Spearing mantis shrimp – lysiosquillina lisa
Photographed at approximately 18 meters deep.
D800 in Ikelite housing, ISO100, 1/250 sec @ f/16, Tamron 90mm macro, 2 Ikelite strobes
animal
All posts tagged animal
The last time we were in Holland we spent a few nights at friends with cats. It’s funny how cats always seem to notice that you know how to handle them, or that you have (had) cats (before) yourself. These two are also a couple of funky little creatures, with their own little attitudes 😀
D700, ISO800, 1/250 sec @ f/1.4, Nikkor 50mm
D700, ISO200, 1/1000 sec @ f/1.4, Nikkor 50mm
Did I ever mention I luuuuuuuuuuv my 50mm f/1.4? Love the depth of field, love the bokeh, love its sharpness… If you don’t have a 50mm prime like that, go get one. Now!!
From my time in Montana in 2008 I remember that it was on the list (was it #3?) of most dangerous animals. Around here they seem to be a bit more laid-back about it and when I was driving around the area the other day and spotted one in the field on the other side of the road I never had the idea I was doing a lethal thing with pulling over and getting out of the car. I even had brought the camera this time, and had time enough to switch lenses. The moose occasionally looked up, but never seemed to be in any hurry to charge at me.
So I walked across the road and stood in the grass, with the moose probably about 300 meters away in the field, taking pictures.
Very weird in a way.
This is a young one still. Probably a year (or two) or so old. It doesn’t have a rack, yet, and compared to other moose (mooses? meese? 😀 ) I’ve seen it was pretty small, even if this is already a massive one.
D700, ISO200, 1/90 sec @ f/2.8, Nikkor 70-200mm
Awhile back I wrote a blog entry about Pet Portraits, in which our cats seem to have the habit of strategically positioning themselves so that they can overview, but disappear in a moment, too. Lately I’ve been catching -especially- Cassandra doing this peek-a-boo game with me. Yesterday I caught her again. She’s so übercute when she does that! 😀 Maybe I should make a peek-a-boo series…?
D700, ISO200, 1/320 sec @ f/2.8, Nikkor 70-200mm, off-camera SB-800
Cows are probably one of the most photographed animals. And one of the most prominently visible animals on funny post cards and stuff. Why?
They’re so dang curious and they stuff their nose IN your lens if only you give them the opportunity.
I was out with the wide angle and that makes things even worse, because you get in so close and when you look through the view finder you don’t realize how close you are really… Until you get a wet slimy slobber on your glass.
But nonetheless… got myself a couple of those post cards 😀
D700, ISO200, 1/180 sec @ f/13, Sigma 10-20mm, on-camera flash
D700, ISO200, 1/180 sec @ f/13, Sigma 10-20mm, on-camera flash
You’ve got something stuck….. (discretely pointing at teeth)
D700, ISO200, 1/2000 sec @ f/2, Nikkor 50mm, on-camera flash (fill)
Last Saturday we were invited at a friend’s place for lunch. Oh, and to take some pictures. She’s got two lovely Egyptian Maus. One silver spotted and one black smoke, absolutely gorgeous cats. And we got to play around a bit with them.
Mauno, the silver spotted one, was a bit more cooperative than Eppu, the black smoke one, but I think things turned out very nicely. (More about Mauno and Eppu here and here).
We started with the “boring” stuff. Please, sit still, and look up. Head slightly more to the left… No, that’s too much… A bit back… That’s good. Chin up a bit more… nonono, not that much… cat nip is a bit lower…
D700, ISO800, 1/125 sec @ f/4, Nikkor 70-200mm
D700, ISO1600, 1/125 sec @ f/2.8, Nikkor 70-200mm
Eppu wasn’t too much in the mood of activity, so we did a couple of extra chin-ups with him
D700, ISO400, 1/125 sec @ f/4, Nikkor 70-200mm
But after that we got onto the funky stuff…
D700, ISO400, 1/320 sec @ f/11, Nikkor 70-200mm, 2x off-camera SB-800 with Photoflex softbox
D700, ISO400, 1/320 sec @ f/11, Nikkor 70-200mm, 2x off-camera SB-800 with Photoflex softbox
D700, ISO400, 1/320 sec @ f/11, Nikkor 70-200mm, 2x off-camera SB-800 with Photoflex softbox
The next one’s actually slowly starting to become my favorite. Not because it’s fantastic, but it’s so elegant. Mauno’s got style. Put him in a tail-coat and he can… well… Never mind 😀
This picture does remind me very much of the fairy tale “The Master Cat” (Puss in Boots).
D700, ISO400, 1/320 sec @ f/11, Nikkor 70-200mm, 2x off-camera SB-800 with Photoflex softbox
And then, well… after an afternoon of jumping… Also Mauno had enough and called it a day.
D700, ISO400, 1/320 sec @ f/11, Nikkor 70-200mm, 2x off-camera SB-800 with Photoflex softbox
Right off the bat, straight in your face:
D200, ISO100, 44 sec @ f/27, Tamron 28-75mm, off-camera flash SB-800, remote shutter release, tripod
I’d seen it lying there already for a couple of days. The poor thing.
In this day of hurry, stress and lack of time… In this day of hi-tech, of big, fast cars… In this day of quasi interest in the environment… We develop cars that run faster and more economically with less fuel. To save the environment. We’re all in a green stage where we care so much about the hole in the ozone layer and where we care so much about preserving our nature (for the sake of our kids, or so we say).
But do we really care? Do we genuinely care? Or does it just come in handy that that green car allows us a tax bonus? Or does it just come in handy that that green car uses less fuel because the fuel prices stink like a buffalo with diarrhea? Or does it just come in handy that that green car brings us home just that bit faster so we can stay at work that bit longer (or stay in traffic jams that much longer and pollute the environment anyway)?
We race from here to there, killing our environment on the way and we don’t even care.
This poor little creature didn’t stand a chance. It wasn’t even given a chance. And it probably got a figurative kick in the back afterwards, because it damaged someone’s f*cking green car!
That’s how much we care.
This entry’s dedicated to a person who DOES care. In the 2,5 months that I had the privilege spending with him, I got to know him as a funny and caring person and an artistic photographer with a keen eye for detail.
This kind of photography is his idea, and I’ve been trying to tell him that, even though it’s shocking, and even though some might find it morbid, it makes a very important point.
You know who you are, buddy. And I still think you should do something with your photographs. They’re so much better than mine. I hope that my blunt statement here will get you going.
And if you have a story to tell, if you make a point of it, it will be accepted, no matter what.
Note on post-processing (yes, there was post-processing on this image):
It’s this blue for a reason.