Wednesday 13 September 2023

Brand New Blog Site

After nearly 15 years of battling with Google Blogger, I have finally migrated my photography blog from this site to a dedicated blog that allows me far greater control over site design and blog posting. 
www.robinnichols.blog 

The new blog is called Stay in Focus...






Tuesday 22 August 2023

A Short Walk in the Rainforest

You can see a lot in the rainforest if you stop, look and listen.

We walked the Dubuji Boardwalk in Cape Tribulation, a concrete and timber walkway located between the main and only road and Myall Beach. Although it was the wrong time of day (3 o'clock) there was still plenty to see - especially the amazing shapes and patterns created by the dense palm leaves, vines, creepers and varied trees in the area. The boardwalk is level and easily navigable, even if you are not a good walker! Here are a few of the things we saw on the way...  




Mangrove swamp, Cape Tribulation

Daintree Rainforest - Princess Alexandra Lookout - looking east toward the Low Isles










Forest Kingfisher


Friday 18 August 2023

Metallic Starlings

The restaurant at Thala Beach Nature Reserve is open-sided, making it a perfect viewing platform for all the bird species living in the forest - today it was the turn of these amazing Metallic Starlings to have a bath. Olympus OM1, 300mm f4 lens with 1.4 converter (840mm equivalent), f5.6 @ 1/400s


Monday 31 July 2023

End of the line for Filters?

I recently bought a new lens and was quite surprised that the sales person didn't try to capitalise on my purchase by trying to sell me an over-priced filter for the new toy.

Back when I was teaching photography I heard so many stories concerning new lens purchases - and the pressure they felt on them to buy a filter for the lens - usually the most expensive brand in the shop - all the while not really knowing why one was needed.

I recall one student in particular showing me a couple of B+W filters she'd been told were 'absolutely' necessary - a UV and a Polarising filter that, combined added nearly $350 to her purchase.

So, is a filter really important or is it just a marketing beat-up? And how much should you realistically pay for one?

Adding a filter to the front of a lens is important. If you buy a new lens - remove the lens cap and immediately attach a filter. That way the front elements is kept in pristine condition. The filter acts as a protective buffer against all that the elements (and you) can throw at it.


What does a filter do?

Although the coating on many lenses look quite colourful at certain angles, it makes no difference to the photo's colour - but it can reduce flare and refraction, thus helping to produce a clearer looking picture.

Lens manufacturers apply an ultra-thin protective coating to the front element - hold the lens surface up to a bright light and you'll see a range of colours reflecting off that front element. This coating is there to reduce optical imperfections like refraction, flare and ghosting - all negative aspects which reduce image quality.

However, the prime job of a filter is protection - it prevents dirt and greasy fingerprints getting onto the front element of the lens.

Also, note that although a lens cap is useful to keep the lens protected, its protective capabilities are not nearly as effective as a filter that screws onto the lens. To be honest I used to tell students to buy a filter and once that was fitted, to throw their lens caps way. Drastic perhaps - but I have also seen a lot of missed shots because the photographer forgot to take the lens cap off!

Be aware that the multi-coated front element is a very fragile surface - it
can be scratched easily, even when cleaning with optical quality lens tissue or a soft microfibre cloth. Best advice is to never touch the front element. Ever. Leave it sealed behind a protective filter.

Cheapest filter type is called a protection filter - essentially a circle of (almost) clear glass that seals the front element from the ravages of the environment or mis-handling. 

If the filter gets dirty you can safely clean it with any kind of cloth and not worry about damaging that precious coating on the lens beneath it. Plus, if the filter gets badly scratched or broken, as they often do over time (see ND filter example below) it's significantly cheaper to replace the filter than to replace the front element.

Normally an ND filter 1000 (Neutral Density) is almost totally black - it cuts out 13 f-stops of light. This one got an extensive workout in Iceland but it's multi-coated surface has taken some seawater damage. It looks bad but, providing I shoot with wide apertures, it should still work reasonably well.  

Filter Benefits:

- Simple to use
- Doesn't significantly affect size or weight of host lens
- Inexpensive - depending on the brand and marketing
- Prevents moisture ingress
- Adds a good layer of protection from physical damage.

You'd be surprised at how many photographers drop, bump or scrape their cameras and lenses (including myself). I have seen cameras on poorly set up tripods fall forward and smack onto concrete floors, filters that have cracked when accidentally bumped when squeezing through a doorway (see pic here) - there are a hundred ways to damage the front of a lens!

Another broken filter! This happened to me on an African trip - and of course I was not carrying a replacement so had to treat the suddenly naked front of the lens very carefully for several weeks...

Other types of protection filter

A protection filter is just clear glass. It makes almost no visible change to the image at all other than a fractional loss of light. This is so small that it's not worth worrying about.

Another type of protection filter is a hand-me-down from the world of film. The ultra-violet or UV filter not only protects the front element but also adds a tiny colour adjustment - typically warming the colour slightly to offset the slight blue tinge often picked up in areas of high ultra-violet light. This kind of filter is particularly effective when shooting film - Kodak Ektachrome slide film in particular, was prone to produce exaggerated blues - which were further amplified in high UV light areas. But on a digital camera a UV filter is little more than an alternative type of protection filter.

Cost of filters

This is where buying a filter can get very expensive. There are generally three grades of protection filter (depending on where you shop): budget, mid-range and expensive. The difference? Mostly it's in the optical quality of the glass - and in some cases, the efficacy of its multi-coating.

In lab tests the more expensive filters do make a difference - because their high glass purity doesn't restrict the transmission of light through the filter as much as a cheaper brand. But we are not talking about f-stops here - we are talking fractions of an f-stop, something that I challenge most people to pick up with the naked eye. I can find no conclusive evidence that an expensive filter is going to make your photos look better - there are simply too many variants at play to make that call. But some purists will still argue that an expensive lens deserves either no filter (not a good idea!) or at least the 'best' filter glass.

So while some are happy to spend $80 or $100, I'm totally happy getting away with $31 for an OKKO protection filter.

Old School Filters

Almost every type of filter that I have heard about, and used, over the last 40 years has been replaced by a digital equivalent.

In 1978, Jacques Cokin, a French photographer, invented a very neat universal filter system. Its design was genius - the filters were mostly made from a plastic resin that slotted into a universal filter holder that was then attached to the lens via a metal adaptor ring. So, instead of having to buy different sized filters for different lenses (an expensive process) all you needed was an inexpensive metal adaptor ring for each different sized lens.

One of my favourite effects filters from years ago - the Graduated Sunset filter was good for ramping up a lacklustre sunset. And because it's a mechanical process, most results looked a bit fake... 

Some of the more memorable filters included:
Starburst
Prism
Rainbow
Colour Spot 
Graduated Sunset 
Graduated Neutral Density
Polarising
Cutouts
Film Grain
and about 130 other types of filter! 

Though most of the really quirky filters are no longer available (thank goodness - there were some really BAD ones in the seventies), Cokin, and now many other brands, still retail the highly adaptable, slide-in filter design which is now extensively used for digital, film, and video.

Sunset Filter?
Not this time - taken early morning, September 2009, recording the day Sydney went orange with a dust storm blown in from the far west of the State...

Software Filters

Dig around in your photo editing software and chances are good that you'll find a software method for warming or cooling your files - Photoshop Elements for one,  not only has a range of colour filter effects that mimic the industry-standard Kodak filters from the world of film, plus a range of other, bolder colour effects. And unlike a physical glass filter, software filters of course offer no physical protection to the lens, but they do offer a staggering array of colour options. 



It's interesting that, of the regular filters still sold, the Polariser and Neutral Density (ND) filters are two examples that cannot be reproduced in post-production software - although to be fair some applications, like Skylum Aurora HDR, try mimicking the effects of a polarising filter by enhancing the blue tones. But it can never remove reflections from foliage or water to reveal their true colours - the biggest reason to use a physical Polarising filter.

And then there's the preset filter. This is a mini adjustment recipe, saved as an action - to get it to work all that's needed is choose a particular effect, click on its thumbnail and watch as it gets added to your file automatically.

Friday 28 April 2023

Tasmania's answer to Africa's Honey Badger?

Devils mostly scavenge for carrion - road kill or anything else that's not putting up a fight. To me they look like physical misfits - their paws look awkward, their very active shiny noses look like they've been stuck onto the wrong animal, their ears, especially when backlit, look like the animal is on fire. And their vocalisation is really quite scary - so much so that in 2007 its screeching was voted in an international survey as being one of the world's worst sounds (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-01-26/tassie-devil-ranks-in-worlds-worst-sounds/2180624).

Tasmanian Devils are very curious marsupials. It is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world. We visited a wildlife park near Bicheno in Tassie which, unknown to us, hosted several Devil populations - more than we have seen anywhere else in Australia. What's more, we arrived just at feeding time for a group of four very hungry juveniles... 

There was a lot of growling - 'growling' doesn't really describe the noise these animals make. It's a mixture of desperation, threat, and great hunger mixed with a noise worse to fingernails scraping a blackboard. The Devil's bite has been rated as being one of the strongest of any predatory animal, size for size - exerting 553psi of force. So don't pat them when they are eating!

The keeper did a good job of maintaining the devilish patter while avoiding being bitten and the devils devoured the soft bits before moving on to the less attractive parts of the possum - the bones and the fur.

At this stage of breakfast all of the soft tissue had been ripped out of the very stinky carcass so with a memorably crunching all four started on the bones...

Yum!  They have very long whiskers on their faces - a feature that helps them find live prey when hunting at night. This Devil has quite pronounced markings - like a white scarf around its neck although the keeper did say that this was a random pattern - the other three in this exhibit were mostly black.

Now all the flesh and bones have been consumed it's time for the pelt - which, at this stage, looked like an abandoned glove puppet.

Surprisingly despite their ferocious nature and ability to eat almost anything, dead or alive (but preferably dead) Devils rarely live for more than 5 years. Although they are not 100% nocturnal, they do hunt at night - which is where their long whiskers come into play. They have excellent hearing and an acute sense of smell - they can detect prey up to one kilometre away. An 8kg male Devil can take on a 30Kg wombat  and win. Its massively strong bite allows it to hang on till the prey dies.

At another Devil exhibit these young pups were actively playing - they kept jumping into the bath, more to leave their scent than for better Devil hygiene. As soon as one had done this, another appeared and jumped in to repeat the process.

Here the light is catching the Devil's very long whiskers - these are used to help it find prey in the dark.
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

A devilish face only a mother can love
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

In this shot of a passing Tassie Devil, you can clearly appreciate its unusual facial colouring - the young ones were mostly black faced but the adults in the exhibit tended to look a lot more battered - whether that's from previous hunting exploits or from scraps with fellow inmates, who knows!
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)


This young animal keeper climbed into the enclosure with a (very smelly) dead possum and the fight was on. She sensibly wore good boots but grimly hung on to the possum's tail as the four occupants proceeded to pull the possum apart.







Saturday 22 April 2023

The Sydney Royal Easter Show

Just for fun - the country massive produce exhibition appeared to be a bit smaller this year - possibly because of all the floods experienced in the north of the State? Anyway, this is a single image, copied, then pasted back into the same file and the canvas was extended to accommodate this panoramic version.

Close up portrait of a white Finnish Lapphund

Finnish Lapphund - This was pretty much towards the end of the show, so there were just a few competitors left in the canine section left to strut their stuff.
Here the owner gives her prize pooch a final, and careful, last minute groom...
 

I liked the subject contrast in this shot - of the owner's tattooed calf and her immaculate Xolo (Xoloitzcuintle = a Mexican hairless dog)

The dog obedience demonstration is always good value - although on the day we went it was piddling down with rain - the dogs were undercover, but the audience was not! Here are two different pooches belting through the pole fence. 

Last minute makeup from Mum.
This is a Portugese Podengo, apparently the national dog of that country.
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens).

We must have missed the entrants for the Bitch Challenge. Must have been quite a contest! (Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

Axman and his trainer (maybe?)

These competition axes are all very carefully checked and weighed before any match to ensure everyone is on a level footing - as you can guess from seeing the splinters in this shot - they are also insanely sharp. 

WA versus NSW. In this heat, the latter won.

Even though it's obvious that another axeman might have already won the heat, all the contestants still go on to finish the job.
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)


For me this has to be one of the most dangerous events - you have to stand/balance on the two foot wide log while you chop it in two with a very sharp axe...

Extreme close up of a Silky (breed of chook).
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

The chook exhibition featured hundreds of birds in all shapes, sizes, colours, and breeds. The noise inside the hall was significant!

One of the many Guinea Fowl on show.
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)


Still looking quite sprightly even after more than a week of the Show.
(Pics by Natalie Hitchens)

A couple more exhibits from the poultry exhibition - turkey and pigeon.
(Pics by Natalie Hitchens)

Another snap of one of the Silkies on show

Now I have seen it all - of the many demonstrations at the show, this was the funniest - how to wash and dry a chook's feathers with a hair dryer.
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

Alpacas are very popular at the Royal Easter Show
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

Another potential winner getting a last minute trim before heading into the ring.



One of the alapaca event officials


Possibly not as popular as Alpacas, the cows and bull exhibits featured really impressively presented animals.

A large porker sleeping off lunch
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

All you had to do was mutter the words "mint jelly" under your breath to get their immediate attention

I had forgotten that the Royal Easter Show is not just about the animals - it also features a huge range of other activities submitted by country communities.
Here are two amazing examples of what you can do with a bag of sugar and some food colouring!


One of the prize winners form a hat making contest.
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

And of course the CWA (Country Women's Association) is always very active in a range of activities, including of course, baking.
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

Another sugary model.
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

Cake, and more cake


Some more sugary stuff (I was getting a bit hungry looking at all this food)




Another great little tableau, with a distinctly local flavour (but still made from sugar), (Pic by Natalie Hitchens)


A few of the happy looking cows in the cattle section