Monthly Archives: December 2016

Cruising Wildlife

Cameras and Photography, Cruise Ships, , , , , ,

Lynn and I were fortunate to be able to cruise the Caribbean once again earlier this month. I love watching birds and wildlife and trying to make photographs of their behavior.  On this trip we both saw something for the first time.

On more than one occasion, birds followed our ship and dove for fish right along side.

Brown Boobies were following the ship and diving for fish right along side.Brown Booby

There were mostly Brown Boobies with a few Masked Boobies mixed in.

There were a few Masked Boobies fishing tooMasked Booby

Flying Fish were also plentiful along our route and the ship’s wake seemed to scare them up as we passed.

Flying Fish were plentiful along our route and the ship seemed to scare them up as we passed.Flying Fish

A closer look at the Flying FishA closer look at the Flying Fish

Photographing the birds catching fish wasn’t easy. You have to track a bird (at high magnification) as it moves just above the water and focus / shoot continuously – then hope you catch the right moment before your camera buffer runs out. I managed to get a few frames although the quality is not high. This is probably the best one.

Just before the catchJust before the catch

I was using a new camera (Olympus E-M1 II) for the bird / fish photos.  The frame rate and continuous focus capabilities really helped.  There’s a new “Pro Capture” mode on this that I couldn’t use (didn’t have the right lens).  It captures frames with the shutter button pressed half way and saves them with a final frame when fully pressed.  It would have made this use case easier.  I’m looking forward to seeing how the camera works in other situations.

We also saw Magnificent Frigatebirds. They seem pretty common in the Caribbean – mostly in the harbors. I’ve only seen a few here in Florida, along both coasts

Magnificent FrigatebirdFemale Magnificent Frigatebird

Cruise directors plan interesting things for passengers to do while at sea but these may not appeal to everyone.   It’s good to have an alternative activity available like wildlife observation and photography when you’re looking for something fun to do.

I’m collecting other photos from the trip in this album on Flickr.  And I have several other blog posts that feature photography from cruise ships.  If you’re interested, see this link:  https://edrosack.com/category/photo-ops-categorized-by-place/cruise-ships/

By the way (no.1): I realize that some spam filters may reject the email for this post due to the names of the birds.  If it happens to you, sorry.  You can always read the latest content on the web at https://edrosack.com

By the way (no. 2):  I think the search problem on the blog is resolved.  If anyone still has issues, please let me know.

By the way (no. 3):  Happy new year!  I hope all of you have a great holiday and prosperous and delightful 2017!

Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

©2016, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

TURTLEy Awesome Adventure

INSIDE FLORIDA, Juno Beach, , ,

While technically outside of the Central Florida Photo Ops area, this week’s post comes to you from the Loggerhead Marinelife Center down in Juno Beach, FL.  The Center is a turtley awesome 12,000 square foot non-profit education and ocean conservation facility with a veterinary hospital, exhibit, outdoor classroom, research lab, resource center, and – my favorite – a really great gift shop (you don’t have to feel guilty leaving with souvenirs, it’s all for a great cause!).

Turtle rescue and rehabilitationLoggerhead Marinelife Center facility

For the second year in a row (now a tradition!), some of the family headed down to meet Pumpkin, the green sea turtle patient I adopted this Christmas for my sister-in-law Sara.  Pumpkin was stranded at Palm Beach, FL and arrived to the Marinelife Center on November 2.  The  victim of a net entanglement, Pumpkin has an injury to its left front flipper and hasn’t been eating well.  However, Pumpkin seemed active and in good spirits when we visited, and we can keep tabs on his progress (and hopefully eventual release date) through his patient page on the Center website.

Turtle rescue and rehabilitationPumpkin, Sara’s green sea turtle adoptee

The main section of the facility has six large glass-front tanks where you can watch the turtles from the top or get a “fish eye” view from the front.  We really flipped out over our two new friends: Squash and Nicklen were really shelling it out for the cameras!

Turtle rescue and rehabilitationHeros In A Half Shell: Turtle Power!

SquashSquash was squishing against the glass to see us!

You can also watch the vet staff interact with and treat the turtles.  In the picture below, they were draining the water in Waffle’s tank for a disinfectant treatment on its flipper.  The Loggerhead Marinelife Center is great with education and makes the turtles very accessible to watch and learn about – you can also watch the vet staff in the turtle hospital through their large front windows.

Turtle rescue and rehabilitationWaffle prepares for his disinfectant treatment

The Center is a wonderful place for kids and adults alike – whether you visit in person, attend a turtle release, or check out their Turtle Cam, there are lots of ways to learn about these gentle giants.  And if you’re looking for a last-minute 2016 charitable deduction, then consider donating or even adopting your own! You can help the Loggerhead Marinelife Center rehabilitate and release even more endangered sea turtles.

Editors notes:

Thanks for stopping by and reading the blog.  Now go save some turtles – and make some photos!

Turtle rescue and rehabilitationDon’t get thrown in the tank during your New Years SHELLebration!!

©2016, MK and Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Merry Christmas, 2016!!!

VARIOUS, , ,

I hope that all of you have a wonderful holiday and enjoy spending time with your family and friends!

To get you in the mood, here are a few seasonal photos from my archives – I hope you enjoy them.

Santa's workshopSanta’s Workshop – In Barberville, Florida

Merry Christmas to all My Flickr friends!Merry Christmas to all  – Santa inbound through Ponce Inlet

Seasons Greetings!Seasons Greetings!

Nativity Scene – Cincinnati, Ohio

NativityOur Lladro Manger Scene

For those of you from other faiths, I sincerely hope that all of you are having a blessed time too.  We have so much to be thankful for.

I very much appreciate you stopping by my blog. Enjoy the holidays!

©2016, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Wouldn’t it be nice…

Cameras and Photography, INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Jesup, ,

Lynn and I were driving back from dinner one day last week.  The sky was beautiful and I liked the way the clouds and color looked so I pulled out my iPhone and made this photo as we went across the 417 bridge over Lake Jesup.

Sunset over Lake Jessie.Sunset over Lake Jesup

This isn’t an earth shattering photo by any means, but there are things about it that are interesting.  I used the Lightroom mobile app on my phone to capture it in RAW mode.  Then I edited it (using the same app) and posted it from the car before we exited 417 a few minutes later.  When I got home, the image (captured version and edits) was already on my desktop computer.  What a frictionless experience.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do the same with our stand alone cameras?

Camera manufacturers are moving in this direction, but their progress seems slow.  You can connect many cameras (e.g. Olympus, Sony, Fuji, etc.) with an app on your phone and then process and post from the phone.  But it’s sometimes clumsy and not as well-integrated.  Phone manufacturers are moving toward higher quality mobile photography at a faster rate.  The 12 megapixel, RAW capture, stabilized images output from the iPhone approach (or exceed) the sensor image quality of some older DSLRs.  And RAW processing / editing on phones is really coming along.

Do you think the mobile capabilities of stand alone cameras will catch up with phones before the image quality of phones is more than good enough?  The question may already be decided.

Hmm – two blog posts in a row with nothing but iPhone photos.  What’s the world coming to?

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

©2016, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Cracker Christmas 2016

Fort Christmas, INSIDE FLORIDA, , , ,

Lynn and I went out to the Fort Christmas Historical Park this morning and met Nancy T. there for the 39th annual “Cracker Christmas”.  There are craft vendors and historical demonstrations and it’s a great way to revisit some of our Florida history and maybe find a few unique gifts for friends and relatives.

The Union SchoolThe Union School – Originally established in 1906, it was expanded in the 1920s and used until 1969.

I was glad to go since I was hoping to make some photos for a blog post.  I haven’t done any photography all week until today.  Which is why this post is a bit late.

Victrola and RCA Victor recordVictrola and RCA Victor record

One of the small buildings at Fort Christmas has a nice display of Victrolas and Edison phonograph machines.  They have recordings too and it was a treat to listen to one of their wax cylinders from the late 1800s or early 1900s.

There was live music too:

Skeeter Creek bandSkeeter Creek band

Other things I enjoyed seeing were the tractor displays:

Farmall TractorFarmall Tractor

And even the old furniture, some of which was very ornate.

Dragonfly and flowers chairDragonfly and flowers chair

There was plenty to eat, too – although we left before lunchtime.

This post is a first for me.  All of the photos are from my iPhone (in JPG mode no less!) with a bit of Lightroom magic added.  I also carried my micro 4/3 cameras, but for some reason ended up not using them.  Curious.

You can read other posts I’ve written about Fort Christmas at this link.  And I’ve collected my Fort Christmas photos in this album on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

©2016, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved