couple of shots from Canada

Here are a couple of piccys from my recent holiday. They don't really relate to each other, but I felt like sharing them both and didn't want to clog the forum too much. Let me know any thoughts.




This guy is an Atlas Moth. I met him at a butterfly house just outside Victoria, BC. I could have spent all day taking photos in there, and indeed I did take 2GB worth in the couple of hours I was there.

The Atlas is the worlds largest moth and can be up to a foot across. This guy was about 8 inches wing tip to wing tip.

K10D
Tamron 90mm SP Macro + 2x converter
~F16
1/30th
ISO 800

Processed in UFRAW and Noise Ninja




Here is the WWII twin 6pdr quick firing gun at Fort Rodd Hill. It defended the entrance to Victoria harbour from Torpedo boats although I don't think it was ever fired in anger. It was a pretty miserable day when I visited there, so I tried for a moody silhouette look, let me know what you think

*Ist DL2
DA 18-55 @ 31
F9
1/640th
ISO 200

Processed in UFRAW with a little noise added to the sky in GIMP.

hope you like 'em

I like the stark, rather menacing look of the gun. For me, it might look better with a tighter crop, so that the gun and the watch-tower are virtually all you see. But that's just me, there are other possibilities.
G

Mongoose,

I like your pictures and the fact that you post the details.

This really helps us novices get an idea of which settings get what results.

Thanks.

I hope you liked your trip!

Mongoose,

Nice pictures - you were very lucky to see the Atlas Moth, which is the largest moth in the world. The moth has no mouth and does not eat. It lives just long enough - a few days at most - to mate and lay eggs. It took me many visits to conservatories before I was able to see one.

http://www.pbase.com/mike_pearson/image/67770323

Hope you enjoy your vaction in our fine country.

Mike

Thanks guys,

Mike, I was indeed fortunate, it seems a lot of Atlas's had decided last week was a good week to come out of their cocoons, there must have been 10 or 12 of them in the butterfly house I visited. The guide explained to us that they could spend up to 5 years in the cocoon and then live for just a few days. Amazing creatures.

George, thanks for the comments, I'll play around a bit more with the crop I think (this is already cropped somewhat). I can see where you are coming from.

Mac, glad you like the shots, thanks for looking. I tend to post my shooting info if I remember it since GIMP tends to munch on the EXIF data, and I have learned a lot over the years from seeing that same data in other peoples shots. I am far from an expert but if anyone can learn from my pictures or just enjoy looking at them I'm a happy man.

Our cat once brought a moth into the house and while it wasn't exactly an atlas moth, it was huge and must have been four or five inches across.
We often have small bats that swoop over the fence that the cat likes to sit on and for a moment I was convinced that he'd caught one of them.
Fortunately, I managed to rescue the moth and release it unhurt - after taking a picture of it (if I can find it, I'll post here sometime).

It's interesting that some species feed and others don't.
There's a bush in our garden that for most of the year is quite uninspiring but when it's in flower, the butterflies and bumble bees absolutely love it.
I was amazed last summer in the evenings when most of the butterflies had fluttered by and the bees had buzzed off, that it was 'alive' with small moths (all identical and about an inch and a half across), flitting from flower to flower sipping the nectar in exactly the same way as the butterflies and bees had done earlier in the day.
There were literally dozens of them and it was quite a spectacle.

Our garden might be a bit of a mess but it's very popular with the wildlife - hedgehogs, squirrels, mice, frogs and insects........and I wouldn't have it any other way!