Santa inbound through the inlet
Thank you so much for reading my blog this year. Now – get back to your family and enjoy the holidays!
©2013, Ed Rosack. Some rights reserved (Creative Commons, Attribution-ShareAlike). Santa’s image courtesy of Tsar Kasim: www.flickr.com/photos/tsarkasim/4192121818/
I spent last Thursday morning at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. It’d been a while since I tried for a sunrise photo, so I went over early. There wasn’t a lot of color in the sky, but the scene was still pretty.
A calm morning on Gator Creek
After sunrise, I stopped by this decaying dock – there won’t be anything left of it soon. The strong side light from the early morning sun helped capture detail and texture in this black and white, infrared photo.
Weathered Wood
When I left this spot, I drove back around East Gator Creek Road. There was a huge flock of ducks in a V-wedge heading for the full moon that was setting in the west. I couldn’t get my camera ready in time to capture the sight, so I just watched. It would have made a wonderful photo.
There were many birds on East Gator Creek and on Black Point Wildlife Drive although the numbers weren’t as great as some other times I’ve been there. Most of the regular birds were around including various Herons and Egrets, Belted Kingfishers, Wood Storks, Ospreys, Cormorants, Anhingas, Gulls, Terns, Brown Pelicans, White Ibis, Vultures, a Bald Eagle, Sandpipers, Roseate Spoonbills, Grebes, and a few others. I also saw some winter migrants including White Pelicans, Northern Pintails, Savannah Sparrows, and what I think was a Northern Flickr. For some reason, most of the birds were in the distance – too far away for good photos. This sparrow though was very close.
Savannah Sparrow
I also came across several wild boars, including this one.
Making a pig of itself — A wild boar stops foraging for a moment to give me the evil eye this morning on Black Point Wildlife Drive.
I’m even more distrustful of these animals than alligators. Wild boars can be aggressive and threatening. I was returning to my car once and found a mother with several piglets scouring the ground for food near my path. I went out of my way to go around them and tried to keep as much distance between us as I could. Even so, the mother watched me closely and grunted at me as I got to my car. The one in the photo above was on the other side of a ditch full of water and I was close enough to my car this time to jump in if it came toward me. But I still didn’t like the way it watched me.
Another interesting day with lots to see. You can click on the photos above to view a larger version and you can look at this set on Flickr to see these and many other photos from Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved
If you search the web for “Haulover Canal” you’ll get many hits on fishing and kayaking there. I haven’t tried the fishing, so I can’t really comment on that, but I see people (and dolphins!) fishing there all the time so it’s probably pretty good. I have kayaked there many times and it’s a wonderful place to paddle and to photograph too.
Haulover Canal is in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and it’s part of the Intracoastal Waterway. It connects Mosquito Lagoon with the Indian River. You can launch your Kayak at the Bairs Cove boat ramp on the south side of the canal, but we use a better spot on the north-west end of the canal. Heading north along the Courtenay Parkway, take the first left after the bridge and follow the dirt road to the end where there’s a sandy bottom put in. There’s a fee to launch from Bairs Cove, but not from the north side.
From the put in, you can paddle west and circle around Mullet Head Island where there are usually quite a few birds. We’ve seen Redish Egrets, Great Egrets, Tri-colored and Great Blue Herons, Pelicans, Cormorants, etc. there. It is a protected nesting area, though – so you’re not allowed to get too close.
Handsome Pelican: From my kayak, near Mullet Head Island (Olympus EM5)
We usually paddle east along the canal and stop back in Bairs Cove, where we’ve seen manatees every time we’ve been. They’re very docile and sometimes friendly. You’re not allowed to harass / approach them, but if you sit quietly in your kayak, sometimes they’ll harass you!
Manatee checks out Mary’s kayak (Olympus EM5)
You can paddle further east and go under the bridge to a manatee observation deck along the north shore. However, I’ve never once seen manatees there. Do you think the manatees enjoy the joke?
We frequently see Bottlenose Dolphins too and they’re often feeding. This one was near the launch point and made a fuss chasing fish before swimming off.
Mike & Sara watch a dolphin from their kayak (Olympus TG-2)
There are even a few landscape opportunities, although I haven’t made it over for sunrise or sunset yet. This group of struggling trees caught my eye.
Survivors : On the west side of Haulover Canal. (Olympus TG-2)
You’ll need to watch for boat traffic, but since it’s a no wake zone, it’s fairly safe for kayaks. If you haven’t kayaked before and want to have a little support when you make this trip, A Day Away Kayak Tours is close by and very helpful. They’ll take you on a guided tour or rent you a kayak so you can go on your own, too.
All the photos in this post were made on kayak trips using a variety of cameras. I now have enough experience with our boats that I’m confident in the water and not afraid of tipping, but splashes from paddles and waves are still a worry where camera gear is concerned. A dose of saltwater is not too healthy for most normal cameras. So I’ve been using an Olympus TG-2 and a GoPro Hero3 (both waterproof) on these trips.
Photographing birds near Mullet Head Island (GoPro and EM5)
It’s great not having to worry about water damage, but I do miss some of the higher end photo capabilities (e.g. RAW format, interchangeable and long lenses, etc.). So I’ve taken the higher end gear out once or twice. In the photo above I really photo-geeked and used the GoPro to make a photo of myself making a photo with the Olympus EM5.
Here’s some additional info on Kayaking at Haulover Canal from a couple other sites:
And you can find out more about Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in these posts.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos! And go for a paddle too!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved
Once again in the USA, we pause on the fourth Thursday of November to celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday. Families and friends gather, parades and football games preempt normal daytime television, large amounts of food are prepared and consumed, drowsiness ensues – and Turkeys throughout the land are relieved they’re not part of the feast.
“About 12 pounds, why do you ask?” A female wild turkey watches me warily at Central Winds Park in Winter Springs
But seriously, this year especially I’m grateful for so many wonderful things in my life. I hope all of you are as blessed as I am or even more so. Spend a few moments contemplating the good things in your own life. Pause and savor them. Be thankful. Cherish your family and friends.
And then – strive even harder to be one of the things that your family and friends are so grateful for.
Tom Turkey – Seen at Wekiva Springs State Park, near the trail to the kayak launch. Another good place to see these large birds
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go spend time with your family and friends!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved
Tom M. and I went over to Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park in Flagler Beach, Florida. The buildings there were built out of the local coquina rock starting in 1821. It was thriving in 1831 when John James Audubon visited. It’s been abandoned since the Second Seminole War and was burned by Seminole Indians in 1836. The walls and chimneys of the sugar mill on the site remain standing today and are listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Bulow Plantation Ruins
The park has a hiking trail, a boat ramp, screened picnic pavilion, and a park interpretive center with original artifacts and exhibits. The boat ramp is on Bulow Creek, which is a designated Florida State Canoe Trail. It’s open 9 – 5, Thursday through Monday, and there’s a $4 / car entry fee.
Bulow Plantation Ruins (665nm Infrared, toned B&W)
We didn’t expect such bad weather – it was quite different on the coast. The rain and clouds made the light rather poor. I think we’ll need to go back for better photos.
The view down the dirt road leading out of Bulow Creek Plantation (665nm false color Infrared)
This is a fascinating place where you can look back into Florida history. It’s well worth a visit.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that I like panoramic photos. We’ve all been to many places where the view is so grand it doesn’t fit into a single frame. Sometimes you can’t capture what your eyes see with one camera exposure. So I started stitching panoramas together. My first few were way back in the film era (1999 or 2000). When I started using digital cameras, panoramas became easier and I’ve made many more since then. They help me avoid “tunnel vision” and show more of a scene. They’re also an excellent way to capture an image with a huge number of pixels – which allows for very large prints.
I often include panos in this blog. When I checked today, there are 33 different posts (over 10%) that are tagged “panorama”, including my very first one from May of 2007. For some panorama examples, look at this set of over 100 images on Flickr.
May 2007: View of San Francisco from Twin Peaks (6389 x 3110 pixels)
I’ve learned quite a bit about how to make panos, and in August of this year, I shared info on how I usually process them. That was a description of the detailed workflow I use to make the best quality image I can. It can be time consuming and requires care in capture as well as post processing. But if you put in the effort, the results are very good – and the files are much bigger than from a single frame. Here’s a recent example:
September 2013: Chicago skyline at twilight (11,175 x 4706 pixels)
But it turns out that my way isn’t the only way to make panos. There’s a much easier way to make them – here’s an example:
October 2013: Underneath the bridge over the St. John’s River by the old bridge and railroad trestle (7908 x 2692 pixels)
I made this pano with my phone. It’s not as large (2692 pixels on the short side compared to 4706), but you probably couldn’t tell much of a difference in quality unless you pixel peep. Using my phone is easier and if something is easier, people will do more of it – and more panos means better memories.
iPhones have had a built-in panorama mode for a while, and the latest versions bring a lot of processing power into it. The iPhone 5S does automagic adjustment of exposure across the frame, and stitches the results together in real-time as you sweep your phone. The results are fairly large files, and the quality is surprisingly good.
Here’s one more recent iPhone panorama example and proof of the saying that the best camera is the one you have with you:
November 2013: Interior panorama of the Roman Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre) – Photo by MK Rosack (used with permission)
Lets compare making panoramas on a phone with a multi-photo approach. I’ll use the iPhone 5S for this – your phone may be different.
| iPhone 5S | Multi-Photo | |
|---|---|---|
| Capture convenience | Very high – you always have it with you | Low – You need to plan for it and carry your gear |
| Quickness | High – End result available very quickly. And can post right from the phone. | Low – Need to get home and run your software |
| Processing flexibility | Low – Done by the camera; Can adjust jpg result | High – Adjustments can be made throughout each processing step |
| Processing difficulty | Low – Done by the camera; Some amount of touch up may be needed | May be High, depending on software and source images |
| Raw capture | No – jpg only | Yes |
| Output size | Medium – Short dimension a max of 2448 pixels | High – DSLRs typically higher resolution than iPhone and you can make multiple rows if desired |
So, should you use your phone for panoramas? Yes!
Should you always use your phone for panoramas? Not quite yet.
Phones are getting better all the time. And they’re getting better faster than cameras are getting better. Sooner or later, most people won’t want or need a dedicated camera. Right now I think phones are “good enough” in many cases, especially if you think about the trade-off between output quality and ease of use. For panoramas, the ease of use and convenience allows many people to make photos they otherwise wouldn’t. In my case, if I don’t have any other camera with me, I’m sure going to use my phone. But if I want the best quality image possible, I’ll still use my stand alone cameras when possible. Check again in a few years – the answers may be different.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some panoramas! And don’t forget your phone!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved
I hadn’t been paying enough attention to astronomy news. Luckily my loyal Sherpa was (thank you Lynn!), and she mentioned that a partial solar eclipse would be visible along the US east coast at sunrise on November 3rd. So I took off for Cocoa Beach where I knew I could get a clear view of the horizon. This was the scene a little before sunrise.
Mai Tiki – before sunrise
Normally clouds are a great thing for sunrise photos. In this case, though, the eclipse would last only a few minutes, so I worried that the band of clouds low on the horizon would block the view. But the sun and moon finally did break through so we could watch the last part of the event.
Partial Eclipse of the Sun – As seen from the base of the Cocoa Beach Pier
I wanted to clearly show the sun’s disc so I used my “bird” lens for this photo zoomed in to 400mm. I was happy that these three people were watching from the end of the pier so I could place them in the frame. The sun was extremely bright and I was careful not to burn anything in my camera (or my eyes!). It was tough to compose since I kept my lens pointed away from the sun most of the time and only glanced briefly through the viewfinder to make images.
I like the way this one turned out. It was definitely a unique sunrise and well worth the drive over.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved
Just a quick post this week (a schedule update and one recent photo).
I’ve been invited to speak at both the Oviedo and Port Orange Camera Clubs next month. I’ll talk about “Winter Photo Ops in Central Florida” and recommend things / places to photograph in our area this winter along with sample images. Depending on interest and time, we may go a bit further and talk about other times of year too, or we may also discuss tools and techniques for any of the photos I show. Questions on anything else presented are also welcome.
The Oviedo Photo Club meeting is on November 4th at 7PM in the Memorial Building in Oviedo (38 South Central Avenue, Oviedo FL 32765).
The Port Orange Camera Club meeting is on November 13th at 7PM in the Port Orange Adult Center (4790 South Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange FL 32127)
If any of you are at one of these meetings, please say hello – I love to meet readers!
And since we can’t have a blog post without a photo, here’s one I made at the beginning of October in Winter Park, Florida.
Stationary water
I liked this fountain, but wanted to make the photo look a bit different. My normal approach might have been to use a very slow shutter speed to make the water silky smooth. This time, I decided to use as fast a shutter speed as possible to “freeze” the water. So I opened my aperture and ended up with a 1/8000 sec shutter speed. The wide aperture also helped to blur the background and isolate the subject. I don’t think you can make a photo like this with your cell phone!
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos – and go to a camera club meeting!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved
Four of us from the Photography Interest Group went to Viera Wetlands last Saturday. On the way, we stopped by Riverfront Park on the Indian River at SR 520 in Cocoa for sunrise.
Old boat by a bridge
There weren’t many clouds, but with a longer lens than I normally use (120mm equivalent instead of an ultra wide-angle), I managed to place this boat in the frame against a background of clouds and the causeway bridge. The colors on the water are nice and I was happy with the result.
As we left, I saw what looked like a sunken boat out of the corner of my eye to the south of where we’d been photographing. Since the good light was fading, and everyone else was ready to leave for Viera, I didn’t get a chance to check it out at the time.
For some reason, sunken / abandoned boats really appeal to me as photographic subjects. Maybe it’s because I spent time in the Navy. They seem sad and make me wonder what happened and why. This one nagged at me, and I really wanted to explore it so I decided to drive back over on Wednesday to see what I’d missed. Many times the boat gets salvaged – so if you don’t photograph it when you find it, you may not get a second chance.
A dream, gone – in the harbor at dawn.
Luckily the boat was still right where I’d seen it. I found a spot where I could use the sailboat mast reflections to outline the sunken hull and place it between the blue and orange colors mirrored on the water. I like the first photo, but I think this second one is stronger.
If we’d taken the time to explore this on our first visit, would I have gotten as strong a photo? Did I get a better photo on my second trip because I was by myself? Is photography essentially a solo activity?
Cue the standard photography answer: “It depends.” I believe you need to be “in the zone” to make great photos. Distractions and / or fellow photographers can hinder concentration – or they can point you in the right direction. When you’re with a group you also have to compromise and go along – you can’t do everything you want and force everyone else to do it too. If you’re mainly a landscape photographer, going photographing with someone really into bird photography may not help your landscape images. Or it might – birds hang out in some beautiful places.
If you go with people more experienced / knowledgable than you are, you may learn a bit and make better images as a result. Or you may find out about new places that they know but you don’t. Or you might even open your eyes to a different way of seeing something. If you’ve ever been out photographing with a group, you know there will be many similar images. But there will also be some that look completely different even though two photographers stand right next to each other.
I looked through my most interesting images (according to Flickr, anyway). Of the first 20, 10 were when I was by myself and 10 when I was with other photographers. Conclusive numerical evidence, eh?
So to answer the question in the title of this post: Is photography a solo or a group activity? Yes. You’ll be a better photographer if you go photographing both by yourself and in groups. Mix it up and take advantage of both ways to enjoy and improve your photography.
By the way, we did make it to Viera Wetlands. We saw many of the usual animals in the main area including Hawks, Ospreys, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Green Herons, Snowy and Great Egrets, Grebes, Black Bellied Whistling Ducks, Alligators, Turtles, etc. We saw a few more species in the Click Ponds: White Pelicans, Sandpipers, Roseate Spoonbills, and Woodstorks. A nice visit.
Sandpiper flock and reflections
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos – alone and in a group!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved
Three of us from the Photography Interest Group visited the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, Florida last weekend. The Circle B is about 1 hour and 20 minutes from where I live, but it’s well worth the drive. I haven’t been over since last October – so I was eager to see what’s going on. We managed to get there before sunrise and were greeted with this scene:
Before Sunrise
We saw a lot of the regular resident wildlife including: Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Ospreys, Red Shouldered Hawks, Black Bellied Whistling Ducks, Blue-Grey Gnatcatchers, Red Winged Blackbirds, Ibis, a few Alligators, lots of Apple Snails and eggs, lots of Dragon Flies, lots of Spiders, and a horde of hungry mosquitos! OK, I didn’t actually see the mosquitos – but I sure knew they were there! There were also a great many Limpkins, probably due to the abundance of Apple Snails.
Strolling Limpkin – I loved the light on this bird and the background. If she’d only turned her head just a bit more toward the camera. I guess some models are still learning “the moves”.
I was surprised to see baby Limpkins too. I didn’t realize that they breed year round. It was a treat to watch Mom feeding her chicks and see the chicks moving around trying to find snails for themselves.
Limpkin Chick – This little one climbed up on the reed and then had a hard time getting back down. The other three chicks stuck close to Mom. I think this one will be trouble.
In the not so usual category of wildlife, we saw a pair of Bald Eagles, a Fox (darn, too dark for a photo!), White Pelicans (they apparently stayed through the summer), and many small hard to ID Warblers (passing through on migration?).
It was a good visit. Much better than the foggy one last year when I hurt my foot. Now that cooler weather is starting to come through Florida we’ll have to go back more often.
You can read other posts I’ve written about the Circle B here. And you can see more photos from the Circle B Bar in this set on Flickr,
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved