This photograph of a Little Black Cormorant in flight at the Oak Street Wetland was taken on 6 December 2024 a bit after sunrise. There wasn’t much light at the time as the cloud obscured the sun but the combination of cloud and sun resulted in a rather dramatic sky. Exposing for the sky resulted in the bird in silhouette.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/3200s f/6.3 ISO200
On a cloudy morning of 22 November 2024, I spotted a flower beetle of the genius Mordella. I am unable to identify the specific species of this beetle. The iNaturalist Seek mobile app was only able identify the genius.
This is the first time I have seen this beetle. It disappeared the next day.
The photograph was taken with the Nikon Z 105mm macro lens with a Roynox DCR-250 and a flash diffused by a newly acquired Cynustech diffuser.
Nikon Z8, NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S, Rayox DCR-250, Nikon SB-910, Cynustech Diffuser @ 1/200s f/22 ISO400
On 20 November 2024, I came across this male Superb Fairywren at Trin Warren Tam-boore singing with gusto.
The pose was excellent but there were some twigs and branches in the background. I think it contributes to tell a story of the habitat of the bird.
As an experiment, I used Adobe Photoshop to remove some objects in the background. This resulted in the second photograph.
What I feel about the alternated image is that it looks too sterile and, therefore, lacks authenticity. I think I still prefer the original photograph.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/640s f/6.3 ISO450
These portraits of the ladybirds were taken in my backyard on 14 November 2024. The parsleys are in full bloom. This attracted the Ladybirds. I took this opportunity to capture some macro photographs of these beneficial insects.
They are fairly easy subjects because they are slow-moving and don’t seemed particularly disturbed by the presence of cameras and lenses.
On this particular day, I was using the Nikon F-mount macro lens with a 2 times teleconverter attached. This gives me a reproduction ratio of 2:1 – 2 times life size. In contrast, the new Z-mount macro lens does not take a teleconverter. It is restricted to a 1:1 reproduction ratio unless a diopter such as a Raynox DCR-250 lens is attached. In many ways, the older lens is more flexible than the new lens. I sometimes do wonder why Nikon make design decisions such as this. Perhaps the decision was to prioritise image quality (for which the Z-mount lens is excellent) over flexibility.
Nikon Z9, Nikon AF-S VR Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED, Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-20EIII, Nikon FTZ II Nikon SB-5000, Crafty Bells Diffuser @ 210mm 1/200s f/22 ISO400
Another photograph of a sweet Grey Teal at Oak Street wetland. This photograph was take on 15 November 2024.
It was taken on a close to the water surface hand-held and composed using the rear LCD of my camera an hour after sunrise.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/640s f/6.3 ISO2200
On 15 November 2024, this Pacific Black Duck came very close to me at the Oak Street Wetland. Of the native ducks, the Pacific Black Duck is probably the one that is most comfortable with human, especially if they are used to being fed.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/640s f/6.3 ISO2800
I acquired the Nikon AF-S Fisheye Nikkor 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED lens a few years ago while I was still using the Nikon D850 as my main camera. However, I have not had the opportunity to do this lens any justice until 21 December 2024 when we visited the city. On this day, the Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8 S lens was my main lens on the Nikon Z8 but took the fisheye lens with a Nikon FTZ II adapter just in case there would be a reason to use it.
Someone once said that to use a fisheye lens effectively, the photograph must look like it wasn’t taken with a fisheye lens at a glance. When we were in Melbourne Central, I thought the architecture of the location was designed to be photographed with a fisheye lens. The circularity and curvature of the interior of the building will compliment the distortion of the lens. I think I have achieved the goal of taking a picture with a fisheye lens that still looks reasonably natural. I hope you agree with me.
The first 2 photographs are taken at 15mm which has a 3:2 aspect ratio. When the lens is zoomed at 8mm, I have to remove the lens hood so that a circular image can be taken. The lens has a 180 degree view of view from the front element with either focal length. Owing to the high contrast, I have to employ 5-shot backet of 1 2/3 stops apart and stack the images with Adobe Lightroom.
First: Nikon Z8, Nikkor 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED @ 15mm f/4.5 1/200s ISO-64.
Second: Nikon Z8, Nikkor 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED @ 15mm f/4.5 1/200s ISO-100.
Third: Nikon Z8, Nikkor 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED @ 8mm f/4.5 1/200s ISO-64.
There is almost always a Willie Wagtail at Trin Warren Tam-boore. This one was found at the oval on the morning of 14 November 2024. The Wagtails are very used to having people around. I have not met one that has a large circle of fear anywhere in Australia.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO800
Silver Gulls are a common sight at Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-boore. This particular Silver Gull posed for a photograph at the oval on the morning of 14 November 2024.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO720
On some occasions, we do see the Buff-banded Rail foraging at Trin Warren Tam-boore. This was the case on the morning of 10 November 2024.
At this time, only one Rail was seen. Sometimes, we can have 3 Rails out in the open. I hid behind a tree and try to look as non-threatening as I can be. I believed it knows that I was around but being a distance away, it must feel quite comfortable. As it seemed to be as ease with me looking on, I had time to remove the strap from my camera and held it low at ground level using the LCD screen of the camera to compose and focus. The result was a better photograph than my previous attempts. Due to the uneven ground, I was not able to get the background to be as clean as possible.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO80