Star Trail Comets

Star Trail Comets

This star trail photograph is a stack of 58 images. Nikon D90 with a Tokina 11-16mm wide angle set on infinity focus, f/4. Exposure 30 seconds, one second in between. Stacked using StarStax software. I used the “Comet” setting to see what it would do. It is a pleasing effect as a novelty. I used an […]

Lily Pads in Infrared

Lily Pads in Infrared

Taken with a Fuji IS-Pro UVIR. 720nm IR pass filter. Post-processed with the red-blue channel swap procedure in Gimp. For a bigger version, see this picture in my Flickr gallery. Related articles Infrared Hawk Watch North Park Boat House IR Revisited Infrared photography with the Hoya R72 Beyond Visible: 100 Years Of Infrared Photographs

Silver Mushrooms

Silver Mushrooms

These mushrooms of unknown species popped up in the spring rains the other week. The main post-processing steps were to apply a blue filter effect from Aperture’s default black+white effects menu, then to apply the SEIM Silver Grains third-party effect. The SEIM effect was a free download from http://seimeffects.com. I love the silver foil look […]

Kildoo Falls, McConnells Mill State Park, Pennsylvania

Kildoo Falls

Kildoo Falls, McConnell’s Mill State Park, Portersville, Pennsylvania. Taken with Nikon D90 and a Rokinon 8mm Fisheye. Perspective corrected in PTLens. For a larger version suitable for framing or wrapping fish, see Flickr. Related articles McConnells Mill State Park McConnells Mill Comparing Four Photographic Approaches

Longspur Violet Trio (Viola rostrata)

Longspur Violet Trio

Longspur Violets (Viola rostrata), taken with a Micro-Nikkor 60mm AF and a Nikon Sppedlight SB-600 diffused; the flash strength reduced by one stop. Or maybe two. I really dislike the artificial harshness of flash macro photography, but the boost to depth of field is very helpful. I usually diffuse it, reduce the flash strength, then […]

Toad Ripples Two

Toad Ripples, Take Two

The toads are back! This is the second time they have bred this spring. They began trilling three weeks ago, but the weather turned abruptly, unseasonably cold. They are back with a much more friendly weather forecast. This is the latest in the season I have noticed them appear in recent years. We have seen them […]