Trying to figure out how to capture a dandelion? Attempted a quick low key and high key image, but I don't think I have it yet.
Ground Hog Day
Okay, not really - but these bird images will look remarkably similar to yesterday as only a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher and a Prothonotary Warbler wanted their pictures taken this morning.
More Blooms
The mild spring has results in a wonderful spring flower season - the best tulips and daffodils I've ever seen. Below are images of a new variety we added last fall. These appear to be Narcissus 'Pink Charm' - a large cup daffodil.
Thank You for a Great Morning
A couple great opportunities this morning....
Welcome Back Warblers
This last weekend has marked the serious return of warblers to the Miami Valley. This morning I was lucky enough to not only report the first Northern Parula in Warren County, but to also get some great photographs.
Up Close
Thanks to my daughter Emma for spotting this little guy hanging out on our front door. These shots were taken on the Nikon D750 with the Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD with the Raynox DCR-250 magnifier.
The above image is a good example of how close you can get - this image is un-cropped.
Above: the jumping spider is hiding in the folds of a White Lion Daffodil.
Daddy's Taking Us to the Zoo YESTERDAY
Sunday was crazy busy. Zoo in the morning, laundry and cleaning in the afternoon, Madeline's flute lesson, more housework...trying to tidy to welcome home Louise and Lily from England. Here are some highlights from the morning at the zoo.
A meme is in the future for this flamingo.
Sometimes they can't all be in focus, but this little guy was just too cute.
My Big Photo Day
Wow - what a day. Emma, Madeline and I visited Hocking Hills and Old Man's Cave this morning. The cold weather and threat of snow seemed to keep visitors away, but we love having the park to ourselves.
I even made it into one of the photos this week!
While the girls rested, I went for another hike at Spring Valley Wildlife Area.
And finished the day with a moon shoot and some studio work.
Krohn Conservatory
Great day touring Cincinnati with my daughters, Emma and Madeline. First stop was a first time visit to Krohn Conservatory. Smaller than expected, but wonderful butterfly encounter.
End of the 1st Quarter
Basketball season is over, but it's always in season to shoot the moon.
King Me!
The Spring migration is well underway, and Spring Valley Wildlife Area is starting to show signs of life. Numerous Yellow-Rumped Warbler and I was able to get my best photographs yet of a Golden-Crowned Kinglet - a hyperactive, microsocopic little bird on speed.
April Fool's
Clear skies allowed me to capture this April Fool's moon. A stack of 12 images, processed in RegiStak 6.
Thrasher's Rock
New species at the house today - the first time we've seen a Brown Thrasher visit. Very busy bird day at the house today with over 24 species.
Testing, Testing 1-2-D500
I had the chance to spend a brief 30-minutes with the new Nikon D500 in my hands today at lunch. With no time to mess around, I decided to fit it with the Tamron SP 90MM F/2.8 DI MACRO 1:1 VC USD and try my luck at some close-up photography.
First impressions, the camera feels very familiar to the D750, but the rear (especially near the trigger) is a bit more crowded. Dedicated ISO button - YES! Focus joystick - pretty cool. I could get used to the focus joystick, but found myself out of habit using the D-pad which accomplishes the same function. Continuous High is wow! I found it impossible to take one one shot, and very easy to pop off 3-5 shoots without even trying. If it had been a birding day, this would be perfect.
Testing a newer lens on a new camera, it's nearly impossible to tell what was working - but this combination worked very well together. Here are some sample images of a jumping spider. All the images are single-frame shots (no stacking.)
You're Mocking Me
A trip to Deeds Point and the Great Miami River was almost a bust until we were visited by a friendly Mocking Bird on our way to the car.
More Spring Blooms
The bonus of a mild winter, our Spring blooms are the best I've ever seen. There are numerous varieties of daffodils, after research I have ID'd these as best as possible.
Waning, Waning, and Gone
Clouds have moved in, hiding the waning moon. But, before it disappeared, I was able to capture two slivers on the 22nd and 23rd.
Happy St. Patrick's Day
Wilbur wishes everyone a happy St. Patty's Day in full guinea pig style.
Stacking Up
This shot represents a stack of 52 images of the moon - stacked in RegiStax.
Review: RegiStax 6 vs. Photoshop Smart Objects
I've been seeing (and reading) more and more articles touting the use of Smart Objects as an effective way to stack images and reduce noise. So, I decided to test it the best way I know how - pitting RegiStax 6.1.0.8 versus Photoshop's Smart Object blending.
The Test: 40 images of the moon. A waning gibbous moon taken on March 15th, 2017 in clear early morning sky taken with the Nikon D750 mounted on a tripod with the Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD. Utilizing the same forty images, I've processed them both through a RegiStax process and a Photoshop process.
The Hypothesis: Be able to process images utilizing only one major editing program (Photoshop) and get a premium image quality.
The Process:
Step 1: Import the images into Adobe Lightroom. Starting with one image, Crop the image to the desired size - it is necessary to crop in from 600mm for Adobe Photoshop to have enough data to be able to align the images later. Adjust Exposure, Saturation, Contrast (+50), and Clarity (+40) to the preferred levels. Remove any Chromatic Aberration. Now, Copy Setting... and Paste Settings in the gallery view to the remaining images. Before exporting the images, you may need to go back in and individually center the crops depending on how much the moon drifted while shooting. Now, select all the images, and go to Photo...Edit In...Open as Layers in Photoshop.
Step 2: Alignment - Once your layers load into Photoshop, select all the layers and use Edit...Auto-Align Layers. Photoshop does a very good good a overall alignment, and I use this method no matter how I process the images. Now here is where the test diverges.
Step 3:
Photoshop Test: While the layers are all selected. Select Layers...Smart Objects...Convert to Smart Objects (and wait....) Next under Smart Objects select Stack Mode...Median. Save your file and finish sharpening as desired in Photoshop or Lightroom. For this test, I did increase the Sharpening in Lightroom while applying a generous Masking.
RegiStax: In Photoshop select Export - Layers to File, saving your files to a new folder on your hard drive. Load and process in RegiStax as you normally would. Since RegiStax is complicated, in a future blog post I'll cover a step-by-step 'How To' for RegiStax image stacking. For right now you can reference the tutorial on RegiStax website here.
Results:
Below are two sets of samples (RegiStax 6.1.0.8, Photoshop Smart Object Mean mode, and best single frame.)
As you can see in the images above, unfortunately the hypothesis was wrong. The images coming out of RegiStax 6 are clearly more detailed and more crisp. While Photoshop does a great job of eliminating noise, personally I prefer the RegiStax images.
Let me know your thoughts or questions.