Tarkine Rainforest

Mugs on the trail

We repeated yesterday’s morning routine with a 0600 breakfast followed by a quick departure down the slopes to work in the shade of gullies and ravines until the sun drove us on to another shaded location. Rob would joke about the “yellow face” in the sky, but getting three consecutive sunny days for our tour that would work optimally in cloudy skies or light drizzle was ironic. So under blue skies and the buzz of blow flies we took photo after photo to develop our skills.

We got to the lunch spot at about 1030-1100, early for our 1130 lunch, because the sunlight was streaming through the canopy. So we lounged around the area, taking what photos we could until Trevor and Jo arrived with lunch on their backs. Jo whipped up a stir fry on a portable gas burner in a wok for a tasty lunch. After lunch, Jonathan and I headed back up to camp under Trevor’s supervision and companionship, while the rest of the group continued on down to the river. We arrived at camp around 1500, not long before the others returned to the ridge.

There are a number of focus stacked images below. Note that I was using the autofocus on the camera, but directing it to different depths using the touchscreen control. I think I should've tried a few series using the manual focus controls to directly control the focus. I'll have to give it a try sometime.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Focus stack
fern frond; trying a tight/narrow range of focus planes.

Focus stack - tree ferns in the understorey; trying a deeper/broad range of focus planes.

Focus stack
vegetation; trying narrow range again.

Focus stack
understory ferns; trying broad range.

Capturing a range of ferns/mosses in close proximity.

Focus stack
dropping our bags at the spot where we'd be photographing.

HDR composite
the sunlight in the distance triggered my attempt at HDR with this shot..

Focus stack
attempting another fern frond;
with slight air movement the frond won't be still.

I liked to contrast of the moss tendril on the stem to the flower and broad leaves.

I took this shot because it wasn't green, and I liked the texture of the dried ferns.

The diverging stems attracted my eye as being similar angle as the fern leaves/fronds.

Jonathan contemplates a shot.

That tiny white flower again.

During post-processing I realized I had captured a spider in this shot.

These ferns were dangling underneath a log.

A pause in the action - (L-R) Ira, Nick, Rob, Jonathan.

HDR composite
Jonathan examining a shot.

HDR composite
moss on tree stump.

Jonathan pauses.

My partner in photography - the traveling tripod I bought for this adventure. It worked quite well.

Waiting for lunch, I amused myself by trying to get a snap of the blow flies. This is my best shot (it's on my boot).

Lunchtime!
Jo expertly has lunch laid out and is cooking in a wok on a portable burner.

These camp mugs were great - fairly indestructable and insulated.

Back at the camp in the evening, a pademelon visits. Her joey was visible earlier.

The images below are the result of trying to combine HDR (high dynamic range) photography with focus stacking. I worked through the focus range, taking an HDR set (+1EV (exposure value), normal exposure, and -1EV) at each of the 11 focus points. I then focus stacked the +1EV, normal EV, -1EV set, then ran it through the HDR program. I opted for that sequence, rather than HDR first, because I was concerned that the HDR might degrade the focus/clarity of the images. The first image is -1EV, then normal, +1EV, and HDR. I haven't come to any conclusion about the utility of this approach.

Focus stack
-1EV set.

Focus stack
normal set.

Focus stack
+1EV set.

Focus stack
HDR composite
all sets

2018.11.20.1715 Cataract on Patterson (Restaurant), Launceston, Tasmania

We decided to stay at the camp rather than venture out on any other optional walks that day. After receiving instructions on how to close up our tents, we went to bed a little early - it was still light enough that we really didn’t need our head lamps (torches in local parlance) to find our tent.