20180802 WBFN Photography Workshop By Leslie Abram
The Willow Beach Field Naturalists (WBFN) meeting on October 27, 2017, featured guest speaker Leslie Abram with "Small Wonders: The fascinating Adaptations of Insects; An Illustrated Presentation". The presentation was great and I was really impressed with the quality of Leslie's photos, in particular the macro photography of insects. When WBFN announced a photography workshop by Leslie Abram, I was very pleased to sign up.
The workshop took place at Leslie's rural property on August 2, 2018. The property is rich in varied natural habitats and complimented by flower and vegetable gardens. There were also some adjacent lands that we explored and looked for birds. Attendees were treated to an excellent student to teacher ratio as the five of us enjoyed plenty of help when needed. Leslie's approach was to let each of us follow our own path which worked out rather well since our skill sets were varied.
My goal was to finally figure out how to use my new macro lens. After years of using a prosumer camera (also known as bridge camera) where the lens cannot be removed, I recently purchased a mirror-less camera. The new camera offered the ability to use different lenses. My current selection of lenses includes a 60mm macro lens which is useful for close-up photography. Automatic camera settings can be very helpful most of the time, but they were causing me grief while attempting to photograph the Cicada exuviae. Leslie's recommendations for certain manual settings on the camera really helped and the result was a decent photograph of the exuviae.
The flower gardens occupied most of our attention as they featured a variety of invertebrates plus the flowers as excellent subjects for photographs. The Hummingbird Moths were another highlite. There were also several birds in the vicinity including some entertaining Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Other birds observed at Leslie's and on adjacent lands included Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Eastern Bluebird, Common Raven, Lesser Yellowlegs and Great Blue Heron.
We wish to thank Leslie for contributing her time and knowledge and inviting us to enjoy her property. Leslie also has a website where she posts nature articles and photographs: http://leslieabram.com/
(Photographed August 2, 2018 on private property located in Northumberland County north of Brighton, Ontario, Canada)
Read MoreThe workshop took place at Leslie's rural property on August 2, 2018. The property is rich in varied natural habitats and complimented by flower and vegetable gardens. There were also some adjacent lands that we explored and looked for birds. Attendees were treated to an excellent student to teacher ratio as the five of us enjoyed plenty of help when needed. Leslie's approach was to let each of us follow our own path which worked out rather well since our skill sets were varied.
My goal was to finally figure out how to use my new macro lens. After years of using a prosumer camera (also known as bridge camera) where the lens cannot be removed, I recently purchased a mirror-less camera. The new camera offered the ability to use different lenses. My current selection of lenses includes a 60mm macro lens which is useful for close-up photography. Automatic camera settings can be very helpful most of the time, but they were causing me grief while attempting to photograph the Cicada exuviae. Leslie's recommendations for certain manual settings on the camera really helped and the result was a decent photograph of the exuviae.
The flower gardens occupied most of our attention as they featured a variety of invertebrates plus the flowers as excellent subjects for photographs. The Hummingbird Moths were another highlite. There were also several birds in the vicinity including some entertaining Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Other birds observed at Leslie's and on adjacent lands included Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Eastern Bluebird, Common Raven, Lesser Yellowlegs and Great Blue Heron.
We wish to thank Leslie for contributing her time and knowledge and inviting us to enjoy her property. Leslie also has a website where she posts nature articles and photographs: http://leslieabram.com/
(Photographed August 2, 2018 on private property located in Northumberland County north of Brighton, Ontario, Canada)
