What a month!

It's been an interesting month with some rather nice goings on. If you read my previous blog you will recall my mojo bouncing back and I am pleased to say that my motivation and focus is certainly back to normal. However, my energy envelope /body battery has been running at around 10%, meaning very little camera play time in May. But that's okay, it happens with M.E. and I am used to it and use this time to work on my health and plan future projects. What has been lovely is other developments in my photography journey.

Mating Small white butterflies in our garden this month

Firstly, I am over the moon to share some good news with you regarding a food photography competition ran by the SWPP. I noticed this one back around January time I think and had plenty of time to get some entries created. There were so many incredible images entered, which made the result even more special for me. My Berry cheesecake image came in at 3rd place, with another 2 images receiving highly commended accolades. I certainly did not think I would do so well and I still quite surprised. The prizes are great for me too - 6 month membership with the SWPP and entry into Food photographer, Emma Dunham's private Facebook food photography group.

May also saw a two page spread of my still life images in Amateur Photographer magazine. I had been approached by the lovely Tracey Calder who is a photographer and writer, regarding involvement in an article she was writing. After an enjoyable zoom chat Tracey wrote up an excellent piece, I really do like how she writes.

As if that was not enough happy news to celebrate, I had yet more success resulting in this Tokay gecko image being printed in Canons PhotoPlus magazine too after it placed in the top ten in one of their competitions. Then a 2nd place in Nikon's flower photography competition on photocrowd. As well as 7th and 9th place in Digital photographer magazines Still life competition. 

Then the biggest surprise of all, yes yet another competition - its just what I do to fill time 😀

The EISA Animal Kingdom portfolio competition, unbelievably I was awarded first place with set of focus stacked macro photos of ethically sourced taxidermy specimens. Winning a prize of a subscription to Amateur photographer magazine, publication of the images in the same magazine and putting my portfolio through to the International judging, with a chance at winning one of the three prizes. There are 17 countries participating, so who knows what could happen, its all quite exciting. Watch this space!

So much work went into each one of these images so I'm absolutely thrilled with this result

I'm still not finished with happy happenings. Earlier this year I mentioned my discovery of Allan Walls photography YouTube channel, where I have learned so much from his videos and interviews. I love his channel and tune in pretty much every week to his livestreams as they are so enjoyable. Well Allan had mentioned guest judges for his competitions so I put my name forward a couple of months back. Allan felt it would be fitting for me to judge his flower competition which ran throughout May. This week we got together 3 times to discuss, then judge the images and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The images entered were quite wonderful, it was quite the task to whittle them down to what I thought were the best ones.

 It was a great learning experience in many ways for me, firstly being the first time that I have judged a photography competition - I was questioning my decisions as well as asking advice of trusted friends with judging experience.

It was not just the judging that was new, but being involved in a video too - as Allan is busily creating a video from our judging session. I had lost a lot of confidence in recent years, partially due to the nature of having M.E. - losing some independence, and struggling with memory, word finding and cognitive difficulties. I have shied away from requests to give talks at camera clubs or for webinars, despite numerous repeated requests. I was concerned that if symptoms occurred during any organised activity then it would make people question why I was doing it in the first place. But I finally decided to go for it. I did not even explain any of this to Allan - I probably should have, but I wanted to concentrate on the positives. When it came to the recording, I did forget a few things that I wanted to say, I did struggle to find the words that I wanted at times and I felt as if I was rushing when I was speaking. But as it was my first time ever doing anything like this  I felt it didn't go too bad. The video has been uploaded and watching it back I dont think I did too bad Allan Walls photography Flower competition judging

A Green hair streak butterfly seen at Muggleswick in May on a lovely trip out with Michael & Effie

All of this has really helped me combat the lows that come with having M.E - this month I have struggled to spend more than around 6 - 8 hours out of bed each day,  which I am quite sure most people would find soul destroying. Barely managing just a few basic daily living activities - not on a normal day to day level, but greatly reduced.  I am mostly at peace with this over all as I still work on my health and have new hope that I can still turn this silly illness around one day. More about this to come soon on my M.E. blog  I think that this is a large part of why I enter competitions, it not only gives me something productive to focus on but picks me up when good stuff happens.

I have still been pondering entering less and find another way forward. The alternative that appeals most is trying to find someone to mentor, or helping others some how - I still miss this aspect from my years as a nurse.  I'm also keen to get on and create my first webinar or video, and will just have to move forward with this slowly as mental energy also drains that almost empty battery. Im still determined to do at least one, hopefully more.  At least it is something I can do sat down with minimal physical exertion.

Muggleswick

Focus stacked 3D Stereo pair images - A possible game changer for macro photography?

  After joining the Allan Walls macro community I became aware of stereo imaging due to a challenge being set and a great introductory tutorial. So I threw myself into a new challenge as its just the type of photography I can do from home when Im not managing to do much.

To start with I tried photographing 3 focus stacks of the same subject - ( a taxidermy insect specimen or flower) where I rotated the subject aprox 4-8 degrees between the stacks. When viewed side by side this should produce a 3D image and I was pleasantly surprised when my results paid off very quickly. Although at first I was unaware that if the images are placed in the wrong order the 3D image can appear as if its going away from you rather that the  goal of it coming towards you. 

Now getting everything prepared, set up, lighting right, the focus stacking done correctly, then the lengthy process of stacking images in appropriate software followed by finely detailed editing to ensure each image is edited precisely the same is not for the faint hearted. I have had to learn about taxidermy insect specimens, where to obtain them, how to clean and relax and position them, followed by the fiddly process of setting them up for photos. Then the lighting  can take time as many of these subjects can be super shiny, requiring several layers of diffusion material to avoid specular highlights, plus mini reflectors made from foil to lighten up the areas light doesnt reach. All this within a very tight space, often with the lens within  inches of the subject.

I have now changed from using Michaels Z6 and using my own Sony A7iii on my new WeMacro automated rail which I do prefer for focus stacking - this is controlled on my phone. I feel that almost all my focus stacking works well with this set up, where previously I often had errors in the stacks.

I am using a variety of lens but mostly my Sony 90mm macro lens, sometimes with extension tubes, and sometimes with a Raynox 250. My other main choice of lens is my new Canon MPE 65 MPE, which is taking a bit of getting use to, but is giving me great results. This requires an adapter to fit my camera and I have had some minor issues with connectivity, but Im persevering.

Now that I have had a couple of months practicing the techniques I think Im ready to attempt getting more adventurous with my set ups and will try to add in more depth, using both insects and layers of flowers. Ultimately I want to do this to give lots of depth and interest, loads of details but whilst retaining some of the out of focus bokeh that I love. So its a journey to see what I can create. 

If you are new to stereo photography I will warn you that not everyone is able to view these easily, some people can only see the 3D image with a 3D stereoscopic viewer. I'm very lucky, I can easily defocus my eyes and see most stereo pairs within seconds.  At first I found that crossing my eyes and bringing the images closer to my eyes then very slowly moving the images away, helped me to see the 3D version. Sometimes I find it easier on my computer, sometimes on my phone. 

What I love is seeing macro images that 2-5x life size as stereo pairs as these show depth and detail like I have not seen before, this excites me and is what is pushing me to create more.

I have since come across Brian May's website where I am learning a bit more about this genre, here he encourages people to try creating stereo pairs using mobile phones and a dedicated app - something I intend to try soon. I have purchased a pair of his owl viewers but neither my partner nor I can see the stereo images using these. His websites contain many other useful links and I am working my way through these to learn more. I've not found many photographers using this technique in focus stacking macro photos, but hoping to soon as it will be good to connect with more who are interested in it. 

As for editing the pairs of focus stacked images - this can take hours if the insects are not pristine. If they are not edited identically this can throw off the stereo effect and it just wont work properly.

Watch this space for more this year as its a project I intend to work on all year. I would love to hear your thoughts on this project and any suggestion in the comments or in a message on social media. - EDIT a couple of days after writing this someone suggested that it may be easier for people to view the 3D images if I presented them as 3 images and yes, more people who could not see the 3D version with two images can now see them for the first time. So at the bottom I have added the triple image versions. 

Spring has arrived

 This week I had such a lovely excursion  photographing spring flowers. We visited the very pretty Richardson Dees park, Wallsend,  a park fairly local to us in North Tyneside,  on a magical sunshiney morning .

The sun was just starting to cast its rays over the park, which was slightly hazy, causing some gorgeous light beams cascading through the trees, lighting up the jewel like flowers. We couldn't have chosen a better morning, with barely a hint of a breeze, and relatively warm for February.

I quickly found my favourite spot full of purple Crocuses, Snowdrops and Winter aconites, all in bloom, although none of the Crocus flowers were open.

 The flowers were mostly in shade when I arrived which is actually a lot better for photographing shiny flowers such as Crocuses, the harsher light of bright sunshine can be a bit tricky for flower photography, often causing severe contrast between light and dark. But the sun soon rose and lit the dazzling scene up. So I was having to move around  and keep in the shade to make the photos work the way that I wanted, luckily there are a few trees that helped. I'm hoping to return with a reflector next time to diffuse sunshine, with a stand to hold it, maybe a bit later in the day next time too so I can capture the Crocuses actually fully open ( I'm assuming they close when its dark and open in good light/warmth). By the time I left, the Crocuses were starting to respond to the daylight radiance and expose their full, exquisite colours, I did get a few shots of some in their full glory, but not many, so will plan to return within the week if I can.

I took along 4 lenses but ended up only using one, my 100-400, because it allowed me to photograph the flowers from a few ft away, whilst lying on a mat, which meant I wasn't crushing lots of flowers. You can see from an image further up how closely planted the flowers are, it was difficult to get close to the Winter aconites, but I will be trying to find a better spot to photograph them next time, when hopefully the flowers will be open.

I photographed pretty much everything at F6.3 to F8, yet still got a lovely bokeh due to the longer lens and positioning, composing the scenes to include blurred foreground and background. Whilst I had my mini tripod, I ended up just lying on the ground looking through the viewfinder - something I'm regretting now as my neck and shoulder muscles are crying out for some deep heat and hot baths. So tripod it will be next time. Its funny just how much I forgot after not doing this for a few months.

It was lovely to chat to a few people and also finally meet an online photographer friend after chatting via social media for many years. I was amused to discover that he thought I had fallen from my scooter, until he spotted the camera, I really must make a sign for my scooter so people don't panic. Even one of the gardeners was super friendly and rightly proud of the garden, hoping I would share the resulting images.

The image below is my favourite from this session, you can see why I want to return to capture more of the blooms fully open. Believe it or not, all I have done to this image is increase shadows and reduce highlights. That's all for today, lots more images below.