More experimentation with tethered shooting

Oh no! I have become the blogger who cried wolf. Yes, I’m guilty of over-promising and under-delivering. I promise to do better. Oops, I did it again! (Queue Britney Spears…)

Why tethered shooting?

In case you’re wondering what piqued my interest in tethered shooting, I was bored. I had figured out all there is to know about non-tethered shooting so I needed a new challenge. Not!

Tethered shooting enables me to quickly check composition, exposure, and focus, to name a few advantages of tethered versus non-tethered shooting — on a larger screen than the LCD on the back of my cameras.

Bear in mind, I don’t want to edit the photo files using my laptop computer (Apple 13″ MacBook Air) — I prefer to use my desktop computer (Apple 24″ iMac) for photo editing.

Latest testing

The following photos were taken by tethering my Fujifilm X-T3 digital camera to an Apple 13″ MacBook Air computer, via a TetherTools USB cable. FUJIFILM Tether Shooting Plug-in PRO was used to save JPG files to a folder on the desktop of my MacBook Air; in turn, the JPG images were displayed in Adobe Lightroom. Both JPG and RAF files were saved to one of two memory cards in the X-T3.

27 May 2017 | Riverbend Park | Swift River Cruiser (exuvia)

Notice the difference in way these two photos were lighted. Both shots were taken using a single off-camera flash. The position of the flash resulted in more- or less dramatic light. Each shot shows something better than the other, so I was unable to choose a clear favorite. What’s your preference?

27 May 2017 | Riverbend Park | Swift River Cruiser (exuvia)

Tips and Tricks

Oh yeah, the tips and tricks I have been promising are still in the pipeline. I made some screen grabs today to illustrate the process of tethered shooting. Turns out I overlooked a critical setting so all of the graphics are useless. Doh! Can you say “Do over”?

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

As promised…

A rare weekend blog post

The following photo was taken by tethering my Fujifilm X-T3 digital camera to an Apple 13″ MacBook Air computer, via a TetherTools USB cable. Fujifilm X Aquire (free) was used to save JPG files to a folder on the desktop of my MacBook Air; both JPG and RAF files were saved to one of two memory cards in the X-T3.

Apple “Preview” was used to view the JPG files saved to my MacBook Air. Looking at larger versions of the photos than can be seen on the X-T3 LCD enabled me to position the exuvia exactly as I wanted.

Notice the left eye is overexposed slightly (as well as the farthest tip of the left middle leg), probably caused by positioning the subject too close to the white background. Hey, it’s been a while since I did much studio macro photography — I need to play myself into game shape!

More details, including some of the tips and tricks I promised, will be provided in my regularly-scheduled blog post on Monday, 10 August 2020. Please stay tuned!

27 May 2017 | Riverbend Park | Swift River Cruiser (exuvia)

The Backstory

A Swift River Cruiser dragonfly (Macromia illinoiensis) exuvia was collected on 27 May 2017 along the Potomac River at Riverbend Park in Fairfax County, Virginia USA. This individual is a female.

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

First foray into tethered shooting

My first foray into tethered shooting occurred on 01 August 2020. Although I felt like I had no idea what I was doing, I was able to successfully connect my Fujifilm X-T3 digital camera to an Apple 13″ MacBook Air computer, via a TetherTools USB cable. The screen on my laptop shows the display for the FUJIFILM Tether Shooting Plug-in PRO (Mac) for Adobe Lightroom.

Screen display for 13″ MacBook Air.

I will backfill this post with more details about the hardware and software used to capture the following image, taken a few days after “first light.” In the meantime, I’m SO LATE in publishing my blog post for Wednesday I just want to put something out there STAT. Please revisit this post at a later time to read the updated version.

27 May 2017 | Riverbend Park | Swift River Cruiser (exuvia)

A Swift River Cruiser dragonfly (Macromia illinoiensis) exuvia was collected on 27 May 2017 along the Potomac River at Riverbend Park in Fairfax County, Virginia USA. This individual is a female. Notice the prominent horn on the head, a key field mark for exuviae from Family Macromiidae (Cruisers).

Ignore the bad background and quick-and-dirty lighting — this photo isn’t so much about making a good macro photo as it is the process used to make it. More later…I promise!

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Leftover Cobras

At least 11 Cobra Clubtail dragonflies (Gomphurus vastus) were spotted during a photowalk with Michael Powell in Fairfax County, Virginia USA, including 10 females and one male. This blog post features photos of female No. 3 and No. 9.

No. 3

You know, some photos are better left on the cutting room floor. Like the first photo. At an aperture of f/5.6, the depth-of-field is too shallow to show both the head (soft) and tail (sharp) in focus.

Also, I think buttery soft bokeh looks better in the background than the foreground — the blurry light green grass stem in the lower-left corner would cause me to reject this photo nine times out of 10. In this case, I tried to “will” the photo to be good enough to use because I love the dew-covered vegetation.

Notice this individual’s battle-scarred wings. That’s a lot of wear and tear on a dragonfly that emerged relatively recently. She’s a survivor and you have to admire that!

08 JUN 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Cobra Clubtail (female)

No. 9

The following photo was shot at an aperture of f/6.3 for more depth-of-field. The head looks better in this photo than the last one, but “pixel peepers” will notice it’s a little soft.

On the other hand, I like the colors and textures of the vegetation enough that this photo gets a passing grade.

08 JUN 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Cobra Clubtail (female)

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Acceptable uncertainty

A teneral damselfly was spotted by Michael Powell during a photowalk with me along a mid-size stream in Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

teneral: adult after it has just emerged, soft and not definitively colored. Source Credit: Glossary [of] Some Dragonfly Terms, by Dennis Paulson.

Teneral odonates, especially females, can be challenging at best to identify with certainty. And so it is with this one.

The first photo is the record shot. (Get a shot, any shot.) I think I might have just missed focus on the face.

No. 1 | 15 JUL 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | teneral damselfly

Refine the shot.

No. 2 | 15 JUL 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | teneral damselfly

Although this individual is definitely a member of Family Coenagrionidae (Narrow-winged Damselflies), both the genus/species and gender are somewhat uncertain.

It appears to be an Argia sp. based on long tibial spines. I think it is a male. Source Credit: Mike Boatwright, founder and administrator of the Virginia Odonata Facebook group.

For what it’s worth, Mike Powell and I saw three species of damselflies during our outing: Blue-tipped Dancer (Argia tibialis); Dusky Dancer (Argia translata); and Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta).

I’m not sure of the gender. I see what might be hamules, indicating this individual is male, but also see what looks like a female stylus (plural: styli) near the tip of the abdomen, indicating this might be a female.

Bonus Bugs and More

Look closely at Photo No. 1, the “record shot.” Notice the small orange colored insect perched along the bottom of the same rock on which the damselfly is perched. Can anyone identify Bonus Bug No. 1?

Post Update: “The fly at the [bottom] of this photo may be a black fly (Simuliidae).” Source Credit: John Smith, member “BugGuide” Facebook group.

Now look at Photo No. 2. Notice there is some type of dark insect that’s perched along the same edge of the rock as the damselfly. Can anyone identify Bonus Bug No. 2?

Post Update: “The bug at the bottom of your photo appears to be a caddisfly.” Source Credit: John Smith, member “BugGuide” Facebook group.

Also notice the dark insect is perched near what might be the exuvia from which the damselfly emerged, as shown in Photo No. 2. It’s tannish in coloration.

I didn’t see either the bonus bugs or possible exuvia when we were in the field. Of course!

Related Resource: Newly emerged damselflies, a companion blog post by Michael Powell.

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Fishing spider Friday

I spotted a large fishing spider during a photowalk with Michael Powell along a mid-size stream in Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

15 JUL 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | fishing spider

Mike and I were searching for an uncommon species of dragonfly, but hey, we’re equal opportunity wildlife photographers who know a good subject when we see one. Please look at the full-size version of the photograph in order to appreciate its subtle color palette.

Seeing Double

Look closely at the preceding photo. Call me crazy, but I see a mean monkey face on the front half of the spider and another type of primate face on the back half. Are you with me?

Post Update

Sincere thanks to John Smith, member of the “BugGuide” Facebook group, for identifying this individual as Dolomedes scriptus, one of many species of fishing spiders.

For those of you who are struggling to see the second primate, here’s a graphic that could be helpful.

Graphic courtesy Smithsonian Channel.

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Spotlight on Slaty Skimmer

Michael Powell spotted a Slaty Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula incesta) during a photowalk with me along a mid-size stream in Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

This individual is a mature male, as indicated by his coloration, hamules, and terminal appendages.

15 JUL 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Slaty Skimmer (male)

After a long day of searching for Eastern Least Clubtails (Stylogomphus albistylus) unsuccessfully — an uncommon species of dragonfly — it was good to see any type of dragonfly, including a common species like Slaty Skimmer!

Slaty Skimmer is a habitat generalist that can be found almost anywhere there is water.

Post Update

You know, sometimes I look at a full-frame photo and think it would look better cropped slightly. This is one of those times. So I cropped the photo and think it looks much better than the full-frame version. What do you think?

15 JUL 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Slaty Skimmer (male)

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Cobra Clubtail dragonfly (female, No. 5)

Sometimes I think I need an editor to select my best photos. Case in point, the following photos look similar but they are subtly different.

In the first photo, the terminal appendages seem to be more in focus than in the second photo.

08 JUN 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Cobra Clubtail (female)

The second photo shows a better view of the face while the terminal appendages are slightly softer.

08 JUN 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Cobra Clubtail (female)

Decisions, decisions. I decided not to decide, opting to publish both photos. Which photo do you prefer?

The Backstory

At least 11 Cobra Clubtail dragonflies (Gomphurus vastus) were spotted during a photowalk with Michael Powell in Fairfax County, Virginia USA, including 10 females and one male. This blog post features two photos of female No. 5.

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Blue-tipped Dancer damselfly (male)

A Blue-tipped Dancer damselfly (Argia tibialis) was spotted during a photowalk with Michael Powell along a mid-size stream in Fairfax County, Virginia USA. Blue-tipped Dancer is a member of Family Coenagrionidae (Narrow-winged Damselflies).

This individual is a male. I love the gun metal gray color of his upper thorax stripes.

15 JUL 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Blue-tipped Dancer (male)

Related Resource: A. tibialis male #4 (Blue-tipped Dancer)

Credit

Thanks to Michael Boatwright, founder and administrator of the Virginia Odonata Facebook group, for help in identifying this specimen.

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Cobra Clubtail dragonfly (female, No. 6)

A Cobra Clubtail dragonfly (Gomphurus vastus) was spotted during a photowalk with Michael Powell in Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

This individual is a female, as indicated by her terminal appendages and rounded hind wings.

08 JUN 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Cobra Clubtail (female)

The preceding photo is “full frame,” that is uncropped (3,000 x 4,000 pixels).

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.