Macro Mantis: Insect Photography Up Close

I see the world in new ways since discovering iPhoneography, especially in close-up macro view. A rich universe of detail exists all around us, all the time, just waiting to be appreciated. And with only a little effort we’re free to visit whenever we want.

Praying Mantis – Here’s Looking At You!

Macro Mantis, featured recently at the 1000 Words Showcase by the WeAreJuxt team.

I noticed this mantis on the porch one morning and brought him to the kitchen table with a glass and some paper. He seemed fine with that, and I was careful not to harm him throughout the shoot.

With my iPhone 4, a macro lens by Photojojo, and a high-powered flashlight from Home Depot, I captured several shots, some like this using Hipstamatic’s John S. lens and Rock BW-11 film. The app adds a random depth that I like.

Experimenting with the light and camera positioning, I coaxed out varying shadows and highlights, the most dramatic being when the beast seemed to stare right into the lens. No doubt he was experiencing what being abducted by aliens must be like for humans.

After about five minutes of that, it was back to the wild on a bush in the yard where he blended in much better than in the kitchen.

The good folks at Juxt recently featured this mantis shot of mine in their 1000 Words Showcase.

What do you think? Ever done any macro photography? What are your techniques? Let us hear from you in the comments.

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• Turn an Old Kit Lens Into a Macro Lens by Removing the Front Element(petapixel.com)
• Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Macro Photography(lensaddiction.wordpress.com)
• Review: iPhoneography gear series: Hands-on with $15 Easy Macro Cell Lens Band (9to5mac.com)
• Photographing Insects and Other Small Creatures (nikonusa.com)
• How to Shoot Macro Photography (photolisticlife.com)
• Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Macro Photography(managuagunntoday.wordpress.com)

December 21, 2012: Your Last Chance To Dance

Apocalypse, Mayans, and… Star Trek?

Here’s a rare NSFW post from me (you’ve been warned), but I find this too entertaining in a ridiculous, party-rocking sort of way not to share: a friend’s metal band made this video about today’s hype-fueling date. It’s crude, juvenile and bizarre – they’d probably take this as a complement – but oddly catchy in the style of Alice Cooper or a less self-righteous Marilyn Manson. I thought I’d do some PR for them today (hope I don’t regret this). Again: you’ve been warned…

Related articles

• 182 Other Days The World Was Supposed To End (Huffington Post)
• Profits and Profiteers: What The Mayans Really Predict (Christopher James Stone)
• The End of the World As We Know It? (Mike’s Film Talk)
• Who Will Watch Gangnam Style for the Billionth Time? (Mashable)
• Mayan Big Data and Predictive Analytics (blogs.gartner.com)
• Mayan Calendar Ending Party or December 21 2012 End of the World?(doctoramarthacastro.wordpress.com)
• People All Over the World Are Freaking Out Over December 21st(washingtonsblog.com)
• Phew! Mayan heartland rejoices as world survives apocalypse(talesfromthelou.wordpress.com)
• The Mayans Were Probably Right After All (vallanomedia.com)

Trade Street and Tree – Single Image Sundays

Trade St. & Tree | See full size at 500px | Originals at Flickr

I’ve been meaning to document this doorway for a while. I ride by it at least a few dozen times every month. So it only felt right to work it into a montage. I snapped an image of it usingHipstamatic one day while waiting at a traffic light. Later, I realized it would be more interesting with the door part obscured and replaced with an image of a tree. I snapped the tree photo in the moment, especially for this image. But it still needed at least one more element, so I browsed through my repository ofunfettered originals from here and there, and found the perfect complement in this outdoor light from a bar, Single Brothers, a few blocks up from where the door exists.

Originals at Flickr

So, I mix all this together in Photoforge2 with masks, a border, varying levels of curves/levels/clarification adjustments, and here we are: an image to accurately represent my creative vision that also represents a part of my city. There’s even more of Winston-Salem, on Instagram, courtesy the good folks at Airtype and theirWinstagram project.

What do you think? Ever seen any interesting doorways in your city? What would you create in a photomontage? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

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• Hipstamatic Urban Astoria (batribune.wordpress.com)
• Traffic (mildlymixed.wordpress.com)
• Hipstamatic Haiku Sunday (blissfuladventurer.wordpress.com)

Flickr to Instagram: It’s ON!

I just had my first whirl with the new Flickr mobile app. And… woah. It’s good. I mean really good.

Flickr’s New App. Shown here with the “Mammoth” filter. Look out, Instagram…

The new Flickr app for iPhone sports filters, easy browsing, a nice uploading interface… all on top of Flickr’s superb online Pinterest& Twitter integration. Overall, I must say it looks like Instagram got Flickr to step up its game. To that I say, well-played, Flickr. Well-played indeed.

Operation: Target Instagram

If Instagram feels like it’s in the crosshairs, it’s with good reason. I had long been a fan of Flickr for general storage, but gravitated toward Instagram for the image discovery & immediacy of sharing. I have a feeling that’s going to change. And not just for me — I know more than a few folks who have been less than pleased with and seekingalternatives to Instagram lately thanks to spam or yanking its previews from Twitter.

This is not to say it’s perfect. It’s still not as snappy as Instagram, since applying filters and edits takes a bit longer — but you can do meaningful edits right from within the app like adding text, brightness/contrast, and basic retouching. You have to use aseparate 3rd party app at present to do any of that for an Instagram upload. Conversely, features like the ability to tag people in photos, browse your favorite groups, and do batch uploads (thanks, Emily @_@) were already baked into Flickr. Having these tools now in the mobile app — along with just basic functionality like being able to zoom in — makes Flickr’s app superior to Instagram on a number of noticeably important fronts.

Given the massive leap forward of this latest edition, I’m optimistic that things will only improve further for Flickr going forward. Here’s a closer look with video of the new app fromFlickr’s blog:

 

What do you think? Are you a fan of Instagram or other online photo networks? What’s your experience with Flickr been like? Let us hear from you in the comments.

If you like this, share it on Twitter (and thanks).

Related articles

• Unlike Instagram, Flickr latches on to Twitter (venturebeat.com)
• Yahoo revamps Flickr app to join Instagram-Twitter photo-filter fray(mercurynews.com)
• Redesigned Flickr for iPhone adds filters two years after Instagram (theverge.com)
• Flickr earmarked as top priority for investment by Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer(guardian.co.uk)
• Silicon Alley Insider: Marissa Mayer’s New Flickr Is Beautiful And Deep With Functionality Far Surpassing Instagram (YHOO) (businessinsider.com)
• Flickr for iPhone app takes on Instagram (slashgear.com)
• Marissa Mayer’s Flickr revamp takes on Instagram (bizjournals.com)
• Pinterest adds Twitter Cards Support (Kelly Lieberman)
• Step Aside, Flickr. Instagram is Replacing You (pixelbits.wordpress.com)
• Will Instagram be the Next Flickr? (arikhanson.com)
• Understanding Instagram and why Flickr Just Might Have a Chance (giga.om)
• Instagram Vs. Flickr? (nalicharan1.wordpress.com)

Bokkeh Tree Trip 04

Bokkeh Tree Trip 04, a photo by rsmithing on Flickr.

All I had to do to get this shot was throw on a macro lens and aim toward the tree. That's it. Too easy.