Today's walk report: 082013

Night walk, new macro light test.

Way back on 051113 I went out and tested the Sunpak macro light discussed in this post. I was really disappointed in the light overall and more recently got one of these. The Neewer Macro light having two obvious advantages over the Sunpak light. One it has a diffuser and two you can have all the 48 lights on (full circle) or you can have just the left or right side on. A dimmer seems an even better option but hey, this shit is pretty darn cheap.

Anyway, I got into the Dodgers baseball game (Dodgers beat the Marlins 6-4) and decided I'd head out after the game. I grabbed a flashlight, camera with a Canon 60mm macro and shoved the macro light in my back pocket. iPod... I always have my trusty iPod.

But there was nothing fun to shoot. I was looking for insects and did see a single one sitting on a plant Well, there were a couple of little moths but you know what they did as soon as they saw the light coming toward them. Yep, they flew right into it.

I took a few photos just to get an idea on the light but my heart wasn't in it. Besides past 8 PM it was still hot and humid. I was perspiring profusely.

Rose, left side light on. 6 image focus stack.

San Pedro Cactus flower, light full circle.

Apache plume, right side lighting. 5 image stack. I didn't even see the fly until now.

That's enough. Thanks for visiting.

Today's walk report: 051113

Night walk.

By night I mean 30 minutes before sunset which occurred at 7:46 PM I was out the door and I wasn't back until almost 10 PM. I got my "macro" LED night mentioned here yesterday and since it hit a high today of 98.1º and was still 86.6º when I went out I figured it would be a good evening to try some nighttime macro photography. There is a problem handling the appoximately 2 hour shift from what I was used to and also accommodating walking in the dark. Even though I also brought an LED torch light along, I walk fast and I'm not real comfortable dealing with the dark. It also screws up my evening--dinner and a show. Then there's the bogyman.

For the most part it was a nice walk. I took on several dozen stairs instead of the hill I usually do because one I thought the stairs were probably better lit and two the hill was where I ran into the despotic campus cop yesterday. I think that incident might bother me for awhile. As far as picture taking with the new light goes, eh... I wasn't overly enthusiastic. I should probably get a better feel for making adjustments and I will but the 1st impression wasn't razzle-dazzle. If the light were dimmable that might help but all it has is a high and low setting. Then again it was only $20 delivered. Here are some meager results I got struggling with the thing...

Some grasshopper looking bug, probably not a grasshopper at all, on lantana.

 I think if I play around with the camera's white balance I might be able to do better. This shot is way off for color besides being a rather sucky composition.

This was 24 minutes after sunset, there was still some daylight hanging out... not much though.

Alyogyne huegelii. I probably should have done more of this and practiced with camera settings instead of looking for elusive insects.

Golden-eyed Lacewing (Chrysopa oculata). This was on a rose on the way home. It tells me I can get a decent picture with the light. All is not lost.