Amazon Basin macro samples

[dhackney]

I haven't seen much conversation about macro, so I thought I'd post this up.

There are some macro shots of the Amazon basin flora and fauna in this photo essay: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/ecuador/straightintheeyes.pdf

All shots are hand held.

body: Canon 1DmkIII
lens: EF 100mm macro F/2.8
strobe: macro ring light

Most shots are at 125/sec @F/9 or 11.
ISO ranges from 1000 to 200.

Most, but not all, of the butterflies are captive in a butterfly house. All the other shots are in the jungle.

For about 30% I used the viewfinder. For the other 70% I pre-focused the lens, turned on live view, and then moved the camera down the lens axis until things looked sharp.

If you want to see more, there are other photos essays on our expedition thread here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10616

Our travel photography is here: www.hackneys.com/gallery

Doug

 

[Tucson T4R]

Beautiful photography. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[haven]

Sacha Lodge is a wonderful spot for an introduction to the lowland forest. Thanks for sharing the photos! I can't help with identification of the insects, but I do know a few birds.

The first bird is, judging by the bill size, a Great Kiskadee. It's a large flycatcher that can be found throughout the Americas, from south Texas to northern Argentina.

That cuckoo-like bird with the blue facial skin and spiky head feathers is a Hoatzin. It's an unusual bird, with a special crop separate from its gizzard for grinding up plant material. Young Hoatzins have a special claw at the wrist of the wing (where the first finger appears in primates). The claw helps the young Hoatzins clamber around in the foliage near their nests without falling into the water below and becoming dinner for caimen that wait for such opportunities.

The "froot loops" bird is a White-breasted Toucan. The bills of all Toucans are marvels of lightweight honeycomb design. The extra-large bill lets the Toucan reach out and pluck fruit that is beyond the reach of other species. (Birds use their bills like humans use pliers. Think of the range of pliers you can buy, and you can imagine the wide range of bill shape and function.)

The next bird with large bill agape is a Chestnut-eared Araçari, a smaller relative of the Toucans.

The parrots eating the clay are Yellow-crowned Amazons. A variety of parrots and Macaws in Amazonian Peru and Ecuador eat clay on exposed banks along the rivers. It's thought that the clay helps coat the lining of the digestive system, protecting them from toxins in unripe fruit and seeds.

The tiny primate is a Pygmy Marmoset. Adults are 5 to 6 inches long.

Chip Haven

 

[dhackney]

Sacha Lodge is a wonderful spot for an introduction to the lowland forest.

Agreed. It was perfect for our available time. Well run. Recommended.

Thanks for sharing the photos! I can't help with identification of the insects, but I do know a few birds.

The first bird is, judging by the bill size, a Great Kiskadee. It's a large flycatcher that can be found throughout the Americas, from south Texas to northern Argentina.

That cuckoo-like bird with the blue facial skin and spiky head feathers is a Hoatzin. It's an unusual bird, with a special crop separate from its gizzard for grinding up plant material. Young Hoatzins have a special claw at the wrist of the wing (where the first finger appears in primates). The claw helps the young Hoatzins clamber around in the foliage near their nests without falling into the water below and becoming dinner for caimen that wait for such opportunities.

The "froot loops" bird is a White-breasted Toucan. The bills of all Toucans are marvels of lightweight honeycomb design. The extra-large bill lets the Toucan reach out and pluck fruit that is beyond the reach of other species. (Birds use their bills like humans use pliers. Think of the range of pliers you can buy, and you can imagine the wide range of bill shape and function.)

The next bird with large bill agape is a Chestnut-eared Araçari, a smaller relative of the Toucans.

The parrots eating the clay are Yellow-crowned Amazons. A variety of parrots and Macaws in Amazonian Peru and Ecuador eat clay on exposed banks along the rivers. It's thought that the clay helps coat the lining of the digestive system, protecting them from toxins in unripe fruit and seeds.

Thanks for the IDs. I haven't gone back to our guide books, bird books or the audio files I recorded of our guides giving us the IDs and tagged anything yet.

The tiny primate is a Pygmy Marmoset. Adults are 5 to 6 inches long.

Here's a shot of a poster at the airport showing one in scale.

 

[dhackney]

If you go to the Amazon basin, here are some lessons learned.

1. If your trip includes the Galapagos, go the Amazon first. The Galapagos will ruin you for proximity to wildlife, probably for your lifetime. The Amazon is as target-rare as the Galapagos is target-rich (this refers to non-macro shooting).

2. You will have to put up with amateurs. Depending on the place you go, you will be in a group of 4 to 8 people. Unless you are on a photo expedition with other shooters, the rest of the people will be amateurs or even worse, wanna-be shooters. The tourists will snap a shot with their point and shoot and keep moving. The wanna-be shooters will shoot a few with their point and shoot, then chimp them, then make a bunch of menu changes, then shoot more, ,then chimp them, this cycle will repeat until the tiny poison frog, bat, opossum, bird, etc. is scared away. Then you will get your turn. If you want a real, dedicated shooting trip, you will need to book a solo tour or a shooter tour oriented to the time demands you need. In the meantime, keep smiling and get what you can.

3. Due to the group situation, you will not have time to deal with a tripod. Some of the birders I saw were using monopods. They would be more practical if you needed support.

4. The Amazon basin is usually cloudy. There are very few fully sunny days. You may catch a few hours of sun if you are lucky.

5. Under the canopy, it is dark. Slow shutter speeds and high ISO are required (800-1000+). If your camera produces noisy images at high ISO, consider an alternative.

6. Bring light. You will need a high power external strobe to illuminate anything under the canopy. I brought three different diffusers but only used one. The sloth shot was about 30 meters away, shooting up into the canopy, open direct strobe. The marmoset shot was about four to five meters, open direct strobe.

7. If you want birds, bring long, fast primes. Above the canopy, I shot with a 100-400L bare and with a 1.4 extender. I was unhappy with the results from both combinations. It's just too slow of a lens and not nearly as crisp as a prime. If you seriously want to shoot the birds, you need very long, very fast pro series glass. Pack them in dry bags or weather-proof shock cases. Anything shorter than 400 is not going to do you much up above the canopy unless something lands in the tree you are in or in a tree right next to the catwalk. Given the sizes of the birds, even if they are 20 meters away, you need a lot of glass. A 200 is only useful on the ground shooting up into the lower canopy if something is pretty close. For birds, unless you are coming in heavily loaded with long pro glass, you'll have a lot better time with a pair of bright, high contrast, IS binoculars.

8. While in the Galapagos zoom range is key, such as a 28-300L, in the jungle, speed is key. It is a very dark environment, even above the canopy in the clouds.

9. Your lodge or guide should provide you with heavy duty ponchos. If you are not sure of the quality, bring your own. A poncho can cover your camera bag and you. It makes a great little tent to work under with your gear in a rainforest downpour. A rain jacket is too hot when it is not raining and offers no portable tent capabilities when it is. A poncho is a lot cooler in the heat and humidity of the rain forest. Plus, you can shoot out from under the poncho.

10. Think rain. Bring, at a minimum, an inexpensive plastic sleeve for your main camera/lens combination. I used an Aquatech sports wrap because it has a separate clear hood for the strobe. The rains are hard but usually short. Sometimes it rains all day. If you want to shoot, you have to be ready with a weather sealed body, lenses and strobe(s). Bring bags that are waterproof or have an integrated weather cover.

11. Prepare for chore boots. You will wear chore boots for almost your entire time in the jungle. We brought our own because we were traveling in an overland expedition vehicle in South America. You will probably fly in. Your lodge will provide boots, but the fit can be iffy and we heard reports of leaks. if you bring your own you can get a good fit and have insoles for better support.

Steph models the latest in jungle fashion.

12. Bring DEET. Our American bug juice we keep clipped to our bags is 40% DEET. It was moderately effective. We have 100% DEET juice, but didn't have it with us out on the trail on the day we had the worst bugs. Travel fabric (quick dry) long sleeve shirts and long pants make the most sense.

13. Know your gear. Your once in a lifetime trip to the Amazon is not the time to be figuring out your camera (see the wanna-be shooter above). Test everything you plan to bring. Know how everything functions. Make sure you know all the basic functions of your strobe. Plan ahead for how you will shoot in a dark, wet environment.

14. This is a 100% humidity environment. Our lodge (Sasha) provided small "drying cabinets" in each cabin. Even with using those, our laptops got fritzy the last couple of days (they eventually booted and are OK now). Don't count on stand-alone download drives or devices. We heard of two of them dying in other groups while we were there. Bottom line: bring enough memory to last your trip, don't count on being able to reuse them after download.

15. Have appropriate drying fabrics handy. Keep your favorite lens fabric in an easily accessible pocket. Same thing for a soft cloth to dry off your body and lens(es).

16. Bring a wide brimmed hat. You will need something to keep the rare sun off and the ever-present rain out of your face.

17. Bring spare batteries. We saved one lady's trip by Steph loaning her a battery. The lady only had one and it died a couple of days into their trip. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I have seen stranger things out here.

18. Think macro. The Amazon is an amazingly rich environment for macro shooting. While large mammals are rare, reptiles shy and birds tiny and far away, there is an infinite number of insects, fungus, etc. available to shoot at macro level. Bring a macro specific, lens mounted, strobe. You will not have the opportunity to do a static setup, so practice shooting handheld (live view really helps). If I went back to the Amazon basin I would probably only bring macro gear.

19. Bring a pocket camera. There will be times when you are rigged for long glass and there is something very interesting at close range, and visa-versa. Test the high ISO performance of the pocket camera before you leave home. Existing light under the canopy is ISO 800-1000+ territory.

20. Bring plenty of strobe batteries. You will use a lot of batteries, more than you expect. It is so dark that the strobe is firing at 100% most of the time. An external battery pack is something worth considering if you are OK shooting being tethered to it.

21. Beware the side effects of anti-malarials. When you are in the black water forest, you probably won't see any mosquitoes. When you are not there you will. If you plan to take anti-malarial meds, talk with your travel doctor in detail about which types are effective in this part of the world and the side effects of each type of medication. Each one has downsides, some severe. It is a good idea to get some samples and try them for a few days to check the effects. They can induce significant personality quirks/changes/etc., as well as physical effects. Don't wait until you get to the Amazon to discover you hallucinate giant boas or turn into a bitchy grump as a side effect.

22. Be patient and understanding. You will not get every shot. Things you thought would work won't. Amateurs and wanna-be shooters will ruin shots and scare away wildlife. Things will be very wet. It can be very hot and humid. Don't beat a shot that is not working to death. Keep moving. In the Amazon, there are plenty of interesting things around the next corner.

 

[marke]

Awesome write up! Thanks for the detailed information and thanks especially for your insights.

 

[haven]

One wildlife tip Doug didn't mention is to make a circuit of the lodge buildings before breakfast with your macro lens setup. At night, lights from the camp attract all sorts of very cool insects, and many will be clinging to the windows and building walls at daybreak.

A second tip is to check the toilet before sitting down. Frogs love to sit in western-style toilet bowls. One true story: Preparing to retire for the night in a bungalow that was part of a Peruvian rainforest lodge, a woman sat down on the toilet. A frog inside jumped up and grabbed her behind. The woman shrieked, and bolted outdoors -- stark naked! The noise brought everyone outside to see what caused the commotion, and much frivolity ensued.

My comments to Doug's tips:

2. Wilderness lodges will arrange people into small groups for the guided tours. If you're not traveling in a group already, this means you'll be paired with strangers who many not share your depth of interest in photography or birdwatching. If this becomes a problem, usually a lodge can arrange a private tour, or group like-minded individuals.

6. "The sloth shot was about 30 meters away." That's one powerful strobe!

7. For video or still photos of birds and other critters under the canopy, I find 20x to 25x to be a good magnification. That's around 750mm, a lens as long as your arm. You'll have difficulty holding steady a lens this large and heavy for long, so a monopod is a good choice.

Power of binoculars doesn't have to be so high. I generally use 8x42 for rainforest. They have a wider field of view than 10x and are usually brighter in the gloomy light of the forest. Waterproof, nitrogen purged bins are preferred.

9. For rain protection, I tend to use a small folding umbrella. But then I'm not concerned about getting a bit wet. I'm mostly interested in keeping the rain off my head and shoulders.

I find a rubberized cloth poncho to be too hot. Nothing spoils an outing more than having your eyeglasses steam up from your own body heat!

Umbrellas are usually forbidden when you're traveling in a small dugout or canoe because they block the boatman's view forward. So bring some other sort of rain protection if you're traveling in a boat. I've used a plastic trash bag with a slit cut for my head on a couple of occasions.

12. DEET is evil, horrible stuff. It can take the finish off your binoculars, and ruin any plastic it comes in contact with (like your eyeglass lenses). I use citronella most of the time. But when the mosquitoes are really bad, I use a stick that's 30% DEET. You have to apply it more often than the mixtures with high DEET content, but it's less likely to damage your gear. The stick lets you apply the DEET without getting it on your fingers. It's great for touching up the tops of the ears and the hairline areas that mosquitoes love.

Remember that DEET is a mosquito repellent. The mosquitoes will approach to a distance of a couple of inches before detecting the DEET and backing off a little. The mosquitoes will stay with you, they just won't land and bite.

Even 100% DEET won't stop the most determined mosquitoes. The worst I've experienced were in Florida and Alaska. The Amazon mosquitoes didn't come close. The difference is that Amazon mosquitoes can carry malaria and dengue fever. Always sleep under a mosquito net.

I find the best way to avoid mosquito bites is to find someone who is more attractive to mosquitoes than you are, and stand near that person!

11. If you want to bring your own boots and you're traveling with a suitcase rather than an expedition camper, consider the NEOS overshoe. I like the Adventurer model, which is tall enough to cover your calf. You wear the NEOS product over your hiking shoe or sneaker.
http://www.overshoe.com/recreational/products/detail.php?s=ANN

16. A hat is required, even under the canopy. Water drips constantly even when it's not raining. Many people like a gore-tex baseball cap. I prefer a hat with a wide brim all around. My favorite is by Tilley. It's all-cotton, so it breathes well, and the rain doesn't seem to soak through. The Tilley web site is insufferable, but the products are good.

19. Fujifilm makes several pocket point-and-shoot cameras with superior low light capabilities and good macro performance. I love my F30, but it's out of production. The F50 is a current model, and you can buy a refurbished unit for less than $100. These cameras are not waterproof, so you have to take some care with them in the rainforest.

21. Mefloquine (Lariam) is a favorite prescription as a prophylactic for malaria. Lariam often produces vivid dreams, which makes for interesting breakfast conversations at wilderness lodges. Occasionally Lariam can have more serious psychiatric side effects.

Chip Haven

 

[dhackney]

Chip,

Thanks for the additions! Great info.

A note on #2. On our lodge entrance form there were sections for primary and additional languages, special interests, etc.

We indicated photography under interests. The other two people in our group were Germans who spoke pretty good English, the husband was a point-n-pray, wanna be shooter.

And I need to reinforce Chip's initial comment that our tourist lodge was an excellent "introduction" to the rain forest. Prior to and after our trip we met people who had been deep into the rain forest. That experience is different and ranges all over the conceptual map, depending on where you end up and what you are seeking.

Ours was a 100% tourist experience, but fit our available time and energy window perfectly.

Doug

One wildlife tip Doug didn't mention is to make a circuit of the lodge buildings before breakfast with your macro lens setup. At night, lights from the camp attract all sorts of very cool insects, and many will be clinging to the windows and building walls at daybreak.

Sometimes you don't even have to walk outside...

6. "The sloth shot was about 30 meters away." That's one powerful strobe!

Canon Speedlight 580 EX MkII http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=141&modelid=14998

Same as the MkI, primary differences are weather sealed and a little faster cycle time.

Fresh AA batteries, no external power pack, direct, no diffuser

Dying evening light. We walked back to the canoes in the dark just after this shot.

7. For video or still photos of birds and other critters under the canopy, I find 20x to 25x to be a good magnification. That's around 750mm, a lens as long as your arm. You'll have difficulty holding steady a lens this large and heavy for long, so a monopod is a good choice.

For a full frame camera, you'd need a 750mm.

For an APS-H 1.3 crop factor camera, you'd need a 577mm lens to get this reach. For example, a 400mm lens with a 1.4x extender yields 560mm. On a 1.3 factor camera such as a Canon 1D, you get an effective 728mm. I shot with a 100-400mm + a 1.4x extender above the canopy and it was not nearly enough for the birds. It would have been much too dark under the canopy, the 100-400 is just too slow. A 400mm prime, such as Canon's 400mm F/2.8 would still be pretty bright losing a stop to the 1.4 extender, but things above the canopy will still be very small in the frame. Under the canopy you'd probably be close enough.

For an APS-C 1.6 crop factor camera, you'd need a 469mm lens to get this reach. A 500mm prime such as Canon's 500 F/4 would give you an effective 800mm and be pretty bright. Again, the same realities apply above the canopy.

I find the best way to avoid mosquito bites is to find someone who is more attractive to mosquitoes than you are, and stand near that person!

I'm fortunate enough to be married to one! They literally fly right by me and land on her, often regardless of what protection she's applied.

Doug

 

[Michael Slade]

I'm filing this thread away in my 'when I go to the Amazon to photograph...' drawer.