Macro rig for Olympus OM-1, 90mm macro and STF-8

The STF-8 does not come with an adapter ring for the Olympus 90mm macro (effective 180mm.) I have come up with one solution. The flash heads can mount on 1/4 inch threads. The Platypod  goosenecks have those. The base is a Platypod Max. It can be mounted on a tripod as it has a threaded hole, or you can add a release plate.

This might even be better than a flash ring as you can position the heads in many more positions. A pair of tiny Smallrig ball heads gives great flexibility in light positions.

One improvement might be a long mount on the lens for back and forth movement.

Led lights or other flash units will work well also. I will try my cube Led lights soon.

Anyone have suggestions or comments?

Photoshop background removal tool

I tried the background removal tool on this image...

Its built in masking was used on the hummingbird (select subject) and then inverted to constrain the removal to the flower stem. It worked well!

Adobe Lightroom Lens blur beta tool

The new lens blur (beta) tool is awesome.

Here it is in action.

Tweaked settings and mask

So it's not masking well on butterfly and does strange things to finer details such as legs and antenna. I wonder why it does not use masks I have created.

New home page live

I created a new home page to link all my sites and feeds. www.johngreen.ca

I used Adobe Portfolio for the page and hosting. It has some limitations for customization, but it's quick and easy.

Best!

OM-1 grip. Beautiful!

The grip for my OM-1 arrived today. It fits beautifully and imho better than the grip for OMD MK iii.

It's expensive but sweet.

Better balance with a longer lens is had and one extra ontap battery is useful.

It has the a complement of buttons that can be programmed. 

Thanks Burlington Camera!

A couple of new sites for wildlife photography

 I found a great Canadian photographer on YouTube. He is Simon D'entremont.

His videos are noteworthy to nature, astrophotography, and landscape photographers.

Website: https://www.simondentremont.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH6acC9jnug-mI4vdGvuDbA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sdentrem

Another site of note is the Journal of Wildlife Photography. Simon has a very worthy course on this site.

Journal of Wildlife Photography – Premier Wildlife Photography Magazine & Training Platform

Cheers!

OM System RM-WR1 remote

Here is the remote for the OM-1. It's Bluetooth and a quick and easy configuration. I could do it lol.

There is also a cable connection if needed.

The cable is of high quality. I've noticed that the wired remote also works with the Canon R series cameras. It does not have to be turned on to use via cable. The unit did not work with a Bluetooth connection to the R7.

The custom remote allows me to reconfigure the record button on the camera to another item such as focus stacking.

Pricey but pleased!

A great monopod. Benro Subradupra MSDPL46C

Best monopod ever. It can support a big white lens. Has a built in sturdy head. 

There is also a quick adjustment section for those final height settings. Carbon fiber of course. Twist locks in regular leg sections. 

I've been using this piece of kit for a while now without any issues. It really performs well in all situations.

It will also take a small set of legs I got from eBay (also pictured.)

What's not to like?

The end.

Rode videomic mic shock support repair

The rubber shock mounts on my old Rode microphone were deteriorated. 

I found some silicon o-rings in a kit on Amazon to replace the custom Rode ones.

They work great and are silicone to last longer.

The OM System 90mm macro arrived

This lens has shown up in time for my next trip to Costa Rica. Woohoo. 

Now to put it to the test. 

ISO 12800 on the r6 m2

I used DXO PureRaw's new support for r6 m2. This changes my options for butterfly photography. ISO 12800, 1/40th second at 500mm handheld. Sweet!