2018-34
New gear! š Test shots!
I got another vintage lens: Pentacon 135 2.8. Itās a telephoto lens made in GDR (East Germany), I found one in mint condition and got it super cheap.
There are two versions of this lens, and I got the second version which is inferior to the first as it only has 6 blades and the diaphragm can close to f/22 (the first version has 15 blades and can close to f/32), but still a very nice and sharp lens which is fun to use. The minimum focusing distance is 170 cm, something that will take a bit getting used to for me, especially since Iāve mainly shot with a 60 mm macro lens the past year. Anyway, today I went for a little walk and took some first test shots with my new (although itās older than me) lens. It can of course only be used in full manual mode, but the focus ring is smooth and easy to use so it’s not really a problem I think.
Fast manual focus! š
Never seen so many wasps as I’ve done this summer! š®
2018-32
Week 32! No exotic or unusual butterflies today, but happy to see them just the same š Have a nice week!
Update 8/13: According to WordPress, this blog post from yesterday doesn’t exist and this site was last updated 8 days ago. Therefore, this post doesn’t show up in the WordPress Reader eitherĀ š¦Ā …. If you read this, thank you for visiting my blog.
2018-29
Hello š
Here’s a picture of a Map (Araschnia levana), the butterfly best known for having two forms: levana (spring brood) and prorsa (summer brood). levana individuals are primarily orange in colour, and prorsa individuals are mainly black with some white markings. This here is a summer brood showing off its beautiful underside (a map like pattern which look the same in both broods)-
Here’s a picture I took during my vacation in Sicily, a beautiful Violet carpenter bee (Xylocopa violacea)! This bee is huge, about 3 times the size of the biggest bumble bee we have here in Holland. Unfortunately I only had an old iPhone at hand, in real life its dark blue-purple colour was much nicer.
I like big bugs and I cannot lie
2018-26
Week 26 = weāre half way through 2018 already!
Today I want to share some pictures of a Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album), Iām not entirely sure but I think itās a summer generation of sub-species (f.hutchinsoni).
In most languages this butterfly is called something with a reference to the white mark it has on its side, e.g. in English itās Comma, in Spanish itās C. Although in French itās called Robert-le-Diable (āRobert the Devilā) because of its jagged wings. The scientific name also refers to the mark: ācā + āalbumā (which means white).
This butterfly has very good camouflage, both as a larva (mimicking bird droppings) and as an adult (mimicking a dead leaf).
PS. I’m off to Sicily so there won’t be any updates the next coming weeks!
2018-23
Some random pictures I’ve taken with the Pentacon 50 mm lens… Have a nice week everyone!
Helophilus pendulus literally means ādangling march-loverā
The Donacia clavipes has amazing colors!
HUGE eyes…. and a goatee!
2018-21
The cardinal beetle is actually three different species of beetles.Ā The most common one is the Red-headed cardinal (Pyrochroa serraticornis), which is an orange-red beetle with a ā duh ā read head. Itās about 2 cm long and easy to spot as it kind of glows (in the closeup shot below you can see the color is kind of red metallic). The Black-headed cardinal (Pyrochroa coccinea) has a ā uhm ā black head and is rarer, slightly larger and its body has a deeper blood-red color. The third kind is the Scarce cardinal (Schizotus pectinicornis), it also has a black head but is less than 1 cm long.
Cardinal beetles prey on other insects, while their bright red color prevents them from being targeted by other predators because red usually means toxic in the bug world.
If you see a beetle with red wings and black underside and wonder if itās a cardinal beetle or not, the easiest tell is to look at the antennae: Cardinals have toothed antennae. Itās often confused with the Scarlet lily beetle, which is smaller and usually found eating lily leaves.
Black-headed cardinal (Pyrochroa coccinea)
Red-headed cardinal (Pyrochroa serraticornis)
Orange-red metallic
Those toothed antennae
A failed attempt of photographing a flying cardinal beetle, but ended up with an interesting bokeh shot instead
2018-20
Two different takes on two different kinds of butterflies-
(1) Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria), photographed today with Fuji 18-135 mm + Raynox 150. Goal was to get close to the butterfly and capture as much detail as possible. Picture not edited except itās been slightly cropped.
(2) Green-veined white (Pieris napi), photographed with Pentacon 50 mm. Goal was to capture the moody light in the forest, not so much details in the butterfly (although enough to determine that itās a female spring brood). Picture not edited or cropped.
Would you do me a favor and let me know which one you prefer? Not saying one is “better” than the other, but just curious to know your preference. You can use the voting buttons below! Thanks š
2018-19
A little Jet ant (Lasius fuliginosus) enjoying a beautiful day in the forest… Photos taken with Pentacon, this lens is about 45 years old (made in East Germany), and really nice to use. It’s not super sharp when shot open wide at f1.8, but that wasn’t the purpose of these shots anyway. š
āSharpness really isnāt all itās cracked up to be in my book. Iād rather look at an image with soft gloomy highlights with aberrations all over the place, than a clinically perfect super shot. Itās the same with human beings. Itās our flaws that make us unique. Itās these flaws that enhance beauty by giving us an immediate reference through presence of the less-than-perfect.ā
Jonas Rask – official Fujifilm X-Photographer
The plant is known as cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), it’s a herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant in the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae).
2018-18
Week 18! Iām very excited to share these images with you, theyāre taken with a very old lens: Pentacon 50 mm f1.8. Itās got an M-42 mount so with an adapter I can use it on my Fuji camera. And I *love* this lens! Really, it has everything Iād ever wanted in a lens: Itās sharp where itās supposed to be and soft where itās supposed to be (with very nice, kind of dreamy bokeh).
Modern lenses are usually big and heavy because of their autofocus functions. Old lenses donāt have autofocus, thus a fraction of the size and weight even though theyāre made of metal and not plastic. You can find this fantastic little lens at flea markets or charity shops for Ā 20-25 Euro. I kid you not! If you see one, please do yourself a favor and buy it because thatās a purchase youāll never regret.
If youāre worried about shooting in full manual mode, please donāt be. See it as an opportunity to become a better photographer! Nowadays, everyoneās snapping away with cameras that have several automatic settings and autofocus. Shooting in manual mode means you have to take the time to really think about what you want to photograph and how to do it; You have to set the focus, aperture, etc. manually and soon youāll have a much better understanding of light and composition as well.
Pictures taken in Amsterdamse Bos today. I donāt want to post too many pictures at once, so Iāve selected only 3 examples of what this lens can do. No filters or photoshopping has been done, besides adding a small signature, these pictures are straight out of camera.
Red forest ant
Bubble bokeh
The Map (Araschnia levana) is a beautiful but skittish little butterfly. The most unusual fact about this butterfly is that its two annual broods look very different. The summer brood are black with white markings, looking like a miniature version of the White admiral and lacking most of the orange of the pictured spring brood.
2018-17
Week 17! Two green pictures: one bug and one flower.
First, a picture of a Green dock beetle (Gastrophysa viridula). They have a shiny, metallic sheen thatās primarily green but also gold, bronze and brass colors depending on their age and which light you see them in. If you see a metallic green little beetle and wonder how to identify which one it is, you can look at the legs ā Green dock beetles have metallic green legs while most others have all black legs. This one was only 4 mm long so I think itās a male (females are bigger).
(More info and pictures of a female dock beetle here)
Garlic mustard flower (Alliara petiolata) is a biennial plant, i.e. it’s a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In its first year it forms clumps of round shaped, slightly wrinkled leaves, that when crushed smell like garlic. In the next year it produces these beautiful cross shaped white flowers in the spring.
