Columbus October 31

I visited the Columbus Zoo October 31 and stayed inside.

eastern box turtle

Mertens' water monitor

Buddy, a hawksbill sea turtle. She lives with manatees.

Buddy (Facebook)

A pelican, also with the manatees. I didn't note the species.

Red Sea sailfin tang

Razorfish. Lousy picture but interesting fish. They hang out nose-down.

Focus Stacking - Mushroom

I've been using PaintShop Pro 2019 and have been mostly happy with it. I use it mainly to crop pictures and add a watermark to the pictures I post on Instagram. It often puts up a nag screen that says I should upgrade but I haven't had a reason to. I did check out what's new in 2023, though, and found that it supports focus stacking.

In effect, focus stacking software provides a greater depth of field than a camera can provide. It takes two or more images of the same subject, each of which is focused at a different point, and merges them. This is especially useful in macro photography where the depth of field might be a few millimeters. I tried it on a mushroom, and it turned out pretty well.

The stacked image

I fed two pictures into the software.

f/4.8  1/320s  ISO 400  100mm macro lens

Underexposure Can Be Good

Purposeful underexposure can yield interesting pictures, but I'm not sophisticated enough to remember the technique is available, much less recognize appropriate situations. So I'm left with mistakes.

I shot a snakeskin at the Columbus Zoo. It was severely underexposed, and I don't know why. I typically use full automatic mode when shooting handheld in the Reptile Building, so the exposure should have been fine. I don't need a fast shutter because the animals rarely move. If I want more depth of field (smaller aperture), I use a tripod because a longish exposure is required.

Anyway, the shot came out 2 or 3 stops too dark but I like it a lot. I used software to add 1 to 3 stops of light to see what it would look light at the correct exposure.

original

+1 stop

+2 stops

+3 stops

I make this kind of correction using software from Nikon and the RAW image from the camera, instead of the JPEG image. RAW is what comes off the sensor and contains more information than the corresponding JPEG image. I use Nikon's software because I figure Nikon knows its RAW format best. I'm amazed that there are colors hidden in the darkness. There is a lot of noise in the third and fourth versions that shows up as pixels of the wrong color in areas that that are mostly one color.

Toledo November 12

This bear, either Crystal or Nuka, was stretched-out and dozing, and I was in the right place when it opened its eyes.

A chuckwalla, a type of iguana

This female rhinoceros hornbill was preening. She and her exhibit-mate have lived at the Toledo Zoo for at least 20 years, but there have been no offspring.

A female Raggiana bird of paradise

A superb starling. To me, the spots on its wing look like jewels.

A female Swinhoe's pheasant

A blue-bellied roller, one of my favorite birds.

An adult and baby emperor tamarins under a heat lamp.

Columbus October 3

Melvin, a female domestic duck with a severe deformity or significant refraction

white cockatoo

I wonder if the sand cats ever get to go outside. Whenever I visit in the same room in the Village.

male African lion, engaging in the most common lion activity

This female African lion was looking at another one.

dromedary camel

I got lucky. When I decided to press the button, the bee was on the flower. By the time the shutter fired, the honey bee was flying (and in focus!).

northern paper wasp, I think

Cincinnati October 10

The purpose of a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo was to see Fritz, the baby hippo. It was tough to get pictures of him, though, because people stand right up against the glass.

I used my phone to capture Fritz and his mom, Bibi, comparing maws.

Fiona, Fritz's half-sister, dozes.

Fiona

African painted dog

common murre

honey bee

carpenter(?) bee

Columbus Reptiles

I went to the Columbus Zoo August 19 and visited the reptiles.

My pal Burt, a Grand Cayman iguana. The Zoo has acquired a female, and the hope is for happy marriage when she is older.

Note the flat, square head of this smooth-fronted caiman.

male green basilisk

northern copperhead

red-tailed rat snake

eastern Massasauga rattlesnake

Malagasy leaf-tailed gecko

Annual Cicada

I noticed a cicada in the front-yard blue spruce not long after its final molt September 8.

(iPhone 7)

(iPhone 7)

(Nikon with 55-300mm zoom lens)

(Nikon with 100mm macro lens)