Category Archives: INSIDE FLORIDA

Kennedy Space Center, Florida

INSIDE FLORIDA, Kennedy Space Center, , , , , , , ,

Description

If you are at all interested in technology and space exploration, then you should really visit the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) when you come to Central Florida. Living in the area and having a life long interest in space, I’ve been several times. Most recently last Thursday. This visit was with (among others) a fellow member of the Photography Interest Group: Kevin Krause. In a first for this blog, he’s agreed to help me write this entry describing KSC for photographers.

KSC is located on the east coast of Florida about an hour from Orlando. Here’s a link to a Google Map of the area, and here is KSC’s directions page.

Exhibits: The entrance fee to KSC is currently $38 ($28 for children). There are many museum exhibits at KSC as well as the relatively new Shuttle Launch Experience simulator, Two IMAX theaters, an Astronaut Training Experience, and several bus tours that will take you to places that are otherwise restricted. Several things at KSC, including the bus tours will cost extra. The “NASA up close” tour that we took was an extra $21, and the bus and tour guide showed us the Vehicle Assembly building, the shuttle landing strip and control tower, an observation platform close to the launch complexes, and a theater re-enactment of an Apollo launch. We also toured the Apollo-Saturn V Center where there is a restored Saturn V launch vehicle and other space vehicles.  You can also take a bus from the Saturn V center to the Space Station exhibit.

(NOTE:  clicking on the photos below will take you to their Flickr page, where you can see a larger version – select all sizes at the top)

IMG_0811-4_pano
Panorama image of the Rocket Garden at the main visitor complex, Canon G9, 4 vertical images (full res is 11215×4123), ISO 80, 7.4 mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec.

IMG_827-9_tonemapped
A space capsule gang way in the KSC Rocket Garden, Canon G9, 2971×3978, 3 shot HDR, ISO 80, 7.4mm, f/6.3, 1/160 sec, 1/320 sec, 1/640 sec.

IMG_0920
The Apollo 14 moon capsule, Canon G9, 4000×3000, ISO 80, 7.4mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, built in flash.

Landscapes: KSC is situated on typical Florida coastal landscape. There is some opportunity for landscape photographs, so be prepared. You might luck out with some interesting clouds during one of your tour bus stops as a background to the launch pads.

Launch pads
(Photo by Kevin Krause) Launch complex, clouds, water, Nikon D90, 3666×2445, ISO 200, Nikon 18-200 lens at 24mm, f/10, 1/400 sec.

Wildlife: KSC is right next door to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  As such, wildlife should be abundant at KSC, although it will be tough to photograph in the middle of the day with so many people around. On our tour, we did get a glimpse of a solitary alligator in the canal on the side of the road as well as  egrets, herons, and other birds. There is also a 42 year old eagle nest on the property, but the eagles were not in sight.

Eagles' nest
(Photo by Kevin Krause) This eagles’ nest has been in use for 42 years at KSC, Nikon D90, 2344×1645, ISO 3200, Nikon 18-200 lens at 200mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec.

IMG_0839
A stuffed possum in the wildlife exhibit at the KSC main visitor center, Canon G9, ISO 80, 44.4mm, f/4.8, 1/60 sec, built in flash.

Photo hints

Tripod/Monopod: There is no posted policy on tripods. It might be a problem to use them, if only because of the short time available at most tour bus stops.

Lenses: Bring what you have. Longer lenses will come in handy, except when you’re trying to show several launch pads in a single image.  Have a wide lens for that situation, or you can experiment with multiple images stitched into a panorama.

Other: Check out the NASA Images web page where you can search their archives for down-loadable photographs of almost any NASA subject.  Many of these are available in high-resolution. Let’s face facts – you will have a very hard time making better images than these in the static exhibits or on the tour bus at KSC. Browsing through NASA’s image archives may discourage you from trying too hard to make any images yourself, other than the requisite, documentary “We were here” photos.  But hey – we’re photographers and we live for the challenge, right?

Summary

If you’re interested in aeronautical engineering, space exploration, or Apollo program history this is a very good place to visit. Since the shuttle program is winding down, you won’t have many more chances to see a space shuttle on the launch pad.  If you’re interested, check the KSC launch schedule before you go and try to show up when a shuttle is out. Photo opportunities abound, although they’re of the “museum exhibit with people around” variety.

If you want to see more of the photos that Kevin (131 images) and I (30 images) made, the links below will take you to our respective KSC Flickr photo stream sets.

Our Galleries: Ed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8231395@N04/sets/72157622475589561/

Kevin: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34024553@N08/sets/72157622599372346/
Website: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html
Address: John F. Kennedy Space Center
SR 405, Kennedy Space Center, FL, 32899(866) 737-5235
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating: Space buff bonanza, photographic clichés

©2009, Ed Rosack and Kevin Krause. All rights reserved.

Lake Jesup Conservation Area Wildflowers

INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Jesup, Lake Jesup Sunflowers, Sanford, , , , , , , ,

Intro / Description

I’ve posted once before about wildflowers on the north-west shore of Lake Jesup.  They bloom this time of year and I’ve photographed them since 2006, mostly from the side of the road.

Lake Jesup Wildflower Panorama
October 10, 2006: Lake Jesup Flowers and Sunrise. 4 shot panorama, assembled in Photoshop; Nikon Coolpix P1, ISO 50, 126mm eq. focal length, f/5.2 at 1/30 sec.

In 2008, the area was completely under water and there were no blooms.

DSC_6211_2_3Enhancer
August 31, 2008: Lake Jesup flood waters from tropical storm Fay; Nikon D80, ISO 100, Nikon 18-70 lens at 18mm, f/16, three exposures combined with Photomatix

All year, I really hoped that the flooding hadn’t killed the flowers permanently. Once the water receded, I did a little exploring and found a park and a path out into the blooms through the Lake Jesup Conservation Area.  About two weeks ago, I revisited the park and made these photos.  As you can see, the blooms came back from the flooding.  If anything, there are more than ever.  If you are into flower photography, you have to ask yourself why you’ve never explored this wonderful place in late September.  Get ready for next year!

_DSC3626nx2-PS-Phototools
September 28, 2009:  Lake Jesup flowers and moon; Nikon D700, ISO 200, Nikon 24-70 lens at 62mm, f/16 at 1/50 sec

Here’s a close in photo of one of the blooms.  There are so many different types of wildflowers, that Identifying them isn’t easy (for me anyway).  These are in the Aster family and resemble Black Eyed Susans, but are taller than the 14 – 36 inches my book says Black Eyed Susans should be.  If you recognize them and can supply a positive ID, please let me know in the comments.

1/24/2010 update – These are most likely Narrowleaf Sunflowers, also called “Swamp Sunflowers”.

_DSC3667
September 28, 2009: Lake Jesup flower closeup; Nikon D700, ISO 200, Nikon 24-70 lens at 70mm, f/4 at 1/500 sec

Photo Hints

This web page has directions on how to get to the Marl Bed Flats part of the conservation area, where I made these photos.  It’s a short hike over flat ground from the parking area to where the flowers are.

The plants are fairly tall and the blooms range from a few feet off the ground to as high as 6 feet.  A tall tripod will be helpful to get your camera above the vegetation. Bring a wide-angle lens to take in the incredible vista of  so many flowers in one place.  You might want to carry your macro lens too.

Get there early for calm winds. I was a little leery of walking out there in the dark, so I passed on sunrise shots this year.

If you plan to do this, you should scout the area and the time-line before hand.  The blooms last a couple of weeks, but they are definitely better in the middle of the period than at either end.

Summary

Website: http://www.sjrwmd.com/recreationguide/lakejesup/index.html
Address: Off of Oakway loop
Sanford, Florida
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating: Nothing here until late September – then, WOW!

You can click on the photos in this post to go to Flickr, where you can look at a larger version. I’ve also posted several more photos in my Lake Jesup Wildflower set.

©2009, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Photographic "level of detail" -continued

Cameras and Photography, INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando Wetlands, Technique, VARIOUS,

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about level of detail in photos and how to best present it on the web.

In an interesting temporal coincidence, I ran across a post (no longer on line) on Jay Kinghorn’s blog, where he talks about Seadragon , which is Microsoft’s tool for creating deep-zoom images on-line.  This looks like it would be one way to present high res images that you can zoom into and experience the sensation I described.  Another link in his article leads to the Zoomify website .

Since I don’t think I can do everything I need to with Seadragon on my Mac, I took a look at Zoomify.

Zoomify Express seems to offer the capability I think we need to show photographic level of detail.  It is a free zoom and pan authoring, publishing and viewing application and has downloads for both Mac and Windows available.  It also makes it difficult to download the high res version of the photo.  I didn’t have time tonight to figure out how to embed the Zoomify window directly into my posts, but that is something I want to do.

Here’s the result (sorry – no longer available), using the same photograph of a gator that I posted before.

What do you think?

Canaveral National Seashore

Canaveral Nat. Seashore, INSIDE FLORIDA, , , , , , ,

Intro / Description

Three of us from the Photographic Interest Group went over to the Canaveral National Seashore yesterday to explore. We entered at the north end near Turtle mound. We could only go about 2 or 3 miles into the park, the road was closed after that.
CNS_-1

CNS is a national park located on the east coast of Florida, south of New Smyrna Beach.  It’s a very scenic place and there are many activities available.  The surf was very high yesterday (due to Hurricane Bill?) and there were quite a few people out taking advantage of it.
CNS_-4

In the short time we were there, we also saw people fishing:
CNS_-2

and canoeing:
CNS_-3

There’s a lot of wildlife in the area, but the number of people here at certain times of the year (like yesterday), probably makes it difficult to see much of the animal population, unless you’re here when the people aren’t. We did see some wildlife – here’s a CNS Anole:
CNS_-9

And a sandpiper:
CNS_-10

We also stopped by the Eldora Statehouse, which is a historic example of earlier life along the Mosquito Lagoon.
CNS_-8

Speaking of mosquitoes, make sure you bring some bug spray – they were pretty vicious at times.

Photo Hints

Bring what you have. I don’t like to take my expensive DSLRs into the hot sun near the ocean for long periods of time, but you might if you’re careful. Shorebirds can be small (and fast) – so to get prize winning bird photos here, you’ll need to be lucky or a very dedicated and good photographer willing to forgo other activities. It might be a good place to practice "birds in flight" photos in your spare time – Pelicans often cruise down the shoreline. If the surfs up, that can be fun to watch / photograph too.

One non-photo hint:  Be careful where you park.  The rangers are rather zealous about enforcing the parking regulations.  Parking on the grass is not allowed – even when it isn’t specifically posted.

Summary

The beach is a nice place to take some photographs and CNS is a very nice beach. We originally went there to explore a new place as a bird photography location.  We didn’t find many birds, but we only stayed for a short time. I wonder if other times of the year would be more productive?  The surfing would have been an excellent photo opportunity if I had been prepared for it (beach clothes, longer lens, etc).

If you’re here to visit the beach, bring a camera – over the course of of your visit, interesting photo opportunities will present themselves.

I have a few additional photos of this visit posted on Flickr .

Website: http://www.nps.gov/CANA/index.htm
Address: Visitor’s Center
7611 S Atlantic Ave, New Smyrna Beach, Florida
(386) 428-3384
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating: Come for the beach – take some pictures too.

©2009, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Photographic "Level of Detail"

Cameras and Photography, INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando Wetlands, Technique, VARIOUS,

I haven’t seen this discussed in the photographic blogosphere so I thought I’d comment on it.  One reason may be that it is difficult to illustrate given the photo posting resolution that we often limit ourselves to on the web.

You can experience a very good example of what I’m trying to write about here when you visit an Ansel Adams print exhibition in person.  For instance, viewing his "Winter Sunrise " from across the room, the print looks well composed and shows the overall scene of some mountains with areas of light and dark.  Depending on how far away you are, most details are obscured by distance.  As you slowly come closer, the details start to emerge.  The closer you come, the greater the detail, until when you are standing right next to the print, you can see all sorts of things you didn’t see from across the room – subtle clouds, interesting light on the horse and trees, etc.  The emergence of detail draws you into his photographs.

This experience – the discovery and exploration of a photograph is quite interesting and pleasant and is hardly ever possible on the web.  On the web, we get one look at a photo – the low res "across the room look".  The high res, up close version, where the subtle details emerge, is saved away on our hard drives, mostly due to worries about theft of our copyrighted, intellectual property (photographs).

The "level of detail" effect is something we all should strive for in our captures, prints and displays.  When we do this well, there are a myriad of things for the viewer to discover as they view our prints.  And while it is easiest to observe in a well made print, we should also try to make it an interesting thing on the web.  When we achieve a good "level of detail" capture, how do we show it off?  Here’s a couple of recommendations:

1.  Study examples by the masters and and use them as we strive for this effect.  Use it to draw in our viewers and keep them coming in for more.  Print our work and hang it up where people can see it.

2.  When we have a nice photo with some good detail and want to present it on the web, present the normal low res web version, along with a high res detail insert or two, like this:
Gator - whole print
Gator photo: "Across the room view"

Gator - partial crop
Gator photo: "Middle of the room view"

Gator - close in detail
Gator photo: Close in detail view.

3.  I haven’t tried this, but another solution might be a video of the photo using a "Ken Burns" type of special effect.  A "zoom in" motion video seems like an ideal way to showcase this type of photo and protect the intellectual property that everyone seems so worried about losing.  Does anyone know of a ready made solution already out there?

P.S. There is also a very interesting inverse effect to what I’m talking about here.  You will really enjoy visiting an exhibition of Ansel Adams prints at the same gallery with paintings by Monet .  Monet understood the human mind’s ability to "fill in the details".  If you approach many of his paintings from across the room they will look very real at first and they gradually dissolve into impressions in the middle distance and paint strokes when you are very close!  This is a wonderful contrast to Ansel Adams prints, don’t you think?

©2009, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Return to Black Point

INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWR, , , , , , , , ,

The last time we were at Black Point Wildlife drive was back in May (https://edrosack.com/2009/05/16/birds-scarce-at-black-point-wildlife-drive-water-levels-down/) when water levels were down and there were very few birds anywhere around.

Yesterday, we made a return trip to see what the place is like after three months of almost daily rain in the Central Florida area.

We arrived right at sunrise, which was very pretty.
Sunrise reflections

Water levels are much improved: areas that were dry in May are once again filled.  However, we were disappointed by how few birds there were in the area.  My theory on this (which I didn’t come up with until the drive home) is that the severe drought in the area happened during nesting season and forced birds to build nests in other locations.  The nesting season lasts for several months and is just now ending, so it was premature for us to expect to see many birds back at Black Point until chicks have fledged.

I did manage to get nice photos of a green heron:
Green Heron in tree

And a Black-crowned night-heron:
Black-crowned Night-Heron

There were also some unusual flowers (1/14/2010 update – I think this is a “Spotted Bee Balm”):
Flower

And some very large (about 2 – 3 inches), horror show type spiders.  How would you like to walk through this web in the dark?
Wolf spider?

So, even without a large bird population it was still a nice trip with plenty to interest the Photography Interest Group.  And… there’s always Cracker Barrel on the way home!

Animal Kingdom Update – The Lodge

INSIDE FLORIDA, Theme Parks, , , , , , , ,

Intro / Description

You may remember my post from May about Disney’s Animal Kingdom .  Disney also has the Animal Kingdom Lodge co-located with the park.  It is an African style lodge / hotel with over 700 rooms and several restaurants.  Lynn and I enjoyed our visit to Animal Kingdom so much that when we heard about the Lodge, we decided to go to the Boma Restaurant there for brunch on our anniversary in mid June.

Rooms at the Lodge overlook an area modeled after an African savanna, where 30 animal species roam about.  There are also several viewing areas where guests can walk a short distance out into the savannas to  observe what’s going on.  When we were there, we saw Giraffes:
Giraffes

Zebras:
Zebras

Wildebeests:
Wildebeests

Gray Pelicans:
Pelicans

And African Spoonbills:
African Spoonbills

Photo Hints

For this "expedition, I traveled light, took only my Canon G9, and shot hand held. A little more reach would have been welcome. I think you could bring and use a tripod – I didn’t see any signs prohibiting their use. We were there in the heat of the morning – about 11 am. Most of the animals had more sense than us and were out of sight somewhere cool. If you go, take the weather into account, it will certainly affect the animal behavior, as well as your comfort.

Summary

The breakfast at the Boma Restaurant was delicious and enjoyable. We also had fun wandering around the grounds afterward.

The Animal Kingdom Lodge is a unique experience. There is no where else in Central Florida that you can stay in the middle of an African savanna. Is it worth the premium over other hotels in the area? Since we didn’t stay in the Lodge, you will have to decide that on your own.

Website: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/animal-kingdom-lodge/
Address: 2901 Osceola Parkway, Bay Lake, FL 32830
Telephone number:407-938-3000
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating: Best food at a zoo.

©2009, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Black-Bellied Whistling-Ducks at Orlando Wetlands Park

INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando Wetlands, , , , ,

Happy Independence Day !

I was at Orlando Wetlands Park again this morning with a few friends and saw a bird that I hadn’t seen before, there or anywhere else that I remember.  Here’s a photograph:

Black-Bellied Whistling-Duck in flight

These birds were different from other ducks I’ve seen in that when we first saw them they were perched in trees.  Fortunately, I have a copy of iBird Plus loaded on my iPhone.  iBird is an interactive field guide to the birds of North America.  It has a search function and by entering the location (Florida), the shape (Duck-like) and the Color Primary (Brown) iBird presented me with a list of 16 possible birds out of the 914 birds in its North American Database that match these criteria.

Scrolling through the list, I read descriptions, and looked at drawings and three photos of the Black-Bellied Whistling-Duck that pretty much clinched the ID for me.  There’s also other info like range, similar birds, and links to Birdpedia.  If you are interested in birds or bird photography, you should take a look at this app.  I enjoy using it.

Here’s a few more photos from this morning.  First we had the bird, now here’s the bee:

Bee on flower

A spiderweb:

Spiderweb

And of course, what would Orlando Wetlands Park be without a gator photo:

Calm water gator

Copyright 2009, Ed Rosack.

Butterfly Rainforest – Gainsville, Florida

Butterfly Rainforest, INSIDE FLORIDA, , , ,

Description

I’ve been wanting to visit the landscape photography exhibit at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art . I decided to go up yesterday, since it will only be there through the end of August. I very much enjoyed the photographs, which included several by Ansel Adams.
The Florida Museum of Natural History is right next door to the Harn Museum, and they have an excellent butterfly exhibit, called the Butterfly Rainforest .

Mary getting ready to enter the Butterfly Rainforest

Although I didn’t write about it at the time, I was there once before in 2007 with my daughter Mary, and I’ve wanted to document it as a Central Florida Photo Op ever since.

Butterfly on flower

The Museum is located on the University of Florida Campus in Gainesville, just off of I-75.  For visitors to Florida, it might make a very nice 2 or 3 hour stop along the way to Orlando or Tampa.  For Orlando area residents, it’s about a 2 hour drive.

Butterfly

The web sites above have directions and entry fee information.  You should consider the weather before you go.  When I went on June 20th, it was very, very hot and humid and this might be easier to put up with in the cooler times of the year.

Butterfly
There’s also quite a lot of pretty tropical and sub-tropical flowers to take photos of, which supply nectar to feed the butterflies.

Flower

And there are several smaller birds that are flying free within the exhibit.

Bird

So, as you can see – this is a target rich environment for the photo sharp shooter!

Photo hints

Tripod/Monopod :  They have a pretty strict policy on what you can bring in.  Tripods and monopods are not allowed.  The pathways are narrow and restricted.  You also have to check strollers and bags (including camera bags) so plan ahead.  I brought a single camera on a strap, a filter case in one pocket and a flash in my other pocket.

Lenses :  Without a tripod or monopod, vibration reduction is pretty important.   Since you’re restricted to the paths and you can’t bring a camera bag in to switch lenses, a zoom lens is a necessity. Maybe you could wear a photo vest with some lenses in it (although I don’t know if they’d let you bring it in).

I used my 70 – 300 VR zoom on my Nikon D700 and also used a close up filter at times. This seemed to work out pretty well.

Other :  Some of the butterflies will be still for you and some won’t.  Most don’t seem to mind the people.  In fact some of them will land on you!

My SB-600 flash came in handy at times to fill in shadows.  The light was variable.  There’s a lot of shadows from vegetation and the cloud cover can also make a big difference in a small amount of time.

The museum also has a page that can help you identify Florida wildflowers and Butterflies .

Summary

The Butterfly Rainforest has a lot of photos waiting to be made.  The conditions are a bit challenging, especially in the summer.  But if you can put up with the heat or go by in the cooler part of the year and deal with the lighting conditions, then this is a good place to visit.

My Gallery (34 total photos): https://edrosack.com/090620_Butterfly/
Website: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/butterflies/rainforest.htm
Address: University of Florida Cultural Plaza
SW 34th Street and Hull Road
PO Box 112710
Gainesville, FL 32611-2710
(352) 846-2000
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating: Hot! Humid! Lots of Photos!

©2009, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Have you ever taken your camera to a flower show?

INSIDE FLORIDA, , , , ,

Description

If not, why not?  Flower shows can be a great place for photography.  They have plants in the prime of bloom and are often set in very scenic locations.  Lynn and I have been to a couple of Orchid shows and a Rose show here in Orlando and enjoyed each of them.  The most recent was last weekend’s Greater Orlando Orchid Show and Sale held at the Albin Polasek museum in Winter Park.  The museum is an interesting place to visit on its own, and is set in a beautiful lot close to Rollins college. This photo is of Polasek’s bronze sculpture of Svantovit , located in the back garden behind the museum where the orchid show was being held.

Svantovit

Photo hints

The one problem with this type of photo op is that you have to be pro-active and search it out.  Lynn noticed an announcement for this show in our local paper.  The table in the Summary section below has a link for a Google search that may help you locate upcoming flower shows in Central Florida.
orchid

Etiquette:  The purpose of these shows is to sell flowers, not to be your personal photo studio.  I think it would be rude to drag your tripod, lighting gear, reflectors, etc. in to one of the booths selling orchids and set up a shot and interfere with the vendor’s business.  So be polite – and buy an orchid.  You’ll enjoy it and you can make many photos of it in your home studio!

orchid

Lenses:  Macro recommended.  If you don’t have one, bring whatever you do have that will focus as closely as possible.  A mid range zoom lens might also be good to bring for the other things that are around the venue where the show is taking place.
orchid

Tripod:  Not recommended – see above.  There can be a lot of people at these shows.  Most of them are there to look at and buy flowers, not photograph them or wait until you get out of the way.

Flash:  Might be very handy to fill in shadows, especially in the shade or under canopies.  You might even want to get fancy and try using an off camera flash triggered with your on camera pop up flash.

For people new to flower photography, there’s quite a lot of how-to information on the web. For more information, you might try browsing through the results from this Google blog search for “flower photography how to”.

Summary

My Gallery (27 total photos): https://edrosack.com/090530_Orchids/
Website: search google for Central Florida flower shows
Location: 633 Osceola Avenue, Winter Park, Florida 32789
Central Florida Photo Op Rating: Great intermittent potential

©2009, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.