Morning Dragon

acerola · Post by **acerola** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:40 am

It's colder and colder here too. This picture was made a couple of month ago. This si all the thing I can do now, browsing between the older pictures.

Equipment: 20D + 100mm macro lens

Erland · Post by **Erland** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 3:08 pm

Nice picture of a Sympetrum. I've also started browsing old pictures now, but is looking foreward to spring too

I like the lightning, with the highlights in the drops on the wings. Those rather big polygon shaped highlights (not sure the real name of those in English) does not bother me much when they are as weak as here.

Erland

acerola · Post by **acerola** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:38 am

Thanks Erland. I learned just now, that those poligon highlights can be made to be circle, but only with the widest aperture.
But it means maybe insufficient DOF for the pictre...

S. Alden · Post by **S. Alden** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:10 am

Nice image. Yep, the insects are almost gone now. I suppose I will be pulling from the files as well.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:44 am

acerola wrote:I learned just now, that those poligon highlights can be made to be circle, but only with the widest aperture...

Peter,

Out-of-focus highlights have the shape of the lens aperture. When the lens is wide open, the aperture is a round lens element or fixed stop. Stopping down, the aperture becomes a polygon because of the diaphragm leaves.

Polygons do not bother me at all. Maybe I am just used to looking at them? But just maybe it is possible to get rid of them...

As background, please know that some very long telephoto lenses made with mirrors ("catadioptric") have a stop in the center of the lens. (It is the back side of another mirror.)

These mirror lenses make out-of-focus highlights that look like donuts. I do not like those donuts very much.

With these mirror lenses, it is possible to add an external aperture plate, like a lens cap with a hole drilled in it. (The hole is off-center to miss the central stop.) The external aperture stops down the lens giving more DOF, and more important, it makes a solid round aperture so that out-of-focus highlights are also solid and round.

I doubt that your lens will work with an external aperture. Probably it will vignette. But if the polygon highlights really bother you, it might be worth a try. Put the hole in the center, and set your camera to use the widest lens aperture.

--Rik

acerola · Post by **acerola** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 2:10 am

Thanks Rik,
It is something worth a try.

I tried a mirror lens one time, and made some picture with the dount highlights. It is really ineresting, but I do not met with the external aperture plate. So the idea is new to me.

Peter

jeroenski · Post by **jeroenski** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:05 am

Hi Peter,

Cool shot, and i know how difficult it is too shoot dragons in this type of light conditions!
I think there's a whole lot more detail that could become visible, if you use a good shadow/higlight tool! I would recommend trying this one;

http://www.chromasoftware.com/shadow_control.htm

Give it a try, you would be surprised what is possible with a photo like this one!

Greetings,

Jeroen

GreenLarry · Post by **GreenLarry** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:50 am

That is really good!