Now this sounds like an interesting week. I am late getting over here to post this, but I wanted to let you know what I’ve been thinking about and what I plan to talk about this week. The Tuesday stream just wrapped up but the video is out now. We talk about several things including my re-discovery of my Intuos Pro editing tablet from Wacom. I have never really liked it all that much but for some reason it just clicked with me this week and I am using it for everything. There is a lot that you can do with the stylus that you just can’t do with a finger and a trackpad. This is one of the stills form the just finished Optolux video and I had given up with this picture some time ago, but today I pulled it out and gave it one more attempt using the tablet…

The edit was quick and easy when done on the Wacom - and to think of all the images I have struggled over for hours! For some reason the Mac accepts the diagonal inputs from the tablet without hesitation, and that just makes every input more accurate. The Wacom has enough shortcuts and surface controls to please the most gadget-hungry technophile, and they are almost all customizable, which is tremendously exciting for all three of the people who know how to set custom controls on a Wacom tablet. I, not being one of those three, am quite happy with the sensible factory settings.

The other two revelations last week were my discovery of how amazing the penetrant liquid, Kroil, can be in cleaning and revitalizing some insects. I am holding judgement until I have been able to test it properly over an extended period and on many subjects. But I am guardedly optimistic that Bud Perrot may well be on to something here. Stay tuned.

Revelation #3 was just a rediscovery of just how much you can boost the resolution of a Mitutoyo objective by using it in a short focus configuration. This is not really a revelation, of course. but I include it because even though I have been teaching this technique for trading some of your magnification for increased resolution, I seldom use it myself. Well that is going to change after taking a critical look at just how effective this can be when done correctly. I can’t show you the image that caused this change of heart, because I did not ask for permission to reproduce it here, but if you follow this link to the article in which the image was used, you will see what I mean… https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=47326

What do you think? Have you ever changed the way you do something on the basis of of a single image? That is not the whole story, of course. This was just that final shining example of the potential of the technique that convinced me I was underutilizing it in my own work. Expect to see more of it - as soon as I find a lens that will give me the resolution without the dense vignette I get with the otherwise exemplary 100mm f/2.8 macro Tokina that I have been experimenting with. This is a 2.5X portrait of the same weevil shown above, shot using a short focused 5X Mitutoyo M-Plan on a 100mm prime lens.

OK - so that was all on Tuesday, and it is already Thursday, so we ned to look at today’s discussion. Today I will be taking care of something that has largely fallen by the wayside, but that needs to be kept as a priority. The competition that I have been running for the last 3 years, every month, was added to my channel for one reason and one reason only - as a tool to help learning macro photographers (all of us) gain confidence, hone their skills, and take a few creative risks - all with the end goal of making you a more accomplished macro photographer in your own right. Yet, every month I present a video in which we celebrate the twenty or so images that were good enough to stand out and make it to the final reckoning. It hit me as I was judging this last contest that this was only part of the story, and maybe the more important part was being left out. We are not looking at the images that didn’t make the cut, so we come away from the competition each month with admiration for the winning images but no idea what happened to the rest, or why. I would like to change that, and this month I am going to balance the presentation by taking the Macro Talk Too hour on Thursday to look at some of the images that didn’t make the cut and explain why they didn’t and what might have been done to change that outome.

I am used to showing my many failures, when I think it would be helpful, but a lot of people have not had the chance to learn how to overcome the self-consciousness that makes public criticism so uncomfortable to receive. But becoming a better photographer often demands that we open ourselves up to that criticism. And with that in mind, I am going to present the images that didn’t make the cut this month and I am going to explain why. But I plan to do so as gently and respectfully as I possibly can, and at the same time be clear, straightforward and honest about the decisions made during the judging process. This is my chance to give you something that will hopefully be useful and of value in exchange for your willingness to take the chance to submit an entry. Let’s see how it goes and make any course corrections as we need to in future competitions.

To that same end, I am going to be using some of our Pzoom time this Saturday to take an even closer look at the images submitted by my Patreon supporters. The setting is different and in these meetings that I do every other Saturday, the participants can communicate directly with me and ask questions. So we will be able to make it an even richer learning experience. I have a lot of other cool stuff to talk about this Saturday, so we will have to see how it works out. If this new approach is helpful and the feedback is positive, I will work this into our monthly flow.

***LATE ENTRY***

This blog post went on for quite a while with a feature piece about a crystal photograph I shared, along with half a dozen other cool images. It was about 4 hours of work and included many links for the Wacom tablet I talked about, the Kroil I demonstrated, and a bunch of other stuff including a hilarious non-sequitor. So where is all that entertaining content - dunno - ask Squarespace. As I hit the save button, which I do after every paragraph now, the whole article disappeared. It is now happening every time I try to use this platform. If you are in the mood for a rant, join me at Macro Talk Too in an hour from now and I will deliver.

Here are the links, out of context…

For the context - come to the stream -

thanks, Allan