Robert's Ramblings

Have a close look at this image and you will clearly see a reflection of myself in the shiny surface of the 'thing' I have photographed but what are you looking at a photograph of? Believe it or not, that reflection is coming from the ball of an ordinary ball point pen. Welcome to the world of macro photography!

I love the way macro brings a world to life around us that we are normally oblivious to as we go about our lives. Just a few minutes in the kitchen will reveal an infinite variety of amazing perspectives if we can get small enough to perceive them or make them large enough to have an impact. The second of these two strategies via macro photography is clearly the easier task unless you are in possession of a shrinking ray gun.

So how macro is macro?

The standard definition of a macro image comes from film camera days where an image 10mm high translated directly to an image 10mm high on a 35mm negative or slide. This 1:1 image ratio or smaller was deemed to be 'macro' while larger than this was simply 'close-up'. Today we use the term a little more loosely as many camera manufacturers proclaim their cameras are macro capable but very few achieve true 1:1 macro. This is further complicated as image sensors in nearly all cameras (with a few exceptions) have a much smaller image sensor than the original 35mm slide or negative.

So what are your options if you want to bring the very small into focus (pun intended :-)?

A. Purchase a compact digital camera with a very good macro mode.

Many compact cameras are able to focus very close to a subject when placed in 'macro' mode. Even if true 1:1 macro is not possible the results in good light can be excellent. The key with these cameras is their ability to get very close to the object they are taking a photograph of. This is fine when there is lots of natural light but often this is not the case. Often the image is so close to the lens of the camera that light from the flash will be shadowed by the lens and it will not be possible to sufficiently light the subject. Some cameras, notably the Olympus 5060 and 7070, disable the flash in macro mode for this very reason. In most cases however good results can be obtained by using the camera with a tripod and timer and allowing the camera to do a long time exposure in order to get sufficient light.

B. Purchase a DSLR camera with a dedicated macro lens.

This is the best solution if you can afford the hardware and don't mind managing the bulk of large cameras and lenses. Dedicated macro lenses combine the qualities of a telephoto lens with close focus. This provides good magnification of 1:1 or better without having to get too close to the subject. Lots of light is available from in built flash or external strobes and taking good macro images in the realm of 1:2 through to 5:1 is relatively easy depending on the lens. It is worth noting that auto-focus becomes more challenging for the camera at macro ratios greater than 1:1. Lenses designed for macro ratios greater then 1:1 will almost always need to be manually focused even if they are auto focus capable.

C. Use extension rings or diopters with a standard lens and a DSLR camera.

The use of extension rings or diopters creates apparent magnification by allowing a standard lens to focus more closely and hence achieve greater magnification. This is a commonly used by those who already own a DSLR camera and want to dabble in macro imaging. The issues with macro rings are very similar to those experienced by compact camera users, namely the close proximity of the object to the lens and difficulty in both lighting the subject and also in achieving acceptable depth of field. In some cases compact cameras will do better due to their smaller image sensor and associated better depth of field. An image sensor in a compact camera which is only 25% the size of that in a DSLR camera can take the same image at 1:2 image-to-sensor ratio while the DSLR struggles at 1:1.

Depth-of-field Issues

Any time a lens is placed close to a subject it requires a smaller and smaller aperture to achieve acceptable depth of field. For large apertures it is not uncommon to be struggling with a focal plan less than 1mm in depth where anything outside of this 1mm good zone becomes progressively unfocussed. Stopping down the lens to f8, f16 or even f32 widens the depth but at a huge cost to available light and the absolute dependence on strong strobe lighting or very long time exposures. The higher in magnification you go these problems become exponentially worse to the point that 10:1 is really the limit without going to dedicated microscope hardware.

To wrap up I would suggest making a start into the world of macro photography with a good digital compact, a sturdy tripod and an equally good deal of patience. The results from compact cameras can be quite stunning and now with the higher megapixel counts available you have a lot of scope for cropping to achieve even greater apparent magnification. If you already have a DSLR camera I would really suggest aiming to purchase a dedicated macro lens. Extension tubes with standard lenses will always present frustrating problems with low light and poor depth of field although good results can still be achieved with patience.


Until the next post, drink the potion or nibble the cake and see where the rabbit hole leads! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Self Portrait In A Ball Point Pen

Solitary stigma surrounded by six furry anther. Lilies display beautifully their crown jewels!

Until the next post, take the time to notice the little things in your world! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Lily Macro

Yesterday I waited for the sunset at West Beach, hoping the sun would peek out through the clouds just before setting. Alas, no such luck. Not even a hint of a gleam before the sun was no more and a sullen twilight settled upon the beach and the ocean.

We'll perhaps no dramatic sunset this time but there is always a photograph to be taken no matter where, no matter what the conditions so snap away I did!
More photos from the evening can be found here in my Facebook Album.


Until the next post, snap away! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Moody West Beach Twilight

As much as most of us have an innate dislike of spiders they are undoubted fascinating and even if we want them as far as way from us as possible the fascination remains. This photo is of the much maligned white-tailed spider Lampona cylindrata. In this example a juvenile with a body only 2mm in length. The beautiful banded colouring and translucent appendages are due to this spider being so small and will disappear as the spider matures.

This little spider has been unfairly labelled as the cause of horrid necrotic ulcers which never heal after a much publicised study back in the 1980s. In fact more recent studies have demonstrated that bites from this spider have only minimal short term effects. On the bad side however the white-tailed spider is a wandering nocturnal hunter and as it likes homes it is probably the biggest culprit of domestic spider bites we have here.


Until the next post, face your fears take spiders you find in your house back out into the garden rather than squashing them! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Juvenile White-Tailed Spider

The wonderful thing about photography is how it makes the ordinary, extra ordinary. I was in our garden this afternoon and thinking about how much it needed a good tidy. Soon I started noticing all the little things which make a garden beautiful with out that extreme manicured look so common in home and garden magazines. This single camelia flower is a beautiful example.



Until the next post, enjoy your messy garden and take the time to notice the beautiful things! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Camelia bloom

It did not take long to review the photos. In fact I think this one came just as much by popular demand as by our choices. Either way it's the one we will be using in Jennifer's promotional material.

Until the next post, ... Robert



Photo: Robert Rath, Jennifer Liston, poet, musician and super-model!

We all have heard of the bush tucker treat, the witchety grub, but how many know what happens to a witchety grub when it grows up and gets its wings? Today my daughter brought home this beautiful giant moth found in the school yard. We set it down on the kitchen table and I took a couple of photographs before it when out into the garden.

After a little bit of research we discovered it was an adult witchety grub or wood moth. There are about 60 species of wood moths in Australia of the family Cossidae, the largest having a wingspan of more than 25cm. The life cycle of the 'witchety moth' is rather interesting with the grub living for up to two years before becoming a moth which will live just a few days. This one will only live for a day or two more.

Its always fun to take photos of unusual critters and this little guy was a poser for the camera!


Until the next post, pull out your bush tucker books and enjoy! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath

Yes, the rumors really are true; Jennifer has a third collection of her fabulous poetry completed and now with the publisher for production. There will only be a limited run of these so to make sure you do not miss out you can pre-order your very own copy at White Wave Press.

The other good news is that 10% of the sale price of each copy of Jennifer Liston's third poetry collection will be donated to Ovarian Cancer Australia.

Once again be prepared to be entertained, amused and perhaps at times a little challenged with her beautiful and thought provoking words.

... Robert

Jennifer is about to launch her third collection of poetry and we decided to take some fresh new photos for her author profile. Here is just one of the many I took Sunday evening down on the beach at sunset. A few more can be found on Facebook but to be honest we really have not even started reviewing them.

One thing I tried for these images was using Canon's 100mm F2.8 macro. The one I usually use for those little undersea critters. Well as a portrait lens wide open at F2.8 this lens is as sharp as a tack with just enough depth of field to be manageable.

This photo of Jennifer was taken right on sunset with the sun kissing the horizon with only natural light. She looks gorgeous, doesn't she!

Until the next post, take care out there and enjoy beautiful sunsets as I regularly do ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath, Jennifer Liston, poet, musician and super-model!

Make yourself a coffee and head over to Jennifer's new website, http://jenniferliston.com, which is her own little cobwebby corner of the poetry world!

Be prepared to be entertained, amused and perhaps at times a little challenged with her beautiful and thought provoking words.

... Robert

Yesterday I took a set of images from Edithburgh specifically experimenting with shooting into the sun. Please excuse the backscatter, no cleaning up has been done.

More photo's from the 'Edithburgh Sun Shots' dive can be found here at Edithburgh Sun Shots (Facebook Album) or my slideshow on Flickr.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath, Leafy Seadragon, Edithburgh. Please ask if you want to know more about how this image was taken.

My first recollection of Sausage Jellies is seeing masses of them washed up on our local beaches resulting in them being squished through each other's hair, thrown at each other as in snowball fighting and generally not appreciating what they really were. We thought at first they were some strange jellyfish that seemed to have no sting. Soon someone started a rumour that they were really eggs, but eggs of what?

Well the rumours turned out to be true and indeed the Sausage Jelly is a blubbery mass of thousands of eggs of either the Conical Sand Snail Polinices conicus or the Sordid Sand Snail Polinices sordidus. These little snails are responsible for the very familiar sight of cockle shells washed up on beaches with neat little holes drilled in the side. The Sand Shell is predator and hunts these bivalves, attaching themselves to some poor cockle, drilling a neat little access hole with a rasp-like tongue and devouring the poor little critter now defenceless from attack.

This photo of a Sand Snail egg mass was taken last week while diving at Pt Noarlunga. This Sausage Jelly floating in the water presented the perfect opportunity to capture its beautiful form and show off the individual eggs distributed through its mass in way not seen in one simply washed up on a beach.

More photo's from last week's dive can be found here at Sigma 15mm FE First Tryout (Facebook Album) or my slideshow on Flickr.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath, Sand Snail Egg Mass, Pt Noarlunga. Please ask if you want to know more about how this image was taken.

Night diving is always great fun and often full of wonderful little surprises (big surprises are OK too so long as they are under 3m). Last night Matt and myself descended below the ever popular Pt Noarlunga Jetty just shy of midnight. The usual suspects showed up on cue and I got the chance to play a little bit more with my new rig.

About midway into the dive a little squid no bigger than a golfball turned up out on the sand. At first I thought he was one of the local Southern Dumpling Squid. The colours seemed right even if a bit pale, though you can never really tell with cephalopods. Those cute little bug eyes did not seem right though, they seemed too big for a dumpling squid. Shortly after taking this image he rose and swam directly at my camera lens. A behaviour I have never experienced with dumpling squid.

Today I had a closer look at the photograph, the eyes, the colours on the wings and the presentation of the chromatophores and decided he must be a juvenile Southern Calamari (Squid), Sepioteuthis australis.

All up we had a great dive and it was a real pity I could not convince a few other friends to join us. It seems than diving invitations are not so popular after 10pm on a normal working weeknight! Oh well, there's always next time.

More photo's from last night's dive can be found here at Midnight Pt Noarlunga (Facebook Album) or my slideshow on Flickr.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath, juvenile Southern Calamari, Pt Noarlinga Jetty (Night). Please ask if you want to know more about how this image was taken.

Today I noticed a tiny tiny spider in a messy little web high up on the window frame and wondered what it would be like to be a fly! The amazing thing about really little things is how amazing they look from their own perspective instead of ours.

I hardly even noticed this little gal up there and when I did it was really a case of 'so what'. But, once I shrunk down to her size it was a different story altogether! Thoughts of Frodo Baggins being be captured and dragged off by the great Shelob came to mind and in an instant I decided she had to go. Just as soon as I took a photo and returned to human size again of course! You just can't let monsters live in your kitchen. You never know what mischief they will cause.

Nothing in the image gives any indication of her true size. In fact the frame is less than 5mm across!


Until the next post, take care out there and stay away from monsters! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Shelalob (Shelob's Australian cousin) ready to pounce!

Port Noarlunga is a bustling beach-side suburb about 40 minutes south of Adelaide. Easy to get to, easy to access the water via the jetty and with the Adventure Blue dive store close at hand makes Pt Noarlunga the most popular shore dive destination near Adelaide.

The main attraction here is an extensive reef system running parallel to the shore and accessible from the end of the jetty. The reef is broken into northern and southern sections with a deep gap separating the two. Depths range from 5m to 15m depending on which parts of the reef you dive.

Too many divers never really get to appreciate the fantastic beauty and diversity of this place because they limit their diving to the end of the jetty and the protected side of the northern reef system. This is especially true for new divers who complete some or all of their open water training here and only see a tiny part of the system. They risk overlooking the rest Pt Noarlunga has to offer because of their associations with their initial experiences.

A good way to really see the Pt Noarlunga Reef in a whole new way is to dive 'The Gap'. Access to the gap is by a 300m snorkel south from the end of the jetty. Yes I know that sounds like a long way but it's a much more pleasant 300m than walking the length of the jetty which everyone is prepared to endure! Just stay on the inside close to the reef and take your time to enjoy the critters in the shallows. You can dive this traverse if you like but your time in the Gap will be limited due to initial air consumption. The Gap is obvious where there is no more reef at or near the surface even on a low tide.

Once you descend into the Gap it is like nothing else you will have experienced on the inside of the reef. The seascape becomes one of big bommies and thick kelps. You'll notice a big jump in the diversity and size of fish species. Stunning huge schools of Silver Drummer. Solitary Longnose Boarfish, Sweep and Old Wifes, many species of Leatherjacket, Blue Groper, Magpie Pearch, Western Talmas, Hulafish, Dusky Moorwong, Zebrafish and more. In other words, a fantastic cross section of South Australian reef fish. Colours abound with beautiful Sponges, Ascidians and Corals. Huge Gorgonian Fans catch nutrients in the current and many varieties of Algae complete the scene.

Watch your depth and air here as it is quite easy to get down to 15m and your increased air consumption may catch you by surprise cutting short your dive and enforcing a long snorkel back on the surface. With a third of your air used, start your journey back north along the outside of the reef. You can proceed the full 300m north on the outside if you are happy to clamber over the reef on surfacing to get back to the jetty or if the tide is high. Otherwise I'd recommend only going 100m north on the outside and then surfacing. Locate and traverse the narrow channel though the reef here back to the sheltered inside. Descend again, heading north for the remaining 200m return trip.

Good navigation skills are essential to get the best from this dive so make sure you have a compass and are comfortable with natural navigation techniques. Don't worry too much about getting lost though as the worst result likely is to be red faced and endure a long snorkel back.

So if you are a regular Pt Noarlunga diver and have not yet experienced diving 'The Gap', then please make it your very next thing on your diving 'ToDo' list. If you have never dived Pt Noarlunga before then make the effort to spend the time to do two or three different dives here and make sure 'The Gap' is one of them.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Belinda Rowland admires a stunning Gorgonian during last week's dive.