Category Archives: Plant

Focus stacking in the field

Australia, bark, forest, Landscape, macro, NSW, Plant, Textures, trees

It is been a while since The Doc’s last update, the to-do list was fairly long after the last trip. Sometimes blogging must wait.

One thing The Doc been working on is a quicker way to create focus stacked images in the field. This is primarily aimed at textures like bark, leaves, flowers, etc.  The Doc is now using the Post Focus feature in a Panasonic Lumix G9 camera using an Olympus 30mm or 60mm macro lens.

The Post Focus feature can be used for focus stacking. Post Focus is a two-stage process. After placing the camera in Post Focus mode and pressing the shutter release the camera finds all the focus points in the image and then takes a 6K video of all those focus points. The process takes about 2 seconds after pressing the shutter release. The lens must be in autofocus mode.

You can stack images in-camera using the G9’s touch screen or use a program like Helicon Focus. I created some images from a recent visit to Mount Annan Botanic Gardens, The Doc used Helicon Focus in post processing (Helicon imports the 6K video then creates a super sharp focus stack). It was a windy that day limiting my subjects to barks from the Corymbia family. Below are a few images (click on image to see full size). This is a link to a 3D video of the one of the stacks, here.

Textures of the Australian Bush: Northern Territory

Alice Springs, Arnhem Land, Australia, bark, desert, Gregory National Park, Landscape, landscape, Northern Territory, NT, other, Plant, rock, sand, States, Textures, The Red Centre, trees

New report of the textures of the Northern Territory has been posted, here.

mghother@internode.on.net
mghother@internode.on.net
mghother@internode.on.net
mghother@internode.on.net

Happy and Holy Christmas to all

Australia, AWC, Ballina, flowers, macro, NSW, Plant

May the peace of the Christ child be with you and your family this Christmas.

Not much travel after the recent death on my father. The Doc did manage to visit another AWC Sanctuary, this time Curramore. He will post a few photos in the near future.

He is also thinking of Tasmania next year, a nice change from the red dust.

In the meantime, another flower following a recent theme. This time with a white background. Instead of using the inverse square law giving a black background, here The Doc used translucent Perspex as the background. He fired the second flash through the Perspex to overexpose the background, making it white. The Doc used the main flash to expose the front of the flower. It is a focus stack of 6 images.

6 images tacked

Learning off-camera flash

Australia, flowers, landscape, Landscape, macro, NSW, Plant, Uncategorised

As part of the his macro work The Doc is learning how to better use his flash, both on and off the camera. He did a little bit of macro on the Northern Territory trip, but the wind did not help. So more needs to be learned about off camera flash (which copes with wind much better and gives better results).

While at Ballina The Doc is also buying a basic off-camera kit like lightstands, triggers, adapters and flash cold shoes. He has spent several days reading, rereading and watching videos, when he is not painting his parents balcony. Up to coat 5 so far!Lets not forget about washing cars as well.

As part of his research he needed to learn about lightstand adapters and cold shoes. Here is the background research on the adapters and cold shoes.

Corroboree Billabong and Sweets Lagoon

Australia, coastal, flowers, Kakadu, lakes, Landscape, Plant, river/creeks, Wildflowers

The Doc has spent the last 2 days out on tours, to Sweets Lagoon and Corroboree Billabong (Mary River Floodplain). The Patrol had been serviced and it was time to see the wetlands by plane and boat (to avoid the mud and crocs by doing it on land).

On paper, Outback Floatplanes Adventures trip to Sweet Lagoon looked the better option. It had a floatplane flight, airboat (flat bottom boat driven by a V8 using a propeller), helicopter flight and cruise in a flat bottom boat.

Corroboree Billabong was the Wildlands Ultimate Tour consisting of an airboat and flat bottom boat tour. The BBC has filmed twice here. This billabong has the highest concentration of crocs in the world. The billabong is fed by the massive Mary River Floodplain. The wildlife has to be be seen to be believed. Thousands and thousands of birds, fish a plenty and lots of top line predators like crocs and White Bellied Sea Eagles. The Doc even got to eat some bush tucker from the Sacred Lotus Lily and another flower.

Hands down Corroboree Billabong was better and around 1/3 the cost of the Outback Floatplanes Adventure. Sweet lagoon was expensive at $800 [2017] for what it was, a little bit of the four things from around 8.30am to midday. They even charge a credit fee of 1.5%, unlike Wildlands. As an experienced Outback Traveller The Doc would not do it again, but would return to Corroboree Billabong in a heart beat, and that cost only $240 for both.

The Doc was left with the feeling Sweet Lagoon was all about maximising bums on seats and putting the tourist thorough the production line. This is the first time The Doc felt this on his trips. It was not the people, but the production line process.

The auxiliary battery in the Patrol failed on Saturday morning so The Doc has extended his stay in Darwin 2 days to wait for the replacement. A bit lucky the battery failed while the The Doc was in Darwin rather than in the Outback. The Doc has never seen a battery fail so fast, almost no warning signs (The Doc knew there was an issue Friday, but Saturday morning confirmed the failure). The demands of the hot weather was too much.

This is a sample of the floodplain in and around Mary River and Kakadu.

Corroboree Billbong, water, flowers crocs and birds, all in abundance.

Sweets Lagoon images.

Ormiston Waterhole & Gorge – West MacDonnell Range

Alice Springs, Australia, landscape, mountains, NT, Plant, river/creeks, The Red Centre, trees

As noted in the last blog post, the first part of the week was hit and miss. While Rainbow Valley was impressive, the Rogue’s Triangle of Uluru, The Olgas and Kings Canyon was not. Kings Canyon was $40 per night for a single unpowered site! Ulura was $45! Plus the access fees. So The Doc gave both a wide birth, which involved more travel.

Diesel was $123.9 a litre in Alice Springs, 200km south at Erlunda it was 52 cents a litre more, and over $2 at Ulura. It comes to a point where a fair profit margin becomes a rip off. The Doc turned around and avoided the Rogue’s Triangle. If you want to visit these places, pay a travel provider and be ripped off in style – these locations are now hostile to the average traveller.

Sadly The Doc has not seen so many places, so close together requiring you so often to put your hand in your pocket – no other place in Australia is like it. Even at Standley Chasm the access fee is $12.

In contrast, the $32 entrance fee to the Alice Spring Desert Park was a worth every cent. While the fee seems high, the value for money was excellent, great displays, several walk in aviaries, nocturnal house with rare animals and the list goes on. Visit while in Alice Springs, as it is about a 7 minute drive from the highway along Larapinta Drive. A single morning in this one location shows you what could take months in the field to see.

So the week was not going well until the Doc drove into Ormiston Gorge Campground, when things changed for the better, nice grounds, showers, shade and the gorge a short walk away. Up early the next morning for a sunrise photos at the gorge, but the light was not right until around 9am. Then a walk along the gorge, with a climb up to the lookout. A steep decent and a bacon and egg sandwich was the reward at the end. Then off again at around 11am.

A visit to Grosse Bluff was interesting. It is an imposing bluff on the northern side, but the track takes you into a picnic area in the centre where you are surrounded by walls– it turns out it is a meteor crater. The cataclysm when the meteor landed must have been big, no humugous.

Images of Ormiston.

 

The waterhole and gorge also had many large Red River Gums and their amazing textures. Enjoy.

Back to Finke Gorge in the morning.

Darwin, Arnhem Land and Mighty Kakadu

Arnhem Land, Australia, coastal, Kakadu, Kakadu, lakes, Landscape, mountains, NT, plains, Plant, river/creeks

The Doc recently visited Darwin, Arnhem Land and Kakadu on a four day helicopter tour, with a few days each side in Darwin.

The flight was based out of Darwin and Jabiru (the township near the Ranger Uranium Mine), with some landings to refuel from jerry cans in remote parts of Arnhem Land. So The Doc got some ground shots.

The trip was at the end of the wet season and the scenery was spectacular, extensive wetlands, rivers, gorges, waterfalls and escarpment a plenty. These photos have minimal post processing.

Arnhem Land is a up on a plateau surrounded by an escarpment. The rain that falls runs off the escarpment and feeds a multitude of rivers along the coastal wetlands, including the Adelaide River, Mary River, Wildman River, the East Alligator/West Alligator/South Alligator Rivers, Liverpool River, Goomadeer River, White Creek, Julia Creek (tributary of Magela Creek), Mann River and Katherine River. Katherine River being the only one listed that flows south into Katherine Gorge near Katherine.

Along this coastal plain, there was an abundance of water, rivers, creeks, streams and wetlands that have abundant crocodiles and water buffalo. With so much water the crocodiles were very hard to spot.

This area has more rivers and water than either Cape York or The Kimberley and The Doc has flown over both of those areas.

On the way into and out of Arnhem Land you must fly over the escarpment, which is hundreds of metres tall in places. Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls are well-known waterfalls that flow off the escarpment in Kakadu National Park.

The Doc nicknamed one part of the escarpment the Guard Towers, these massive structures were imposing as we flew by. They look smaller in the photos (The Doc used a 24mm lens), compared to real life.

We flew across Kakadu into Arnhem Land and through and abundance of waterways and gorges. The gorges were often full of dense rainforest, unlike any other place visited by The Doc. It makes you wonder what wildlife it hides.

As we approached one river and waterfall the copter noise spooked a black wallaby. So The Doc managed to see the rare all black wallaby. An All Black Wallaby may do rugby union supporters heads in! It is the male that is black, it is normally nocturnal and only found in Arnhem Land across to Nabarlek.

The abundance of water in the Wet Season means lots of waterfalls. The Doc was most impressed by the Mann River Gorge Waterfall in a remote part of Arnhem Land, even more than Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls in Kakadu. He got both aerial and ground photos (as we refuelled), and a passing thunderstorm made it look even better.

The Doc is now frantically packing the Patrol to drive into The Northern Territory in the next few days. The last blog post for a while, enjoy.

Bell Gorge – Gibb River Road, The Kimberley, Western Australia

Australia, Kimberley, Landscape, landscape, mountains, Plant, river/creeks, trees, WA

One of the iconic destinations on the Gibb River Road in The Kimberley is Bell Gorge. The Doc will let the pictures do the talking. Remember to click on the image to see the full size (the thumbnails are blurry). Enjoy.

A living dinosaur – the Wollemi Pine

Australia, macro, NSW, Plant, trees

In 1994 a Park’s Ranger was hiking in a remote part of the Wollemi National Park (pronounced Woll-a-my), in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. He came upon an unusual pine he did not recognise and took a sample. It was later identified as a pine that had survived for over 200 million years. The only previous records were fossils. In this remote location, a single stand of the tree had survived.

It was named the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia noblis) after its location and the Ranger who discovered it. The location remains secret but some fools have walked in and took a disease with them, Phytophthora cinnamomi.

These photos come from one of 2 pines at Mt Annan Botanic Gardens in western Sydney. One picture is the cone and the other showing new growth (lighter green) and the deeper coloured old growth. Click on the images to see full size.

An intense cultivation program was started so you can purchase the pine in many nurseries now.