Welostinplaces

I have been trying to take this shot for a while and this week, the alignment was perfect but the clouds had different plans.

Who doesn't like a calm sunset!!!

"Pops on the River."
Little Rock, Downtown fireworks from last night (4th July 2024).

Little Rock, Arkansas, North Little Rock Tourism, Downtown Little Rock Partnership, Bedford Camera & Video

Since my very first Milky Way photo, the Rho Ophiuchi region has fascinated me. I've always wanted to photograph it and finally made my first attempt on July 3rd. Despite the challenges, I am very pleased with the final result.

Bortle scale 3 Sky. Cropped the images slightly, to remove stacking artifacts.

Exif: Sony A7RIV + Sony 85mm 1.8
Light Frames: 25 Sec, f1.8, ISO 1600 - a little over 1hr of exposure
Along with calibration frames

Processed with Siril and Photoshop.

A serene sunset.

Moments from Touchdown: Ibis dives into dense marshland.

Sony a7RIV + Sony 200-600 G
f6.3 - 1/3200 Sec - 600mm - ISO640

Yellow-crowned night heron from this morning (06/29/24)

This bird is one of my favorites to photograph. They are not common around here and are summertime visitors. Finding them is always a pleasure, as they are shy birds.

This morning he let me take a bunch of shots. He was quite busy catching these crawfish. I thought of sharing this one before processing the rest of the images.

600mm - f6.3 - 1/1250 Sec - ISO 8000

Some of my favorite shots from the Zoo Excursion (part of Bedford Camera & Video, Photoexpo-24).
At Little Rock Zoo

From these it is clear, I spent a lot of time with these big cats. :)

Least Bittern.

While i am working on the other shots of this gorgeous bird, these 2 shots caught my attention and wanted to process these first. During their breeding season, these birds are fairly common here in Arkansas but more often heard than seen. They are incredibly difficult to spot in their natural habitat as they are little bigger than a Robin and often hide behind the marsh.

We waited for a while for this guy to show up and when he did, he let us take a few shots of him before disappearing in to the marsh area.

f6.3 | 600mm | 1/4000 Sec | ISO 800

Sunset sequence on 06/08/2024 at Two Rivers Park Bridge (best viewed with full screen)

This is not an AI-generated Image and the planning detail is attached to show the shoot.

As per PhotoPills, the sun was supposed to set right behind the tip of Pinnacle Mountain, but it was slightly off. I am working on a single shot of the sun above the mountaintop.

Details of the image:
Each position of the sun is about 2 minutes apart.
The camera was on a tripod taking the whole sequence (using for timelapse).

Each shot is at 300MM, f11, 1/640 sec, ISO 125.
Composite created with Photoshop.
Blended the foreground with a shot taken before the shoot. Because the exposure was set to shoot the sun, and the trees in the foreground were dark.

Sloth bear at Little Rock Zoo

I took this shot on the Zoo Excursion with Mr.Ron during the PhotoExpo.

I had this style of editing in mind for a while and thought of trying it on this image as the original image was quite flat to my taste.

Settings: 397mm, f6.3, 1/1600 Handheld, ISO 10,000

Little Rock Zoo

Part 2 of Macro Photowalk at William Kirsch Preserve. (Insects Photography - Names at the bottom of each image)

There are some of the insect shots were taken during the walk. Considering the weather and recent rain the night before, I wanted to capture a few shots of the insects with some dew or covered with dew. While viewing the images, give extra time to see if you can spot dew drops on them. Hope you enjoy these shots as much as I did while taking them.

Part 1 of Macro Photowalk.

Over the weekend, a few friends and I went on a macro photowalk trying to capture some summer beauties. It was a beautiful foggy morning after a heavy rain from the day before. Considering the perfect weather and conditions, I wanted to capture some scenes and insects with dew on them and oh boy, did I capture some.

Here are some of the nature shots I captured during the walk. I will post the insect images soon.

EXIF: Sony a7III, Laowa 100mm Macro
f11, ISO 200-800, 1/20-1/250 sec with Flash power at 1/16
Note: Exact settings are not recorded because the lens is a manual one.

Over the weekend, I went on a photo walk with a few friends. The photo walk was primarily for Macro, but I had such a shot in my mind to try the Infrared Effect in post. We were inspired by this editing trick and wanted to try it ourselves. What do you think of it?

Mr. Ron Magill is nothing short of extraordinary, both as a zoologist and as a conservationist. Listening to him share his vast experiences with wildlife was a breathtaking journey in itself. His storytelling is unparalleled; he brings still images to life in a way that no video footage ever could. I could listen to him recount his adventures for hours on end. He is a true inspiration to me and all wildlife photographers.

If you are not, follow him and be a part of his journey:
Ron Magill Conservation Endowment

Thank you Bedford Camera & Video for introducing this man to me. The learning continues with PhotoExpo and looking forward to meeting great people in the photographic community.

Star Trails and Northern Lights. Pay attention to the Aquarids meteors shower. Look at the light pole, almost at the center of the frame.

This was one of the shots I had in my mind when I shot the northern lights. As I have never shot northern lights before, I was unsure how I could make a star trail, as the passing lights will make a hazy color cloud when I stak the images to create the star trail, which is exactly what happened.

But thanks to Photoshop and a few editing skills I have learned on the way, I was able to fix the nasty color cloud and show the northern lights from one image.

This is a composite shot of the star trails and one of the northern light images.

Northern Lights - Arkansas!!

Here is the best shot I have captured of the northern lights. This is a single shot, at 14mm, ISO 1600, f4, 20 Seconds. I have a few taken at this moment, but the light trails, created by a car passing made the foreground interesting to make it to the final edit.

Last night, after the northern light spectacle concluded, we made our way home with thoughts of capturing a Milky Way panorama shot. Capturing the Milky Way arch has long been a personal goal. As I was immersed in shooting this panoramic scene, a burst of northern lights illuminated the sky again, elevating the image to new heights of magnificence.
This image holds a special place in my heart among all the photographs I've taken.

2 Rows, 7 columns Panorama, shot vertically.
Sony A7III + Sigma 35mm
Each shot: 35mm, f1.4, 10 Seconds, ISO1000 (Not Tracked)
Processed with Photoshop.

Two of our images were announced as winners, with one honorable mention at the Central Arkansas Iris Society show. Check out all our entries for this event.

Thank you Central Arkansas Iris Society and thanks to all who made this floral achievement possible.

Another set of images of a Jumping Spider. This one was very colorful and I had never seen this colorful one before. Though the spikes make me look scary, he was cute. It didn't mind me taking his images.

This set is with the flash. If you have seen the jumping spider images I shared yesterday, you can see the difference in lighting. Flash fills the light uniformly, but the LED pannel I used was a bit harsh.

As we are getting into warm weather, keep an eye out for these little guys. They are one of my favorite subjects for macro photography. Their eyes and little fur/hair are not very visible to our eyes, but those details are incredible with a macro lens. Feel free to zoom in and enjoy this little guy.

I photographed them last year and he was outside my apartment. I had seen it many times before I decided to photograph it. Possibly, he felt I was not a threat, and spent some time with me. For your reference, one shot of him is with a penny, to give an idea of its size.

All shots are handheld with Sony a7rIV, Laowa 100mm Macro with no flash but with an LED light panel for additional light.
Though it's a year-old image, and being a completely manual lens, I don't have the settings recorded but I am sure I might be using f11, ISO 200-ISO 500, and shutter 1/250-1/500.

This image was one of my dream images to capture, to show the entire phase of an eclipse. I am thrilled to witness this event and capture it.

Here it is!!! What an absolute joy it was to experience this event. Worked on a quick image of the total eclipse. Soon, I will be posting more images from today's eclipse.

Shooting details:
Sony a7RIV + at 400mm
Baader Planetarium solar filter (produces a natural color image). Not used during totality.
18 exposures blended for the HDR. ISO 200, f8 and different shutter speeds.
Some of the solar flares that were visible are unfortunately overexposed. I am trying to work on another edit trying to recover more details.

Thank you!!

After taking a short break from our photography journey, I wanted to start it again with this post. If you are seeing it, thank you for still being with us on this journey.

This is one of our first time finds and we have been trying to photograph one for a while. Finally, we got a chance to photograph them in Texas when we were on vacation last summer.

After my last year's encounter with this beauty, I was hoping to see one again this year. And thanks to Stevey B McCall, today I get to see it. He appeared for a quick minute and let me photograph him.

I can't wait to try more shots with him and I hope he stays for a while.

Sony a7RIV +200-600 gm at ISO 800 | 600mm | f6.3 | 1/2500

Inspired by a fellow photographer on a forum, I thought of making one of these. When I saw his image, I knew exactly how I wanted to create my version, and I can't wait to do it when time permits. But until then, I want to try it with my existing images and thought this would be a good fit.
Supermoon rise from 09/29/23

Arkansas Post: 03/23/24.

We went to photograph a few gators at Arkansas Post with Robert Holt. When I was there, we didn't get to see the gators but the otter was the trip's highlight. This is the largest otter I have seen as of now.