The Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington Ontario (Canada) recently hosted a display of frogs from around the world. Frogs: A Chorus of Colours was an interesting, educational exhibit as well as an opportunity to capture some images.
These kinds of events always present challenges for photographers. The display cases are often soiled as it is hard for any venue to keep the glass surfaces clean. This is especially true when elementary school tours attend the exhibit. Lighting can be uneven at best, and the overhead lights and exterior windows often create reflections on the glass surfaces. And, the critters that we are trying to photograph can position themselves in awkward areas of their display cases, making attractive captures difficult.
I wanted to take a minimal amount of gear, while still giving myself a lot of shooting flexibility. I settled on my D800 and two Nikon 1 V2 bodies. I then packed my Nikkor 105mm micro f/2.8, an 85mm f/1.8G, my FT-1 adapter, a couple of 1 Nikon lenses (30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 VR, CX 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR), and my Vello Extension Tubes for Nikon 1. Everything fit quite nicely in my Tenba Discovery Shoulder Bag. I didn’t bother bringing a tripod with me. I forgot to bring my polarizing filter and step-up rings which made shooting at the venue a bit more difficult because of the many reflections.
Once I arrived at the venue I decided to start shooting with my D800 and Nikkor 105mm micro f/2.8, taking special care to take an image of the information sign at each display so I could remember the name of each frog species on display.
After completing my first round through the displays I then mounted my 85mm f/1.8G on one of my Nikon 1 V2 bodies with the FT-1 adapter. I soon discovered that this lens did not focus closely enough to be of any real use, so it quickly got returned to my camera bag. I then gave the Nikkor 105mm a try on one of my V2’s and found this combination was quite helpful in getting various specimens to fill the frame so I could minimize cropping in post.
On my third trip through the exhibits I used my V2’s and 1 Nikon lenses along with the Vello Extension Tubes and I was able to capture a number of useable images with these combinations. I did my best to keep my shutter speeds at reasonable levels but I ended up taking a few images at under 1/30th.
For the last hour of my four hour visit I just wandered around the various displays, checking on some specific species to see if any of the frogs had physically moved to allow me to get some better images.
In order to minimize glare I shot right up against the glass of the display cases whenever possible. I purposely wore a black cotton cargo jacket to help cut down my own reflections in the display cases. A few times I took my jacket off to create some shade or remove glare on the exhibits.
I also looked for specific positioning of the frogs and tried to capture a range of views, as well as mixing in whole body images with various close-ups.
To help reduce distortion from the glass panels in the display cases I tried to shoot directing through the glass rather than on an angle. It was also beneficial to change my shooting angle and in many instances I got some interesting images by getting down close to the floor.
Overall I found that my D800 along with my Nikon 1 gear were ideal shooting companions and I got a reasonable number of useable images with each set-up.
The various species of frog each seemed to have its own personality. Some like the African Bull Frog looked like an old man with a stern, grumpy demeanor. Others like the Amazon Milk Frog had a cherub-like appearance with a perpetual smile, while the Waxy Monkey Frogs exuded a serene and contemplative air.
Special Note to Readers: When using my Vello Extension Tubes for Nikon 1 to capture some images for this article I noticed that some of the flange surfaces had cracked and broken off causing a very weak connection to my V2 camera bodies. I strongly suggest that any readers that have bought these tubes inspect them before each use to ensure they are not damaged and that they fit snuggly.
Article, all images and YouTube video are all Copyright Thomas-Stirr. All rights reserved. No use, duplication or adaptation of any kind Is allowed without written permission.
Thank you are give info on how to show in such situations. I found your 1600 asa shots very nice
Thanks jjciii, I;m glad you enjoyed the images!
Tom
Very nice frogs photos; I would be very satisfied if my images looked as good as these. ‘Makes me consider the 105mm G again, with close-up rather than macro photography as my goal. I replaced my 60mm G with a Sigma 50mm (for general photography with the D800) but there are times when I would like to get a bit closer.
I’m glad you enjoyed the images polizonte! The Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 Micro VR is quite a flexible lens that many photographers use as a portrait lens as well as for macro work. I also use this with my Nikon 1 V2’s with the FT-1 adapter as a macro lens as well as a fast mid-range telephoto. As long as I’m shooting stationary subjects the set-up works well…although in lower light it does tend to hunt for focus.
Tom
Great pictures. Just wow.
I wear a black t-shirt many times just for the same reason – reduce my own reflections and/or give me a negative reflector or light sucker. :)
I’m glad you enjoyed them Joshua! Maybe this leads to a different kind of “Men in Black’ movie… :-)
Tom
Very nice captures!
Never saw a frog so lizard like, like the first one, even the eyes are have vertical closed pupils.
Hi Marcelo,
Thanks for the positive comment I’m glad you enjoyed the photos. The first image is an African Bull Frog.
Tom
Very enjoyable … I adore frogs. Loved reading the comments with all the tech info, as well … thank you!!!
I’m glad you enjoyed the images Lois, and thanks for the positive comment! I agree they are cute little critters that seem to have so much personality – even when they just sit there and look at us!
Tom
I have the Nikon 105mm macro and have great difficulty getting enough depth-of-field on my D610, even above f/16. It’s good to know that it’s possible to get sharp results at 1/40th hand-held, I’ll have to keep working on my technique. Do you set your AF to continuous or single mode? I read somewhere that continuous mode works best for hand-held macro shooting because the camera will stay in focus with the slightest of movement, but conversely, I find the AF motor in the 105mm is constantly working back-and-forth, essentially vibrating and maybe cancelling out the VR?
Beautiful frogs by the way.
Hi Stephen,
I would normally use AF-S and shoot with 9-point AF with my D800, and single point AF with my Nikon 1 V2. I usually try to place the focusing point on the eye of the frog to help draw the viewer into the image. I find that this can often draw viewers away from the fact that the depth of field may be quite limited in the image.
Sometimes I will pick a different focusing point. For example, with image 3 I knew I was shooting at f/16 with a full frame sensor and it was critical that as much of the frog’s entire head as possible be in focus so I set my AF point on the tip of the frog’s lips. If you look at the shot you’ll see a triangle formed by the frog’s right eye – its mouth outline – and it’s snout leading you back to its right eye. This subtle triangle shape holds a viewer’s gaze and most folks looking at the image would likely not even notice that the frog’s other eye is not in focus.
Something else you can do is try to pick subjects that are 90-degrees to your focal plane. Image 1 is a good example of this approach. It can be very helpful to select an angle of view with your subject that helps to hide depth-of-field shortcomings.
My Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 micro also has very ‘active’ AF and sometimes it takes a while for it to settle down – this can be especially true when used on my Nikon 1 V2 and using it more as a telephoto. As is often said, patience is a virtue and I find that to be the case when using the 105mm hand-held.
Tom
Thanks!
My two cents. Also, look into some lighting options. You may notice that wide open aperture at 1:1 on the 105 might be 4.? even though it’s a 2.8. I practiced my macro work last year when I got my 105 and added the R1C1 this year. You don’t have to shell out that much money…maybe some nice, cheap LED lights will let you use lower ISOs and higher shutter speeds.
Not sure how much of this you may have already done. But when using my flashes and lighting, I’ve found my photos have ended up much sharper and my DOF seems greater. Haven’t tried much hand-held this year yet, though.
These are fantastic images. I have a D4s and a D810 but am always interested in a small, take-anywhere camera. Not crazy about the new design of the Nikon 1 V3. Any thoughts on the Nikon 1 V3 compared to the soon to be released Nikon 1 J5? Wondering if I should wait & get the J5? Or, wait it out and see what the Nikon 1 V4 brings to the table? Could always locate a V2 as well – just curious what sets the V series apart from the J series?
Hi Mike,
The biggest difference is that the V series models are the only Nikon 1 cameras with viewfinders. They also have a lot more external controls which makes the shooting experience a lot more DSLR like.
Tom
Great pics as always.
Black jacket over display case could work really well to kill the glare…..
Glad you liked the images sceptical1….I initially wore my black cargo jacket to cut down glare from my own clothes…then when I was doing the shoot it finally dawned on me to take it off and hold it in front of some of the displays. It was one of those “Duh, why didn’t I think of this before’ moments.
Tom
Thomas, once again great stuff.
Glad you liked the images Mike!
Tom
Hello Mr. Stirr, those are amazing shots, If I can ask you, do you set your ISO on auto and using Aperture mode because I notice that you were using high ISO on some of your shots. Thank you
Hi Alfred,
I always shoot in aperture priority regardless of the subject or camera that I am using. I set ISO manually. In the case of the ISO-5000 image in the article I purposely stopped my 105mm f/2.8 down to f/16 and risked diffraction to get better depth of field for that particular image. I then adjusted the ISO up high enough to get a shutter speed at which I felt comfortable shooting my D800 hand-held…in this case 1/40.
Tom
Hello again Mr Thomas Stirr, Thank you for your response, that was very helpful for I always seem to have a problem with the ISO in that matter.
Great images, Thomas, yet again. You mention above that you stopped down to f/16 and risked diffraction, and I’ve heard that mentioned by you, Nasim and others in past articles. What does diffraction look like, what causes it, and why do they make lenses for digital cameras that will stop down to f/16, f/22 etc. when it causes a problem with image quality, which I’m assuming diffraction does. You recently mentioned it in an article referencing an opening in a wall where water was cascading over it and said you didn’t know the change was due to diffraction or movement while hand holding, and I could see that the wall looked a little softer. Anything you have time to share about diffraction would be helpful. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed the images Cindy!
How and why diffraction happens is quite a technical issue. Think of it as light dispersing or diffracting before it hits your sensor and that dispersal causes some softening of the image. The more you stop down a lens the more it can cause light to disperse or diffract. I showed a good example of this with two photos in my Nikon 1 V2 review here on Photography Life.
Basically the smaller the size of the pixels are on your sensor the sooner an image shot with it will suffer from diffraction i.e. look ‘soft’ when the lens is stopped down. For example, I usually only shoot my Nikon 1 V2 at f/5.6 since softening will be quite noticeable if I shoot that camera at f/8 or higher. My Nikon D800 is best at about f/9 and I try not to shoot it past f/11 as some softening starts to be noticeable at f/11.
In order to capture an image and get the right exposure and/or depth of field desired a photographer may still choose to shoot with the lens stopped down and accept the trade-off of some loss of image sharpness.
There are a lot of good articles on the internet about this topic. Some make very dry reading.
Tom
Cindy, diffraction in not the big bug a boo that it is made out to be. Yes, you will, in some of your photos, experience a softening in the image but not so much as it is made out to be. That also depends upon how large the print is going to be. The smaller the print the sharper it has to be to be viewed correctly. If you take note to some of the other guest and team authors who are showing great landscape pictures, you’ll see that many are shooting at f8-f22 regularly. Some of the diffraction can be attended too in post with good sharpening technique. I think you need to experiment with this and go out shooting one day giving yourself an assignment to make the same photo with the setting you think is correct for the picture and then adjust to stop down to a much smaller f stop to compare both images. You might also need a tripod to accomplish this.
Great points Mike, thanks for adding to the discussion.
Tom
Thanks Mike and Tom for your very helpful replies. I appreciate your detailed responses and your time in writing them, in a manner I can understand. I tend to nod off during the dry reading you mention, Tom, and get lost a bit in the technical details, so thanks to you for making it more approachable. Mike, your reply helps clear some of my confusion, which I forgot to mention in my initial question, in that I have noticed quite sharp landscapes being shot in the range you mention, while reading other comments about avoiding stopping down to avoid diffraction. I have also experimented as you mention above, shooting the same landscape with different settings on a tripod, and sometimes shots at f/14 or f/16 were quite good. I also never thought about what setting my camera shoots “best” at, though have noticed what seemed to be sweet spots for my individual lenses. For example, my 300mm lens for bird photos is usually best at f/8. So, lots to think about and pay attention to, which is one of the things I love about photography–always something more to learn and experiment with.
Tom–I particularly like the photo of the green frog with many skin folds on the reddish flower. It’s a great image!
Hi Cindy,
It’s always a pleasure to try to help readers by replying to their comments whenever I can. As far as the green frog on the reddish flower goes…that little guy is in two images…number 2 and 6. He just sat there motionless so I took a number of images of him from both vantage points as they yielded very different perspectives. If you check the EXIF data you’ll see a very slight difference in exposure from the side and front views.
Tom
Cindy, it is always a pleasure to help anyone here on PL or anywhere, when it comes to photography. Having been educated in photography I had to learn the technical aspects of the art but after 50 years of shooting and benefiting from several great teachers, learned to ignore some of that learning because the shot is always more important. It’s been said before that experience is the best teacher and we all learn from doing. It isn’t a bad idea to understand the actual, and technical aspects of this craft. That information is meaningful, but when one looks at some of the great and notable photographers today, some started out as teenagers and never had a course in photography. Naturally inquisitive, they learned by doing and understanding the basic tenants through their experimentation. They may not be able to tell you why something works, only that it does. Here is an example. Years ago, when I started out in forensic medical photography, I needed to make a photograph of a gross specimen that had to be submerged in a certain colored liquid. It was my first time doing this and my teacher let me go about it by myself. He already knew I would not be able to control the lighting reflections but wanted to see what I would do about. 72 exposures later on Kodachrome 64 film, I couldn’t create one image that didn’t have light reflections so badly placed in the composition that the artifact I needed to display in the image wasn’t obscured. He looked at the slides and asked me what I thought we should do. I didn’t know other then to back off the lights and make a long exposure. “Let me show you something I discovered” he said to me. Using a cheap can of hair spray, he lightly coated the top layer of the liquid in the Petri dish. “Now make your picture”, he instructed. That roll of film went out to the processor and when it came back I had a publishable representation or the diseased specimen I was photographing. At some point he had the same difficulty and tried everything he could think of. Hair spray worked to kill the reflection of the light but allowed the colors to come through. The best learning is by doing something yourself and taking notes until that technique you discovered becomes second nature.