26th Dorchester Rod and Custom Show July 2009: [1st gear]
Wortley Village Cruise Nights, London Ontario July 2009: [2nd Gear]
Historical Automobile Society of Canada, 52nd Annual Touring Event August 2009 : [3rd Gear]
Zurich Bean Festival Cruise [4th Gear]
I found the Manfrotto ball head is strong enough for my needs and by replacing the locking set-up it is easier to load and unload the camera/lens
Manfrotto 488RC2 Ball head with Manfrotto 488RC2 Ball head with Arca-Style clamp
The adjustable rail was made for me by my son and works very well
Custom made adjustable rail
The rail can be moved front to rear about 10″ and is very handy for moving the whole rig rather than moving the tri-pod. The screw adjustment moves the platform about 1mm per rotation, which I find is just a little too fine for field work but it is very nice for last mini focusing and great for bench work.
With the camera and lens mounted
Completed set up
I use a wireless remote shutter release because it lets me focus and shot without having to fumble for the on camera release button and it keeps my hands off the camera when the shutter is tripped. I don’t normally use mirror lock-up or time delay because things move in the delay period and it will drive you nuts.
Now I head out to the backyard and just wander around and look, it is amazing what is there. I have a subject, in this case a group of about 12 or so Aphid like insects being handled by a group of ants.
Setting up for the Shoot
With a little patience and a lot of practice I do get some images.
I have been doing reading and gathering information for a long time to start to build my camera set-up to do High Depth Field images. An HDF image is a composites of a group of images shot at different depth of field settings. The number of shots can vary from 2 images to over 100 or more and are assembled using one of several “stacking” programs but I will get to in another entry.
I would like to talk today about the camera set-up I am tinkering with, and tinkering is one of the things I love about this form of shooting. Macro and micro shooter love to cobble things together until the simple camera looks like a moon probe. I am going to talk about my rig and what I have found through experience there are lots of makes and variation but this is mine.
This is my present field set-up which means I take it outside as apposed to a bench set-up which I will get to in another entry. The Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod it is a solid platform and is tall enough I can stand straight upright. I have hung the camera under the tripod which is good for shot right on the deck without having to spread the tripod legs. The Manfrotto 488RC2 ball head is mounted on the tripod and while I never had a problem with the Manfrotto clamping system but I wanted to switch to a Swiss Accura style clamp. I am fortunate to have access to custom machining so I had clamps,rails and a slide rail made and continued to use the manfrotto ball head body. The rail system lets me slide the camera lens forward and back for course adjustments and the screw drive rail is great for fine 1mm per turn adjustments. Word of caution, make sure the end stops are in place on your slider rails if not you might find your rig in the macro shot.
This brings me to the end of this entry, don’t want to get too long winded.
This week-end I was out to the Dorchester Fair Grounds to checkout the “Fiddle Camp”, I found a horse show going on, not the rough and tough rodeo but week-end horse lovers. There were both english and western riders and a variety of events in both the performance and show classes.
Easy Rider
I didn’t get to see the fiddle thing, didn’t want to pay 25.00 to get in to take pictures. Did get a couple outside
Well I finally got around to collecting this years macro shots. Most have been taken with the Sigma 150mm Macro on either the Olympus E-1 or E-3. I have been working on my set-up both the indoor and the field rigs. My current topic is using the flash, set-up and adjustments, I am waiting for an extension cord and a couple of mini ball heads, I ordered to arrive.
Company for Lunch
I have changed my ball head from a Manfrotto style to a Swiss Acra to increase stability and thanks to my son I now have a complete set of brackets and clamps he made for me. I am using the new clamp on the Manfrotto ball head and it is working well.
The Dorchester Rod and Custom show is being held on Sunday July 25th,at the Optimist Hall, 1530 Richmond St, Dorchester N0L 1G0, Ont .. Last year there were over 200 rods and customs from Ontario and Michigan. Great time and opportunity to photograph some really nice cars.
Dorchester Ontario July 25th 2010
Dorchester Optimist Hall.
I watched the bull riders preparing, it was raw watching these gladiators ready themselves both physically and mentally. One cowboy talked to a huge bull as he taped his arms and wrist, others took a moment to say a prayer.
This is the last of the images I took, The little world has matured melted back into the mat, hopefully the next generation will emerge again. I was not able to identify the correct name of these fungi but I will keep looking.
