Stewartry photographer snaps up success in the Scottish Nature Photography Awards


A Stewartry man is celebrating success in the Scottish Nature Photography Awards.

Duncan McNaught won the botanical category with his Autumn Beech image.

Delighted Duncan, who lives in New Galloway, said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have taken first place.

“Blessed where I live surrounded by trees, I’d ventured out early one morning into the grounds of Kenmure Castle.

“A light mist had formed overnight creating the most moody scene in front of me, some of the beech trees had hung onto their golden leaves.

“It was these and the soft light that drew me to take the image. I feel it showed the sense of calm I experienced that morning, no one around, just me and my camera which I love to do often.”

Two of Duncan’s other photographs were shortlisted in the award and these, along with his winning shot, will feature in the awards’ portfolio yearbook.

The Fragment Of Travel: Beautiful Landscapes By Li Ye


In the uninhabited wilderness, what attracts me most was the peace and tranquility of nature. The wasteland was silent, and the hills in the distance were outlined with delicate silhouettes by the setting sun. It seemed that time moved sluggishly and memories were recalled by the reminiscence a long time ago.

At that time, the dawn was considered to be the end of the day. People are inclined to measure time by the laws that appeared in the starry sky and record the years by the alternation of four seasons. Time slipped slowly but it was nice.

You can find Li Ye on the Web:

Copyrights:
All the pictures in this post are copyrighted to Li Ye. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.

First Superior SNAPS photo competition is open – Boulder Daily Camera


Superior has announced the town’s first-ever photo contest to celebrate hometown pride.

The SNAPS photo contest is open to all Superior residents, including those displaced by the Marshall Fire. For the inaugural competition, residents may submit one photo per person that captures the beauty of the town, whether it be a place, person, pet, nature or event.

Residents must submit their photo on the Shape Superior website by 5 p.m. April 17.

Photos will be reviewed by three judges composed of Superior staff members, and the winners of the competition will be contacted by email between April 26-28. Selected photos will then be printed, framed and fully assembled to be displayed at the Superior Community Center from June to September.

For more information about the competition’s selection process and criteria, visit the Shape Superior website.

‘Donegal Dark Sky’ aiming to draw more young people to the world of astrophotography


‘Donegal Dark Sky’ aiming to draw more young people to the breathtaking world of astrophotography, writes Conor Sharkey

The recent appearance of the Northern Lights has had more Irish people than ever looking to the heavens.

 

Mineral Moon by Treasa Giblin Frazer.

For some in the north west though stargazing is more than just an intermittent fad. For a small but growing society it is an all-out celestial passion.

Astrophotographer Treasa Giblin Frazer has been charting the night skies for years, capturing rarely seen images of our cosmos, constellations and comets.

Treasa Giblin Frazer from Lifford used a clear night to get this magical image, ‘The Milky Way Arch’ at Moorlough in Co Tyrone.

 

Last week marked Ireland’s first ever Astronomy Week and the Lifford woman said it was the perfect time to get out and explore the solar system.

“I have been very lucky in my own astro journey by having numerous images of our night sky published in the BBC’s Sky at Night magazine and even in our very own Astronomy Ireland magazine. To top that one of my images was shortlisted in 2022 for the national astrophotographer competition ‘Reach for the Stars’.

Burt full moon by Patryk Sadowski.

 

“For me, the feeling I get when I photograph the night sky beats all other genres in photography on a technical level.

“It took me a long time to understand how to navigate and shoot so now is the time to share that knowledge and let other photographers and star gazers do the same to help pique the interest of the younger generation.”

 

Buncrana’s Joseph Cullen captured this sparkling image of the Milky Way in the Sperrin Mountains near Moneyneany, Co Derry.

Treasa said astrophotography and learning about the night sky was much more than just taking pictures. It was about “appreciating and helping to preserve Donegal’s dark sky areas” while also raising awareness of light polluted areas.

“Our Donegal Dark Sky page caters to all, from kids to seasoned photographers, and we have even joined in with Ireland’s very first Irish Astronomy Week which began on March 20 and ran until March 26. It was founded by Ronan Newman, a native of Claremorris, and the motto is ‘The Stars for Everyone’.

 

Aurora, Ballyliffin by Brendan Diver.

“So many clubs, groups and organisations came together from all over Ireland to hold events during the week.”

 

 

Darragh McDonough snapped this incredible image of the Northern Lights flaring over Letterkenny. He took the photo from Knockybrin, a small hill to the north of the town.

 

The Donegal Dark Sky page ran a virtual event ‘From Garden to Stars’ where families and photographers could have their own star parties at home by pointing out some constellations to their children.

 

Andromeda, Co Donegal by Treasa Giblin Frazer.

 

They were also encouraged to do some arts and crafts based around the planets or take some images or notes of what they were able to see from their location and share to the page.

Skies-Orion’s Belt Co.Donegal by Treasa Giblin Frazer

In preparation for Irish Astronomy Week Donegal Dark Sky members uploaded possible targets to the Facebook page to show what may be in view along with locations, times and information.

“It is a very exciting time in Donegal along with the rest of Ireland and plans for more events to be held next year are already afoot,” Treasa added.

Milky Way, Poisoned Glen, Dunlewy by Patryk Sadowski.

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Posted: 5:49 pm March 29, 2023



The Best Mirrorless Cameras Will Help You Elevate Your Photography


Stunning image of spider scoops Scottish Nature Photography Awards 2022







© Frank Urban
Scottish Wildlife Portrait category and overall winning image, Cucumber Green Spider

A photo competition based in the country of Scotland has today announced its winners of the annual Scottish Nature Photography Awards 2022. Some of the winning images have been captured by photographers as young as 12 years old

63-year-old retired photographer, Frank Urban, has won the prestigious title of Scottish Nature Photographer of the year, as well as the Scottish Wildlife Portrait award for his superb image of a neon green spider.

These are the best cameras for wildlife photography in 2023

An image of a tiny green spider has won Frank Urban not only the Scottish Wildlife Portrait category, but he has also been selected as the overall winner of the prestigious Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2022. 

Speaking of his image, Frank shared that, “I am sixty-three and retired from work around five years ago. I happily fill my days with walking and photography, and find that my local area, which includes the Campsie Fells and the Forth and Clyde Canal is ideal for both. For this photograph though, I had been working in the garden when I noticed this colorful spider on the handle of a garden tool.”

He continues, “I knew this was called a Cucumber Green Spider from a previous sighting and thought I would try to photograph it. I was really delighted how well it turned out. I used a blade of grass to move it to a safer spot in the garden.”

Judges of the competition included photographers Dougie Cunningham, James Roddie and Niall Irvine, who each saw the potential in Frank’s image. Irvine has stated that “Frank’s image draws you into the miniature world of the spider. It’s an excellent example of awareness of the proximity of nature in our immediate environment and an appreciation of its beauty.”

• Take a look at last year’s awesome winning image from the Scottish NPA 2021 of a muirburn mountain fire trail!

The winner of the Junior Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2022 (under-18s) was Jessie Morris from Durham. Jessie is just 13 years old, and her winning image titled ‘Rush Hour’ features a mass amount of gulls arriving at the same time to roost. 

Jessie shares that she has been particularly interested in bird photography since the age of eight, and said she was shocked that the judging panel chose her image. “Hidden away on moorland north of Berwick, we waited at the edge of a loch for pink-footed geese to arrive” She explained. 

“It turned out, however, that the shot of the day was gulls roosting on the water. A low exposure captured them settling down for the night. The busyness of the shot as they squabbled for the best positions reminded me of the hustle and bustle of the evening rush hour.”

Another winner of the competition was Maria Christidi, awarded with the title of Student Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2022. Maria is a Fine Arts student at the University of Dundee studying for her BA qualification, and her series of abstract images titled ‘Physis’ is what earned her the prestigious title. 

The series explores the relationship between humans and nature, and features a portfolio of three submitted images to the competition, working together as a collection. She has shared that, “We view nature at the periphery of our everyday life, maybe walking through parks or nature reserves when the toll of our modern hyper-urbanized lifestyle is too much. As a result, nature tends to be viewed as a foreign object that acts to us as a form of escapism.” 

“By taking close-up shots which emphasize the unruly characteristics of natural subjects, the viewer can question their relationship with nature more closely and view it in its true fragility rather than it being solely a source of entertainment.”

The full gallery of winners for this year’s competition can be viewed on the Scottish Nature Photography Awards website, as well as the short nature film by Andy S Hayes that won the Scottish Nature Video Award, among the other runners-up. 

The image collection will tour as an exhibition later this year, and will be published along with the shortlisted entries in a Portfolio Yearbook to be released this summer.

• You might also be interested in the best portable hides and camouflage gear for photographing wildlife, as well as the best action cameras, and the best spotting scopes to never miss a moment.

Take a look at our guide to the best lenses for bird photography and wildlife, as well as the best trail cameras and the best cellular trail cameras to capture the more easily spooked or timid subjects.

Sony ZV-E1 price, specs, availability announced


Sony has announced the ZV-E1, a new full-frame interchangeable lens mirrorless camera which uses the same 12MP sensor as the Sony Alpha A7S III. It’s designed to bridge the gap between cameras such as the Sony ZV-E10, (and the compact Sony ZV-1 and ZV-1F) and more advanced models such as the Sony A7S III, FX30 and FX3, and is aimed at content creators.

According to Sony, the ZV-E1 is the world’s smallest full-frame interchangeable lens camera with IBIS – in-body image stabilisation.

Although the Sony ZV-E1 can capture stills, its primary purpose is video creation and it has a number of features to make content creation easier. As it uses the same 12MP full-frame sensor as the A7S III, it should produce results on a par with the popular filmmaker’s camera, with similar low light capability, 15+ EV dynamic range and an ISO setting range of 80-102,400. It also shares a lot of the AI-powered capability of the Sony Alpha A7R V.

The Sony ZV-E1 is capable of shooting 4K or Full HD video with 10-bit 4:2:2 colour in All-intra. At launch, the camera can shoot 4K video at up to 60p, but in June a free firmware update will boost this to 4K at 120p and take Full HD up to 240P in S&Q mode.

Cinematic mode

The ZV-E1 introduces a new Cinematic Vlog mode in which the camera’s aspect ratio is set to 2.35:1 and the frame rate is fixed at 24p (23.98p). There are also 5 ‘Looks’ available; S-Cinetone, Clean, Chic, Fresh and Mono. These can be combined with 4 ‘Moods’, Auto, Gold (warm), Ocean (cool) and Forest (green), to give footage a range of appearances.

Experienced users can also use the S-Log profile with assignable LUTs to get the look they want for their footage, however, it’s not possible to record raw video.

Advanced focusing

Like Sony’s other recent cameras, the ZV-E1 features Focus Breathing Compensation, Focus Map, Focus Assist, AF Transition speed adjustment and AF Subject Shift Sensitivity control to help ensure the correct subject is sharp and changes in focus are smooth.

Like the A7R V, the ZV-E1 has a dedicated AI processing unit to help with subject detection and focusing. It can be set to detect humans, animals, birds, insects and cars/trains, aeroplanes, and Sony’s Human Pose Estimation technology is on hand to help the camera recognise and track humans in the frame when shooting stills or video.

The ZV-E1 also introduces a new feature called ‘Framing Stabiliser’ in which I crops the image from 4K to keep the subject in the same position in the output frame. This can be set to use a small, medium or larger crop. Sony’s spokesperson was unable to comment on the resolution of the output but said that he did not expect it to be lower than Full HD.

It’s also possible to simultaneously output the uncropped footage to an external recording device connected via the miniHDMI port. The cropped version is stored on the SD card in the camera.

There’s also Sony’s Active digital stabilisation and Dynamic Active Stabilisation, with the latter boosting the stabilisation capability for following moving subjects.

Sony’s Bokeh Switch and Product Showcase modes are also available to help content creators keep the focus on the desired subject. Meanwhile, Multiple Face Recognition enables the camera to adjust the aperture (bokeh) setting and focus automatically when a second person enters the frame so that they are also sharp.

Additional video features

Sony has given the ZV-E1 a dedicated video menu screen which shows all the key features that you’re likely to want to be able to adjust including frame rate, aperture, ISO, white balance and shutter speed, all of which can be selected by a tap on the screen ready for adjustment.

Sony has also upgraded the microphone on the ZV-E1. It has a 3-capsule mic that can be set to record from the in front of the camera, behind the camera or from all directions.

Other video features include a 3.5mm microphone jack as well as a headphone port and a tally lamp plus a red frame display to make it clear from in front and behind the camera when it is recording.

The ZV-1 can also stream live at up to 4K 30p or FHD 60p and it’s compatible with Sony’s Creators’ smartphone app which enables remote control over the camera as well as file uploading and management.

Sony ZV-E1 price and availability

The Sony ZV-E1 price is $2199.99 / £2,350 / €2,700 body only and £2,600 / €3,000 with the 28-60mm kit lens. It goes on sale in April.

Specification



  • Camera type: Full-frame mirrorless



  • Lens mount: Sony E



  • Announced: 29th March 2023



  • Sensor: Full-frame 12.1Mp BSI CMOS



  • Processing engine: Advanced BIONZ XR



  • Sensitivity: ISO 80-102,400 expandable ISO 40-409,600



  • Autofocus system: Hybrid with up to 759 phase detection points for stills and 627 for video



  • Subject detection: Humans, Animals, Birds, Vehicles and Trains, Aeroplanes, Insects



  • Video resolution: At launch: 4K at up 60fps and 1080p at 120fps, June firmware: 4K at 120p and 1080p at 240p



  • 4K Video details: 10-bit and 4:2:2 colour



  • Video compression: XAVC S: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, XAVC HS: MPEG-H HEVC/H.265



  • Screen: 3-inch 1,036,800-dot vari-angle TFT touchscreen



  • Viewfinder: No



  • Stabilisation: 5-axis with up to 5EV shutter speed compensation, Modes: Still images: On / Off, Movie: Dynamic active / Active / Standard / Off



  • Storage: Single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II)



  • Dimensions (W x H x D): 121 x 71.9 x 54.3mm



  • Weight: 399g / 14.1oz

Astrophotography On The Game Boy Camera


The Game Boy Camera was the first digital camera that many of us ever interacted with. At the time it was fairly groundbreaking to take pictures without film, even though the resolution was extremely low by modern standards, and it could only shoot two-bit color. It’s been long enough since its release that it’s starting to become a popular classic with all kinds of hacks and modifications, like this one which adds modern SLR camera lenses which lets it take pictures of the Moon.

The limitations of the camera make for a fairly challenging build. Settings like exposure are automatic on the Game Boy Camera and can’t be changed, and the system only allows the user to change contrast and brightness. But the small sensor size means that astrophotography can be done with a lens that is also much smaller than a photographer would need with a modern DSLR. Once a mount was 3D printed to allow the lenses to be changed and a tripod mount was built, it was time to take some pictures of the moon.

Thanks to the interchangeability of the lenses with this build, the camera can also capture macro images as well. The build went into great detail on how to set all of this up, even going as far as giving tips for how to better 3D print interlocking threads, so it’s well worth a view. And, for other Game Boy Camera builds, take a look at this one which allows the platform to send its pictures over WiFi.

30 Mindblowing Road Photographs Shot From Above Kevin Krautgartner


For the past six months, I’ve been traveling thousands of kilometers for several photo projects. As I mostly had to drive to very remote areas, I passed many types of terrain. From highlands to swamplands. From lava fields to river arms. At a height of about 150 meters, I’ve documented my journeys from above my car.

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Today, the worldwide network of roads connects almost every place and every city. Due to the constantly growing international freight traffic as well as the increasing number of vehicles, it is impossible to imagine life without these connecting routes.

However, I personally have been fascinated for years by the inconspicuous, often unpaved or only rarely used roads and tracks in some of the most remote places in the world. Roads through lava fields, dried up salt lakes or even wetlands. Roads that only interfere with nature to a limited extent and allow a co-existence of landscape and movement path. Due to the very versatile soil and the mostly immediate surrounding nature, the aerial perspective shows how we have created paths through all kinds of vegetation.

This series should give an impression how abstract but also fascinating our planet is looking from the air.

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About Kevin Krautgartner

Kevin Krautgartner, born and raised in Germany, currently lives and works in Wuppertal. Already during his design studies, he devoted himself intensively to digital photography, which today is the core of his artistic work.

Conceptually, Krautgartner’s projects focus not only on classical architectural photography but also primarily on aerial perspectives, from which he rediscovers and redefines landscapes and habitats created by nature in general, geological processes and/or man-made structures as enormous “Found Art” objects. Particularly in the case of geological conditions, the characteristics of which are largely attributable to the Anthropocene, his works also touch on current, socially relevant topics.

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More Series from Kevin Krautgartner

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You can find Kevin Krautgartner on the Web:

Copyrights:
All the pictures in this post are copyrighted to Kevin Krautgartner. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.

Second Nature Brands recalls Gluten Free Reese’s Pieces Brownie Brittle


The product may contain wheat, an allergen not declared on the label

Photo source: FDA

Second Nature Brands of Madison Heights, Mich., is recalling Gluten Free Reese’s Pieces Brownie Brittle.

The product may contain wheat, an allergen not declared on the label.

One illness has been reported to date.

The recalled product, which comes in a 4-oz pouch, UPC 711747011562 marked with lot codes SG 1054 15/NOV/2023 1S and SG 1054 15/NOV/2023 2S on the back of the pouch, was sold nationwide in retail stores and online.

What to do

Customers with an allergy or sensitivity to wheat who purchased the recalled product should not consume it, but contact the firm for a full refund.

Consumers may contact the company by at (800) 651-7263 Monday – Friday from 8:30AM – 5:00PM (EST) or by email at recall@browniebrittle.com.

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