Category Archives: INSIDE FLORIDA

Exploring Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area

March 1, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Tosohatchee WMAblack and white, Cypress, infrared, landscape, Pine, treeEd Rosack

Florida’s blessed with many places where you can see Nature and / or animal life. There are captive animals in zoos / parks / attractions. There are anthropogenic places like Orlando Wetlands and Viera Wetlands, where human activities and management can greatly enhance opportunities for animals. And then there are places like Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area (lets call it TWMA for short) where large areas with little human intervention can approach true wilderness.

If you’ve driven the Beachline toll road (528) from Orlando to Cocoa, you’ve passed through TWMA. It’s spread out over 30,000 acres along 19 miles of the St. Johns River in east Orange County. It has a variety of natural communities including rivers / streams / lakes; freshwater marsh; Cypress swamps; Wet Flatwoods; Forested Wetlands; and Pine Flatwoods.

Grassy Trail – In addition to dirt roads running throughout TWMA, there are lots of trails to walk or bike.

Activities at TWMA include hunting, fishing, hiking, bicycle riding, horseback riding, canoeing and kayaking, camping, and scenic driving. There’s a daily entry fee and hours are 8am to sunset. As long as it hasn’t rained too much, the dirt roads are passable – even with a two-wheel drive car. So everyone can see much of the area. Hiking trails lead off from parking areas on the roads so you can get even further out into the wilderness.

Lonesome lifeless pine – Pine Flatwoods at TWMA

eBird lists 162 species seen in TWMA, vs. 293 in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, so there aren’t as many kinds of birds there. And they’re spread out over a larger area, making them harder to see. During my visit, I found Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tri-colored Herons, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Osprey, Yellow Rumped Warblers, Palm Warblers, Red-winged Black Birds, Anhingas, Belted Kingfishers, Red-shouldered Hawks, an American Kestrel, Black Vultures, an Armadillo, and a deer.

Embrace the chaos – Cypress Swamp at TWMA

I hadn’t explored TWMA until recently. I’m glad I finally got down there. Although you may not see as many animals as you do in some other spots, the types of terrain are more varied and the animals are there if you’re patient. It’s a great place to catch a hint of wild Florida out along the St. Johns River. Definitely worth a visit!

TWMA is about 25 miles east of Orlando, near Christmas. From Orlando, take S.R. 50 east to Taylor Creek Road. Turn south on Taylor Creek Road and the entrance will be on the east.

“Sure, it’ll hold: you go first” – A sturdy and well maintained bridge across a stream at the southern end of TWMA

You can click on the photos above to get to larger versions on Flickr, and this set has a few more images from Tosohatchee.

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

Whether the Weather

February 23, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWR, Orlando Wetlandsblack and white, boat, infrared, landscape, marina, panorama, pier, reflection, sunriseEd Rosack

I usually always leave early on photo expeditions so I can get somewhere in time to catch sunrise. I have many sunrise photos collected in this set on Flickr.

Lately, sunrise and I haven’t been getting along. I show up faithfully, but sunrise doesn’t. It’ll send its friend fog instead. Or it’ll come dressed in plain, clear sky attire instead of its fancy, colorful cloud costume. Or I’ll get frustrated and sleep in, and sunrise puts on a show without me. I don’t think it likes me anymore.

Marina reflections – Fog at the Titusville Marina. Panorama, looking east, just before sunrise.

Rock n dawn – clear skies at daybreak. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Orlando Wetlands Pano – I slept in on this morning and showed up at the park after sunrise when this front was coming through. I bet it was really nice before I got there.

Well, seriously – I am a bit frustrated that I haven’t captured a good sunrise in a while. But I know the weather and my luck will change eventually. And I enjoy getting out and seeing different things even when the sunrise isn’t at its prettiest.

There are a few things I do to try to maximize my chances with the weather. Persistence is probably the best solution. The more I go out photographing, the better my chances are of catching a good scene. And software can help. My main weather site is Weather Underground. I usually look at their hourly forecast with precipitation probabilities and cloud cover predictions. On my phone, I use Mycast and Dark Sky. Mycast has pretty good forecasts and I can look at IR clouds on its Map tab to see cloud cover even when it’s dark. The Dark Sky app has excellent short-term predictions – especially about rain. I also sometimes use Clear Sky Chart. It’s mainly an astronomy site, but does offer very good cloud cover predictions.

So yes, my relationship with sunrise photography hasn’t been the greatest lately. But I’m working on it. I’m sure we’ll eventually get back together. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy being outdoors and seeing whatever develops.

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

Maitland, Florida

February 15, 2014Birds of Prey Center, INSIDE FLORIDA, Maitland, Orlandobirds, black and white, buildings, duck, Eagle, infrared, reviewsEd Rosack

Intro / Description

Maitland is a particularly photogenic city in the greater Orlando metro area. I’ve found several locations there with good photo ops – my most recent visit was to the Maitland Art Center with Keith H.

Way out: A gate in the wall at the Maitland Art Center (Infrared, Black and White)

The Maitland Art Center used to be known as The Research Studio and is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It’s one of the few examples in our area of Mayan Revival architecture, which can make for some intriguing details to photograph. The grounds are a popular place for weddings. You may run into one on weekends that will keep you out of one or more of the venues.

Mayan Revival carved door – I wonder if this is where Indiana Jones keeps his stuff?

Other museums in this location in addition to the Art Center are: the Telephone Museum; the William H. Waterhouse House Museum; and the Carpentry Shop Museum. If you’re visiting, check the websites linked here – the hours and fees vary.

Info for Photographers

Photo hints:

My approach was to wander and photograph whatever caught my eye. I found the Art and History Museum productive for IR / B&W photography.

Tripod/Monopod: Allowed and helpful.

Lenses: You’ll probably use wide and normal lenses the most. I didn’t feel any need for a telephoto lens. A polarizing filter might be helpful to block reflections in glass.

They’re all in the garden at the party

Best time to visit: Year round, early or late in the day for the best light. Avoid weekends if possible so you don’t run into any weddings.

Other:

There are some other photo ops close by. I’ve written before about the Audubon Birds of Prey center – a great place to get close portraits of some very impressive birds.

Recovering eagle, Audubon Birds of Prey center

And the park at Lake Lilly is also photogenic. Try some sunrise or sunset photos there, or walk through the farmers market on Saturdays for some local interest / people photos. Be careful the ducks don’t peck on your lens!

Wide angle, backlit, ducklings at Lake Lilly – looking for a handout

And the Fort Maitland boat ramp at 900 South Orlando Ave. would be a great place to launch your kayak!

Summary

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:	Maitland on Flickr
Website:	http://artandhistory.org
Address / Phone:	231 West Packwood Avenue, Maitland, Florida
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	A great place to explore; Lots of photo ops

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

Viera Wetlands: 2/2/2014

February 8, 2014Cocoa, INSIDE FLORIDA, Viera Wetlandsbirds, black and white, boat, infrared, Kestrel, landscape, long exposure, reflection, river front park, Yellow-rumped WarblerEd Rosack

Kevin M. and I went to Viera Wetlands (Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands) last weekend.

On the way, we stopped by Riverfront Park in Cocoa for a sunrise photo. Unfortunately, the sun didn’t cooperate – we didn’t even see it until about a half hour after sunrise! But I thought the fog, boats, and lights were photogenic. The water was very calm – leading to great reflections and very little motion blur even though this is a 13 second exposure due to the dim light.

Foggy morning harbor, Cocoa, Florida, Infrared

After sunrise, we met up with Kevin’s brother Keith. He’s getting into birding and had never been to Viera, so he wanted to join us. When we arrived, we found the road closed to cars because of all the rain we’ve had. We almost always drive and the slower pace and closer view was enjoyable for a change. Walking helped us see many of the warblers hiding in the bushes. I was able to isolate this pretty “butter butt” against a nice non-distracting background:

Yellow-rumped Warbler

There were many warblers (mostly Palm Warblers) and Tree Swallows. And just so you know, I think Tree Swallows are one of the hardest birds to photograph. I hardly ever see them sitting still. And they’re so small and fast that photographing them in flight is a very low percentage shot – at least with my equipment. I’ll get a good photo of one someday.

Of course, we also saw many of the usual wading birds and the gators seemed more numerous than normal. I also got to meet one of my Flickr friends (New NewEnglander) who was visiting from up north.

We also drove through the Click Ponds and saw huge numbers of ducks (mostly Green and Blue Winged Teals) and shorebirds, and then headed down the dirt road toward Moccasin Island tract. I’ve been down there a few times before without seeing much. But this time was very interesting and proves that you need to visit someplace over and over to fully appreciate it. We saw what we think was a Merlin fly by, but weren’t quick enough to photograph it. We also spotted several American Kestrels – the first time I’ve seen them in the wild and a real highlight of the trip.

American Kestrel

We saw one of the Kestrels engaged with another similar sized bird, but were too far away to make out what going on. It looked like they were actually grappling with each other. Both birds flew away before we got close. Other birds on the road included Sand Hill Cranes and Eastern Phoebes.

A wonderful morning out in natural Florida. You can read much more about Viera Wetlands in this blog category and Cocoa posts are in this one. I have more Viera photos in this set on Flickr and more Cocoa photos in this set.

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

The Senator Saga – another update

February 1, 2014Big Tree Park, INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando, VARIOUSCypress, Longwood, The Senator, treeEd Rosack

“The Senator” is the nickname of what was a 3500 year old Cypress Tree in Big Tree Park in Longwood Florida. Sadly, it burned down in January of 2012 when a drug addict lit a fire in the hollow at the base of the tree because “it was dark and she wanted light to see the drugs she was using.”. The culprit confessed and is expected to be sentenced shortly to either probation or a few months in prison.

I’ve written several blog articles about this and I hope you’ll forgive me for writing one more:

From before the fire: https://edrosack.com/2011/09/18/big-tree-park-home-of-the-senator/
From just after the fire: https://edrosack.com/2012/01/16/the-senator-is-destroyed-by-fire/
After they planted a clone of the tree (“The Phoenix”): https://edrosack.com/2013/04/06/return-to-big-tree-park/

The latest chapter in this story is even more personal and began in December of last year when someone posted a comment on this photo of the Senator on Flickr asking if I’d be willing to sell a copy of the image. Tony Seifred and I exchanged a few emails, and to make a long story short we also ended up exchanging gifts. I gave Tony copies of two photographs of the Senator and he gave me a piece of the tree itself! I’ll let Tony tell his side of the story:

“Back when the tree burned, NPR covered the story the following morning. Within an hour I was cold calling county personnel and getting passed from one person to another. I was trying to encourage them to make offerings to school systems for educational purposes.

After many months I received an email that the decision had been made to take applications for remains. I contacted my local schools and museum trying to get them to apply. I even provided the applications. No one applied.

So I decided to try on my own. Eventually I did receive a piece of the outer part of the tree, but pick-up had to be in person. The story after that is long and convoluted but eventually did find someone there to accept payment to collect and ship the piece. Upon arrival the box was open and the piece had clearly been out.

Despite the rather expensive UPS store packing. Some pieces were broken off and still inside the wrapping. I am gifting you the largest of those pieces.”

Kudos to Tony for pursuing this and making it happen. I had the piece mounted together with the photo I made before it burned. Here’s how it looks:

A shadowbox display of a photo of the 3500 year old Cypress tree in September of 2011 before it burned along with a small piece of the remains from after it burned down in January of 2012. — A shadow box display of a photo of the 3500 year old Senator Cypress tree in September of 2011 along with a small piece of the remains from after it burned down in January of 2012.

This means a great deal to me and I’ll treasure it as a reminder of visits to the Senator before the tragedy. I’m exceptionally grateful to Tony for his generosity in sharing with me.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.
©2014, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Blue Spring State Park

January 24, 2014Blue Spring State Park, Must do list, St. Johns Riverblack and white, infrared, landscape, manateeEd Rosack

Intro / Description

There’s been a lot of news here recently about all the Manatees at Blue Spring State Park in Orange City, Florida – so I decided to go over and look for myself.

Around 20 Manatees in this one photo – There were more than 200 there on the day I went and the count’s been over 330 on some recent days.

Louis Thursby bought Blue Spring in 1856 and ran a steamboat landing. The steamboats shipped people and goods up and down the St. Johns River and stopped at the landing until the 1880s. The area became pretty run down until the state purchased the land in the 1960s and established the park.

There’s lots to do: Plenty of picnic areas; Hiking and nature trails; Cabins and a campground for overnight stays; Canoes and kayaks to rent; And you can even take a River Boat tour right from the park. We’ve been several times in the past but I hadn’t visited in years. It brought back very fond memories of tubing down the run from the spring and of our kids shivering in the 72 degree water, but enjoying it so much they refused to get out. When I used to scuba dive (a very long time ago), I dove to the bottom of the spring. In retrospect, that was at least a little reckless – people have died in there.

Info for Photographers

Photo hints:

You can’t go in the water when the Manatees are there. But a lengthy boardwalk running from the St. Johns up to the spring provides many vantage points for photos. The Manatees are all along the run, but many congregate in the swimming area where you can get very close.

You must bring your Polarizer to cut the reflections so you can better see the manatees under the surface. Remember this will block a couple stops of light. And since the water is in shade in many places you may be a little starved for light. A camera / lens with vibration reduction / optical stabilization and good output at higher ISOs (~640) will come in handy.

Take a breath – A manatee surfaces at Blue Springs State Park

Tripod/Monopod: They’re allowed, but crowds could make tripods a problem. I left mine at home.

Lenses:

I used a 24 – 120 f/4 lens and was happy with it. I really didn’t want to switch lenses (and polarizers) so the focal length range on this came in handy. At times I wished for a little more reach but I could usually find another Manatee closer to me. I also wished for a wider aperture (f/2.8?), but the stabilization made this lens my best choice.

Best time to visit: Visit during a wintertime cold snap for the best chance of seeing Manatees. They can draw a crowd and the park is closed early to new arrivals if it fills up. Go on a weekday or get there very early on a weekend to make sure you get in. For other activities, you’ll have to work around their schedule – all water activities are prohibited when there’s a Manatee in the water. For swimming, tubing, snorkeling / diving, and kayaking in the spring run go when they aren’t there (March 15th – November 15th). Other: Manatees are the main attraction in the winter, but there are other animals there too. I’ve seen Alligators, wild pigs, and common Florida birds (e.g. Herons, Egrets, Anhingas, Limpkins, Wood Storks, Red Shouldered Hawks, and Vultures). Other folks have reported some not so common Florida Birds like Florida Scrub Jays and Barred Owls, – so keep your eyes open! And there’s a three-story home built built by the original owners that’s worth a visit.

The Louis P. Thursby House was built in 1872 at Blue Springs State Park

Summary

Manatees are on the endangered species list. Blue Spring provides a unique opportunity to see these large animals up close. If you’ve thought about going to Blue Spring, now’s the time. If you haven’t thought about going to Blue Spring, now’s the time! You can find out a lot about Manatees at the Save the Manatee Club website, including updated reports on conditions and counts at Blue Spring on this web page.

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:	Blue Spring on Flickr
Website:	http://www.floridastateparks.org/bluespring/
Address / Phone:	2100 W. French Avenue Orange City, Florida 32763 (386) 775-3663
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	A Central Florida Photo Ops Must Do!

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, 1-12-14

January 17, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWRastronomy, birds, BPWD, cloud, Gator Creek Road, landscape, Loggerhead Shrike, Parrish Park, reflection, sunriseEd Rosack

Kevin M, Robert W, Tom M, Lutfi E, and I met at Parish Park in Titusville last weekend for a photo excursion. We got there well before sunrise and had time for a few night photos.

Stars above the causeway at Parrish Park – Looking SW, before dawn.

When we’d all arrived, we carpooled over to East Gator Creek Road for sunrise. Since it was so clear before dawn, I didn’t think it would be very good. But once again, Mother Nature surprised me, and a set of clouds moved in to add interest and color to the sky.

Passing storm

After daybreak, we drove on around East Gator Creek Road and then Black Point Wildlife Drive looking for birds. We didn’t have to look too hard – they’re out force!

We saw many species and huge numbers of some of them. White Pelicans were especially plentiful, both foraging in the water and soaring above us. There were other huge formations of ducks flying over, but they were too high for me to ID. One smaller flock flew very low right down the road. I didn’t see them coming and the noise when they passed startled me.

We also saw Ring billed Gulls, a Bonaparte’s Gull, a some Forster’s Terns, Least Terns, a Black Skimmer, Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, Blue winged Teals, Lesser Scaups, Red Breasted Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Pied billed Greebes, Greater Yellowlegs, Sandpipers, Killdeer, Roseate Spoonbills, a Bald Eagle, Ospreys, Loggerhead Shrikes, Savanah Sparrows, Red winged Blackbirds, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Wood Storks, Reddish Egrets, a White Morph Redish Egret, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Tri-colored Herons, Belted Kingfishers, and maybe a few others.

Cooperative Loggerhead Shrike

Highlights also included a very cooperative Shrike that sat still while we all made way too many photos of it, a bald eagle that flew right overhead, and two life birds for me (the Bonaparte’s Gull and Greater Yellowlegs). It’s definitely birding season at MINWR!

As a side note: I got an email from a Flickr contact that’s going to be in the area for a couple of days. They wanted some hints on how to see everything while they’re here, especially Gatorland, Viera Wetlands, and Merritt Island. I did pass along some hints. But then I had to tell them that’s a lot to see in 2 days! The good news is that you’re almost certain to see some good things in those places. The bad news is that you can’t possibly see everything in that short a time – it’s just too large an area and the weather / wildlife might not cooperate. The key is to relax, enjoy being there and be ready with your camera for whatever comes your way. I hope I’m not misleading people into thinking that they can photograph all the things they see here on the blog on their first time out. It takes persistence and even some luck.

Anyway, if you’ve wanted to go to MINWR, now’s the time. You can see other posts I’ve written about MINWR here and you can see larger versions of the photos above and others from Merritt Island in this set on Flickr.

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

Infrared updates

January 12, 2014Infrared processing, INSIDE FLORIDA, Jacksonville Area, Merritt Island NWR, Techniquebeach, BPWD, infrared, Little Talbot Island State Park, treeEd Rosack

These two posts on infrared photography seem to get a lot of hits:

Digital Infrared Photography – a post processing example (March 2012)
Infrared Photography Follow Up (April 2012)

Since they’re from a while back, I thought I’d update you on a couple of things.

Ebbing tide – The outgoing current cuts a temporary channel through the beach (Little Talbot Island State Park). IR, B&W.

I’d been using an Olympus E-PL1 camera, modified for IR by http://www.lifepixel.com/ and I’ve been pleased with the output. But it uses a first generation 12 MP, micro 4/3 sensor and requires care to minimize noise. I also have an Olympus E-PL5 with a 16MP current generation sensor. It has much better noise characteristics and additional resolution, so I decided to have it modified to upgrade my infrared capabilities.

I was very happy with the service from LifePixel, but this time, I chose Precision Camera to do the mod. They also did a fine job, were very prompt and even a few dollars cheaper.

One change I made was to select a 665 nm filter instead of 720 nm. What this does is pass a bit more of the visual spectrum along with the IR light. This gives you more flexibility in post processing. You can still process for the IR B&W look, but with the extra visible spectrum light, false color post processing is easier.

At rest – Driftwood on the beach (Little Talbot Island State Park). IR, false color.

When I process RAW files from the E-PL1, I can easily adjust white balance in Lightroom. With the 665 nm filter on the E-PL5, I couldn’t get to a neutral white balance until I created a custom camera calibration profile for it using Adobe’s DNG Profile Editor. ~~You can read more about this here~~ (link no longer available).

The Road Under the Red Cedar Tree (Black Point Wildlife Drive in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge). IR, B&W.

I made the photos in this post with the newer camera. There’s less noise, the 665nm filter is more flexible in post, and the extra pixels are nice to have. I like how it’s working so far!

You can see larger versions of these and other examples of my infrared photography in this set on Flickr.

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

Marineland Beach

January 4, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Marineland Beach, Must do listcloud, coquina, landscape, rock, sunriseEd Rosack

Intro / Description

Historically, coquina’s been used as a building material. The Castillo de San Marco in St. Augustine and Bulow Plantation in Flagler Beach are made of it. But today I think the best use of coquina is for photography – it makes a great foreground in landscape photos!

Marineland Beach morning – A colorful, brisk daybreak on the rocks (48mm, ISO 50, f/16, 3 seconds)

Several locations on the Atlantic coast of Florida have deposits of coquina rocks exposed on the beach. Three that I know of are:

Washington Oaks Gardens State Park (Palm Coast, Fl)
Blowing Rocks Preserve (Jupiter Island, north of West Palm Beach, Fl)
Marineland Beach (south of St. Augustine, Fl)

I’ve mentioned Blowing Rocks Preserve before and I haven’t been to Washington Oaks in a long while, so this post is about Marineland Beach.

Info for Photographers

Photo hints:

This is a terrific sunrise site. There’s public parking right on the beach and the area isn’t closed at night, so you can arrive as early as you want to. If you do arrive before dawn, be careful – the footing on or close to the rocks is tricky in the dark. A misstep can result in broken camera equipment or broken photographers.

Bring a flashlight (or use your cell phone). Just be mindful of any other photographers nearby – you don’t want to spoil their images with your lights. And know how to use your camera in the dark so you don’t have to fumble with the flashlight – it will save you time and aggravation.

Bring a cable or remote release to help avoid camera shake. I usually use manual focus, at least until it’s bright enough for my camera’s autofocus to work. Many cameras will have a “live view” mode that lets you enlarge around the moon or a distant light so that you can carefully focus on infinity. If you don’t have live view, try using the markings on your lens. Just set it to the infinity mark and back off a little. How much? Experiment before hand. If you’re stopped down to f/8 or smaller, depth of field should help.

Before dawn and sunrise are very good times to shoot in RAW format. RAW will give you extra dynamic range to help control contrast in post processing. Also, learn about “long exposure noise reduction” and consider turning it on. For exposures over a second or so, it does well removing noise in camera (at the cost of some extra time after you make the image).

Tripod/Monopod:

Yes – you must bring yours! You can even put your camera on it when you’re not using it for a walking stick! And make sure you always know where it is in the dark so you don’t knock it over.

KM on the rocks, working the scene (120mm, ISO 100, f/8, .4 seconds)

Lenses:

You can use a variety of lenses. I’ve added the focal length to the captions for the three photos in this article. Don’t change lenses on the beach. It’s often windy and you don’t want salt spray or sand inside your camera. Choose a versatile zoom lens and leave it on, or retreat to your car to swap to a different one.

Coquina rock sunrise (14mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/8th sec)

Best time to visit:

Sunrise occurs later in the winter and gives you more time to get to this beach. And check for high tide – it’s best for good water action near the rocks.

Other:

Wear good shoes. Flip flops could be a problem for your toes on the rocks in the dark.

Make sure you keep an eye on the waves. Every so often, a larger one will come along.

Summary

Marineland Beach is a wonderful place for landscape and sunrise photos. You can see larger versions of the photos above if you click on them. And this set on Flickr has several more photos I made there.

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:	Marineland Beach on Flickr
Website:	None
Address / Phone:	Just south of Marineland at 9600 N Oceanshore Blvd St Augustine, FL 32080 Google map
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	A must do sunrise spot!

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

Ponce Inlet and Bulow Creek – changing light

December 28, 2013Bulow Plantation, INSIDE FLORIDA, Ponce Inletbirds, boat, buildings, focus stacking, landscape, sunrise, Tern, treeEd Rosack

Tom M. suggested we meet at Ponce Inlet for sunrise a week ago. I readily agreed, since the last time I was there was August 2010. We met at the park entrance just after it opened and were set up well before sunrise. Here’s one of my first photos. It was very nice of them to put up red and green buoy lights for Christmas. 🙂

Sunrise at the inlet – I thought the Christmas colored buoy lights added a nice holiday touch

I’m always amazed by how much light can change over a short time. Here’s an example.

Daybreak departure – A fishing boat heads out to sea at sunrise

The physical distance between these first two photos was only a few paces, but the time change made a huge difference. The first was at 6:32am, f/8, 30 seconds, and ISO 125. The second was at 7:22am, f/16, 1/60 seconds, and ISO 100. The amount and quality of light shifted dramatically over 50 minutes (and the sun rays came in for a short time too).

Moral of the story: If you’re going to get up for a sunrise photo, you may as well get going a bit early – so you can see and photograph the entire show. I try to arrive at least 30 minutes before sunrise.

I’d been watching large numbers of mostly resting Pelicans, Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers down on the beach. After sunrise, I moved off the jetty and photographed them for a few minutes. I was able to get close to this one without disturbing it, and I thought the low, warm light and the shadow behind the bird made an interesting scene.

Caspian Tern and shadow – The bird wasn’t really alone, there were many others close by

When we visited Bulow Plantation several weeks ago, Tom and I were a little disappointed in the light. Rain and clouds that day made photography a challenge. Since it was early when we finished at Ponce Inlet, and the weather was so much better – we decided to go back to Bulow. The light had changed a lot here too. But over a few weeks instead of 50 minutes.

Bulow Plantation Ruins – I merged three images with focus stack in Photoshop to increase depth of field. The light this time was much better than our last visit. And our cameras didn’t get wet!

So that was a very fine, final photo op for 2013. Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

And since this is my last post of the year, Happy New Year! See you again in 2014!