Using a Simple Light Tent

 Yesterday was Cambridge Camera Club's Know Your Camera Day, theory in the morning and then play in the afternoon. My task was Table-top photography using a light tent (around £10 without lighting as here or around £25 with lighting http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Photo-Studio-Camera-Lighting-Light-Softbox-Cube-Light-Tent-Tripod-Backdrops-Kit-/371408215846). Here we used either in-camera flash or a flash mounted on the hot-shoe to fire two slave flashes (the small flashmate on the right is unfortunately not made now as far as I can see but was £4.99 when bought -great little gadget; the Canon 270exII is current model and is around £90). The inset shows shadowing when first set up as the front flash is overpowering the side flashes. The easiest solution is to turn down the flash compensation by a couple of stops (or until balanced) and/or move side flashes nearer. We then added a white cloth to the background to give a continuous backdrop.

I have used this set up for several of my competition entries eg Spots

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

This amazing Hummingbird Hawkmoth visited our buddleia this morning - not for long and high up but managed to grab a shot with the telephoto lens. Taken at 1/1600th second and no flash so there is still wing movement which I like. Unfortunately it was close (Full frame here)  so depth of field is not quite enough to cover the whole body

Chiltern Orchids

On our way back from Aston Rowant, Richard Revels showed us a few orchid sites, mostly along the roadside verges near Prices Risborough. The first is the Violet Helleborine with comparison pictures taken without and with off-camera flash (transmitter on camera and flash held a distance away to give extra lighting to just the flower spike), a technique I had not tried before. Also shown are the Broad-Leaved and Narrow-Leaved Helleborines. The light was very dull by this stage so difficult to achieve sufficient depth of field but good enough to show the features. Richard is coauthor of a book of Wild Orchids of Bedfordshire for anyone wanting to know more about these fascinating species.

Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve

As always we were hoping for a warm sunny day for our visit to Aston Rowant NNR on the Chilterns but we had only a brief sunny interlude in an otherwise overcast and breezy day. Thank you Jill for showing us the reserve which looks down on the M40 and to Richard for taking us there and sharing his expertise. Chalkhill Blues were fairly abundant but the windy conditions didn't help the task of getting an attractive composition as they were mainly on the ground. The target species was the Silver-Spotted Skipper and we did manage to find a few individuals but they proved very elusive. The best place was the bare soil/chalk patches where they were warming up, here in the company of a CHBlue and a Kite-tailed Robberfly.The flowers were great including this Clustered Bellflower and a Wild Candytuft. I spent a time photographing a Burnet Moth and cocoon and other insects (orange fly, not yet identified, and a Digger Wasp, Ectemnius spp)

Life Among the Thistles and Nettles

We spent the afternoon at Lark Rise Farm Barton looking for butterflies but, as these were keeping their heads down in the strong winds, I photographed some of the insects on the nettles and thistles along the field edge protected from the winds using 100 mm macro 25mm extension tube and small flash. These are in order Dolichopus spp., Thaumatomyia notata, Green bottle (Lucilia sericata), Scorpion Fly, Lygocoris pabulinus (Green capsid), Deraeocoris ruber, Soldier Beetleswith 14 spot Ladybird (Propylea 14-punctata) and finally a bug with splendid antennae (Heterotoma planicornis)

Royston Kite Festival

After all the windy days, Sunday was a calm day for the Kite Festival which was a shame as many of the displays lacked the usual excitement. I am posting the original raw file and the quick adjustment in the Raw Converter (Lightroom 6) to show the benefit of shooting on Manual mode and exposing correctly for the Kites (or Birds). Although the original looks greatly overexposed, the sky detail is still there and can be brought back easily.

Lackford Lakes - Birds and Butterflies

The Little Grebe at Lackford looked a lot happier than the fish it had caught while the Heron stalked around for a long while without catching much and the Kingfisher didn't catch anything. At last a slightly warmer day brought out the butterflies at Lackford, Painted Lady, Small Skippers and Brown Argus shown. 

Clare College Gardens - Cam Card Holders

Disappointed to discover that Clare college no longer allows 2 guests on the Cam Card (Cambridge Graduates) - I hope this is not going to spread to other colleges! When the Gardens are open then it is certainly worth the £3.50 for Phil but is a bit steep just to enjoy the walk through and over the Bridge.