Tag Archives: black and white

A lovely day for a drive

March 5, 2017INSIDE FLORIDA, Osceola Countybirds, black and white, bobwhite, Eastern Bluebird, infrared, landscape, osceola county, panorama, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Three Lakes WMA, wildlifeEd Rosack

I’ve haven’t been out photographing for a while, so when Kevin M. invited me to ride along with him yesterday I was eager to go. It was one of those beautiful Florida winter mornings – clear, bright, a little windy, and perfect shirtsleeve temperatures.

We went by the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area in Osceola County, then down Joe Overstreet road, and finally by the lakefront in Kissimmee.

Three Lakes WMA is a quiet area with dirt roads through varied habitats including pine forests, grass fields, and some hardwood stands with streams and lakes. There were several RVs and campers parked near the entrance, but they were sleeping in and we had the place mostly to ourselves at first.

A road less traveled – Infrared, black and white, panorama

Whenever we stopped the car to scout for wildlife, it was so quiet, all we heard were birds and the breeze blowing through pine needles. What a peaceful, non-urban setting!

I’ve been by the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area three or four times looking for the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers that nest there (read about previous trips here and here). And yesterday, I finally saw one. Kevin knew exactly what to look for and spotted this one (that I missed) on my side of the car – thanks Kevin!

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

It really helps to go out with someone familiar with the place and the species you’re looking for. Kevin mentioned that he’d been through with our local Audubon group and they pointed out many areas and what to watch for in each.

I have seen Bobwhites before, but this one running across the road was cute!

Bobwhite crossing

And I’ve seen Eastern Bluebirds before, but didn’t have a good a photo of one.

Eastern Bluebird

We also saw a raccoon, a couple of deer, Brown-headed Nuthatches, Meadowlarks, Eagles, Swallow-tailed Kites, Snail Kites, Hawks, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and many other birds. It was quite a trip!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2017, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Goodbye, Airstream Ranch

February 26, 2017INSIDE FLORIDA, Orlandoairstream, black and white, infrared, landscapeEd Rosack

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.

I’ll miss seeing our own “trailer henge” when I drive down I-4. This is a good reminder to always have your camera with you and make the photo when you see it. You might not get a second chance!

If you’re interested, here’s a Tampa Bay Times article about the demolition: ~~http://www.tbo.com/news/iconic-airstream-ranch-display-demolished-to-make-room-for-new-airstream-dealership-20170209/~~(sorry, no longer available)

Here’s the post I wrote about this place in 2013: https://edrosack.com/2013/03/08/airstream-ranch/

And I have a few other photos in this Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157633031564941

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos – before it’s too late!
©2017, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Viera Wetlands – 1/13/16

January 15, 2017INSIDE FLORIDA, Viera Wetlandsbird, black and white, Hooded Merganser, infrared, landscape, life bird, limpkinEd Rosack

Kevin M. offered to help me scout for the Smooth-billed Ani that’s been seen at Viera Wetlands. I’ve wanted to get over there – so I readily agreed to meet him Friday Morning.

It was the first Friday the 13th of the new year, but our luck wasn’t completely bad. The day started early with some challenging light and fog at sunrise. I’m glad I brought my IR modified camera and used it to cut through the limited visibility. I did get one or two pleasing photos, including this one. But it’s a B&W sunrise! What’s up with that?

The boardwalk by the boat ramp in the fog – at SR 520 and the St. Johns River

Kevin led us right to the Smooth-billed Ani (thanks Kevin!). The light was still poor and we ended up coming back later for a better look / image. These aren’t normally found this far north in Florida and they’re unusual looking with a very large beak – fun to see. People have also reported a close relative (Groove-billed Ani) on Apopka Wildlife Drive.

Smooth-billed Ani

We saw Scaups, Mottled Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Limpkins, White Pelicans, a Wilsons Snipe, a Great Horned Owl, Coots, Moorehens, Roseate Spoonbills, and Osprey among other things.

Hooded Merganser pair

Mom and juvenile Limpkin about to enjoy escargot

The light was spotty all morning with periods of rain. There were a couple of images I tried that didn’t work out. I’m going back soon to try again. NOTE: Their website says that Viera Wetlands is closed January 16 – 20. Plan accordingly.

Based on this post and my previous one, I think you can see that the bird activity has picked up here in Central Florida. It’s time to get out and enjoy our natural wonders.

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

The Great Wall of Photography

November 20, 2016China, OUTSIDE FLORIDAblack and white, landscape, people, travel, vacationMaryKate

If there’s one person who loves travel as much as me (or more), it’s my cousin Phil. That’s why I was so excited for our whirlwind adventure to China! Our journey was just five days, so I had to pack lightly, but I wish I could have brought my Dad and more camera equipment with me: the photography conditions were tricky! Since he couldn’t be there with me, he processed my photos after, and has joined me in this post with photo hints. So here it is: Central Florida Photo Ops official furthest-away post ever!

MK and Phil on the Great Wall – Mutianyu

First, we visited Shanghai – If you have the chance to go, I highly recommend the Shanghai Museum, and then a meal at the Living Room restaurant on the 87th floor of the Park Hyatt Shanghai. From there, you’ll find sweeping views of the Bund and the Huangpu River, and on a clear day like we were lucky to have, you’ll gain an amazing appreciation for just how large the city is.

My Dad lent me his polarizing filter, but I enjoyed the meal so much I didn’t think to use it on this shot while we were indoors.

View from the 87th: Shanghai

Editor:  A polarizer can be useful to darken skies, reduce the fog / haze in a photo, and eliminate reflections when shooting through glass.  It doesn't always work - success depends on the conditions (amount and direction of the light).  I always try to carry one with me and use it if I remember.   I processed this image through DxO Optics Pro for sharpening / noise reduction.  Then in Lightroom, I adjusted the exposure, and contrast, straitened buildings, and used clarity and dehaze adjustments along the horizon with a radial filter to lessen the haze.  Here is a "before version":

The highlight of Beijing was, of course, the Great Wall of China. There are several places along the wall you can easily visit from Beijing. We chose Mutianyu for its sweeping views (and it’s reputation of being less crowded than nearby spots). While we had perfect weather in Shanghai, fog almost completely enveloped us at Mutianyu. But every once in a while the fog would shift and we’d get a quick but miraculous glimpse of just how Great the Great Wall is.

Mutianyu is about an hour from Beijing. I recommend hiring a private driver – we used John Yellowcar – for about $150 USD, we had our own private driver/translator/tour guide for the entire day. We thought this was a great value for a 10-hour day trip. While there are restaurants and souvenirs at the wall, bring water/snacks and wear comfortable hiking shoes! Also remember that haggling with vendors is accepted and expected at the Wall.

Misty Mutianyu Watchtower

The fog was too thick for the polarizing lens, so I tried to take as many photos as I could and hoped my Dad could help when I got home! Here are some pointers from him on how he was able to save these photos, and in hindsight, things I could have done differently to make the photos even better.

Winding Wall and Watchtowers – Mutianyu

Editor:  MK faced some tough photo conditions.  Fog greatly reduces contrast and the amount of light.  It also diffuses the light so that the polarizing filter won't be much help  (sorry MK!) and the filter itself also reduces the amount of light getting to the sensor by 1 or 2 stops.  About the only thing I could recommend is to be careful with exposure (sometimes fog can cause underexposure). I processed this photo like the previous one.  DxO Optics Pro and Lightroom.  In these conditions, clarity and dehaze adjustments are again very helpful.  I used quite a bit of dehaze in this image.  It's easy to go too far - be careful.  Here's the "before version" of this one:

More photos from my trip (with my Dad’s amazing edits) can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/marykate/sets/72157676855966605/

Thanks to our roving correspondent MK for our first ever opposite side of the globe post! And thanks to all for stopping by and reading the blog. Now, go make some photos!

Regarding image selection

October 16, 2016Maine, OUTSIDE FLORIDA, Repost, Techniqueblack and white, infrared, landscape, lighthouse, rock, travel, vacationEd Rosack

Editors note: Although I’m feeling much better, I’m still going to take a sick day. I’ll repeat this post from September 2014. If you haven’t read it before, I think it’s still very relevant and worth a look. If you have – then I apologize for the repeat.

If you use raw format in your photography, they look different from jpg photos. Raw format is just the data read directly off of the sensor with no processing by the camera. Depending on how you configure your camera and software, raw image contrast and sharpening can be very low, white balance may not be optimized, and exposure is often set for capture / low noise instead of display / print.. This can make it tough to judge raw photos and decide which ones merit further processing.

When I returned from Maine and reviewed my photos, I bypassed some. When I finished working on the ones I’d identified as “selects”, I went back and re-looked at those I’d set aside. Some of them deserved attention.

A calm morning on Bubble Pond

It’s not just raw images that can be difficult to evaluate. Infrared photos usually need processing to optimize too.

Bass Harbor Light

And multi image panoramas make seeing composition and field of view a challenge before the individual frames are stitched together.

Behind Sand Beach

I can’t tell you how to rate your images and select your best. But what I can tell you is to be very careful not to discard something before you’re very sure that it’s not worth pursuing. Give your photos a second chance. Learn your software so you know how far you can go with adjustments. And as with any thing worth pursuing, practice will make you better.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2014, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

A Jacksonville Jaunt

September 4, 2016Georgia, INSIDE FLORIDA, Jacksonville Areablack and white, buildings, fort, fort caroline, infrared, kingsley plantation, lighthouse, panorama, vultureEd Rosack

Although there’s no official definition, Wikipedia’s article about Central Florida (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Florida) says Jacksonville is outside the region. I also consider it to be outside the region – it’s such a long drive and I seldom go up there. But there are a great many photo ops around the city and it’s well worth exploring.

Which is what MK, Lynn, and I did last weekend. And it was a great weekend for a day trip to national parks and monuments since August 25, 2016 was the 100th anniversary of the National Park System.

Our first stop (other than breakfast!) was at the Fort Caroline National Memorial, which was one of the first French settlements in America (around 1562). The rangers were setting up to serve National Park birthday cake when we were there. The rain started coming down pretty hard and I’m trying to control calories, so we moved on.

Fort Caroline rampart. Along the St. Johns river near Jacksonville, Florida.

I haven’t used my infrared camera for a while and brought it along this time. Most of the photos I liked best from this trip were IR. Kingsley Plantation is a well preserved / restored example of pre-Civil War Florida homesteads. Zephaniah Kingsley moved there in 1814. The site does a good job describing life during those times, including the use of slave labor to produce cotton, citrus, sugar cane, and corn. Tours inside the plantation house are by reservation only and were full so we’ll have to see that next time.

Kingsley Plantation – main house. 5 frame infrared panorama

On the way up to Cumberland Island National Seashore, Lynn discovered Amelia Island Light in Fernandina Beach. We managed to find it in the middle of a neighborhood after a wrong turn or two. I’m glad we went by – I thought the vultures flying around the structure were photogenic. I’m also glad I could add it to my collection of Florida lighthouse photos.

A Kettle of vultures around Amelia Island Light. I combined birds from several infrared exposures to capture as many of the birds as possible in my image.

You get to Cumberland National Seashore via ferry from Saint Marys, Georgia. The ferry’s also by reservation and runs only twice a day, so if you want to spend time on Cumberland Island, plan in advance. I wandered down the street while MK and Lynn finished in the gift shop and found this interesting old building.

An old building in St. Marys, Georgia, across from the ferry dock. Single infrared exposure.

This was a long drive from Winter Springs, but well worth it. We have lots of ideas for where to go back and spend more time.

If you’re interested, here’s one other blog post that includes photos from near Jacksonville (Little Talbot Island State Park). And here’s a folder where I’m collecting images from that area. Coincidentally, they’re mostly infrared.

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

Flowers and Flyers

August 28, 2016Virginiabee, bird, black and white, Butterfly, Flowers, shenandoah, travel, virginiaEd Rosack

I hope you don’t mind a few more photos from Virginia. The wildflowers and butterflies were beautiful, and the birds varied from what we normally see in Central Florida.

Chicory bud wildflower. Thanks Charlotte Norton for identifying this for me!

There were butterflies everywhere, probably because wildflowers were everywhere. We had a marvelous little meadow under the balcony behind our room. It was fun and relaxing to sit there and watch all the activity.

Swallowtail

Bees and birds were busy too.

Wildflower and Bee B&W

We stood in line for the dining room at the lodge one night and the woman in front of us was carrying a large DSLR camera and lens. She lived close by and had come up to photograph butterflies in Big Meadows. I said we were enjoying them too, and then we started talking about birds. I was all excited about the Indigo Buntings and American Goldfinches we’d sighted, since we don’t often see them in Florida. She didn’t seem to care about such common birds – and was much more interested in getting to Florida to see some Spoonbills. To each their own!

Eastern Towhee (life bird!) – Thanks Kevin McKinney for the bird ID help!

And one more image to wrap up. I made all the photos in this post with a micro four-thirds camera and 100 – 400 mm lens (200 – 800 mm equivalent). I found it very useful for close up photography and even though I had a macro lens with me, I never used it.

Wildflower 3

You can see larger versions of the photos above by clicking on them and more photos from Shenandoah in this album on Flickr.

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

Utah road trip – Chapter 2

July 24, 2016OUTSIDE FLORIDA, Utahblack and white, infrared, landscape, panorama, sunrise, travelEd Rosack

As promised, this is the second installment of images from our trip to Utah. You can revisit chapter one at this link to see photos from Cedar Breaks and Brian Head Peak. This time, I’ve included images from Bryce Canyon, Zion, Red Canyon, and the road to Capitol Reef. At the end of the post are two photos MK made. I don’t often include “behind the scenes” photos, but maybe you’ll like them as much as I do.

Agua Canyon Hoodoo, Bryce Canyon National Park

The first four photos in this post are all stitched panoramas. I found it very hard to fit Utah landscapes into a single frame! I made the one above with a 200mm equivalent telephoto lens. I wanted to show a lot of detail in the foreground hoodoo and bring the hazy background closer to make the hoodoo stand out. I like the result.

Hoodoos watch the sun rise. Black and white infrared panorama from our drive through Red Canyon on Route 12.

I brought my infrared converted camera on the trip and used it often. It’s good to have when the visible light gets harsh, since the scene will often look different in IR. In the composition above, the two almost human looking hoodoos on the top of the cliff drew my eye. They seemed to be enjoying the sunrise too. I also liked the way the IR light was hitting the trees and the cliff on the far left.

A switch back near Nepworth Wash, Zion National Park.

The locals kept warning us about congestion in the parks and there were a lot of people at Zion. But compared to Orlando we thought the traffic and crowds were pretty light – especially for a holiday weekend. I composed the frame above to leave two buses and their people mostly out of view on the right.

Desert storms. This is a false color infrared panorama made along Route 12 between Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park.

The clouds and rain storms were awesome on the day we drove over to Escalante and Capitol Reef. IR does well with clouds. I like the way the ones above look almost three-dimensional.

And here are the two “behind the scenes” images:

Ed and his Nikon (not too close to the edge!) at 11,307 feet on Brian Head Peak. Photo by MK Rosack, used with permission

MK and Ed at Rainbow Point, Bryce Canyon – we weren’t very tired at this point in the morning – that came later. Photo by MK Rosack, used with permission.

If you’re interested, you can see more photos from this trip in my Utah album on Flickr. And you can click on the ones in the post to see larger versions. I really enjoyed the tour and definitely want to go back and spend more time in this extremely scenic area.

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

Frustrating Film Failures

June 5, 2016Cameras and Photography, VARIOUSblack and white, camera, film, people, sunsetEd Rosack

… Well, some film failures and a small favorable film finish.

I’m a sucker for old cameras. I recently came across two that I ended up buying.

A Zorki 6 35mm film camera made in 1962 in the Soviet Union

This first one is a Soviet “Leica” clone I found in an antique store. I’d heard of them before, but never held one. It seemed to work, and since I’m a sucker – I bought it. I got it home, put in a roll of film and tried to take a few photos. The shutter is inconsistent and started running very slowly. First failure 😞. If you’re interested, there’s more info about the Zorki 6 at the Camera-wiki article at this link.

I ran across this next one at a different antique shop. It’s from Germany in the mid 1950s, and came with a clean Zeiss Sonar 50mm f/1.5 lens. I like the shutter speed range from 1 second to 1/1250 second (including T and B). The built-in selenium light meter still works too and no batteries are required. I’m always a bit leery of messing with these old cameras in the store. So I didn’t actually open it up or try to do too much investigation while there. It also seemed to be in pretty good shape and I went ahead and bought this one too. Yes I’m a sucker.

Zeiss Contax IIIa ‘color dial’ 35mm rangefinder film camera

I was able to find a manual and much more info about it online. You can read the Camerapedia article at this link. The first problem I ran into was a missing take up spool. So I tried to use a spool from a 35mm film canister, but the film wouldn’t reliably advance. Second failure 😞. More research turned up many used Zeiss Contax take up spools for sale, and I bought one on Ebay. Several days later I loaded up yet another roll of film and started clicking away again. This time the film advance worked. I finished the roll and anxiously shifted to Cinderella photography mode (see below*).

And yeah! Some of the frames were good. But many had weird light leaks. I inspected the shutter curtains carefully and saw a gap between them on one side. When the film is wound, the gap moves across the frame and if the lens cap is off, it partially exposes and ruins the film. Third failure 😞.

I can’t fix this. But I bought one more roll and this time I covered the lens each time I wound the film. And finally I was able to get some decent exposures. Favorable Finish on the fourth roll!! 😊

Here are three frames from the camera, along with comparison digital images I made at the same time. I think the camera works pretty well for 60 years old!

MK in the back yard (Film is on the left, click for larger versions) – I really like the way the Zeiss Sonar 50mm f/1.5 lens renders both the background and subject.

A Pine tree at sunset – (Film is on the left, click for larger versions) – The color rendering is different, I think digital might win this one. Different film would give different results.

In the garden (Film is on the top, click for larger versions) – The Caladium leaves were in the sun and the B&W film seems to have handled the highlights better. The subject isolation in the film version is better here too.

So, can I draw any interesting conclusions from this exercise?

Buyer beware – 50 and 60-year-old mechanical devices may not work like new.
There are no new parts for most old cameras and few people know how to work on them. Unless you’re willing to go to a lot of trouble / cost, they are what they are when you get them.
You can buy a film camera with a warranty (KEH.com does this). It would be less frustrating.
Film holds up pretty well (at least at web resolutions). I scanned these frames in with a desktop scanner and I could get better quality (at greater cost) with a professional drum scanner. Anyway, I think current digital cameras beat film hands down for convenience and quality.
The “film” look can be pretty nice. I think the film portrait of MK came out better than the digital version. This is mostly due to the Sonar lens and 35mm film size.
Film cameras can be frustrating, but they are fun to play around with. And film and old lenses definitely render scenes differently than digital cameras.
For me, film is definitely a hobby as opposed to something I would use all the time for my photography.
But film is enjoyable to play with. This Contax is usable if I’m careful and I might take it out and load it up from time to time. It reminds me of the rangefinder that my father gave me as my first camera.

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

*Cinderella photography: “Someday your prints will come”.

Lobster Roll Stroll

May 22, 2016INSIDE FLORIDA, Must do list, New Smyrna Beach, VARIOUSbeach, black and white, cafe heavenly, lobster roll, people, signEd Rosack

Mary Kate had a craving for Lobster Rolls last Saturday and her favorite place to get them is at Cafe Heavenly (http://www.cafeheavenly.com) in New Smyrna Beach. Lynn and I like the place too, so we drove over with her.

After lunch the girls wanted to window shop. Me – not so much. We set a time to meet, I left them to it, and set out to walk up and down Flagler Avenue. With my camera, of course.

Harley Ladies on Flagler Avenue.

It’s an interesting place. There are all sorts of people, shops, places to eat and drink, and even a few hotels and B&Bs.

No Vacancy – Fortunately we didn’t need a place to stay.

Our weather here in Central Florida is turning summer like. After about 45 minutes I was getting hot and thirsty. I saw this, and agreed completely:

Polly wants a cocktail – I was getting pretty thirsty.

Oh yeah, about that Lobster Roll – they are delicious!

Cafe Heavenly Lobster Roll – photo by Lynn Rosack, used with permission.

I enjoyed the food and the stroll. You can see a few more photos from the area in this album on Flickr.

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