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Well, the insects are just starting to show up in my small backyard wildflower plot. This was my first try this year at insect photography, and I am rusty at it. It doesn't help that the subjects are few and far between. I normally would have sent this image to the round file, but I'll post it...

Today I finally got around to looking at pre release capture on my new Z8. I tried setting it up on a bird feeder, but the birds didn't cooperate. I noticed a bunch of dragonflies in a field and thought I'd try my luck with them. It worked, although the camera couldn't keep focus lock on such a...

Edited the rest of yesterday's images. Here are a few.

The Pup and I took a trip up to Swan Lake in Sumpter, SC, while the weather is still cool. Had a good time. I tried out another ICM experiment. This was the straight shot. These were the ICMs. The first using the zoom, and the second turning the camera. Also got some birds. Pileated...

We are having highs in the low to mid 80s F (26 -29 C)around here and while there are a few insects out and about, it will be a little while before I consider it macro season. My wildflower plot in the back yard is coming along well. I had my first real flowers bloom this week, but there won't...

The Pup and I went back to Beidler Forest this morning. Sunny day that gave higher ISOs than last Friday. Had a cooperative yellow crowned heron and prothonotary warbler.

Just for info, early on I bought one of the small, pop on, plastic diffusers. Something like this: When I used it, I had issues with the flash shutting down. At the time I thought it was running through the battery much, much quicker than usual. In retrospect, I think the flash head...

Is Brian the one in jeans or the one dressed in all black?

At the 3:00 position of the control wheel is a small "lock" symbol. Press the control ring down right next to this symbol and hold it for a few seconds. I accidentally lock mine every now and then.

I went to a local Audubon swamp a few days ago and was trying to get some prothonotary warblers with my new Z8. I couldn't get it to autofocus worth a flip. Then I discovered I had it on animal detection. I switched it to bird and things changed dramatically for the better.

Do an internet search (if you haven't already) for DIY macro flash diffusers and you will find a lot of creative designs.

Congratulations. Some nice images.

I don't know how it works on the D850, but on my Z cameras there is an option to turn off the touch screen. I keep mine off to keep my nose from changing the focus point when looking through the viewfinder.

Great quick and dirty diffuser. For something a little more durable, you might consider a white plastic bottle. Maybe something like a quart bleach bottle. It may produce a slightly softer light than the foil liner on the inside of the cardboard can you used for this.

I have gotten close enough to the great blues that I had to back up to get beyond minimum focus distance of 6 ft.

I'm thinking more like "Stop scaring the fish away, or YOU are gong to be my lunch!".

What style are you looking at initially? My favorite style is the cone shaped. Remember, the larger the diffuser, the more diffuse the light will be. The bad news for them is that they are not easily made collapsible for easy storage and carrying in the field. Unfortunately, the one I made went...

Got out to the Francis Beidler Forest today. The prothonotary warblers were in bloom. A couple owls showed up as well as a few water snakes. Light levels were really low, forcing very high ISOs, especially earlier in the morning. Topaz will clean them up, but they definitely lose detail.

I find a small, folding footstool really handy when I'm out shooting macro in the back yard.

Topaz Photo AI is up to version 3.6 at this time. I have thought about paying for the upgrade from my current 3. something, but have no way of knowing whether they have the tiling issue fixed.