Tununtunumba Falls

Tununtunumba Falls in the Cordillera Escalera, Chazuta, Peru
Nikon D800, Nikon 18-35mm lens at 24mm
ISO 64
f18 @ 0.3 sec
Nikon Neutral Polarizing Filter

After a full 24 hours of travel I arrived back home in Ontario at 11:30 am on Saturday, September 23rd. I spent much of today resting, doing laundry, and doing an initial edit of some of the imagery created during my time in Tarapoto, Peru. One of the highlights of the trip was a grueling hike to Tununtunumba Falls deep within the Cordillera Escalera near Chazuta, Peru. The trail into the waterfall was 4 kilometers (8 km round trip) of what I would describe as the most strenuous hiking I have ever undertaken with numerous, very steep inclines as we made are through  the mountains and two river crossings. The temperature on the day of the hike was 34 degrees Celsius, with roughly 80% humidity, making the humidex factor 51 degrees Celsius – it was hot! Nonetheless, it was such an awesome experience to be hiking through this area of the Amazon. Stay tuned for many more images in the coming days 🙂

Please do remember to click on the image to view the larger, sharper version.

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Tarapoto, Peru

Ranitomeya flavovittata – captive (Eastern Peru)
Nikon D500, Nikkor 105mm Micro Lens
f22 @ 1/60 sec (ISO 100)
Nikon SB400 Spedlight on a Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket

Today at 1:00 p.m. my excursion to Tarapoto, Peru begins. I will commute to Toronto, Ontario to board the first flight of two flights required to get to my destination. The first flight lands in Lima, Peru at roughly 2:00 a.m. After a 5 hour lay over we will then board the final plane that flies over the Andes and into Tarapoto. The blog will be quiet while I am away, but I will be posting a few cellphone snaps of the trip on my Instagram page as frequently as wifi availability will allow. To follow my Instagram page look me up at @mclachlanwild.

See you all soon 🙂

 

 

Lake Traverse

Star Trails, Lake Traverse, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
Nikon D800, Laowa 12mm f2.8 Zero D Lens
ISO 125
f4 @ 30 minutes

We wrapped up the Lake Traverse program this morning to enable folks plenty of time for their long journeys home. We had a fantastic group of participants and created many superb landscape images. I would also like to extend a very BIG thank-you to Don Johnston for assisting me during the program. Don is a great teacher who’s dedication to helping folks get the most of the experience is greatly appreciated.  In the coming weeks I will share the participant images with you here on the blog. Aside from our regularly planned landscape photography locations we organized two night-scape sessions and were blessed with clear skies on both nights, however the second night was the clearest of all due to the first night having a very light haze in the sky. The northern lights were visible for both nightscape sessions but they were not very pronounced. Tinges of color are present within the star trails image above. After spending a couple of hours creating Milky Way Nightscapes over the Petawawa River and the Algonquin Radio Observatory satellite dish we had three participants that wanted to capture a star trail image. We made our way down to the shore of Lake Traverse, set up our compositions, dialed in the ISO, f-stop, and set the shutter speed to BULB. We then tripped the shutters on our cameras and chatted for a half hour while we created our star trail images. We completed our start trails imagery by approximately 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Just in time to grab a few winks before heading back out for misty sunrises at 6:30 a.m.

I arrived home late this afternoon and immediately unpacked and began packing for my departure tomorrow afternoon to the rainforests of Tarapoto, Peru.

La Palma Glass Frog Edit

 

La Palma Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium valerioi)
Nikon D500, Nikkor 105mm Micro Lens
ISO 100, f22 @ 1/60 sec.
Nikon SB400 Speedlight on a Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket

The La Palma Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium valerioi) is a small tree frog (about one inch) endemic to the rainforests of Costa Rica. When view from underneath you can see all of their internal organs, blood vessels, and bones – hence the name glass frog. During each Dart Frogs of the Amazon Rainforest Photographic Workshop we bring this species out as a bonus species. The above image is optimized from a horizontal capture as can be seen in the unedited RAW directly file below. In hindsight this fantastic pose on a Monsterra leaf should have been capture in both horizontal and vertical orientations. Hindsight and Photoshop knowledge is a wonderful thing because with a little tweaking you can have both.

La Palma Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium valerioi) RAW FILE
Nikon D500, Nikkor 105mm Micro Lens
ISO 100, f22 @ 1/60 sec.
Nikon SB400 Speedlight on a Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket

In the screen shot of the Photoshop interface below you can see that I have selected the Crop Tool (I set the Ratio to 3712 X 5568 pixels, the same dimensions as an image from a Nikon D500). I then moved the crop tool and enlarged the ratio until I had the frog positioned exactly where I wanted it to be. As you can see from the screen shot below, the crop tool as been extended well beyond the actual image. This was done deliberatley. Note that I have checked the Content Aware box (please click on the image to view the larger version making it easier to see). All I have to do now is click on the crop tool’s check mark to initiate the cropping and let content aware will fill in the areas beyond the frame. usually there may be a little touch up needed as the content aware may not fill in the spaces perfectly, but in this case it did a wonderful job with no additional touch up required. The final task that was performed was cloning out the flash generated spectral highlights on the frog. I often find that enlarging the image to about 400% simplifies the task of cloning out these highlights, although it can be a time consuming task.

And last but not least is the optimized horizontal orientation of the La Palma Glass Frog. Please do remember to click on the images to view the larger, versions.

La Palma Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium valerioi)
Nikon D500, Nikkor 105mm Micro Lens
ISO 100, f22 @ 1/60 sec.
Nikon SB400 Speedlight on a Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket

 

More Workshop Participant Photos and an Update on the next Dart Frog Workshop

Ranitomeya fantastica © Paul Infelise

A quick update on the recently announced Dart Frogs of the Amazon Rainforest Photographic Workshop on Saturday, November 25th as it is now SOLD OUT (wait list). If enough interest is generated or the wait list becomes sufficient we will add a second date on Sunday, November 26th. If you missed out on getting your name in for the Saturday date, it is not too late, please send me an email by clicking here asking me to add you to the wait list.

Today’s post again features imagery by two participants in the recently concluded dart frog workshop. I love the pose of the Ranitomeya fantastica on the branch in the opening photo that Paul Infelise captured. The male Denrobates tinctorius “Mount Matecko” below seems to have a tough guy look to him and although a tad tight in the frame I really do like the pose on the Dendrobates tinctorius in the final image by Paul.

 

Dendrobates tinctorius “Mount Matecko” © Paul Infelise

 

Dendrobates tinctorius © Paul Infelise

 

Mark Pomeroy sent along a small selection of his imagery from the day as well. Each of the frogs that mark sent are very small, measuring roughly the size of a thumb nail, with the exception of the Ranitomeya reticulata which is a little bit smaller than that! Mark’s Ranitomeya variablis on the Monsterra leaf is posing for us quite nicely and the placement within the frame works well too. The La Palma Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium valerioi) has a very inquisitive look to its pose. The dark background creates the effect that this is a night time capture, which is an accurate representation for this nocturnal species. The Glass Frogs are always brought at the end of each event as a bonus species and they never disappoint. As mentioned previously the Ranitomeya reticulata is slightly smaller than a thumb nail in size and I like that mark kept it small in the frame as I think it enhances the diminutive size of this incredibly tiny, yet colorful dart frog.

 

Ranitomeya variablis © Mark Pomeroy

 

Hyalinobatrachium valerioi © Mark Pomeroy

 

Ranitomeya reticulata © Mark Pomeroy

Tender Moments and the Common Loon

Common Loon, Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound, Ontario
Nikon D500
Nikon 200-500mm VR lens @ 500mm (35mm equivalent = 750mm)
ISO 800
f8 @ 1/2000 sec

I spent much of last week on Horseshoe Lake enjoying the last week of my daughter’s summer break from school. We were treated on more than one occasion to the resident Common Loons bringing their late season chick into our bay to feed. Each time they arrived I paddled out into the bay in my canoe with my Nikon D500 and Nikon 200-500mm VR lens to create some fresh, handheld, imagery. I much prefer using a canoe over a motor boat for photographing loons as it allows for a peaceful approach that does not cause any distress to the birds.

This year the loons have what appears to be a late season chick that has only recently began to molt. Why late season? We had a very cool spring and early summer and Horseshoe Lake has experienced extremely high water levels all summer with the lake level sitting at roughly two feet higher than normal – the highest I have ever witnessed in 35 years on the lake. This high water level negatively impacted nesting sites on the lake. I have never before seen an adult Common Loon coming into winter plumage with a chick of this size, at this time of year.

Here are a few newly processed images from my time with the Common Loons last week. My favorite is the tender moment shared between adult and chick. It was fun watching the chick diving and swimming while following the parent underwater. Each time the chick surfaced a wing flap would occur. The adult was having great success catching crawfish for the chick to eat. If the parent surfaced without any food the chick would bite the adults neck gently – perhaps to say “I am hungry, you need to do better than that”

Please do remember to click on each of the photos to view the larger versions.

Common Loon with chick, Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound, Ontario
Nikon D500
Nikon 200-500mm VR lens @ 500mm (35mm equivalent = 750mm)
ISO 800
f11 @ 1/800 sec

 

Common Loon juvenile, Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound, Ontario
Nikon D500
Nikon 200-500mm VR lens @ 240mm (35mm equivalent = 360mm)
ISO 800
f8 @ 1/640 sec

 

Common Loon juvenile, Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound, Ontario
Nikon D500
Nikon 200-500mm VR lens @ 500mm (35mm equivalent = 750mm)
ISO 800
f8 @ 1/640 sec

 

Common Loon, Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound, Ontario
Nikon D500
Nikon 200-500mm VR lens @ 500mm (35mm equivalent = 750mm)
ISO 800
f11 @ 1/1250 sec

 

Common Loon, Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound, Ontario
Nikon D500
Nikon 200-500mm VR lens @ 500mm (35mm equivalent = 750mm)
ISO 500
f8 @ 1/1000 sec

New Dart Frogs of the Amazon Rainforest Photographic Workshop

 

Without a doubt nature’s most colourful animals are the Dart Frogs which are endemic to the Amazon Rainforest. You have seen many of my images of these amphibians before as well as the stunning photos created by the previous workshop participants. We are holding one more Dart Frogs of the Amazon Rainforest Photographic Workshop in 2017 and it will be held in Mississauga, Ontario at LifeLike Imaging on:

Saturday, November 25, 2017  10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

The space for each workshop is limited to a maximum of 8 participants to allow ample time for folks to photograph each species of frog.

Workshop fee is $195.00 plus HST. ($195.00 + $25.35 HST = $220.35)

To reserve your spot in this workshop payment in full is due now.

These are the only workshops available whereby you will be able to capture stunning imagery of 15 different species of dart frogs endemic to the Amazon rainforest. It would cost tens of thousands of dollars to explore the Amazon jungle with a guide in hopes of photographing a mere fraction of these species. These workshops, in partnership with Understory Enterprises, will bring you an incredible opportunity to photograph these 15 species of dart frogs for only $195, plus HST, in a comfortable atmosphere with natural studio set-ups. The recommended gear for photographing these tiny frogs is a macro lens and off camera flash. Alternately, using high quality close-up filters such as the Canon 500D filters will allow many lenses such as the Nikon 80-400mm or Canon 100-400mm to focus close enough for these small subjects. Please contact me here if you have any equipment inquiries when registering for this workshop. I also have custom made flash diffusers that will allow folks to capture stunning imagery using camera mounted flash as well.

All frogs photographed at these workshops are captive bred subjects and we will be featuring 15 species not featured at any of the previously held events.

Coffee, tea and snacks will be provided during the workshop.

To register for this workshop folks may contact me by clicking here for availability.

Payments can be made via email transfer or by cheque made payable to “Andrew McLachlan”

Hope to see you there!

This will likely be the last “Dart Frogs of the Amazon Rainforest Photographic Workshop” until April 2018.

 Cancellation Policy

• More than 30 days notice will be refunded their workshop fee less a $25 administration fees.
• 30 days notice or less No Refunds.