Category Archives: INSIDE FLORIDA

Orlando – Downtown in the Dark

January 24, 2015Downtown Orlando, INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlandoarchitecture, black and white, buildingsEd Rosack

People probably don’t think of Orlando as a metropolis or street photography mecca like New York or Chicago, but it does have a photogenic downtown. I wrote about a daytime stroll there in this post back in October of last year. I suspected that it might be even more photogenic at night. Last Wednesday evening I went back with Keith H. and Tom M.

The new Dr. P. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts was finished after our last trip and I was looking forward to seeing it at night. It’s an impressive building and the architecture and lighting make it an attractive photo subject. Here are two views of the main entrance:

Dr. Phillips Center 1 – The new performing arts center in downtown Orlando

Dr. Phillips Center 2

City hall is just west of the Performing Arts Center. This view is looking up at the front doors from the base of the steps:

Orlando City Hall

Church Street Station is even further west and a bit north. This sidewalk next to the SunRail tracks passing through caught my eye:

Down by the tracks – Near Church Street Station

You can see other photos from this trip and many more from downtown Orlando in this set on Flickr. I’m sure you can find many images of your own when you wander around downtown.

If you go:

Street parking is hard to find. There are convenient parking garages – we used the one on South Orange Avenue at the Plaza Cinema Cafe. I’d like to find a garage with access to the roof and a good panoramic view. If you find one, please let me know!
The area by the Dr. Phillips Center / City Hall is well-lit and photogenic. Lake Eola is also very popular with photographers.
There are a lot of people around early in the evening so the areas seem relatively safe, but be careful.
A wide-angle lens and tripod will help your architectural photos. A high ISO capability and bright lens would be good if you want to try hand-held street photos.

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

Chasing light

January 18, 2015INSIDE FLORIDA, Tampabeach, birds, black and white, cloud, infrared, Lake Apopka, landscape, panoramaEd Rosack

So I went to two different places last week. Kevin M. took me to the Lake Apopka Restoration Area to look for the Groove Billed Ani that’s been hanging around. I’d never been there and was glad he invited me, not only for a chance at a life bird, but also to scout the area. I’ve also driven around Lake Lawsona in downtown Orlando and thought there might be some photos lurking there, but couldn’t find any place to park. Then I discovered that Mayor Carl T. Langford Park isn’t far away so I left my car there and walked over.

To make a long (and photographically humbling) story short, I photographed both places, but didn’t like any of the images enough to post. And we didn’t see the Ani either.

I did chase the light – I just didn’t catch it.

Since I’m a little stuck for material this week, I went back into my archives and found a four photo panorama that I’d never processed from a trip to Tampa in 2013. After stitching it together, I like the light in this image well enough.

Looking north toward Piney Point from Fred Howard Park in Tampa, August 2013

Like any creative activity, photography is difficult at times. I struggled last week, but I try not to get discouraged – this happens to everyone. I keep trying and enjoy the effort. As Florida Nature Photographer John Moran says in his book Journal of Light:

“Nature photography isn’t always about the picture, it’s about the experience of just being there, chasing the light, alive and awake and aware.”

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go chase the light!
©2013 and 2015, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge – 1/7/2015

January 11, 2015INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWRbirds, Black Skimmer, BPWD, Great Horned Owl, Otter, Spoonbill, wildlifeEd Rosack

My friend Tom M. wanted to go out photographing last week. And I was ready – I hadn’t clicked the shutter since last year! When he mentioned that he wasn’t very familiar with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, I jumped at the chance to show him around.

Our first stop was along the causeway to watch the gulls and Black Skimmers that often gather there.

Black Skimmer – Along the causeway headed into the Refuge

Then we drove through Gator Creek Road and Black Point Wildlife Drive.

Roseate Spoonbill (BPWD)- This bird was foraging near the shore and ignored me as I crouched down and framed my shot. When it heard the shutter clicking, it stopped and stared right at me for a few seconds and then continued feeding.

River Otter (BPWD) – I stopped the car when I spotted two Otters in the water next to the road. They swam by and kept going as we got out to try to make a photo. We followed for a bit – but they were going quicker than our fast walk. One of them surprised me when it crossed the road and of course I was too slow to get a good photo of that. This is the best image I managed.

We also stopped by the Bairs Cove Boat ramp at Haulover Canal to visit the manatees there and then drove by the Great Horned Owl nest (near 402 and SR 3). Our last stop was the visitor center to see if the painted buntings were around ( no, but they had been).

Great Horned Owl on nest – The platform and nest have been there for a long time. My first sighting was 3 years ago.

Whether you’re familiar with the area or not, this would be a very good half day route to see the highlights at MINWR. And this is a wonderful time to go – there’s a lot of birds and other wildlife around, and the weather’s great. Maybe I’ll see you over there!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2015, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Santa's Workshop

December 24, 2014Barberville, INSIDE FLORIDAChristmas, santa, toys, workshopEd Rosack

Santa’s Workshop – Santa and his elves took a break and I was able to sneak in and make a photograph of his workshop. It looks like he’s just about ready for Christmas!

I hope all of you have a joyous and happy holiday season and a wonderful new year! Thank you so much for following my blog again this year. Now – get back to your family and enjoy the holidays!

Birds Abound at Black Point

December 20, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWRbirds, BPWD, Flowers, NASA, plover, reflection, sunrise, wildlife, WilletEd Rosack

I spent last Wednesday morning at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I hadn’t been in a while and I enjoyed seeing what’s going on over there.

As usual, I arrived early for a sunrise photo. I’ve photographed from this spot on Gator Creek Road several times, but I’ve never noticed flowers blooming there before. I think they make a nice foreground accent.

Another day begins

After the sun was up, I drove around both Black Point Wildlife Drive and Gator Creek Road. There were a tremendous number of birds around – the winter visitors are here in force!

You can get an idea of which species to expect at MINWR (and when) over at this page on ebird. Here are the ones I recognized on my visit: Northern Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Pie-billed Grebe, Wood Stork, Double Crested Cormorant, Anhinga, White Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tri-colored Heron, Little Blue Heron, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Willet, Ring-billed Gull, Laughing Gull, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Loggerhead Shrike, and Savannah Sparrow. I’m sure a more experienced birder would have recognized even more. I also saw an Alligator or two and a River Otter.

And my online blogging friend Jim Boland also spotted a Red-headed Duck there recently.

This bird was posing on a mound of seaweed next to the causeway. I was able to crouch down and make some eye level photos with a nice out of focus background.

Black-bellied Plover

And this Willet was hunting in the surf, also along the causeway. The sun was coming over my shoulder and the small waves rolling in made the blue sky reflections contrast nicely with the sandy bottom showing through the water.

Willet

And here’s a bonus sunrise photo – made with my long lens. I like the group of birds flying in front of the sun in the distance.

Merritt Island Morning – The sun rises next to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

What a nice visit to one of our Central Florida Photo Op treasures! If you haven’t been over there recently, now is a great time of year to check it out. You can see other photographs from MINWR in this set on Flickr, and from BPWD in this set.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2014, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Modern Monochrome Homework

December 13, 2014Blue Cypress Lake, Fort Christmas, Merritt Island NWR, Orlando Wetlands, VARIOUSblack and white, BPWD, Cypress, fog, grebe, infrared, landscape, OrchidEd Rosack

You may have noticed that I like Black and White photography. It’s how I started out, way back when (with Tri-X film, developed in a make-shift darkroom). So I’ve done it for a while, but I’m mostly self-taught. I’ve studied many books and looked at a lot of online info, but I felt it would be good to take a course and expose myself to techniques and ideas I haven’t discovered on my own – to see how others are doing it.

I signed up for “Modern Monochrome” at the Crealde School of Art in Winter Park, Florida. The course promises to cover “the aesthetic qualities of black-and-white photography, seeing in black and white, RGB conversion methods, tonal relationships, luminosity versus luminance, and demonstrations in Photoshop and Lightroom.”

I was a little worried at the first session. There were a couple of people who didn’t appear to meet the prerequisites and it seemed like we’d struggle trying to bring them up to speed. But they ended up dropping out and the remaining students all easily kept up with the agenda.

Next week is our last class and we owe the instructor ten B&W images. I thought you might be interested in seeing some of the ones I’m going to turn in.

Wild Orchids – at Fort Christmas

High Key Grebe – along Black Point Wildlife Drive

Gloomy dawn – Blue Cypress Lake

Misty Marsh – Orlando Wetlands Park

The instructor’s going to critique our work and I’m looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

This course has definitely lived up to my expectations. I learned several techniques in Photoshop – some that I’d heard about and never tried, and others that were completely new to me. I also enjoyed discussing printing techniques and I intend to apply these more in the future. I haven’t been printing my photographs as much recently as I should. The course was also a great incentive to think about and practice photography and especially B&W processing.

You can see some other photographs I made for the course in this set on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – take a photography course – and go make some photos!
©2014, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Pioneer Settlement at Barberville

November 30, 2014Barberville, INSIDE FLORIDA, Must do listAntiques, black and white, cabin, school, store, toolEd Rosack

The Pioneer Settlement for the Creative Arts in Barberville, Florida was founded in 1976. Lynn and I first went there when our kids were little – sometime in the 1980s. It’s grown a lot since then and the non-profit organization that runs it has kept it up and added many more buildings and displays than I remember.

Three of us from the retired chapter of the Photography Interest Group went over on November 19th. The centerpiece of the campus is the original Barberville High School.

The Schoolroom – This is in the Barberville Central High School, built in 1909. It was added to the National Register for Historic Places in 2002. The window light and the wooden floors and desks were lovely the morning we were there.

The photos in this post are from just four of the buildings / displays that you can tour. There are 22 in all. I have photos of several more that I haven’t processed yet. As I finish them, I’ll add them to this Barberville set on Flickr.

The store below was originally at the turpentine operation in Bakersburg, Florida. It was moved to Barberville in 1984.

The H. L. Wynn Country Store – Get your insurance and your livestock feed, all in one place!

The only building at Barberville that isn’t from Florida is the log cabin. It was built by Mr. Jim Lewis in 1875 in southern Georgia, and moved to Barberville in 1992.

Log Cabin Porch – complete with laundry!

The blacksmith’s shop was built in 1987. The Florida Artist Blacksmith Association uses it for their monthly meetings and to work on their projects.

Tools of the trade – I love the huge bellows and the overwhelming number of tools available.

Check out the Pioneer Village web site for much more information. They have many special events scheduled including their upcoming annual “Florida Christmas remembered”. I think it’s worth another visit back to see the decorations.

Barberville is only about an hour from Orlando – right where SR 40 crosses US 17. It’s well worth the trip. If you have kids, they’ll like the exhibits, demonstrations, and animals. Adults will enjoy seeing how Floridians used to live. And as a photographer, it’s another “target rich environment”.

James Taylor at the Amway

November 21, 2014Downtown Orlando, INSIDE FLORIDA, OrlandoAmway, concert, James Taylor, music, peopleEd Rosack

Lynn and I went to see James Taylor last Tuesday. He played at the arena downtown and the place was packed. I guess there’s still a lot of us old timers that like his music (and can still hear). He played a lot of his hits and a few newer songs too.

James Taylor and his All Star Band – In concert at the Amway in Orlando, Florida. November 18th, 2014. (ISO 800, f2.8 @ 1/80 sec., 70mm eq.)

Like any large sports type arena, the acoustics and sound mix weren’t the best, and the prices for this type of entertainment (along with parking and popcorn) are very high. But it was a very good show and we both enjoyed ourselves.

Photographically, this is a very tough assignment. Unless you have a stage or press pass, your camera gear and access will be limited. For these events, the Amway has a very restrictive camera policy: Your camera has to “fit in your pocket”. Even though we had good seats, we were still pretty far from the stage. My Sony point-and-shoot camera does fit in my pocket and I thought the photo above was worth keeping. But I still wish the lens was longer than 24-70mm equivalent.

Back when I was in the Navy, I had to go to sea for months at a time and leave Lynn behind in Charleston, South Carolina. We missed each other terribly. One of my favorite songs from then was James Taylor’s “Carolina in my mind”. It was wonderful to hear him play it live – with Lynn in the seat right beside me.

Seasonal Reminders

November 16, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWR, Orlando Wetlandsbirds, black and white, BPWD, Osprey, Pelican, wildlife, woodpeckerEd Rosack

We’re finally getting cooler weather here in Central Florida. In addition to making it even more pleasant outside, the fall and winter months bring some changes to our area photo opportunities.

Orlando Wetlands Park is one of my favorite places. But if you haven’t been there this year, you’ve missed your chance. It closes on November 15 and doesn’t re-open until January 31st.

Downy Woodpecker at Orlando Wetlands – not a great photo, but it’s my first one of this bird. ISO 800, 1/800 sec, f/8, 600 mm

And Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) is also a favorite. When I went over last week, Black Point Wildlife Drive was closed. The web page says “until mid November”, so it should hopefully be back open soon. Fortunately there are many places to photograph in MINWR – even with BPWD closed, it’s still worth a visit.

Black and White Osprey on Gator Creek Road in MINWR. ISO 400, 1/1600 sec, f/8, 500 mm

Brown Pelican in Flight along Haulover Canal in MINWR. ISO 800, 1/2500 sec, f/8, 600 mm

Our avian winter visitors are starting to arrive too. ebird.org has a wonderful website where you can explore birding hotspots all over the world to see what species to expect by month. Here’s the listings for MINWR. The number of species ramps way up starting in November.

It’s prime time for getting out into nature and seeing what’s there! Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, go make some photos!

Lake Louisa State Park – Nov. 1, 2014

November 9, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Louisa State Parkblack and white, Flowers, landscape, reflection, sunrise, sunset, treeEd Rosack

Lynn and I went back to Lake Louisa State Park last weekend and spent a very relaxing couple of days. It was a little chilly – our first Florida “cold” front rolled through while we were there and made us both appreciate the gas fireplace in the cabin. We didn’t see as much wildlife this time, but I did enjoy making some photos. Here’s one at sunset from just behind the cabin, looking out over Lake Dixie. I like the way the field glows in the light coming through the trees.

Grass, trees, lake, and sun

The sky was very clear after the cold front, so there were no dramatic clouds to work with. I think the low morning sun on the trees and the mist on the water look nice in black and white.

Morning mist

There weren’t as many flowers blooming as there were last May. But the few we did see were lovely. These were along a path just off the road.

Wildflowers

Lake Louisa is a wonderful, relaxing getaway in Clermont, Florida – very close to Orlando. If you haven’t been, check it out. My full writeup on the park is at this link and this set on Flickr has many more photos I made there.

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

Central Florida Photo Ops

What and where they are and how to photograph them.