Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw

- Bill

So I often use a white background (it is really a white cardboard box lid) for my spider and insect photos. A little over a year ago, I caught this tiny little frog and gave it the same treatment and liked the results. Here's another shot from that set...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Usually frogs aren't the easiest subjects to catch and bring to a "studio" to shoot, but I recently had two separate frogs that I managed to use this same technique with, and the results work very well if I do say so myself. There is something about the white backgrounds that I really enjoy for these little critters - to be able to remove the clutter of their environment and show off their patterns and personality. So here's a few more.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th & 1/160th sec at f/16 & f/32. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in eTTL mode. Image Stabilization on. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw

And just because I am feeling generous, here's a bonus shot. I was going to hold this back for another post, but I seem to have an abundance of stuff right now, so you get this extra cool shot in this post...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/160th sec at f/16. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in eTTL mode. Image Stabilization on. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw

Stay tuned as I have plenty more stuff to share.

- Bill

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/160 sec at f/8. ISO 800. IS Mode 1. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/100 sec at f/8. ISO 800. IS Mode 1. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

I almost forgot about this little guy... I only got a couple shots off before he darted back down into the wood pile.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/100 sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 800. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw

I have more uploading now, so stay tuned.

- Bill

Ok - so the camera has a stack of photos that I need to process (frogs, bugs, car show, etc), but here's another one from a couple weeks ago to tide you over. This is a small moth called a Plume Moth. When not flying, these moths roll their wings up instead of folding them together over their backs - this results in this distinctive T-shape in their resting position. Their name comes from the fact that when opened, their wings appear to have multiple individual feathers or plumes, below you can see some of the trailers still extended from one of this moth's plumes...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, 1/200 sec at f/16. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Hopefully I can get motivated to start getting all those photos off the camera soon and get them posted up here. There are some definitely cool things in there.

- Bill

While we're talking a close look at the eyes on that Blue Heron, here's another shot that has been zoomed into show the eye...

You'll notice that today's shot isn't quite as sharp as the ones I shared yesterday. However, this shot has an exposure of 1/50th of a second at f/11; whereas the shots from yesterday had 1/320th of a second at f/8. The significance here is that while this image zoomed to 100% does show a very slight amount of softness too it, it is still acceptable for sharing on the web... Here's the uncropped version:

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/50 sec at f/11. ISO 320. IS Mode 1. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Previously, there would have been no way I would have been able to shoot at 400mm with a shutter speed as slow as 1/50th of a second. Granted I was using a monopod and the best technique I could to keep the camera steady, but this definitely shows a very high level of precision provided by the upgraded Image Stabilization that the Mark II version of this lens has. Canon claims a 4-stop improvement from this new IS system (up from 2-stop on the original version of this lens), and I'll be honest and say I think they made good on their claims.

I definitely look forward to using this lens for many many years!

- Bill

The new lens provided me a glimpse at a very cool feature of that Blue Heron that I was shooting the other day... Its nictitating membrane.

A nictitating membrane (yeah, I know that is a hard word to stay) or sometimes referred to as a third eyelid is a semi-transparent lens that certain animals have to protect their eyes. I've seen them on lizards, frogs, and birds... but even some mammals have them. Basically they act as a way for the animal to still be able to see in conditions that might damage their eyes. In a heron's case that would be likely when they're stabbing their beaks into water to catch prey.

I could see this heron blinking his nictitating membrane and managed to get several sharp photos showing it. These are cropped at 100% just to show the effect, but they also do a decent job of showing the sharpness achieved with this new lens.

Open	Half-way	Closed

Technical Data:Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm, 1/320 sec at f/8. ISO 320. IS Mode 1. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Cool stuff, no?

- Bill

Ok - I suppose technically this isn't an entirely new lens. I've been borrowing my buddy Tom's Canon 100-400mm lens for about the past year (huge thanks, Tom!), and I have finally managed to buy my own. However, I purchased the newer version of that lens - the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM. The Mark II version has upgraded Image Stabilization, a shorter minimum focusing distance, better weather sealing, a twist zoom ring (instead of the push/pull zoom of the Mark I) as well as an updated zoom tension adjustment ring, upgraded lens hood and tripod mount, and probably a bunch of other improvements I'm missing. I honestly had my doubts as to whether the Mark II version would be worth the added price, but so far the new IS system alone appears to be well worth every penny.

We took the lens out to Goddard State Park the other day, and while subjects were hard to find, I did get some time with a patient Great Blue Heron that allowed me to reposition several times and get fairly close (down to about 21 meters) for some decent shots.

400mm, 1/320 sec at f/8	400mm, 1/400 sec at f/8	400mm, 1/80 sec at f/8	300mm, 1/60 sec at f/8

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at various focal lengths and exposures as listed. ISO 320. IS Mode 1. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

I've got a couple more cool things to share from this little outing, so stay tuned.

- Bill

So the same night I was out looking for the ducklings, I heard this odd crunching noise... turns out that two of the beavers were snacking on the stems of the spatterdock we have growing on the edge of our pond. Honestly, I'd rather they eat that than taking trees down.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 260mm, 1/200th sec at f/8. ISO 1250. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 400mm, 1/80th sec at f/8. ISO 1250. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 190mm, 1/120th sec at f/8. ISO 1250. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

We did have some problems with them gnawing on the bark of some of the larger trees, making us worry they might try to cut them down... and they did cut down some smaller stuff (nothing bigger than about six inches in diameter), but they seem to have stopped doing that at least for now.

- Bill

So far this spring, we've had far too many geese on the pond, but we've also had visits from mergansers with their ducklings, and a wood duck and her young (I didn't get to see them, but Anya did), and this mallard mother and her nine offspring. I've tried to get photos of the others, but these are the only ones I got, and even these were pretty lucky and in poor conditions.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 400mm, 1/320th sec at f/8. ISO 400. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 400mm, 1/500th sec at f/8. ISO 400. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 400mm, 1/250th sec at f/8. ISO 400. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Maybe next year...

- Bill