Merritt Island – May 31, 2014

June 7, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWRbirds, boat, BPWD, Butterfly, Green Heron, landscape, marina, reflection, Spoonbill, sunrise, wildlifeEd Rosack

I made a quick trip to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge last weekend with Kevin M. and Lutfi S. We stopped first at the Titusville marina for a sunrise photo. The sky was so-so, but the calm wind gave us very nice reflections in the water

Morning at the marina

Next, along Gator Creek Road we found a group of preening Roseate Spoonbills. I liked the contrast between their pink and the blue sky reflected in the water.

Preening Spoonbills

Later at the Visitor Center, we found a great many butterflies. They seem to like these Buttonbrush plants.

Gulf Fritillary

And Green Herons were common too, especially at the rest area on Black Point Wildlife Drive where we saw several nests and juveniles. This one (also at the Visitors Center) drew my eye as it posed against the silver-like water while it waited to strike an unwary fish.

Green Heron in a silver pond

With the hot weather starting to arrive, there’s not as much activity at Merritt Island as there sometimes is. But there’s still a lot to see and photograph.

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

Lake Louisa Follow up – 5 Mile Road

May 30, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Louisa State Parkbirds, Burrowing Owl, landscape, panorama, tree, wildlifeEd Rosack

When I wrote about Lake Louisa State Park a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t know about 5 Mile Road. It’s just across US 27 from the Park. When I did hear about it, I drove back over to take a look.

It’s a dirt road, and although a bit narrow it’s well maintained. I didn’t have any problems with my car. There are some interesting landscape views:

Views from 5 Mile Road #2

And some interesting wildlife views too:

Guarding the burrow

I made these photos on May 21st. One of my Flickr friends told me he visited the Burrowing Owl nest on the 26th and it looked abandoned. That’s sad. I’m not sure what happened. Maybe the chicks fledged and flew off. That’s what I want to believe anyway.

If you visit Lake Louisa, 5 Mile Road is worth checking out too. You can find more photos from there in in this set on Flickr.

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

Walking 'round the Wetlands, 5-17-2014

May 24, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Viera Wetlandsbirds, black and white, infrared, landscape, Little Blue Heron, Sandhill Crane, wildlifeEd Rosack

Kevin K., Kevin M, and I went to Viera Wetlands last weekend. We’d had heavy rain the week before and the roads were closed to cars, so we walked.

Handsome Blue – Little Blue Heron

You’ll see different things walking versus driving. When you drive, you can cover a larger area and maybe see many more things. But sometimes the faster pace and the isolation inside the vehicle will make you miss something that you might see if you walk. And when you walk, it’s easier to stop and really look at something. Or stop and wait for something to happen. When we first saw the Little Blue Heron, it was in the shade. But we stayed for a few moments and the sun rose enough to put it into some better light. Worth waiting for, and we probably wouldn’t have if we were driving.

We started too late for a sunrise photo, but I did manage to make this infrared image of the moon setting into the marsh.

Marsh Moon – The moon sinks into the clouds over Viera Wetlands. IR, B&W, 3 frame Vertical Panorama

We also stopped for a bit to watch a family of Sandhill Cranes. With all the birders that frequent Viera Wetlands, they’re very used to people and you can get pretty close without disturbing them. They’re interesting birds. Whenever I see two adults foraging, they seem to take turns keeping an eye on things. One will be head down, while the other is up and looking around. When there’s a young one with its parent, it always seems to mimic what the parent is doing.

This one! This one is a good bug to eat! – Sandhill Crane and Colt at Viera Wetlands

Even though the birding action in our area might be slowing down as summer approaches, we still enjoyed ourselves. We spent some quality time out in nature, and made a few photos we like. Another good day for a photo-op in Central Florida.

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

Riding the Rails – Orlando's New SunRail Commuter Train

May 16, 2014Downtown Orlando, INSIDE FLORIDA, Maitland, Must do list, Orlando, Winter Parkblack and white, buildings, panorama, sunrise, trainEd Rosack

There are a lot of posts on here about nature / wildlife / landscape photography in our area. But the blog isn’t only about those subjects – it’s about Central Florida Photo Ops in general. So this week we have something a little different…

Central Florida’s new commuter rail system opened on May 1. The first phase of SunRail is 32 miles long and connects DeBary to Sand Lake Road, with 12 intermediate stations. The fares have been free for the first two weeks while they work the kinks out of the system. And I had some free time – so it was a perfect chance to check it out.

Trains run every 1/2 hour during the morning and evening rush hours and every two hours in the middle of the day. Getting there early gave me more opportunities to get on and off the train and explore nearby locations. And sometimes the light is really pretty in the morning too!

A beautiful morning to catch the train – at the Maitland SunRail platform

The trains are new, clean, modern, air-conditioned, and the morning I rode they were all on time. They’ve been crowded with many folks riding for free to scope out the system. But by the time I boarded last Wednesday the crush had thinned out – I had no problem getting seats all morning.

Northbound

There are plenty of scenic locations within walking distance of the SunRail stations. Exploring them all would take longer than a morning so I only stopped at three: Orlando Health, Winter Park, and Maitland. Finding subjects to point my camera at was easy. Here are two examples:

Seaboard Coast Line – Amtrak Station

Lucy Bleuz and the Jazzy Dog – they look like good places to eat

I didn’t try photographing from inside the train – motion and glare would make it tough. But there are some interesting sights between stops. If you want to try this, the east side of the car in the afternoon might have the best shots and light.

Initially, SunRail isn’t operating on weekends – so you’ll need to get around another way on Saturday / Sunday. But if you have time during the week, it’s an enjoyable experience. And did I mention there are photo ops?

You can see these and a few more photos from this trip in this set on Flickr.

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

Lake Louisa State Park

May 11, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Louisa State Park, Must do listbirds, black and white, Cypress, Flowers, infrared, landscape, panorama, reflection, sunrise, tree, wildlifeEd Rosack

Update (5/30/14): See this related post on 5 Mile Road.

Intro / Description

Lynn, Mary, and I spent the first weekend in May at Lake Louisa State Park (LLSP). It’s located just southwest of Orlando in Clermont, Florida. LLSP is 4500 acres of rolling hills including six lakes with 105 acres of shoreline. There’s a range of camping options and 20 very nice, two bedroom, furnished cabins that you can stay in. Activities include fishing, canoeing and kayaking, biking, swimming, hiking, and horseback riding.

This is another case of me wondering why it took so long to visit somewhere. My friend Kevin M has mentioned it several times, but I never seemed to get over there – until now. It’s truly scenic and I’ve included more images than normal in this post – I apologize if it loads slowly.

Info for Photographers

There’s a lot to photograph there and the variety of landscapes is greater than many places in the area. Hills are rare around here, but this park has them, some over 100 feet high. I made this photo on the hillside above the road by the cabin where we stayed.

Wildflowers and dewey grass at dawn

May 5-11 is national wildflower week and LLSP was doing its part. Several wildflowers were blooming, including Prickly-pear Cactus, Passion Flowers, Lantana, and others. I think we were lucky to see such a variety in bloom. The Passion Flower blooms are supposed to last for only one day.

All of the lakes in the park are great habitats for Cypress Trees and Spanish Moss – very scenic and a classic Florida landscape look.

Lake Dixie shore – From the fishing dock in the campground on the south side of the lake

The Cypress tree trunks can also be very interesting.

Nature’s sculpture – The older, weathered cypress tree shapes can be very unusual

There’s a variety of wildlife at LLSP, although not as much as some other locations in Central Florida. For instance, eBird lists 112 species at LLSP vs 293 in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. We spotted nesting Ospreys (with chicks / juveniles), Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Black Vultures, Wild Turkeys, Nighthawks, a Swallow-tailed Kite, wading birds, vultures, Gopher Tortoises, Alligators, Deer, Crayfish, grackles and a few other species.

An Osprey returning to her nest to check on her chick

Photo hints:

Most state parks in Florida seem to open at 8am, which makes early morning photography a challenge. Since we were staying there, we could photograph whenever we wanted. This one is on the western shore of Lake Louisa.

Cypress dawn

Cypress dawn – by Lake Louisa.

Tripod/Monopod: Yes – take yours and use it when needed.

Lenses: There are so many photo ops here that you could probably make use of every one of your lenses. Macro for flowers, wide-angle for landscapes, long telephoto for wildlife, etc. You’ll have to decide how much to carry and what to concentrate on.

Best time to visit: Any time, but of course winter months will be cooler. Late April and early May will be better for wildflowers and nesting Ospreys too. We often heard Ospreys calling. It was fun to watch the parents bringing food back to their very demanding offspring!

Other:

There’s a nice beach and picnic area on Lake Louisa. If you swim there be careful though, there’s no life guard and there are alligators.

The park also is a popular place to bicycle, so bring yours if you have room.

The Florida Rambler website has a nice writeup on Lake Louisa and the cabins there.

The kayak launch at Lake Dixie across from the cabins is an easy put in. The one at Lake Louisa requires a long carry, so bring a friend or a kayak trolley if you plan to paddle there. You can also put in at the Crooked River Preserve just to the north of Lake Louisa and paddle down to the lake.

I didn’t get a chance (yet) to hike the many trails in the park. There are 9 main ones ranging from 1/2 to 5.5 miles and some of these lead to smaller lakes which might be very scenic.

The Citrus Tower is close to the park. It was built as a tribute to the citrus industry in the area. There’s a great view from 226 feet up, but a lot fewer orange trees visible now than there were in 1956 when it opened.

Cloudy in Clermont – View from the top of the Citrus Tower, looking south along HW27.

There are also many restaurants within a short drive from the park if you don’t want to cook in your cabin.

Summary

Lake Louisa State Park is a relaxing and scenic destination. It seems a world away from busy downtown Orlando. It’s perfect for a weekend get away. If you haven’t been there yet, you should go. I’m very glad we did.

Be sure to visit my Lake Louisa set on Flickr to see these and more photos.

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:	Lake Louisa set on Flickr.
Website:	http://www.floridastateparks.org/lakelouisa/
Address / Phone:	7305 U.S. Highway 27 Clermont, Florida 34714 (352) 394-3969
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	A CFL Photo Op must do!

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

Happy Mother's Day!

May 11, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Louisa State Park, VARIOUSbaby, birds, nest, Osprey, wildlifeEd Rosack

To all Mom’s everywhere, Happy Mother’s Day!

Momma Osprey and baby – found while kayaking along the north shore of Lake Dixie In Lake Louisa State Park. The nest looked empty at first. Then Mom flew in and baby popped up.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go tell your Mom you love her!

Monochromatic HDR Photography

April 26, 2014Maitland, Techniqueblack and white, infrared, landscape, people, treeEd Rosack

If you’ve looked through this blog or my Flickr stream, you know I like Black and White photography.

B&W with film used to be simple. Get some Tri-X film, put it in your camera, and make exposures. Take the film to the drug store and wait to get your prints back.

OK, it’s never been all that simple. If you’re really hardcore, you get out your chemicals, develop the film yourself and print your best ones. And if you were really, really hardcore – you could dodge and burn while printing to decrease and increase exposure in specific parts of the print.

You can still do all that. But many people today use digital cameras for B&W photography. And things are still as complicated as you want to make them. You set your camera to color mode (yes color, unless you have a Leica M Monochrom camera) and RAW format and make exposures. You load the resulting files into your favorite processing software and adjust / convert the color images to B&W. Then you print carefully to maintain and display all the tonality present in your carefully crafted image.

Along the way, you’ve got to make many decisions on what software to use and how to use it. It’s very easy to get lost and see only trees, no forest. And if you want the best results, you need to know what tools are available and how to use them.

Composing

Composing – A recent photo I made and converted to B&W

I purchased and read Monochromatic HDR Photography by Harold Davis. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time and I admire his photographic expertise and creativity. It’s a real treat to read this book and follow along as he makes some absolutely lovely B&W images. He covers info that will help beginners as well as experienced photographers and it’s not just post-processing technique. He also talks about the reasons behind choices and creative aspects.

I won’t give away the whole book. It’s a good one and covers the subject well, with a tremendous amount of information that everyone could use. If you’re interested in B&W, you should buy and read it. Basically, Harold’s work flow consists of:

Capturing the image as a set of bracketed exposures to make sure you preserve all the tonality that’s present in the scene
Converting the bracketed sequence into the best quality, color, high dynamic range image possible
Making multiple passes of B&W conversion on the color HDR file and saving them. With each pass you can vary tonality, contrast, detail, etc. to enhance parts of the image.
Using layers to blend the different B&W versions into a single “magical” result

I’ve been trying out his ideas and the photo in this post is a recent example. Below are some intermediate steps so you can get an idea of how this works.

Step 1: I like the general look, but thought the trees should be darker

Step 2: I like the tree in this version, but the fern, photographer, and parts of the canopy are too dark

Step 3: Fixing the exposure / contrast of the photographer

Final: All layers blended together to create the version I posted on Flickr. I like the sky and canopy glow, the dark tree, the bright ferns and the photographer’s appearance compared to the background.

Although I have a long way to go to even get close to Harold’s level, I really like his approach. There are a great many advantages and the only disadvantage I can think of is that it takes time. But if you have a scene that you want to render into the best B&W image possible, this is a great way to do it. And Monochromatic HDR Photography by Harold Davis is a wonderful guide to “Shooting and processing Black & White High Dynamic Range Photos”.

Central Florida Photo Ops Book Review Rating: 5 star, must read!

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

The Mute Swans have hatched!

April 18, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Viera Wetlandsbirds, Mute Swan, wildlifeEd Rosack

I’ve kept an eye on the Mute Swan family in Viera and when I went by this week, the eggs had finally hatched.

Viera Mute Swan pair and cygnets – On Wednesday, 4/16/14

I think I could count 7 babies. They’re quite far from the nest in this photo and Mom is keeping them well away from the road.

Here’s another photo from a week earlier. Papa was patrolling and looks like he’s about to fall asleep.

Sleepy Swan – On Thursday 4/10/16

If you’d wanted to stop and see them, it’ll be harder to find them now. They’ll be foraging and may not be anywhere near the nest.

I’m happy that they’re doing well so far.

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

Lessons from a photogenic place

April 12, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Marineland Beach, Techniquecloud, landscape, sunriseEd Rosack

There were a few lights in the parking lot way back behind the sand dunes and the clouds were thick and low, making it so very dark on Marineland Beach south of St. Augustine, Florida that my first few exposures didn’t even register on the sensor. I kept raising exposure times and ISO until I was able to capture this:

99 seconds in the dark – ISO 400, 99 seconds @ f/8; Marineland Beach, about 45 minutes before sunrise.

It sure didn’t look this way to my eyes. I couldn’t see much at all and had to use my head lamp to compose and focus.

When I got home and processed the photos, they reminded me of some things that might be useful to others.

Pre-visualize before, during, and after you press the shutter

You should always try to pre-visualize the photo you’re making before you compose and shoot – and it’s a delightful feeling when the image turns out just like you imagined. But this is often harder than it sounds. Especially if you can’t see what you’re photographing. There’s nothing wrong with adjusting your vision as you go. This is a wonderful advantage of digital cameras that we’d be foolish to ignore. Check your results on the LCD during the shoot and adapt as necessary. In this case, I knew exactly what I needed to change when I first looked at my (black) LCD. I needed more exposure!

Pre visualization is great, but there’s also nothing wrong with post visualization. What I mean is to try as many things as you can think of while you’re there and sort it out later when you get home. Try HDR, panoramas, high tripod, low tripod, and focus stacking. Use different focal lengths, shutter / aperture combinations, and positions / directions. Exploit changing weather / light as time goes on. Capture them all and give yourself a better chance to come out with something you like.

Shutter speed

Shutter speed is a critical variable when photographing moving water. The 99 second exposure above gave me very smooth and milky looking water, nicely outlining the rocks. A 1/1000th second (or faster) exposure can freeze drops of water. In between, you can find other speeds that look very different from the extremes. Capture the scene with different shutter speeds when possible. In this 1 second exposure, I like the added interest from the flow patterns in the water.

Marineland Beach and coquina rocks – ISO 100, 1 second @ f/4 with 8 2/3 stop neutral density filter, ~30 minutes after sunrise.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing and ghost removal

There are so many controls and sliders in HDR software that it’s hard to know which ones to change. Most HDR software has an option for removing “ghosts” (differences between multiple frames for anything moving in the image) and I think it’s a critical setting. HDR Efex allows me to select the baseline frame I want to use as well as the amount of ghost removal to apply. I like to experiment with these and select the combination that looks best. In the image below, there was only one setting that showed the breaking wave. And I think the wave definitely adds to the image.

Golden rocks and sand – 5 image bracket (-4 to +4 stops), almost an hour after sunrise.

Don’t leave too soon

I made these three images (and more!) over a period of 90 minutes. The changing light provided different looks and opportunities to photograph this place. It’s worth getting there early and staying for a while.

Don’t get overwhelmed

When you visit a beautiful place, especially for the first time – it’s easy to be overwhelmed and forget about everything except pressing the shutter button. It helps to visit multiple times. The first time, it’s hard to see all the possible compositions until you get over the novelty and excitement. When you can relax and enjoy the experience you can open your mind and get in the zone. Then you’ll make images you’ll be happy to share with others.

You can see more of my photos from Marineland in this set on Flickr.

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