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Went looking for birds and found......

Discussion in 'Macro, Flowers, Insects, and Greenery' started by Gordon Large, Aug 13, 2005.

  1. Gordon Large

    Gordon Large Guest

    ....these hibiscus flowers on the shore of a small lake. A few days ago I posted some flower pictures taken with my 300/4. I went a step further with these - they were taken with a 200-400/2.8VR and a TC-17 on my D2x. Not your basic macro set-up, but perfect for large flowers at a distance. And thanks to a mistake I made uploading the second image to PBase, I was again amazed at the resolution of the D2x. Here is the first image...

    47633439.

    ...and here is the second:

    47633435.

    The second image is a 40% crop from the original NEF. (That means that 60% of the image remains, right? I never know.) When I uploaded the cropped image, I forgot to shrink it to the 800 pixel width you see above. Here is part of the image I saw at full size, here shown as an 800x800 pixel section of the original 12.4 million pixels. That's a 95% crop!

    47636556.

    Isn't that a beetle on the leaf?

    Gordon
     
    Gordon Large, Aug 13, 2005
    #1
  2. PGB

    PGB

    7,986
    Jan 25, 2005
    Gordon,

    It is a beetle. We have so many of these. Around here they are called Japanese Beetles. They eat everything. When they are not eating they are mating.

    I have Crepe Myrtle trees and they are absolutely covered in these things.

    Thanks,
     
    PGB, Aug 13, 2005
    #2
  3. greyflash

    greyflash Subscribing Member

    30,821
    Jan 29, 2005
    St. George, Utah
    Love the first image and the resolution of the subsequent images is amazing. Fortunatly we have no (or very few) beetles here in St. George, Utah. Those things are voracious.
     
    greyflash, Aug 13, 2005
    #3
  4. Gordon Large

    Gordon Large Guest

    Hi Patrick -

    Since you couldn't "hear" my tone of voice when I asked if it is a beetle, there was no way for you to know that I was kidding in order to highlight the resolution. I knew it was a beetle, but I didn't know it was a Japanese beetle. We have them up here (Philly) too, and they do all the same nasty things.

    Gordon
     
    Gordon Large, Aug 13, 2005
    #4
  5. Gordon Large

    Gordon Large Guest

    Thanks Gordon. It was a fun and successful experiment, although not the easiest way to shoot "macros". I guess you are lucky not to have J. beetles, but don't you have mountain lions and bears and stuff? I'll take the beetles..... :lol:

    Gordon
     
    Gordon Large, Aug 13, 2005
    #5
  6. sommer

    sommer

    1,265
    Jul 14, 2005
    Smack dab between the Wolverines and the Spartans
    Love the hibiscus! Loathe the Japanese beetle.....grrrrrrrr. Those things have made it their mission to skeletonize half my plants this year. I can't bring myself to buy one of those bag traps though. My neighbor has one in plain view, and I've decided a bag full of dead Japanese beetles is more disgusting than having them eat up my plants ;)
     
    sommer, Aug 13, 2005
    #6
  7. Gordon Large

    Gordon Large Guest

    Hi Sommer -

    I agree with you on all points. I had one of those beetle bags once, and it's even worse than you think - a lot of my beetles were still alive and making threatening noises. We need an emoticon for Argghh! BTW, I'm a little late on this, but welcome to the Cafe. It's a great place, and I hope you are enjoying it.

    Gordon
     
    Gordon Large, Aug 14, 2005
    #7
  8. CrystallP

    CrystallP

    3,925
    May 3, 2005
    Owings Mills, MD
    Gordon,

    I knew right away that your hibiscus was shot with the D2X. It has it's own amazing footprint. The crispness is amazing. I have struggled with this plant all summer because of the long stamen. Imagery like this reminds me that I am really looking forward to the D200 or whatever Nikon decides to roll out with next. ARGHH!

    Loved your image, hope you post more. As far as the beetle...well they have successfully eaten most of the ornamental trees on my street. Last year billions of cicadas, this year a particularly nasty beetle invasion. Yikes!
     
    CrystallP, Aug 14, 2005
    #8
  9. Gordon Large

    Gordon Large Guest

    Thanks Crystall. You are right about the amazing crispness of the D2x. But what I was surprised about in these images and some I posted last week is how beautifully long lenses can work for flower shots. I was planning on a macro, but now I'm rethinking whether I really need it. Sorry about those beetles. :( :( No concilation, but we have them here in PA too.

    Gordon
     
    Gordon Large, Aug 14, 2005
    #9
  10. CrystallP

    CrystallP

    3,925
    May 3, 2005
    Owings Mills, MD
    I have tried the 70-200VR + 500D combination for macro work. It produced awesome imagery, but I still prefer the 70-180mm micro lens for my flowers. I also like hand holding the 60mm micro for flowers whenever possible. I really use the macro lenses as closeup lenses because I usually don't add the 6T to achieve 1:1.
     
    CrystallP, Aug 14, 2005
    #10
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