The Light & Motion Stella 2000 rocks part 1 – Okinawa, Japan

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Admin11

The Stella 2000 offers lightweight professional lighting for photographers and videographers. It delivers 2000 lumens of beautiful wide light on high power. It is waterproof to a depth of 100 meters and extremely durable.

Stella 2000 waterproof lighting © Shawn Miller

My favorite features of the Stella 2000

Waterproof to 100 meters
Can be mounted on the camera hot-shoe, light stand, loc-line arms or ball mounts.
Quick adjustable power output control
Fast charging and the ability to use the light when it’s charging

I tested the Stella 2000 in the humid jungle and on the shorelines of northern Okinawa. I used it as a spotting light, hiking light, camera modeling light and video light. I tested the light with the 120-beam angle with no modifiers, with custom-made soft-boxes attached, studio umbrellas and with the combination of on-off camera flash.

I concentrated on the reptiles, amphibians and land crabs of northern Okinawa. Below are some of my favorite photographs.

Shawn Miller – Crabs with beach trash homes. photographed by David Orr

Okinawa green tree frog -Stella 2000 diffused on hotshoe

Okinawa green tree frog -Stella 2000 diffused on the hot-shoe’ © Shawn Miller

Holst’s frog (endangered) Stella 2000 bare with backlighting from headlights © Shawn Miller

Namie’s frog threatened species – Stella 2000 diffused through an umbrella © Shawn Miller

Ryukyu Tip nosed frog ( Endangered ) Stella 2000 diffused through an umbrella © Shawn Miller

Ishikawa’s frog (endangered) Stella 2000 diffused with fill flash © Shawn Miller

Princess habu - Diffused through an umbrella

Princess habu – Stella 2000 diffused through an umbrella © Shawn Miller

Namie’s frog – Stella 2000 modeling light – back-lighting with the Gobe 700 wide © Shawn Miller

Kuroiwa’s ground gecko (Endangered) Stella 2000 with fill flash © Shawn Miller

IHallowell's tree frog -Stella 2000 with fill flash

Hallowell’s tree frog -Stella 2000 with fill flash © Shawn Miller

Pryer’s keelback feeding on a white jawed frog – Stella 2000 diffused with fill flash © Shawn Miller

No need to worry about dropping the light in the salt water or placing it on the sand. The Stella 2000 is extremely durable.

Ghost crab – Fill flash and back-lighting Stella 2000 © Shawn Miller

Crabs with trash homes -Stella 2000 and fill flash © Shawn Miller

Making the journey (Geograpsus grayi) Stella 2000 with fill flash © Shawn Miller

Hermit crab and plastic- Stella 2000 with fill flash © Shawn Miller

Ghost crab feeding- Stella 2000 with fill flash © Shawn Miller

Crabs with trash homes -Stella 2000 and fill flash © Shawn Miller

Geograpsus grayi feeding on the Ryukyu kajika frog – Stella 2000 and fill flash © Shawn Miller

Solid as a rock- Stella 2000

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I have been using Light & Motion lights for over four years now and they keep getting better! Stayed tuned for testing the Stella 2000 underwater !

Ryukyu tip-nosed frog (Odorrana narina) – Frogs of Okinawa

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Admin11

The Ryukyu tip-nosed frog ( Odorrana narina) is found in Northern Okinawa. This endemic frog is currently listed endangered on the IUCN red list. It’s biggest threat is habitat loss.

Scientific name: Odorrana narina
Common name: Ryukyu tip-nosed frog
Distribution: Yanbaru forest, Northern Okinawa
Habitat: Forest streams and mountain slopes
Diet: Insects, centipedes and small invertebrates
Average size: 50mm – 75mm

Ryukyu tip-nosed frog – Stella 2000

The Ryukyu tip-nosed frog is a medium sized frog. It hides in holes and crevices in the daytime.

Ryukyu tip-nosed frog – Tokina 10-17mm

Ryukyu tip-nosed frog

Odorrana narina – frogs of Okinawa

It feeds during the night on small insects and centipedes.

Ryukyu tip-nosed frog -wide angle macro, Stella 2000

It is sometimes found on roads searching for food after heavy rains.

Ryukyu Tip-nosed frog -Red list

Be careful and pay close attention to crossing wildlife.

Crossing wildlife- wide angle macro

Road kill- Ryukyu Tip-nosed frog

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

This site is also designed to help people identify the beautiful animals of Okinawa, basically to serve as an online nature reference guide. If you would like to make a contribution to support my mission, please click on the donation link paypal.me/maketheswitch4nature

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

Light and Motion macro field setup – Constant lighting by Shawn Miller

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Admin11

Light and Motion lights produce constant lighting with studio quality output. This light configuration is convenient while shooting macro photography at night. The camera, tray, arms and lights are combined into one lightweight unit. The light output can be easily adjusted with a touch of a switch. Having the lights on loc-line arms allow simple light angle adjustments.

The custom Light and Motion macro field setup consists of

Sola Tray kit with extention tray and arms
Third custom loc-line arm mounted
GoBe 700 wide light
Sola 600 light
Sola 1200 light
Canon 70D with 60 mm macro lens and strap

Light and Motion macro field setup by Shawn M Miller.

I was fortunate to have beautiful weather both nights testing the constant lighting setup in northern Okinawa. Six of the animals below are endangered species listed as threatened on the IUCN red list. All of these night dwellers are decreasing in numbers due to deforestation.