Baseball Spring Training

INSIDE FLORIDA, Kissimmee, , ,

Intro / Description

I visited Osceola Stadium last Friday with Tom and Vince to watch the Houston Astros play the St. Louis Cardinals in a spring training baseball game.

Houston won 3 – 2.  Jose Altuve played well, going 2-for-3 and scoring two of Houston’s three runs. If you like baseball and are anywhere near Florida in the spring time, it’s a great opportunity to see and photograph many spring training baseball photo ops.

Houston's Jose Altuve (#27) is safe as he slides into 2nd base against St. Louis' Matt Carpenter (#13)
Houston’s Jose Altuve (#27) is safe as he slides into 2nd base against St. Louis’ Matt Carpenter (#13)

Spring training in Florida starts in late February and lasts through March.  Fifteen major league teams play in the “Grapefruit League” at 14 locations over a wide area of the state.  Here’s a link to the list of teams and stadiums on Wikipedia.  This should stay up to date as venues change in the future.

Info for Photographers

Sports photography is a lot of fun.  Results depend on your photography equipment and skills, but also on your knowledge of the game.  The better you understand the game, the more you can anticipate where the action will be.  If you’re not a baseball expert, it helps to go with a friend who is.

You won’t get professional quality photos from the stands because 1) You’ll be in the stands, not on the field.  and 2) They won’t let you bring large lenses into the stadium.  But you can get some nice images.  Here are some hints to help.

Houstons's Brandon Barnes (#2) connects
Houstons’s Brandon Barnes (#2) connects

Photo hints:

At spring training games, you can often get good seats near the action for a more reasonable price than during the regular season.  We sat close to the field near 1st base and had great views of the batter and base runners.

You should always keep both eyes open when photographing.  This is even more important in baseball.  Foul balls often come into the stands and if you see it, you’ll be better able to catch it (or duck).  With practice, you can also keep your camera aimed through the viewfinder, and at the same time watch what’s going on with your other eye.  This will let you anticipate the action so you can press the shutter at the right time.  Make sure your camera is in continuos high speed mode, start  shooting before you think you need to and keep the shutter pressed until you’re sure the action is over. Be careful about reviewing your photos on the back of your camera – you could miss a great play, or you could get hit by a foul ball!

Shutter speed and frame rate:  A baseball ball moves at 90-100 mph when pitched and may be even faster when hit.  This can mean up to 14 or 15 feet of travel between frames even if you can shoot at 10 frames per second.  If you’re zoomed in tight on the action, you may not ever see the ball in the frame.  Keep your frame rate as high as possible and zoom out a bit – then crop some in post.  Similarly, you’ll need a shutter speed faster than 1/1000 sec. to get a somewhat sharp image of the ball, since it can travel a couple of inches in that time.  Up your ISO to get the speed you need  – faster is better.  I shot between 400 and 800 ISO on a bright, sunny day.

Tripod/Monopod:  Nope.

Lenses: They’ll look at your camera equipment when you enter and generally only allow smaller lenses.  They don’t want you scooping the pro photographers down on the field.  So you’ll have to leave your 300mm f/2.8 at home.  This is a good place to use a micro 4/3 camera if you have one along with a 300mm zoom lens.  You won’t be able to throw the background out of focus like the pros do, but the setup will give you enough reach.  If you’re using a DSLR, you can usually get in with a 70-300mm zoom.

Best time to visit:  Late February through March.

Other:

Baseball has long periods of not much happening interspersed with seconds of intense activity.  Anticipate and be ready.  You might get more keepers if you pick the kind of shot you want next, based on what’s going on in the game.   Pre-focus on the spot where you think the action is going to happen and wait for it.  For instance, I concentrated on batters until I got a couple of photos I liked, then I shifted to base running to catch some action there, and so on.

This is Florida – the sun can be very intense even in the spring, so bring sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat.  Enjoy yourself and the game.

Houston's Justin Maxwell (#44) snags a fly ball
Houston’s Justin Maxwell (#44) snags a fly ball

Summary

If you like baseball, Florida in the springtime is the place to be.  Even if you’re not that big a baseball fan, photographing a game can be challenging and fun.

You can click the photos above to see larger versions on Flickr.  There’s a link to more photos in the table below.

My Gallery / Flickr photo set: Spring training set on Flickr
Website: http://mlb.com
Address / Phone: Multiple, see this link on Wikipedia
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:  Hot dogs, peanuts, baseball, and photography – what more could you want?

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

©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa, Florida

INSIDE FLORIDA, Lowry Park Zoo - Tampa, , , ,

Intro / Description

I’ve wanted to visit the Lowry Park zoo in Tampa, Florida for a long time.  I finally made it over there for the first time last week with fellow Photography Interest Group member Tom M.

This non-profit zoo opened in 1957.  It’s 56 acres in size and houses more than 1500 animals including many native Florida species.  There are eight major areas in the zoo, divided into typical habitats.  Some of them are quite large and natural and there are also free flight aviaries with a variety of birds to interact with.

Hornbill
A Sulawesi Tarictic Hornbill at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida

We spent a good bit of time in “Primate World” watching the family of Orangutans.  The young one (I think this is RanDee, born in August 2008) was full of energy, swinging all around on the platforms and ropes.  The adults watched her with very human-like  “where does she get the energy” looks.  Finally, RanDee rested for a bit behind her mom (DeeDee).

Resting behind mom
Resting behind mom – A young orangutan rests after play.

Parents.com has rated this zoo #1 for kids in the US based on the strength of its educational programs, safety, hands on exhibits and other factors.  But I rate it highly for photographers too – based on the many available, close and unobstructed views.  One example is the Giraffe feeding station.  You can buy food for the kids to give to the Giraffes, but if you’re a photographer, you can stand to the side and photograph the animals from very close range.  There are also a number of children’s rides at the zoo.  These can be great family photo ops – so don’t forget to use your camera there.

Info for Photographers

Hours are 9:30 to 5, every day except for Thanksgiving and Christmas and admission is $24.95 for adults, which is a relative bargain when compared to theme parks costs.   Parking is plentiful, close and free.  I think many of the photo-ops are even better than at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (and cheaper too).

Their photography policy is fairly standard:  photos / video are permitted “for personal use”.  Permission is required in advance if your photos or video will be used for commercial purposes.

Eye contact
Eye contact – A Mandrill evaluates my camera technique.  And doesn’t seem to like it.

Photo hints:

Travel as light as you can, you’ll be walking a good bit.

Tripod/Monopod:  I didn’t see any signs allowing or prohibiting tripods and I didn’t see anyone using one.  I usually leave mine at home for zoo visits, since it’s easy to find something to prop your camera on to steady it, and using a tripod when it’s crowded can block other visitors.

Lenses:

A moderate to long (or all in one) zoom would be the best single lens to bring.  At this zoo, you can sometimes get quite close to many of the animals so a shorter focal length is handy too.

Best time to visit:

If you’re a Florida resident, you already know that the cool time of the year is best for outdoor parks.  Arrive as early in the day as possible.  You’ll beat some of the crowds and the animals are more active then.

Other:

A few of the animals are behind glass, so you might want to bring a polarizing filter – although you can probably make do by placing your lens right up against the glass to avoid reflections.  A small flash may be handy in some instances to fill in shadows.

Do a little research before you go to make sure you’re up to date on recent arrivals.  The young ones are extra fun to see.  As I watched Mpumi make her way across the elephant enclosure (closely watched by two adult females), I remarked  “cute baby”.  The woman standing next to me (holding her own infant) said “thank you”.  Her baby – which I hadn’t noticed before then, was cute too.

Baby elephant Mpumi
Baby elephant Mpumi – She was born in December 2012.

This zoo has had some controversies.  But it seems well run now and the animals appear happy and well cared for.  They’re also participating in many conservation projects and have a manatee hospital where injured animals are treated and released.

Summary

As usual, you can click on these photos to go to Flickr, where you can see larger versions.  You can also see a few more photos from the Lowry Park Zoo in this set on Flickr.

My Gallery /  Flickr photo set:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/sets/72157632970940629/with/8550695583/
Website:  http://www.zootampa.org
Address / Phone: 1101 West Sligh Avenue
Tampa, FL 33604-5958
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:  Great for the kids, photo-ops for the grown ups

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Airstream Ranch

INSIDE FLORIDA, VARIOUS, , ,

UPDATE (February 2017):  The Airstream Ranch that was along I-4 in Central Florida is gone now. It was demolished on February 9th, 2017 to make way for a new RV dealership.  A little more info is in this post:  https://edrosack.com/2017/02/26/goodbye-airstream-ranch/

I don’t remember when I first noticed the display of seven and a half upended 1957-1994 vintage Airstream travel trailers planted in a field on the south side of Interstate 4 east of Tampa, Florida (near exit 14).  I do remember thinking it begged to be photographed.

Fellow Photography Interest Group member Tom M. thought so too, so we stopped on the way back from Tampa this week.

Airstream Ranch
Tom contemplates art: The south-east side of the “ranch”

Frank Bates created the Airstream Ranch in 2007, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Airstream (hence 7 1/2 trailers) and paying homage to the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas.  It’s been controversial and neighbors didn’t especially like it.  The dispute eventually ended up in court with Mr. Bates prevailing.  The court didn’t say it’s a work of art, but they did rule there’s no evidence it “created a nuisance, was a commercial sign or constituted an open storage of the vehicles.”

Airstream Ranch B&W
Airstream Ranch B&W

This turned out to be a difficult photographic assignment, especially since we were there in the middle of the day and the light was harsh.  How could we interpret someone else’s “art”?  How could we take something that’s been photographed so many times and do anything unique?  Who knows?  Who cares?  I do know I enjoyed stopping and finally getting to see this up close, instead of glancing at it from the highway as we zoomed by.

Airstream Ranch
Side view from the I-4 side

If you go, don’t stop on I-4 – it could be dangerous!  Instead take Exit 14 and go past the McDonalds, then take a right on US 92.  The next right is Castlewood Rd. and it winds around behind the field where you can park on the side and walk a short distance to the trailers.

Is this display artwork?  Junk? An advertisement?  A nuisance?   Me –  I think it’s outstanding in the field.  And great fun!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

A few photos from St. Augustine

INSIDE FLORIDA, St. Augustine, , , , , , , ,

I visited St. Augustine, Florida last week with fellow Photography Interest Group member Tom M. It’s a high density photo-op  environment and if you haven’t ever been there you really should go.  We only spent a few hours, but we saw interesting things to photograph almost everywhere we looked.  Here are a few examples:

Three trees, their shadows, and the Castillo de San Marco
Three trees, their shadows, and the Castillo de San Marcos

Bottoms up
Bottoms up – The St. Augustine Lighthouse staircase

Alcove in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine
Alcove in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine

Whistling waters
Whistling waters

I’ve written about this town several times before. You can browse through those posts by selecting the category from the pull down on the right (or click this link). And you can visit this set on Flickr to see other images from St. Augustine.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Keb Mo at the Plaza, February 28, 2013

Downtown Orlando, INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando, Plaza Theatre, , , ,

Keb Mo (Kevin Moore) made a return visit to the Plaza Theatre in downtown Orlando last night.  This time he left the band home and performed solo.

Keb Mo at the Plaza Theatre, Februaey 28, 2013
Keb Mo

The man has a lot of talent.  I enjoyed this show every bit as much as his last one here.  He sang and played four different instruments – including three guitars and a harmonica.  The place was full of his fans and they obviously enjoyed the show too.  He interacted quite a bit with the audience and most of the songs he played were based on requests.  There was even one funny part where he played a montage of several cover tunes while waiting for an audience member to return – since she had requested the next song.

Once again Lynn and I had excellent seats (this time on the left) and I was able to get a couple nice photos of him.

Keb Mo at the Plaza Theatre, Februaey 28, 2013
Keb Mo

I highly recommend both Keb Mo’s music and the Plaza. If you get a chance, check ’em out.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos (and listen to some music)!
©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Viera Wetlands – February 19, 2013

INSIDE FLORIDA, Viera Wetlands, , , , , , , ,

Most people just call the Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands near Viera, Florida “Viera Wetlands”, although I’m sure they mean no disrespect to Mr. Grissom.  I hadn’t been there in a while, and since it’s one of my favorite places I took a trip down to check on things last week – it didn’t disappoint.

On the way, I stopped by Kelly Park in Merritt Island for sunrise.  I’m not sure if this Great Blue Heron was really getting ready to fish, or just enjoying the beautiful, pre-sunrise light, but I was glad it waded into my photo.

The early birds get the fish
The early birds get the fish – Looking east over the Banana River from Kelly Park in Cocoa, just before dawn.

At Viera Wetlands, I got to watch this otter’s antics as it enjoyed a dirt bath in the road:

River Otter dust bath
River Otter dust bath – I watched it rolling around in the dirt on the road for a while. When it had enough, it stood up, shook itself off, and moved back into the water.

I also watched this scene and although I felt badly for the frog, I guess I should feel good for the bird:

This doesn't end well for the frog.
Hooded Merganser catches frog at Viera Wetlands – This doesn’t end well for the frog.

I don’t see Green Herons as often as some of the other herons and egrets, so it was nice to watch a number of them in the reeds along the sides of the berms.  This pose is typical of one of their hunting techniques.  They’ll perch frozen on the water’s edge and wait for prey to come within striking distance.  Green Herons are reportedly one of the smartest birds.  I haven’t seen the behavior, but they’re said to drop small bits of food or insects onto the water to attract fish.

Concentration
Concentration – A Green Heron stalks its prey.

Viera is a great place to see Great Blue Herons courting, nesting, and raising young and there are several pairs active now.  I saw one nest with very small chicks already hatched.  I also saw many of the regulars there including alligators, Great Egrets, Tri-color Herons, Scaups, Coots, Red-winged Blackbirds, and others.  On the way out I also took a turn around the Click ponds, but didn’t notice anything I hadn’t already found in the main areas.  A great trip and well worth the time!

Click on the photos to go to Flickr, where you can see larger versions (the otter photo especially where you can see all the dirt it’s flung around) .  You can also see more photos from Viera Wetlands in this set on Flickr.  And I have many older posts about Viera Wetlands  – you can look through them from this link.

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

©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona, INSIDE FLORIDA, , , , ,

Intro / Description

The Photography Interest Group was well represented at the Daytona International Speedway last Saturday.  Kevin M., Kevin K., Lutfi E., and I went for the day and covered most of the events from practice to racing and activities in between.

The Speedway in Daytona is the home of the Daytona 500 and opened in 1959.  In addition to NASCAR events, the track also hosts ARCA and other races. It’s a 2.5 mile high-speed tri-oval, and has sports car, motorcycle, and karting courses.

Saturday was part of Speedweeks which culminate next weekend with the Daytona 500.  There were two practice sessions, the Lucas Oil 200 race, the Sprint Unlimited Exhibition race, and other things to see and do.

Pit Road and the grandstands
Pit Road and the grandstands from the Fanzone

Kevin K’s son, Evan scored a package deal for us that included general admission, infield parking, and Sprint Fanzone entry for a very low price.  Sometimes being part of a prestigious organization like the Photography Interest Group can really pay off.  😉

Info for Photographers

Photo hints:

This was the first time I’ve actually photographed an automobile race and it took a while to settle on a shutter speed.  Luckily, Kevin M. was along – he’s a big race fan and advised us on settings.  He suggested using 1/1250th sec. and at this shutter speed the car body was relatively sharp while the wheels were a bit blurry – which is what I wanted to help imply motion.

These cars run over 190 mph and if you can get to the stands in the infield, they pass by very close.  So it’s a great situation to practice your panning technique.  I got the best results when I picked up the car in the viewfinder well before I pressed the shutter, concentrated on smoothly following as it approached, and continued to follow through after the shot.  I also had better luck when I used a focus point on the side the car was coming from and selected  continuous focus.  Previous experience with bird photography and keeping the focus point on target will pay off here too.

You may want to try turning off your camera / lens image stabilization to see if it works better without it at high-speed.  With fast shutters, you probably don’t need it, and depending on your equipment it might actually degrade the image.

I normally shoot in aperture priority but for this, the most critical part of the exposure triangle is the shutter speed – so I switched to shutter priority.  I set 1/1250th, and then controlled ISO manually to move the aperture to 1/f8.  It was cloudy most of the day, so my ISO ranged between 400 to 1000.

I also found myself using some positive exposure compensation at times to bring out detail inside the cars.

It’s fun to try to catch each driver at practice, but photographing single cars can quickly get monotonous.  We were fortunate to have access to several locations which helped us vary positions / light direction, and avoid back lighting most of the day.  Be on the lookout for unusual / different compositions.  There was a checkered flag in the foreground near turn two and it was fun to try to catch cars as they passed underneath.

Juan Pablo Montoya - car #42
Juan Pablo Montoya – car #42; Passing underneath a Daytona International Speedway checkered flag during practice

You should also watch for interesting people.  Be quick, since they don’t seem to stick around very long.

Richard Petty during the Dollar General Car (Matt Kenseth, #20) inspection
Richard Petty during the Dollar General Car (Matt Kenseth, #20) inspection

Tripod/Monopod:

Allowed, but not recommended.  With all the panning you’ll be doing, a tripod would get in the way.  And when crowds get dense, you’ll have trouble finding space to set yours up.

Lenses:

This depends on where you are at the track.  We were using various camera systems with a number of zoom lenses (70-200, 70-300, 150-500, 200-600 mm – full frame equivalent).  From the infield grandstands, the 600mm was a bit too long.  From the main grandstands, something that long might be useful.

It’d be helpful to have a shorter zoom available too for non-racing situations in the garage and Fanzone areas.  And a wide-angle or even a fisheye lens are useful for car close-ups.

Best time to visit:

Consult the speedway website for race schedules.  I found that last Saturday was a wonderful day there.  We got to see all the big name stars, but the crowds were very reasonable.  The traffic and number of people at the track can get crazy for big events like the Daytona 500.  Of course, if you’re a race fan, you probably don’t mind putting up with crowds to see that one.

Here are a couple more photos from the races:

Julian Jousse in car #94
Julian Jousse in car #94 has trouble in the Lucas Oil 200 race

The Big One
The Big One (photo by tkmckinn) –  A crash after dark in the season opening Sprint Unlimited exhibition race later on  Saturday night

Other:

Check the weather before you go.  It can be a bit warm or even a bit cold in Daytona in February.  Dress appropriately, and bring sun block.

Food and drinks are a little expensive.  Consider  bringing in some of your own in a small cooler.  Check the Speedway website for their rules on what you can bring in.

The Speedway has a phone app that might come in handy.  It’ll show you the day’s schedule, maps, and other info.  It also has a mode that allows you to find friends  (although it didn’t work all that well for us – everyone needs to have it open and on the GPS map screen).

Entry to the Fanzone is worth doing.  There are a lot of photo ops there that you won’t be able to get close to from the grandstands.  The infield parking was also nice, since it allowed us to move around for better vantage points.  Separate fees for admission, parking, Fanzone, etc. add up though.  Do a little research, and you might be able to find a special deal like we did.

Summary

Even though I’m not a huge race fan, I had a good time.  I wish I hadn’t waited this long to visit the speedway.

My Gallery /  Flickr photo set:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/sets/72157632780891033/
 more photos Kevin M’s / Flickr photo set
 more photos Kevin K’s /  Flickr photo set
 more photos Lutfi E’s /  Flickr photo set
Website:  http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com
Address / Phone: 1801 W International Speedway Blvd  Daytona Beach, FL 32114
(386) 254-2700
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:  A Central Florida Photo Ops “should do”

You can click the photos above to see larger versions on Flickr.  And you can see many more photos from yesterday at the links in the table above.

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

©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Merritt Island – February 9, 2013

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

I went over to Merritt Island this morning with Kevin K. and Kevin M.  It was crisp and clear, so there weren’t many clouds to enhance the sunrise, but we enjoyed watching it and making some photos anyway.  This one is from the Titusville Municipal Marina located just north of the Causeway.

Many morning masts at the Municipal Marina
Many morning masts at the Municipal Marina

After dawn, we drove through East Gator Creek Road but there wasn’t much to see, so then we headed to Black Point Wildlife Drive.  There were a lot of people there and a few unusual birds including a couple of Wilson’s (common) snipes, Lesser Scaups, and a Sora.  We also saw a Reddish Egret or two, lots of Coots, Pintails, Norther Shovelers, Osprey, White Pelicans, Hooded Mergansers, Roseate Spoonbills feeding in the distance, some Great Egrets (in breeding colors) and snowy egrets feeding at small pool on back side of the drive and a few other assorted ducks, shorebirds, and gulls.  One of the highlights was coming up on a pod of photographers going all paparazzi on this scene:

Great Blue Heron with breakfast
Great Blue Heron with Banded Water Snake – Fresh snake was on the menu this morning for breakfast (thanks to Karlie Carmen for helping with the snake ID).

Near the end of BPWD we saw a wild hog off in the reeds, but it ambled out of view before I could get my camera up.  I really need to practice my quick draw technique.

Kevin M. talked us into stopping by the Visitors Center and it’s good he did.  On the way there we sighted a Florida Scrub Jay, a Kestrel, a Red-tailed Hawk – and there were Brown-headed Cowbirds, male and female Painted Buntings, Cardinals, and other birds behind the  center.  It really did turn into an interesting morning.

Click on these two photos to go to Flickr, where you can see larger versions.  You can also see more photos from MINWR in this set on Flickr, and Black Point in this set.  And I have many older posts about MINWR  – you can look through them from this link.

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

©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Orlando Wetlands Park – February 7, 2013

INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlando, Orlando Wetlands, , , , , ,

Orlando Wetlands Park is closed from November 15th through January 31st each year.  Now that it’s open again, Keith H., Tom M. and I went by this week to see how things are at one of our favorite locations.

Sunrise was nice, although I was late getting there and missed some pre-dawn color.  Note to self:  Always arrive at least a half hour before sunrise.

Lake Searcy Sunrise
Lake Searcy Sunrise 1 – Lake Searcy is on the right as you walk in from the parking area.  It’s scenic and usually very calm, with lots of cypress and palms.   I liked the way the sun glow came around the palm trees.

Since I had my IR camera with me and the clouds were so awesome, I made this panorama to get as wide a capture as possible.

Lake Searcy Sunrise
Lake Searcy Sunrise 2 – This is a Black and White, Infrared, Panorama.  Sometimes IR can really bring out the detail in clouds.

We saw many of the normal birds including Coots, Snowy and Great Egrets, Little Blue and Great Blue Herons, Blue-winged Teals, Anhingas, Red-shouldered Hawks, and others.  I also saw what I’m pretty sure were several Common or Wilson’s Snipes, although these birds are extremely wary and fly off at the first sign you’re looking at them (worse even than Belted Kingfishers!) so I didn’t get a positive ID.  There’s been two Vermillion Flycatchers reported again this year on the far end of the park and one seems to come closer than usual.  If you haven’t seen this bird, it’s worth a visit all by itself.

We also saw either a small bobcat or large house cat on the walk in, but it was too dim to be sure.

You can also see more photos from OWP in this set on Flickr.  And I have many older posts about this place  – you can look through them from this link.

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

©2013, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.