Hello readers and season’s greetings to each of you! I hope everyone can visit with family and friends and enjoy this wonderful time of year. Here’s a photo of the tree near the main entrance to our building. I think it looks marvelous!
Happy Holidays 2024!
2. Visit to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
I also wanted to share some photos from my last trip to MINWR (13 December). Winter is a good time to visit and the activity over there has started to pick up. Here are a few samples of the things I saw, first a landscape:
Early morning view of the causeway and clouds leading into the refuge (from Veterans Memorial Park)
And here’s some of the wildlife I spotted:
Wetland Phoebe
Snowy Egrets on a Mission
Chilly Redish Egret
Young Roseate Spoonbill
Northern Shoveler
Wet Wings (a typical Cormorant pose)
Hooded Mergansers
Lurking Gator
Feral Hog
Thanks to everyone for stopping by my blog. Stay positive, be kind, and take care of yourselves and each other. Enjoy your time with family and friends. Make some memories (with photos!).
MK invited us to Nashville for Thanksgiving week. We’re huge fans of the Nashville TV show, so we made sure to arrive the weekend before so we could catch the Nashville Reunion Tour at the Ryman Auditorium. They’ve done this tour before, but this year there were only two dates: Atlanta and Nashville. Given the incredible choice of the historic Ryman venue, we couldn’t resist!
Note: the header Image is a shot from behind the control booth before the concert.
Ford Lounge
We splurged and upgraded our tickets to add the Ford VIP Lounge and we think it was well worth it. This comes with a dedicated and fast security line, a private lounge with included beverages and snacks, private bathrooms, in/out access, and a place to sit and visit before the show. The Lounge has memorabilia inside that we enjoyed having the chance to see. And before the show, we were able to use VIP level access on the balcony level to see more memorabilia.
The Ryman Auditorium has a long history and is an icon in Nashville. The first concert there was in 1892 and many famous acts have performed on its stage over the years.
A few previous Ryman performers
We had good seats close to the front (except for a column that partially blocked our view) and really enjoyed the proximity to the stage. While there isn’t a bad seat in the house, the seats themselves are the original wood pews. Next time we’d bring stadium cushions to make them more comfortable.
The Crowd
We all enjoyed watching the Nashville TV show. For those of you that aren’t big fans, here’s the characters played by this show’s performers:
Colin Linden was a musician / songwriter for the show and appears in many scenes. While Charles Esten sang his songs on the show, Colin played the guitar parts for the them.
And … the bartender in the Ford Lounge was an extra on the show!
Clare Bowen, Sam Palladio, Colin Linden
Charles Esten, Colin Linden
Sam Palladio, Charles Esten, Clare Bowen, Colin Linden, & Jonathan Jackson
Autographed Nashville Reunion Tour Hatch Print (photo by MK Rosack, used with permission)
Another benefit of the VIP Ford Lounge is that we each received a limited-edition Hatch Show Print poster commemorating the Nashville Reunion Tour…. and they were autographed by all four performers! Hatch Show Print is another Nashville icon: “a working letterpress print shop since 1879, [Hatch Show Print] uses its vast collection of vintage type and hand-carved imagery to create timeless designs that express and commemorate America’s evolving cultural identity.”
North side view
The Ryman windows themselves are iconic. But despite rumors that they were a gift from country legend Johnny Cash to his wife and artist June Carter, they were actually added as a stylistic choice to the arches windows on the north side of the building in 1966. It’s hard to imagine the Ryman without them today! https://www.ryman.com/story/6-myths-and-misconceptions-about-the-ryman-debunked
The music / experience at the Ryman was amazing! We’re very grateful we went and we’d recommend a similar concert if you have the chance.
Photography: The Ryman Auditorium FAQ says “Professional cameras with detachable or telephoto lenses are prohibited.” so I relied on my iPhone 16 Pro Max for photos. With our close seats and its 5x telephoto lens, I think it worked very well.
We did many other things while we were at MK’s: Some movies / TV shows, eating too much very good food, shopping, touring the Vanderbilt campus, and lots of family time. Even some chores too! MK is a wonderful host! What a great trip!
Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog! Stay positive, be kind, and take care of yourselves and each other. Visit with family. And if you have a chance, go listen to some live music – and make some photos!
It’s been a while since I last visited Orlando Wetlands Park, so I decided to get a little exercise and check out what’s happening there now. Here are a few things I saw.
The Cypress trees are starting to show our Florida Fall colors:
Cypress Swamp
The Visitors Center construction’s all done and the’ve done a nice job with the plantings in the garden:
In the garden by the Visitors Center.
Year round birds are plentiful:
Snowy Egret, low over the pond.
Little Blue Heron Portrait
And the alligators are plentiful too:
Sleepy Gator. And the alligators are plentiful too.
This is the time of year that migrant birds start to show up. This page on eBird shows observations from recent years by month: https://ebird.org/barchart?byr=2020&eyr=2024&bmo=1&emo=12&r=L452007. Orlando Wetlands Park is a beautiful place to visit, explore, and make photos. Maybe I’ll see you out there!
Thanks so much for checking out my blog! Stay positive, be kind, and take care of yourselves and each other. And if you have a chance, go for a hike and make some photos!
Note: Our part of Central Florida was spared major impacts from Hurricane Helene. Unfortunately, people in many other areas are suffering horribly with injuries, death, and property loss. Our hearts go out to everyone affected.
I’ve gotten behind keeping the blog up to date so today I’ll try to catch up some. These photos are all recent ones from trips to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on July 29th and Sept. 25th.
A fisherman with a view. Rotary Riverfront Park on US 1 south of the refuge entrance. July 29.
One of several Wild Turkeys hanging out near the turn in to Bairs Cove. July 29.
2 or 3 Manatees were making a big commotion in Haulover Canal by the Bairs Cove boat ramp. July 29.
Dawn at the marina – 1. The early morning sky was spectacular looking east from Marina Park. September 25.
Dawn at the marina – 2. The sky was interesting looking west too, but not as colorful – so I converted to B&W. September 25.
A young Black Crowned Night Heron near the rest area on Black Point Wildlife Drive. September 25.
Baby Gators. From the Visitor Center boardwalk. September 25.
The folks at the Visitor Center said there was a Momma Gator and babies in the pond. I walked out and down the boardwalk without spotting them. About to give up, I heard the babies calling. They make a sort of a chirp / gulp sound and I was able to follow their calls and find them. I hoped the babies would be on Mom’s back, but not that day. She was watching over her offspring from a few feet away.
Momma Gator. From the Visitor Center boardwalk. September 25.
Header image: I made that one along the back part of Black Point Wildlife Drive. I’ve always liked those large pine trees and the light that morning and the hazy sky background appealed to me. You can see a larger version on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/53972104178/in/dateposted/
Maybe the Dog Days of Summer aren’t the best time to make photos at MINWR. But photo ops are still there if you go look for them.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, and take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos !
In my last post, I mentioned stopping to see Kevin M. in Chattanooga and that he gave me back the very same Nikon D90 that was my primary camera in 2008 and 2009. Thanks again, Kevin!
The camera is in fine shape and after buying some inexpensive after market batteries I was ready to try it out – again. I took it along on a recent outing to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. This small pond is near the west entrance to Gator Creek Road and has an easterly view at dawn over the water.
A pretty place for a camera test…
The only Nikon lens I still have is an even older 50mm f/1.8, so I used it for this image. It’s a stitched panorama from 2 rows of 8 frames resulting in a final image size of 9732×7462 pixels (72.6M Pixels in a 4×5 aspect ratio). I used my latest workflow and software and I think it came out pretty nice for 16+ year old tech!
I did notice that the auto focus capabilities are nowhere near as good as current cameras. And the resolution (12 MegaPixels) is pretty low too. But the dynamic range, color, and noise performance held up very well – especially with RAW files run through modern software.
It was a lot of fun to use the D90 again. I was surprised by how comfortable I was with the controls after so long. It was a very good camera when it was released. And it’s still an impressive camera now. Will I take it out and use it sometimes? Yes, for old times sake. But I’m not going to give up my Sony gear!
If you click on this image, you can see a higher resolution version on Flickr along, with EXIF info and a map showing the location.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Stay positive, be kind, and take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos – even with old gear!
We just returned from a trip to Nashville Tennessee, Archbold Ohio and back. We spent 15 days on the road and saw family, friends, and many sights. I thought I’d offer you some photos along with a few words about our journey.
Header image: another view of Chattanooga from Lookout Mountain.
Kevin also gave me a “new old” camera! It’s a Nikon D90 that I originally owned from 2008 – 2010 before I passed it on to him. It was his main camera for a while, but he no longer needs it and asked if I wanted it back. Yes! It’s still working and I plan to try it out (again) on my next photo outing. Thanks Kevin for the tour and the camera!!
Nashville
We stayed with MK in Nashville over the 4th of July. There was a lot of good food and some sightseeing too. She found a close by park with a view of the downtown skyline:
Nashville Skyline – from Love Circle Park, elevation 744 feet.
And after dinner one evening they dropped me off for a few minutes so I could make a few photos downtown:
Downtown Nashville, Broadway, near the river
We’d heard about the Gallery of Iconic Guitars (GIG: https://www.thegigatbelmont.com) and visiting it was one of the highlights of the trip. We got there early and had the place to ourselves!
Gallery of Iconic Guitars. The GIG at Belmont University in Nashville has dozens of historic instruments on display from a total of about 500 in the collection.
1887 Martin D-28. One of the oldest instruments on display at the GIG.
Ohio
Next, we headed up to Archbold Ohio. Although I didn’t make any photos there, one highlight on the drive was a stop at Sweetwater Music in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It’s quite a place and if you have any interest in music, you should visit if you get a chance.
We drove home from Ohio along I-75. It’s a scenic route, but there aren’t many places to pull over for a photo. This one spot a bit north east of Chattanooga was the only safe overlook that we found.
Overlooking Owl Hollow; Stitched panorama from 4 RAW format iPhone frames.
It was a very nice trip, although we spent way too many hours in the car. Family, friends, sightseeing, food, convention, and more. A great time!
You can click on these photos to see higher resolution versions on Flickr.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. Stay positive, be kind, and take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos on your road trip!
A very special place! The last time I was there was way back in 2013, when it was still called Mt. Evans. I only discovered the name change a few weeks ago. While researching that, I also discovered some changes in how the area is managed, so I thought I’d publish an update. Here’s some info for your browsing pleasure on this highest paved road in North America:
I went through my archives and processed / reprocessed several images so I’d have some you haven’t seen for this post. This first photo is near the summit. The color version’s here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/34467852916/
Road narrows (Nikon D80, July 2007)
The road’s a bit scary to drive and requires concentration, but I haven’t seen any news of automobiles accidents up there. There are a few guard rails in places, but not on most of the road. Going down was worse for me than going up. White knuckles and relief when we were finally done with the switchbacks.
Marmots are common on the mountain. This one was enjoying some sunshine on the side of the road.
Mount Blue Sky Marmot (Nikon D80, July 2007)
You can catch lovely reflections and flowers at Summit Lake:
Summit Lake reflection (Nikon D80, July 2007)
Mountain Goats are also common up there and they’re used to people, so you can get some pretty good photos of these sure footed wild animals.
Two young mountain goats (Nikon 7000, July 2011)
I you decide to visit, please check the official websites for the latest information before you go. Reservations are required now and there’s construction planned that will block part or all of the road through 2025.
On a side note: Lynn and I are just about done with our move. The new place is getting organized and I hope to get back out photographing some time soon.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. Stay positive, be kind, and take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos!
Memorial Day is observed in the US on the last Monday of May. It’s set aside to remember, honor, thank, and mourn men and women who have lost their lives serving our country.
Decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers is an ancient custom. We’ve done this in the US since at least the Civil War and in 1971 it became an official federal holiday.
There are parades in many places across the country, and we also observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials. Some wear a red poppy in remembrance of the fallen, a tradition called out by the by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae in the World War I poem “In Flanders Fields“. Our local veterans group does a very solemn and moving missing man table as well as a Memorial Day Ceremony.
The US Flag at half mast at Veterans Memorial Park in Titusville Florida.
Please join us tomorrow and take a few moments to remember service members who have perished in the line of duty and those they left behind. Heroes all.
Lynn and I are moving next week, so we’ve been busy and I haven’t been on any recent photo field trips. I did have a little time though to browse through my Lightroom catalog and found two older images that I decided to re-visit.
The first one is a two frame, vertical panorama made with an IR modified Olympus E-PL5 way back in 2015 at Casey Key on the gulf coast of Florida. It’s two Raw frames that I’d ignored at the time. I made it with a 14mm (28mm equivalent) lens at f/5.6, 2.0 sec, ISO 200. Here’s my current work flow:
Initial processing of the Raw file with DxO Photo Lab 6 DeepPrime XD Noise Reduction
Lightroom: color and exposure settings and panorama merge
Photoshop: cropping, final adjustments, sharpening with Topaz Sharpen AI
Lightroom again: B&W conversion and publish
Beach view
I was really happy with the result, especially the detail and how the light looks in the clouds. It was nice to rediscover this one in the archives!
I don’t know how interested you’d be in more detailed processing steps, but I’d be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments. Here’s a before and after comparison of the Beach View photo (Raw on the left and final on the right):
The second one is from even further back: A single frame from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in 2010, made with a Nikon D90, at 150mm, f/6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 640. I used a similar work flow (except no panorama merge or B&W conversion).
Spoonbill Touchdown
I’m very happy with this one too. The Nikon D90 was quite capable for its time and the files look pretty good, especially when processed with current software.
I often return from a photo op with too many photos. I’ll delete the obvious bad frames or duplicates. But I try not to delete too many because it’s a little hard to predict what the processed versions will end up looking like. Sometimes I’m very glad I saved images – even 9 and 14 years later!
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you have time, make some photos – or at least process an old one!
It’s that time of year again. I had an errand over in Maitland and stopped by the nest last Monday. They look like they’re doing well. I only saw one chick (which I’d guess was about a week old). I’ve read that one egg can hatch early and be followed by others later, so maybe this one will have some siblings.
Here are a few photos:
Dad watching the nest while Mom takes a break.
Mom, Dad, and chick.
Mom feeding fresh fish to her chick.
Mom and chick – looking for Dad to come back with more fish.
I enjoy following this nest each year. The setting is ideal for photographs: You can get relatively close but not stress the birds. And I like seeing these wild creatures thrive in the middle of all us humans.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, check on some of your wild neighbors. And make some photos!
Happy Holidays 2024!
Wetland Phoebe
Snowy Egrets on a Mission
Chilly Redish Egret
Young Roseate Spoonbill
Northern Shoveler
Wet Wings (a typical Cormorant pose)
Hooded Mergansers
Lurking Gator
Feral Hog
