Gardenia Hey Everyone! Hope all is well in your world. This week I want to talk about my close-up photography setup. When I say close up, I don't want to get people confused with the definition of macro photography, which is photography producing photographs of small items larger than life-size. Like a fly's eye where you can see all of the lenses in it. I use the same setup for both Macro and close-up and pretty much call them the same, close-up photography,  even though it may not be technically correct. Either way, my setup is the same. Close-up photography is a great subject for photography, and one can spend their whole career just shooting close-up. This can be done in your backyard or in your home photographing things Autumn Nut up close.  The same lighting principles apply to shooting close-up as portraits or product photography.  So if you can do either of those, you can light close-up subjects as well. Not many tools are needed:  camera, lens (macro lens ) or extension tubes, tripod, and a light source. 

Camera- Just about any camera will do. I use a crop sensor mirrorless Sony for my main camera body. Full frame will work well also and even micro 4/3rds will work. There are even some point-and-shoot cameras and  Straw Circles Smartphones that will work. I prefer using a camera body that I can change the lenses on. I choose the mirrorless cameras because, for a few bucks, you can get an adapter that will let you use almost any kind of lens on it. I use what I call a vintage lens, but some just call it an old lens. LOL 

Lens- Like I just mentioned I use an older vintage lens for my close-up photography. It's a Nikor 60mm f2.8D micro lens. This version of the lens came out in the early 1990s, but you can still find them on the internet. If you get one in good condition, you have a great lens. These lenses were called the Swiss army knife of lenses because they were so versatile. They can be used as a macro at a 1:1 ratio. They are great for close-up photography and can even be used as a portrait lens, as the equivalent full-frame focal length is 90mm. On my crop sensor Sony, I use this lens with an adapter to my Sony A6500. The adapter is a $20 adapter, which will make this lens mount to my Sony and make it a  manual lens.  This is okay because focusing really close-up stuff with autofocus is really hard. The peak focusing on my Sony will tell me what is in focus and what isn't. This is a fairly small lens that isn't overbearing on my small camera body. I love this lens and will probably never get rid of it. It's the only Nikon I have left from when I was a full-time Nikon shooter. You can also use extension tubes that attach between your lens, say a 50mm lens and your camera body. This lets you get closer to your subject, keeping it in focus. This does work and I have had some success using them, although I do prefer using a dedicated lens. These extension tubes are cost-effective. You can get a set for under $50, and some have the connections in them that let you use autofocus and exposure.

Lighting- When lighting your small subject, you don't need a lot of light.  I have a few small portable LED lights that I can use from Lume Cube. These little lights work great to put some light on your subject.  When things you're taking a photo of are so small, you have to get close and your body can cast a shadow on them.  Using portable lights is a great way to fix shadows that you create. Another way is to use an inexpensive ring light that hooks to the front of your lens and then hooks to your camera, so when you press the shutter button the lights brighten up to light up your subject. These are great for shooting flowers. I have an inexpensive one that I use.  The same saying for buying equipment "buy nice or buy twice" still applies.  But I only shoot close-up every now and then, so I skimped on my ring light. But if I were doing this all of the time, I would buy a more expensive one just for the durability.

Tripod- This is something that every photographer should have.  You don't have to buy anything special, but using a tripod will help you get nice crisp sharp photos. I use my main tripod, which is a travel carbon fiber tripod that I use for everything else. There are some clips made especially for macro work for flowers that you buy to attach to the flowers to keep them still in the wind while you're trying to do close-up photography.  They attach to your tripod, and then a small arm like a pipe cleaner with an alligator clip attached lets you position the flower and keep it still. I don't have any but would like to get some because the wind is always blowing when I want to shoot close up.

Well, that's pretty much my gear setup.  It doesn't take much to do close-up photography. It does take time and imagination, like any type of photography, to make great images. So until next week keep safe and healthy and go explore the world of close-up photography.

 

Hey Everyone! I hope everyone is healthy and safe today. This week I want to talk about teardrop trailers. I have been a teardrop owner for 5 years now, and I have some things I like about them and things that I don't.  Teardrop camping trailers have been around since the 1930s, and there are almost cult-like groups that love the little trailers. Some build them from scratch and are works of art, and some are mass produced like mine for those of us that aren't as handy as others. These small trailers are cute and full of neat things, like kitchens, TVs, queen-sized beds, and some have air-conditioning also.  The little tear-shaped trailers are lightweight so any vehicle can tow them, from a mini-cooper to a full-sized truck. So here goes my list.

Likes

- I love the build quality of my trailer, and most if not all are well made, sturdy, and built to last a lifetime.

- I love that my wife can come with me camping. We used to do tent camping, but as we gt older I wanted to get something nicer for her to go _DSC6464 camping with me. Camping in the trailer is really "glamping" or glamor camping. With everything, including the kitchen sink, it's really a comfortable camping experience.

- I love all the gadgets that come with mine. I have a TV, refrigerator, stove, sink, stereo, Blu-ray player, and even air conditioning. All of these work off of a battery, except for the AC.

- I love that it is very towable. I have towed this with my truck, Honda Pilot, and CRV.  It's very lightweight and you don't even know you're towing it.

- I love how it sleeps. Much better than a tent.  Plenty of room for me, my wife, and Forrest the wonder dog.

Dislikes

- The price.  These little trailers can be pricey. You can get a basic model for maybe $5,000, but they can easily get into the tens of thousands of dollars.

- The freedom I lose having to pull a trailer. When you drive pulling a trailer, you have to really pay attention to where you go, making sure you have room to turn.

- Set up of the trailer.  If it was just me, this would be an easy task. Level and done. But when my wife comes with me, we have a side tent that we set up for her to stand in to dress. We have an awning that we put on the back with a separate bug net that takes time to set up. So after driving a few hours to get somewhere, you still have to back up the trailer (I suck at this) into the spot and set up the awning and side tent.

- The attention that it draws. In the campground we always get people coming up to check us out and say how "cute" our setup is.  It's all very nice, but I still don't like it being called "cute" LOL

- Planning. With the camper, getting into campgrounds takes some planning. You just can't pull into a campground expecting to get a place to stay. You will probably get no room at the inn. With the increased popularity of camping and the outdoors, especially since the Covid outbreak last year, the campgrounds are booked and you must plan at a minimum a month to three months in advance to get a spot. The really popular places may be up to six months. 

Now don't get me wrong. I love my little camper, and now I'm starting to customize and update our little trailer. As I make customizations to the trailer, I'll keep y'all in the loop. We've just gotten back from a trip last weekend, and if it wasn't for the trailer we wouldn't have gone. It was a very windy weekend, and we just hung out in the trailer, watched a little TV, and cooked in our little side tent that kept us out of the wind. So another trip salvaged. Hope you enjoyed this blog about our teardrop trailer, and maybe you can check one out for yourself. So until next week get outside and explore!

Hey Everyone! I hope everyone is safe and healthy. This week I want to talk about exploring one of North Carolina's four national forests. At 159,000 acres, it's the third largest of  the NC national forests. Located in Eastern North Carolina, it has lakes, rivers, and hiking trails. Lots to explore. This may take longer to explore than I previously had planned in my yearly project, but I'm going to stick with this plan even if it takes me many years to do. I plan on doing most of  my exploration mainly in colder weather because the bugs and the heat are crazy during the spring and summer. This national forest is the closest to my home, and I plan on taking many one-day trips to explore and a few overnighters. I'll be using my trusty old truck Betsy that I have talked about in previous blogs.  She's a 21-year-old truck but in very good condition with a camper shell on it, and on top of that I have my new exploring vessel, my canoe. No name for the canoe yet, but I'm still searching. 

Last weekend I took my first exploring trip to Croatan.  I have taken a couple of look-and-see trips just to get my bearings. But the weather has slowed down my exploration. We have had a very wet end of last year and start of this year.  The ground everywhere is very saturated with water, so just a little rain floods the land.  The rivers are swollen and the currents strong, so I haven't ventured onto the rivers yet with my new canoe. Being a new paddler, I don't want to have to fight currents and such yet until I get some more experience with the canoe. Next year I plan on starting river exploration in North Carolina, but I need to get my skills better with the canoe first. My first trip was to Catfish Lake where I planned to do some paddling around this lake.  I went to this lake fairly early in the morning.  You have to go on a forestry road that is not paved to get to the lake. The main road was in good condition, and I could tell that it had been graded recently. The road to the lake off of this main road was another matter.  The rain had done its damage to the road, and large potholes were everywhere.  I had to dodge and endure the holes and probably could only do 5mph down this road. The lake is surrounded by thick overgrowth and can only be accessed in a couple of places. I came to the first place just a turn out with about a 30-foot clearing.  I decided to go farther to the main boat launch. When I got to the road, it was flooded in one place. My truck is not 4-wheel drive, so I didn't go to the main launch. I turned around and went to the first launch. I got my canoe off the truck, got my camera and all my stuff together, and went out on the lake. I was probably the only one on the lake.  As the wind started to pick up, I tried to stay close to the shore out of the wind in the protection of the trees. I really didn't see any wildlife but did see a lot of duck decoys, so I'm sure if you're here at the right time of year there would be migrating birds here. I had my camera loaded in a pelican case, and as it was my first time with my camera in the canoe, I practiced getting it out and back in the case.  I took a few photos, but just at decoys. After about an hour, the wind got too strong for my paddling skills, so I did the smart thing and got out of the water and put my boat back on old Betsy. It was now mid to late morning, and I wanted to do something else while I was in Croatan. So I found a trail to explore.

Island Creek Trail is about 2.5 miles off the trail and follows the creek. This is a black water creek where the minerals from the soil and trees make the water tea-colored, but in the creek it makes the creek turn black. I am horribly out of shape and overweight. I was already overweight when the virus started, and I just got fatter after that.  Its been a while since I did some hiking, so even this little hike was quite a workout for me. I started at the trailhead. This is a loop trail, so when I came to the fork, I took a right and went by the creek. The creek is filled with cypress trees and knees by this winding creek. This trail gets lots of traffic as the path was well worn. There are lots of side trails that can take you toward the creek.  The trail has some signage telling you what trees are what and very little in trail markings to let you know that you're on the right trail. But it's very easy not to get lost. This is a delightful trail and took me about an hour and a half to complete.

My first exploring trip to the Croatan National Forest was a success. The idea that I had taking my canoe with me was a success and there will be plenty more trips. I already have reservations to take my little teardrop to Cedar Point Recreational Area to do some more exploring with my wife. Forrest, the wonder dog, did not accompany me this time. I want to get better at paddling before I try to get him in the boat, but I hope to soon. I have another trip planned with my wife and the teardrop trailer to Cedar Point near Swansboro. So until next week keep exploring and get out and shoot.