Fly shake

I've discovered some photos on one of my SD cards that I have not uploaded to Lightroom. Below is a simple closeup using a closeup filter. The image was slightly blurred - my fault. But I've recently upgraded to Photoshop CC and I've not yet used the new Shake Reduction filter. Normally I've would use more conventional sharpening techniques, but I was keen to see what the hype was about, and I stand pleasantly surprised.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/100sec at f29, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash popup with DIY diffuser, Filter closeup.

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Old Store - Staglands

Staglands has a small and old mining town. This image is a composition of 3 shots taken hand held with normal dim natural lighting only. OK, it was dark inside so I had no option but to shoot at 3200 ISO. The image is grainy but that adds to the mood and time period of the scene. The slowest image was taken at f3.5 1/6 sec. With another lens this image would not have been possible, but this image is just another perfect example of how amazingly versatile this small lens is due to its brilliant image stabilizing. Photos combined into a HDR image using Photomatix.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/6 - 1/60sec at f3.5, ISO 3200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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White Fantail Doves

Not much to say about this simple photo :-)

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 110mm, Exposure 1/60sec at f5.6, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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1934 Bedford pickup

Beautiful old truck from the British Car Museum in Napier. I would not mind having one of these parked in my driveway :-) Due to lighting the photo was taken at ISO 3200. Click to enlarge.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 33mm, Exposure 1/125sec at f6.3, ISO 3200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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LBJs

LBJ is short for "Little Brown Jobby", a phrase coined by one of my co-workers :-)

We took the boys to Staglands in Upper Hutt and I could not help but take these photos. Nothing much to say really. Enjoy!

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/500sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Cicada - Zealandia

I've discovered Zealandia in Wellington today. And even though our trip was poorly planned and quite short, I've managed to capture a couple of nice pics of birds, landscape, architecture and insects. Now that I have a feel for the reserve I will make plans for a re-visit that will be more focused and hopefully also produce more photos :-)

Below a cicada on a wire fence. It was taken with a +4 macro filter on my Tamron zoom lens. Lighting was added to with my popup flash covered with a simple diffuser.

Click to enlarge.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/100sec at f18, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash popup, Filter none.

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Australian Water Dragon

These are pretty amazing little lizards. The National Aquarium in Napier has quite a number of them in a large display. The images below were shot through "glass/perspex" (I did not check), and was taken using natural lighting at ISO 3200. Post processing was mainly aimed at noise reduction.

The Australian Water Dragon consists of two sub-species. The photos here are of Physignathus lesueurii lesueurii the Eastern Water Dragon, as is evident in the black band behind the eye. Australian water dragons are extremely shy in the wild, but readily adapt to continual human presence in suburban parks and gardens. They are fast runners and strong climbers. When presented with a potential predator, they seek cover in thick vegetation, or drop from an overhanging branch into water. They are able to swim totally submerged, and rest on the bottom of shallow creeks or lakes for up to 90 minutes.

Click to enlarge.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 70mm, Exposure 1/60sec at f5.6, ISO 3200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 142mm, Exposure 1/40sec at f5.6, ISO 3200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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