or environmental issues in general. At least I hope the photo editor who reviews my submission at Getty Images sees it that way.

One more selection of zoo shots coming up tomorrow to round out the week.

Photographs © 2010 James Jordan.