Monthly Archives: May 2012

Day 278: Azure Damselflies

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It appears that the warm weather has opened the macro season early this year. Today I’ve seen my first banded demoiselles of the year, a full two months before they first appeared last year. This means I’m likely to have a very productive summer.

Today’s picture came as something of a surprise, in that it’s the first shot I’ve produced from the Tamron 18-270 PZD where the results have outstripped those from my macro lens. In this case, it was the range of the lens that made the difference. I used a 20mm extension tube for this shot, so that I could get higher magnification from a greater distance. That was important for two reasons. Firstly, this pair of damselflies were very skittish. Secondly, they were perched over water. I couldn’t have got closer if I had wanted to. A shorter lens just didn’t work for this shot. Please be sure to click on the image to see the properly resized file, as there’s quite a difference to how it’s viewed here.

Using the Tamron 18-270 PZD, I was able to reach right out over the water, and the extension tube allowed me to make sure that the lens didn’t reduce in focal length as it was focused. It has also resulted in the background softening out.

There’s also a nice little coincidence as well: there’s a remarkable similarity in the shape of the shadow to that of the silhouette of a three-tailed damselfly nymph.

Nikon D300; Tamron 18-270mm PZD @ 200mm; ISO 500; F/10; 1/250s. VC on

Another image after the jump…

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Day 277: Down among the daisies

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This was shot at Centenary Wildlife Park, Rotherham. It’s a nice little spot that often gets forgotten about because it’s tucked away behind a car dealership.

I had hoped to find some butterflies for you today, but it was a bit too breezy for them today. In their absence, here’s an abundance of daisies.

Nikon D300; Tamron 18-270mm PZD @ 42mm; ISO 200; F/7.1; 1/1250s. VC on

Day 276: Black Vulture

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This handsome chap is called Mamu (but I’m not sure if that’s how it’s spelt). Today I watched two falconers try to figure out why he would only fly to one of them on production of food. Apparently training one of these birds is like trying to train a cat (although I must confess to having some success there). After the afternoon I’ve had, I can sympathise.

This was shot through a wire mesh fence. Although the Tamron 18-270mm PZD doesn’t have an especially wide aperture, the long range made it quite easy to eliminate the fence from the shot. The small physical size of the front element meant that there were fewer wires crossing the lens to begin with.

Nikon D300; Tamron 18-270mm PZD @ 270mm; ISO 320; F/8; 1/320s. VC on

Day 271: Common Blue Damselfly

Posted by discreetphoton on

After several months of using the Tamron 18-270 PZD, I’m well aware of how a little care and attention can yield great results. Today I decided to see just how close I could get to replicating the results that I’ve come to expect from my macro lens, the Nikon 105mm VR.

Keep reading to see a comparison between the two.

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Day 270: Large Red Damselfly

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Nikon D300; Tamron 18-270mm PZD @ 220mm; ISO 400; F/10; 1/250s. VC on

 Today I took advantage of the good weather to go out on my bike. I was out for almost seven hours, two of which were spent at the local RSPB reserve at Old Moor. I was delighted to see that the damselflies have started to emerge, and found a couple of different species.

This one was resting just a few feet out over water. Given the bright sunshine, I was able to use a couple of extension tubes (totalling 56mm) to bring the insect within range. This meant I was able to throw the background out of focus more than normal.

Another shot below. Continue reading →