# A few pictures in Montreal and Laval



## tarcan (May 24, 2009)

Nothing exceptionnal... just went out to try my new camera, more of tests then anything. I was hoping to photograph bugs, but the only bugs I really success were the mosquitoes biting me! There was really not much to be found, so I just had to settle for a few flower macros.


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## fartkowski (May 24, 2009)

Very nice Martin 
What kind of camera did you get?


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## tarcan (May 24, 2009)

a Canon 50D, wanted to upgrade, but most important get a second body to avoid changing lenses on the field. I put my 100mm macro on the 50D and put the walk around lense on my old Rebel xt (17-85 mm)

Martin


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## TheDarkInfinity (May 24, 2009)

Nice pics! I am thinking of updating my camera from the XT to the 50D also. Do you like it?


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## tarcan (May 24, 2009)

So far (just 2 days), I love it. I never understood people complaining about the ergonomy of the Rebel line... until now... my Xt already feels weird in my hands since I got the 50D (any XXD would be the same). I mainly use a 100mm macro lense from Canon and it is a relatively heavy lense, it is disbalanced on a rebel body with a tendency to lean forward. Even though the 50D is a heavier camera, the whole thing is much better balanced and handles itself much better.

The fonctions are much more user friendly when you are on the field. I felt right at ease from the start, so you will not be lost. The (much) bigger viewfinder is a treat as well.

Live view is absolute crap in my opinion, it does not matter as I did not buy the camera for that anyway. I just thought I might use it once in a while in certain condition. I would lie if I said I was not looking forward to try it. I do not thing I will be using that at all. 

I would say go for it, I am just an amateur, but I can say I do not regret my purchase. It is great to have two bodies on the field, I despise so much changing lenses.

Martin


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## tarcan (May 24, 2009)

forgot to say, I hate the on/off switch though... I find it akward to activare. It is no big deal... but it still irritates me right now! LOL I guess I will get used to it.

Martin


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## agama (May 24, 2009)

great pics


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## pato_chacoana (May 25, 2009)

Excellent pictures Martin. No matter what camera you get, you shoot always amazing pics!

Any plans to make a South American trip soon?

Best regards,
Pato


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## GoTerps (May 26, 2009)

tarcan said:


> Live view is absolute crap in my opinion, it does not matter as I did not buy the camera for that anyway. I just thought I might use it once in a while in certain condition. I would lie if I said I was not looking forward to try it. I do not thing I will be using that at all.


Haha, I'm right there with you on that.  The LV certainly had no bearing on me getting a D90, but I can say that I was interested in playing with it.  But it really has been useless.  

Eric


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## tarcan (May 27, 2009)

pato_chacoana said:


> Excellent pictures Martin. No matter what camera you get, you shoot always amazing pics!
> 
> Any plans to make a South American trip soon?
> 
> ...



Thank you Pato, I am hoping for August and again in December, no plane tickets purchased yet though.

Martin


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## Tunedbeat (May 27, 2009)

tarcan said:


> Live view is absolute crap in my opinion, it does not matter as I did not buy the camera for that anyway. I just thought I might use it once in a while in certain condition. I would lie if I said I was not looking forward to try it. I do not thing I will be using that at all.
> 
> Martin


Live View can be a very useful tool, especially if you want precise focus when going beyond the magnification of 2-3x.  

My favorite thing about the larger Canon body is the scroll wheel and the larger grip.   

Great photos!


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## AlainL (May 27, 2009)

I see you got your new camera, The photos are beautiful Martin, congrats:clap:

I'm getting mine next week


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## TheDarkInfinity (May 28, 2009)

Tarcan, I will definitely be keeping my XT, but i am excited at the prspect of also having a second body to use. I have also thought about getting the ring flash for the 100mm macro, have you used it?


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## ornata (May 28, 2009)

I would go for 40d, instead of 50d. The price its much more friendly and the picture qality is actually identical(dpreview). 

It is much better to spend money on good lensens then the newest and mosts expencive bodies(though some more functions maybe)

40d + sigma 150 makro and then you have what you need for wildlife photography(not tele shots of course). The price is also about the same as the the 50d body(little bitt less maybe,but not much, here in norway at least)

cheers


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## tarcan (May 31, 2009)

TheDarkInfinity said:


> Tarcan, I will definitely be keeping my XT, but i am excited at the prspect of also having a second body to use. I have also thought about getting the ring flash for the 100mm macro, have you used it?


I have the ring flash, I never liked it. I regret not spending a bit more to get the twin light, but I did not try it either, just judging by the results I have seen.

Finally stopped raining here and went out today to take a few pictures.

A few caterpillars


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## tarcan (May 31, 2009)

a few spiders, not much to be found in that department













an opilionid, they were extremely tiny, I wonder if they were babies that hatched not too long ago?


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## tarcan (May 31, 2009)

a few more bugs, aside from the swarming mosquitoes!


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## tarcan (May 31, 2009)

and thelast series, velvet mites, I really like those cuties


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## fartkowski (May 31, 2009)

Very nice shots again Martin 
I love the velvet mites.


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## tarcan (May 31, 2009)

thanks Chris!


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## Nerri1029 (Jun 1, 2009)

Very Nice  !!!

I got out a few weeks ago at Point au Roche and shot some macro stuff. 

Was with the whole family so there was little to no time shoot carefully. 

I love DSLR and macros


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## tarcan (Jun 2, 2009)

Mike,

Where are the pictures then?

He he, I can only imagine, I was with Amanda, who is supposed to be a grown up and she was really getting anowed of me spending 15 minutes per bug! 

Take care

Martin


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## tarcan (Jun 5, 2009)

Tunedbeat said:


> Live View can be a very useful tool, especially if you want precise focus when going beyond the magnification of 2-3x.


mea culpa!

Been messing a around with it and I think I got it...

at f8 (hand held of course, I never carry a tripod), same shot progressively more savagely cropped




















at f4, more challending, but still nice results I think.


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## tarcan (Jun 5, 2009)

a few more of the day













last one, I put it there since I find it funny. The fly took off while I was taking the picture. Looks like it decided to lay down and go to bed!


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## pato_chacoana (Jun 6, 2009)

Very cool macro work Martin! Excellent photos. I never carry the tripod either  But I still have to work out lighting issues... Do you use a special flash?

Here the maximum close I can get with the 60mm lens: (without using flash)







And crop:







Cheers,
Pato


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## tarcan (Jun 6, 2009)

Pato,

Thank you for the nice comment.

I always use the camera built in flash! For some people it is pure heresy, I find I get good enough results. On that last series of pictures, I have been using my newly aquired diffuser on the built in flash, when I get home I will send you the link where you can buy it if you wish. Although I am sure you can build something similar easily, I am just not so crafty to build things unless it involves putting back a human body together after a car accident! 

I have the ring flash, I really do not like it. I tried to fiddle with it numerous time, but I am always dissapointed. I try to justify the expense, but I never could! I would like to try to twin light, but it is quite pricy just to try!

Also, I try to limit the weight of the gear, as you know in the jungle, I prefer to carry an extra bottle of water then to have all kinds of fancy equipment. That is why I want to try the 60 mm which is about half the weight of the 100 mm. I can rent here, so my expense will be minimal to try it. My biggest worry right now with that lense is that since I will need to get closer to the subject, that I will not be able to use the built in flash anymore (light might miss the subject), so if I need to add another flash, then the weight saving is nullified. Will see what the results are.

Martin


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## Dreamslave (Jun 6, 2009)

Awesome pics Martin. Your new camera is really paying off! Good job! I will create a picture thread for my multiple field trips at mont St-Bruno and Iles de Boucherville soon!


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## fartkowski (Jun 7, 2009)

Hi Martin
Very nice fly shots 
I was thinking about the ring flash as well but have not heard too many good things about it.


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## pato_chacoana (Jun 11, 2009)

Hi Martin,

Indeed, I know what you mean about the weight when in the field! I always try to limit it to the minimum too. After hours of walking in a hot jungle, fresh drinkable water is never enough!

About the 60mm, I have the problem of proximity to the object that you mention. I can't get the best of it (I mean getting the max close focus) because I make a shadow to the object that the built in flash can't hit. But what is more tricky in the field with mine is that it doesn't have auto-focus (it's an old lense), and sometimes it's hard to do manual in the dark jungle! I ended up using the crappy 18-55 mm that came with the camera most of the times because of this...

I think that an extra flash could be of great use in the field, not only for macros. But anyway it will have to wait as they are quite pricy over here. And recently I bought my new toy, a new 40x stereoscopic lenses so I'm broke hehe. And now I'm getting the adapter to take pics!!  

Oh, and about the diffuser, that is very interesting, I'll have to look it up!

Cheers,
Pato


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## Osprey (Jun 11, 2009)

Wow those are absolutely gorgeous...!


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## Spider-Spazz (Jun 15, 2009)

tarcan said:


>


ROLLIE POLLIES  
I love those little things!


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## tarcan (Jun 24, 2009)

Amanda and I went camping this weekend, in the Rimouski area which is about 5 to 6 hours drive here close to the St. Lawrence river. It is my birthplace and I always enjoy going back there, I miss the river!

No exceptionnal subjects, but still a few interesting pictures I think.

First, some ducks, they are called Eider à Duvet in french, unfortunatly, I do not know their name in english. Was a bit limited as I only have a 300 mm which is not enough for birding I find. I had to massively crop those pictures so that we see anything.



















I did not get any decent shots of any males, there were very few.

Martin


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## tarcan (Jun 24, 2009)

my only decent macro of the trip, the wind is incerdible close to the river, so the conditions are really not good for this type of photograpy







in the morning, there were quite a few jack rabbits, so I managed to take a few pictures


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## tarcan (Jun 24, 2009)

a snake


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## tarcan (Jun 24, 2009)

and finally some water falls, they are all the same falls at different levels, there were 300 steps to go at the buttom.


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## Anthony Straus (Jul 5, 2009)

tarcan said:


>


I love this shot Martin! Looks pro!


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## tarcan (Jul 23, 2009)

anthonystraus said:


> I love this shot Martin! Looks pro!


Thanks for the comment!

Martin


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## pato_chacoana (Jul 29, 2009)

Indeed! great photo Martin! Did you take it with a tripod? Also do you take your pics with RAW format?

Cheers,
Pato


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## tarcan (Jul 29, 2009)

Pato,

Yes,*no choice for the tripod for slow shutter speed pictures like the ones for the fall.

I have switched to RAW when I got my new camera and never looked back... I regret not doing it earlier.

Take care and thank you for the nice comments.

Martin


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## pato_chacoana (Jul 30, 2009)

Hey Martin,

Indeed, I regret not doing it sooner too! Not too much difference in size of files...and best quality for macro and tele shots. When converted to TIFF they are BIG though. I guess like with everything else, we learn as we do it! and always learn new things.
For my trip to Amazonas didn't shot in RAW and I regret it a lot! Oh... well, next time (I'm hoping in some months) I'll make another Amazon trip  with even more pics haha.
I love your pics, keep it up 

Cheers,
Pato


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