Point and Shoot Lichens

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:59 pm

I have admired Nikolas work with the Olympus point and shoot cameras for some time now, well ever since Nikola joined our forums as a matter of fact. So, anyway, I decided I would give my little Sony DSC-W1 five mega pixel a try at macro, since it does have a macro mode. I shot these photos in the manual mode. In manual the Sony gives me only two apertures f/2.8 and f/5.6 to work with and with a wide range of shutter speeds up to 1000 sec. The following images were shot at 1/250 sec. @ f/5.6 and I used two pieces of frosted scotch tape over the flash lens to work as a diffuser. I was very pleased with the results I got from the Sony but it is quite clear that the Olympus camera(s) employed by Nikola are much better. Just the same I am still quite pleased with the result obtained from the Sony DSC-W1.

By the way, those are not myxomycetes growing on the stem, in the upper left hand corner of the second image, they are however, some sort of orange colored jelly fungi, I think.

I did not even notice them until I began processing the images this evening.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:42 am

I think they are rather good shots Ken. Like you said...you can see the jelly fungi on the branch

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:03 am

Thanks Doug

, I do like the results I got from the camera and to tell the truth a camera such as this is much easier to work with in the field because of its weight and size, unlike the Canon dSLRs that I also use and I can easily attach it to my belt or toss it into my backpack when out hiking the mountains and come across a subject that I would like to have a close up of and don't have the time to fool around with a bunch of equipment, also when out hiking these mountains, weight is a major consideration of the gear you carry or you are going to have one miserable day hike. Of course if you are married or single and have a girlfriend along...then she or the wife, which ever the case may be, can or could carry the extra gear for you!

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 6:31 am

Great shots, Ken.

The Sony cameras are quite fine. I must try that flash setup.

Ken Ramos wrote:... Of course if you are married or single and have a girlfriend along...then she or the wife, which ever the case may be, can or could carry the extra gear for you!

No wife (dSLR) here, just three girlfriends.

Besides, wifes are, usually, tending to get weighty.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:11 pm

Thanks Nikola

The frosted scotch tape does make a good flash diffuser and it is not noticeable or in the way when you are shooting and can be easily removed when not needed. The idea came about when I was getting really blown whites in the auto or priority modes.

Roy Patience · Post by **Roy Patience** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 12:38 pm

Ken,

I enjoy looking at your images of the plants that grow in the moister areas of the country. I don't see many lichens here in Southern California.

My favorite flash diffuser is a small piece of white, translucent plastic grocery bag wrapped around my flash and secured with a rubber band. It might be worth trying if you want more diffuse light than the tape diffuser.

Roy