All My Blogs

Dendrobates leucomelas,  a lso known as the bumble bee poison arrow frog. I have written numerous blogs on the poisonous skin of amphibians (cane toad, rough-skinned newt, etc).  The toxins contained in the skin itself or in cutaneous glands can be formidable.  Most of the time, the active chemicals are produced by the animals themselves and are only toxic when ingested.  Neither point is true for members of Dendrobatidae (poison dart frog group). The poisons of the Dendrobatidae are somewhat varied but are all alkaloids.  Alkaloids as a group are potent chemicals, many with familiar names such as nicotine, caffeine, cocaine, and strychnine.  They are all nasty chemicals that affect parts of the nervous system and can cause organ failure and death in sufficient doses.  Most alkaloids come from plants, such as members of the nightshades. Poison dart frogs do not create their own poisons.  They get them from the invertebrates they eat.  But the...

Click on the links below to take you to the blog.  More below. 1.  Which axis to shoot along:    https://blogsbyericsvendsen.blogspot.com/2025/08/macro-photography-part-1-which-access.html 2.  Using a macro lens:    https://blogsbyericsvendsen.blogspot.com/2025/08/macro-photography-part-2-macro-with.html 3.  Reversing a lens:    https://blogsbyericsvendsen.blogspot.com/2025/08/macro-photography-part-3-reversing-lens.html 4.  Reproduction ratios:    https://blogsbyericsvendsen.blogspot.com/2025/08/macro-photography-part-4-understanding.html 5.  Focus stacking:    https://blogsbyericsvendsen.blogspot.com/2025/08/macro-photography-part-5-focus.html 6.  Macro flashes:    https://blogsbyericsvendsen.blogspot.com/2025/08/macro-photography-part-6-macro-flash.html 7.  Camera settings for macro:    https://blogsbyericsvendsen.blogspot.com/2025/08/macro-photography-part-7-camera-settings....

Blue tobacco hornworm - Left:  White background.  Right:  No background but with "halo" lighting. As reproduction ratios increases, depth of field decreases.  As you approach a 1:1 ratio, the depth of field becomes critical.  At f/4, a 1:1 reproduction ratio has less a depth of field less than 0.2 mm.  At f/16, that depth of field increases to about 0.6 mm.  At f/64, about 2.5 mm.  (note:  the apertures given are effective apertures and not actual). If you are stacking there is less of an issue as lower apertures means the background will be visible but highly blurred.  However, if you shoot at small apertures to maximize depth of field, the background will be pitch black for anything at distance.  This is assuming that you are not shooting with a very high ISO.  To keep from getting the black background, you have to make some changes. I love using white paper plates; they are bright white, stiff, and readily available....

Orchard Mason Bee approaching grape hyacinth.  Nikon D70, 105 mm, f/29, macro flash used. Insects have always been something that has fascinated me.  They are everywhere; it's hard to go a day without seeing them, with the possible exception of winter time.  As a child, I used to catch all sorts of invertebrates, both terrestrial and aquatic.  I read books on them and was filled with an insatiable curiosity.  Then, after graduating high school, I decided to follow my passion and did a degree in zoology. It was as a young adult that everything came together for me.  School cemented my great passion for living creatures.  I also joined a school newspaper as a photographer and my love affair with cameras grew exponentially.  This was in the early 80's when computing was still in its infancy; I found that I could work with codes and became handy at working with them.  The combined interests of creatures, cameras, and code was the exact elixir nee...

Rose weevil on wild rose flower.  Nikon 7200, 105 macro, f/45 @ 1/250 and ISO 200  We know that depth of field is affected by numerous factors including focal length, aperture, and point of focus (there are others as well, but these are the ones the photographer has direct control over in camera).  We also know that reproduction ratios correlate to depth of field in that the greater the magnification, the less depth of field there is.  What's cool though is that at any magnification, regardless of what lens is involved, and regardless of what accessories are used with it, depth of field is a constant for that magnification or reproduction ratio (given a constant aperture between all values). Let's look at three different macro lenses; a 60 mm, 105 mm, and 200 mm macro.  If each lens is focused on a subject giving the exact same field of view (same area at point of focus), the reproduction ratio for each lens would be the same.  The depth of field is also th...

Closeup of moth using bellow and reversed 50 mm lens.  Approximate reproduction ratio of 4:1. Getting reproduction ratios greater than 2:1 requires specialized equipment.  There are numerous ways to do it that range from bellows, microscope objective lenses, specialized macro lenses, and various different microscopes.  What they all have in common is the need for good quality optics.  Herein lies the rub.  It can be very expensive if you want to do it well. A second factor is that working distance tends to be measured in centimeters, sometimes millimeters.  Lighting your subject also is difficult because of that narrow working distance.  Lighting can only be done from the side as there is little room to put relatively large equipment in.   There are solutions, but often you will have to be inventive and adapt whatever stuff you have.   I can tell you that any one photo represents a lot of time invested.  There is equipment setu...

Golden stonefly nymph ( Hesperoperla pacifica ) photographed with 105 mm macro + extension tubes. Camera equipment and water don't play well together in several ways.  First off is the likely destruction of expensive items and second is the difficulty in getting decent shots of anything.  As a result, most of my aquatic macro work is done indoors (usually my trailer) with a simple but reliable setup. Aquatic creatures can be very small; many of them can really only be photographed using a dissecting or light microscope.  I will go into this on another blog.  A 1:1 reproduction ratio may not be enough to do the job for many organisms, so more magnification will be needed. Extension tubes are an excellent addition to any macro setup.  These metal cylinders have no glass; their purpose is to move the lens farther away from the camera.  You can use extension tubes on almost any lens, but where they really shine is with a macro lens.  This boots reproductio...

Photographing insects where you find them:  Black ant on peony. While it is true that some insects are easy to find, the vast majority of them keep hidden as a means of self preservation.  It's the hidden ones that require the extra effort.  For this you will need to develop collection techniques or, in this case, a combination of search and find with a fair measure of luck thrown in. There are creatures likely present wherever you are.  The trick is in knowing where to look to find them.  This usually means moving things out of the way, looking under things, and searching for signs that something lives here.  I have parted leaves to find katydids, lifted rocks to find ground beetles, turned leaves upside down to find caterpillars, and sorted through leaf litter to find salamanders.  Of course, there is more, but the general idea here is that most creatures are not in the habit of showing themselves.  You have to find them, and that means moving t...

Macro photography on flowers:  Orange Blister beetle ( Nemognatha scutellaris ) on yarrow. Where do you find subjects for your macro equipment?  That answer is highly varied depending on the habits of individual species, but I find that flowers are often a good place to start. The obvious insects to visit flowers are pollinators.  This includes a wide range of creatures including bees, butterflies, flies, moths, hummingbirds, some beetles, and more (the full list will surprise you).  But it's not just the nectar they are there to take.  Many organisms feed on the flowers themselves, often taking the petals bit by bit.   Truthfully, I don't find many of my subjects on garden plants, although I'm sure some have plenty of success with this.  I prefer to be in a field populated by wild flowers.  Although spring is the best time, you can find flower-orientated invertebrates wherever flowers are naturally present.  Once you have spotted your q...

Weevil photographed with Nikon D7200, 105 mm macro lens, 1/250th, f/36, ISO 200 Although there are many ways to do macro photography, my preferred way is with a DSLR, 105 mm macro lens, and wireless TTL macro flash units.  This has the advantage of being quick and effective.  There are few things I like better than wandering about a natural place with my macro gear in hand and photographing the diminutive things I find.  While it is true that I have done macro photography many other ways, this system represents my most prolific work and the work that I am most pleased with. When out and about with my macro equipment, I have my camera set in a very specific manner.  Each point below details the setting and why I chose it.  Important note:   set camera to manual exposure mode. manual focus:  Auto focus when doing macro work is nothing short of annoying.  First of all, your movements will cause focus to alternate - especially if you use continuous fo...

Xestoleptura crassipes  on the end of a stick.  A macro technique I have been successful with. How do your photograph an organism once you have found it?  There are many answers to that, which is why I am going to have several sections on technique.  I mostly try not to hurt my subjects and prefer to release them into their natural environment when done.  One of the best ways I have found to photograph them is to have them crawl around on the end of a stick.  It requires one-handed camera operation and stick manipulation on the other, but you can't argue with the results. I get a lot of my macro work done while camping.  We have an RV and I find that the fridge is an invaluable tool in macro photography.  Simply put, a cold bug is a cooperative bug.  I often will catch something, place it in a container, and store it in the fridge for a few hours.  Then I will remove it, place it in whatever environment I am going to use, and shoot....

Black ant "milking" aphids.  Taken with Nikon 105 mm macro and three ring mounted SB200 flashes. Capturing light is, of course, the essence of photography.  It is difficult to photograph diminutive subjects where your very presence blocks out the light that is needed.  Even then, direct sunlight is harsh and throws harsh shadows, especially if it comes from the side.  Reflectors can mitigate shadows, but space and time limitations will likely result in failure.  The best solution is macro lighting. Macro lighting involves mounting specialized flash units onto the end of the lens used in macro photography.  The flash can be connected to the camera wirelessly, through a tether on the hot shoe, or operated in manual mode.  The great thing about them is that you can approach your subject and photograph them in mere seconds, leaving them unaware of your presence.  No mucking about with tripods, reflectors, or other paraphernalia.  The best part, t...

Robber fly images stacked into a single photo.  Zerene Stacker software was used. Photo stacking is a way to get more depth of field than what can be achieved through aperture alone.  Even if a really small effective aperture (f/45 for example) will get everything in focus, a photo will come out better if it is stacked.  The reason has to do with a lens' best aperture setting for sharpness. There is a sweet spot in every lens - an aperture where sharpness is at its maximum.  This tends to be one or two stops past its minimum value.  For a macro lens with a minimum aperture of f/2.8, that may be at f/4 or f/5.6.  As the aperture gets smaller there are more diffraction issues that reduce image sharpness.  The advantage of using a wider aperture is an increase in sharpness; the disadvantage is that there is less depth of field.  Stacking offers a way to get the best of both worlds. The best way to do stacking is to use a tripod for your camera setup ...

Reproduction ratios are used in understanding the magnification power of equipment.  The rectangles represent the size of a full frame sensor, measuring 36 mm across and 24 mm down. A reproduction ratio is a pair of numbers used to express how much magnification a lens or macro setup is capable of providing.  The information can be used to determine how much you can magnify your subject by.  Most zooms are capable of 1:5 reproduction ratios, which isn't much.  Many 60 mm macro lenses allow reproduction ratios of 1:2.  This is fine for flowers and subjects the size of large coins.  True macro lenses have 1:1 capability.  This can be increased by using equipment such as lens reversal, extension tubes, bellows, or specialized macro equipment designed to give higher reproduction ratios. In the format x:y, a RR is read as x to y.  The x is the the size of the model/image and the y is the size of the actual subject.  The units of measure must be th...

Young hellgrammite larva photographed with a reversed lens. Why would anyone consider reversing a lens?  It seems like an insane thing to do, but it is actually one of the best ways to do extreme macro photos.  The outlay of capital is also low, but there is quite a learning curve to it, and you have to have a camera that can work without a lens attached.  The good news is that there are a lot of DSLRs about that will go this - all my D7000 series cameras do fine with this. What is needed is a good prime lens with a manual aperture - I use a 50 mm for most of my work.  It doesn't even have to have the same mount as your camera because it is the filter thread that attaches to the lens reverser; the bayonet mounting plate faces the subject.  It should be a high-end lens, totally manual everything, with a minimum aperture no lower than f/1.8.  One of the best lenses out there for reversing is an enlarger lens that is ridiculously sharp; its minimum aperture is...

Ronald, Patrick, and Bert celebrating their birthdays.  Taken March 19, 2009. I can't say I knew Patrick well, but well enough.  He loved people and he loved to help.  I knew him from church where I could find him visiting with others in the lobby or out patrolling the parking lot during events.  He was always friendly, always cheerful, always nice.   I knew he loved England because of his tribute to the people and its popular media from his colourful car.  He bought a Mini Cooper in Ontario and brought it back with him to Maple Ridge where he lived at the time.  He asked Lori Allan to paint it with English icons.  My daughter and many others helped in the task.  You can see it in the photos below. Patrick's Mini.  That's Lori Allan and Leanne Svendsen in the third photo. He used to bring his polychromatic Mini to car shows where it was very popular.  It was a great source of pride for him and gave him many opportunities to vis...

Leaf cutter ants photographed with a Nikon Zfc Camera and Nikkor Z 105 macro lens A macro lens offers a close up view of the very small world that is an everyday occurrence beneath our feet.  The great thing about macro lenses is that they allow focusing from infinity all the way down to the macro level, which usually is defined as a 1:1 reproduction ratio.  We'll talk about that another time. Although there are many ways to get close to your subject, the macro lens offers numerous advantages over many of them.  As already mentioned, a macro lens will allow continuous focusing from infinity down to very close.  A second feature is that they are usually prime lenses with excellent sharpness through the entire range of focus and could very well be the sharpest lens in your arsenal.   The focal length and minimum apertures are not values that would excite many users.  Usually the minimum f/value is f/2.8 - not very low when it is easy to find lenses in th...

Genus  Sphaerophoria - long-tailed hoverfly - species uncertain.  Both images shot at f/14. Photographing insects is a passion of mine.  I keep a camera system set up specifically for macro photography that involves a DSLR, 105 mm macro lens, extension tube, and macro ring flash.  I will talk about equipment in another blog.   One of the great challenges with macro photography is getting everything in focus.  There are numerous ways to enable this, but the issues can be reduced by simply photographing the subject perpendicular to the long axis, which usually means from the side or top.  Shooting parallel to the long axis (usually from the front) means getting only portion of the insect in focus.  This can be countered with stacking, but that is rarely an option when live insects won't wait around while you set up for such shoots. The above photos were taken at f/14.  I will discuss depth of field in greater detail in another blog, but in...

Double crested cormorant drying itself in Lloydminster, Alberta The crests of a double-crested cormorant only appear during breeding season.  They appear on both breeding males and females.  The feathers can be white or black.  The white-crested variety tends to be from Alaska.  There is a good photo on this web page if you want to see the "crests".  Kudos to the photographer who took them.  I have never gotten that close to these magnificent birds. I have gotten some good images of neotropic cormorants and little pied cormorants from Texas and Australia.  See the image below.  Also, New Zealand has a group of cormorant-like birds called shags.  The issue with them as a rule is that they are often in deep waters and rarely on land.  They are difficult to approach without startling them.   Left:  Little pied cormorant (Australia)  Right:  Neotropic cormorant (Texas) What I have always liked is the bold feather pa...

Waterton Lakes  Above: iPhone (panoramic mode)  Below: Z7ii mirrorless (7 images stitched) One of the great features of smart phone cameras is their ability to do panoramas.  A simple push of a button and a few moments scanning the foreground results in a large and remarkable image capable of generating a very large print.  There is no mucking around in post, no need for a stitching program like Photoshop, and the resulting image tends to be very pleasant. DSLR, mirrorless, and compact cameras can do panoramas, but not without a modestly intensive process.  Numerous images have to be taken then joined with a stitching program.  You don't need an expensive program like Photoshop.  For example, Microsoft ICE is a stitching program that creates panoramas and is free.  It has not been updated since 2021, but it available for download.   The size of the stitched image heavily depends on the size of each frame before stitching, the number of f...

Cameron Lake Canoes - June 26, 2025 It was a cold day in Waterton.  The wind gave the chill added bite, and if that wasn't enough reason to cover up, the mosquitos added incentive.  We had packed a lunch, the four of us, and were hoping for a warm sunny day at the lake.  It was not to be.  Undeterred, we walked the paths and enjoyed the scenery that the mountain vista had to offer.  The lake, a remnant of a glacier,  Like the more famous Lake Louise, Cameron Lake is a cirque.  During the last ice age (which ended ~15,000 years ago), falling snow piled up to great heights. Mounting pressure from the above pack turned the underlying snow into ice.  Like water, ice flows downhill, albeit slowly.  Under pressure, it becomes plastic and deforms.  It picks up rocks as it erodes the bedrock, scouring the landscape as it moves.  This is called abrasion.  Ice water underneath the glacier fills in gaps and refreezes.  As the glacier...