Tag Archives: OM Digital Solutions

Nature Photography

Slime Molds Time!

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I joke about me being too tall to see slime molds down there on the forest floor, but occasionally I get to spot them. Then comes the process of setting up my camera and tripod in the most awkward position possible and holding my breath for long exposures… I guess if macro photographers ever do yoga or free-diving they will be a force to reckon with in these disciplines.

White slime molds growing on rotten wood.
These Myxos (I think they are Trichia or Hemitrichia) remind me of light bulbs. The fruiting bodies become reddish later.

There are three phases in the life cycle of slime molds that are very photogenic: The unopened fruiting bodies or sporangia, the equivalent of mushrooms; the already opened sporangia that held the spores; and the viscous liquid phase that crawls about, looking for nutrients. I think the latter one looks better in stop motion videos though.

Myxomycetes (opened sporangia)
These are the same white fruiting bodies after they opened.

These things are about a millimeter tall and require stacking macro images to get a good looking image. Luckily, my OM System OM-1 camera can do this automatically as long as I don’t need to do stack more than 15 photos. If more images are needed the camera will take as many as I want but then I have to stack them later using Helicon Focus. Either way it saves you from having to slowly slide the camera in a focusing rail to get each image for the stack.

The white Didymium growing on a leaf was an in-camera stack. You get a ready to use stacked jpeg and also saves the individual raw files in case you need them. The other ones are stacked using Helicon.

Finding a nice subject among these tiny organisms brings about a sense of discovery that certainly makes up for any technical hardships!

Didymium slime molds growing on a leaf.
Didymium growing on a leaf. An in-camera stack ready to use.
People Photography

Musical!

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Last week I had the pleasure to hear a concert by the Orquesta de Costa Rica with vocals by La Colmena Performance Arts Center. They chose to sing pieces from well-known Musicals and did so remarkably well.


That day I was carrying my Olympus Pen-F and a couple of fast primes and, even though we were seated towards the back of the theater, I decided to do some viewer’s perspective photos. When I have this camera in my hands and am shooting people I always end up doing black and whites: it must be the looks of the camera body…


What you see here are not the in-camera black and whites as I had to do a little processing and cropping. If I’d had a chance to frame better the photos by moving around I’d probably be using the superb Pen-F originals.


I feel my approach gives the performer’s photos a nice classical look, but… what do you think?

Selected pieces from Musicals performed by Centro de Artes Escénicas La Colmena and the Orquesta de Costa Rica
Landscape photography

Slow shutter speed (and life!) on a tropical beach

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After seeing, and taking, many snapshots of the water on a sunny, tropical beach it is not difficult to notice that the water always looks frozen and the movement and intensity of the moment is missing.

Continue reading Slow shutter speed (and life!) on a tropical beach →
Nature Photography

Tiny wonders

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The first time I saw photos of Slime Mold fruiting bodies, the equivalent of fungal caps, I couldn’t help thinking about life on another planet. The fact that these organisms actually turn into a slowly creeping slime when they are not in the reproductive stage sure helps my mental image of something alien.

These sporangia, a more technical name for the reproductive structure, are barely over one millimeter in length (one mm is about 1/24th of an inch). I am not very good at finding them, but there is a large and enthusiastic group of hobbyists and scientists that are constantly publishing photos of Myxomycetes, the technical name for the Slime Molds… they are good at finding these little marvels!

Arcyria incarnata. Photo by Eduardo Libby
Arcyria incarnata sporangia: they remind me of a group of friends gossiping.

These are among the first ones I have photographed. As you know, I am more of a landscape/wildlife photographer but… Hey, one must adapt to pandemic life! I was lucky to spot them growing on some rotting wood logs on the back of my garden.

Arcyria incarnata sporangia. Photo by Eduardo Libby
Arcyria incarnata sporangia or spore-bearing structures after opening.

My friend Federico Valverde was nice enough to identify them for me. He is a retired biologist that has found new fire for his scientific brain finding Slime Molds and photographing them. These beautiful Slime Mold species are named Arcyria incarnata.

Very fitting.

I will try to remember it.

Landscape photography, Travel Photography

Nice beach, Nice sunset, Nice Black and White

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One of the prettiest beaches on Costa Rica’s west coast is on the inside of a circular bay that gives protection to the swimmers from the open ocean waves and is named Carrillo Beach.

Continue reading Nice beach, Nice sunset, Nice Black and White →
Nature Photography

Three Hummingbirds

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Visiting a new area in Costa Rica nearly always means a change in the avian species around. Granted, some birds seem to pop up anywhere but there are always nice surprises.

The place we were staying was on the slope of a hill, with a long balcony overlooking the coast. A few feet below the balcony the Stachytarpheta shrubs were busy with hummingbirds flying non stop.

Photo of a Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on Stachytarpheta nectar. Image by Eduardo Libby
Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on Stachytarpheta nectar.

The high viewpoint revealed the beautiful design on the tails of female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. But I was not too successful in getting eye-level shots of the males… well, I already had those anyway from their seasonal visit to my garden’s Stachytarpheta.

Photo of a Cinnamon Hummingbird. Image by Eduardo Libby
Cinnamon Hummingbird
Blue-throated Goldentail. Photo by Eduardo Libby
Blue-throated Goldentail perched on a dry Stachytarpheta inflorescence.

Soon I noticed two species I had not photographed before: the Cinnamon Hummingbird and the Blue-throated Goldentail. The first, kindly chose a well-located perch and posed for me. The Goldentail I shot perched on a dry inflorescence… enough to show its blue throat, but it was again the elevated viewpoint from the balcony that provided a nice picture of both its thick red bill and its magnificent Golden Tail.

Nice too for just a beach trip!

Male Blue-throated Goldentail. Photo by Eduardo Libby
Male Blue-throated Goldentail.

If you want to see more Costa Rican Birds, do visit my Website by clicking here.