Tag: Great Blue Heron

Recovering “Erased” Photos

by dkrashb, posted in DSLR, Featured, iPhoneography Tips, Photography
Carolina Wrens may not be all that exciting, but I do love when they’re sitting in the sun.
I was very happy to have recovered this image of an Eastern Phoebe grooming
I really like the light on this Green Heron’s legs even though the head angle is not ideal
This guy snuck up on me
A great blue heron looking mighty different head on.
Who can resist adorable baby blue birds peeking out of the box? Another image saved by Image Recovery!
And this is one of many shots of Osprey in flight that I did the crawl through poison ivy for
Just one more from the collection of Osprey shots recovered
The spotted sandpiper I’ve been watching for (and not finding) was found amongst my recovered images–this time in flight

Hopefully, you are all well-organized and have never gotten confused about which images on your memory card have been saved to your computer and which haven’t. In my case, I recently had a brain malfunction known as “brain flatulence” causing me to reformat a memory card containing about 1000 images I hadn’t uploaded yet.

It happened in a moment of distraction. I was checking to see how much space was left on the memory card in my camera in preparation for a shoot just to see if I needed to swap out the card before I started. I knew I hadn’t uploaded the images yet. I made several mistakes:

  1. I went to the format card menu to see how full the card is because it’s easier for me to see the big bar graph displayed on my LCD than the counter that tells you how many images you have room for. Putting on my reading glasses and looking at the counter would have been safer.
  2. I was sitting in my car waiting to meet someone with traffic zooming by and other distractions. In the moment when I should have selected “cancel,” a loud vehicle grabbed my attention.
  3. I use the format card menu every time I want to erase images. My muscle memory is to select “format card,” not to select “cancel”–I have to pay close attention when in the format card menu.

In the moment the loud vehicle captured my mind, my muscle memory took over and gone were all my images! Mind you, I had bushwacked through thick undergrowth, dragged myself through poison ivy, and braved the aerial version of a mine field walking under a heron rookery to get some of the images on that card. I was not a happy camper.

But, here’s the good news! When you delete images or format your card, no data is actually lost. Rather, the existing data is marked as eligible for being overwritten. This means that as long as you set that card aside and don’t write any photos on top of your “deleted” data, your images can easily be recovered with the right software.

The software I chose first was Lexar’s Image Recovery 4. My main reason for choosing this software was because it is a) available for a mac (and windows), and b) free because I own several Lexar memory cards. This software claims to work on all memory cards, but it was a Lexar card I used it with.

Unfortunately, Lexar does not have the best ordering process. You can download the trial version of the software for free, but you can only get a key by contacting support. Alternatively, you can pay $40 for their newest version, IR 5.

I recommend NOT scanning your memory card with the trial version–you can only restore one image. After I had successfully scanned my card and restored one image, I was stuck waiting for a license key. Support told me it could take up to 48 hours to get it. When I finally got the license key and rescanned the card, the software couldn’t find any images. Yes, I freaked.

Fortunately, support provided me with a key for IR5 because I had recently bought one of my Lexar cards. Once I had IR5, I had no trouble restoring all of the images. The interface is intuitive and although running the scan on a full 32GB card and restoring the images does take a significant amount of time to run, all I had to do was click a couple of buttons.

So, if you own a recent Lexar card, download the IR5 version and send support a request for a free license key (you will probably need to tell them what card you have that entitles you to the software). Wait to run the software until you receive the key and then you should have no problems.

If you don’t own a Lexar card, there are other software options out there. I was unable to find a reliable source I’m familiar with for reviews of these software options, so I went with Lexar. My logic was that they have a major stake in making sure I recover my photos successfully and they are a company I’ve already trusted with my images for many years. While they have logistics issues with giving out licenses, they were helpful and supportive, the software worked, and it didn’t cost me anything but time.

By the way, for iPhoneographers, I stumbled across software that is supposed to recover deleted data on the iPhone, including photos. I cannot vouch for the product, but here is a review on CNET: http://download.cnet.com/Data-Recovery-for-iPhone/3000-2242_4-75856767.html

Lesson 26: The iPhone and Wildlife

by dkrashb, posted in Featured, iPhoneography Lessons, iPhoneography Tips, iPhonography, Photography Lessons, Simple Photography Lessons
Tinto 1884 Lens with Ina’s 1969 film with focus selection on heron
Camera Awesome
Tinto 885 lens with D-Type film – but can you see the heron?

One of the challenges with the iPhone is trying to capture photos of wildlife where you can actually see the wildlife in question.  In yesterday’s lesson, we looked at using the photojojo telephoto lens to get 8 to 12x magnification optically.  You might think this is a really great answer for wildlife.

Using the telephoto attachment for wildlife shooting introduces several additional challenges.  First, it’s hard to hold the phone steady enough to get a photo of a wild animal with the telephoto lens attached.  Any shake is magnified proportionally to the magnification of the lens.  Second, you have to focus manually, which can be very tricky if you’re trying to follow a moving animal.  And third, if you don’t have the attachment already on the phone, there’s a good chance the wildlife will have left by the time you get it attached.

I am continuing to experiment and research what other people are doing for wildlife, but so far, I’ve found two patterns:  they are shooting subjects they can get up close to without the subject moving.  Or, the subject is really big.  Like buffalo and moose big.

This morning, I managed to sneak up on a Great Blue Heron who was hanging out by the side of a bike path that runs along the Tennessee River.  The secret to sneaking up on a heron is to start by getting as close as possible on your bike.

For heron who hang out by bike paths, they are so used to bikes going by that they assume you’re not a threat when you’re on one.  Once you’re off your bike, don’t look at the heron.  Get your iPhone unlocked and the app of your choice ready to go.  Walk sideways or backwards towards the heron, turning just enough to get the framing you want and snap.  Walk closer and snap again.  Keep this up until the heron starts to look nervous.  Then, back away.  By the way, heron are known for stabbing at people’s eyes with their incredibly sharp beaks when threatened, so keep your eyes well out of reach!

The heron I approached this morning was pretty patient.  I managed to try two different films in Hipstamatic with the same lens (Tinto 1884) we used in lesson 24 as well as the Camera Awesome app.  By the time he started looking nervous, I was within 10 feet (and wishing I had eye protection).

I chose the Tinto 1884 lens because I wanted the blurred effect that helps isolate the subject.  I started with the D-type tintype film because I like the look with the bridge in the background.  However, because you can’t select the focus point with that film, the heron came out blurry unless I nearly centered the heron, which just didn’t create a pleasing composition:

By switching to the Ina’s 1969 film, I was able to select the focus and get a better composition.  To select the focus in Hipstamatic, place your finger on the screen where you want to focus and hold it there for a second.  If you look closely, you’ll see a motion in the viewfinder that simulates the turning of a lens to focus.  Don’t tap–if you tap, it takes a picture.

Compare the photo on the left, taken with the D-type film that doesn’t allow for focus selection, to the photo on the right, where I was able to select the focus:

Tinto 1884 lens and D-type film–the heron is out of focus
Tinto 1884 Lens with Ina’s 1969 film with focus selection on heron

As you can see, while the D-type film may create an interesting effect for the scene, the mis-placed focus makes it less pleasing over all than the version using Ina’s 1969 film with the heron in focus.

Finally, here’s the photo I took with the Camera Awesome app (no editing):

Camera Awesome
Camera Awesome

Not bad for an iPhone in low light!

Your Assignment:  Go to a local park that has a body of water.  There are bound to be frogs, water birds, turtles, and spiders.  Water birds are far easier than song birds, by the way.  They are usually much larger and they like to sit still for endless periods of time because they’re used to watching for fish.

Try sneaking up on one, taking photos as you work your way closer.  How close do you have to get for the photo to work?  How big was your subject?  If you spot any turtles, these are great subjects as well–they move slowly if at all.  Spiders can also make great subjects, but we’ll be talking more about those in a later lesson when we use the photojojo macro attachment mentioned in yesterday’s assignment.  You might also try getting photos with your telephoto attachment if you bought one.  Were you able to get interesting photos with visible wildlife?  Since the iPhone lens is wide angle, you’ll want to apply everything you’ve learned about inclusion and exclusion to make your photo as interesting as possible.  Did you get anything really good?