Tag Archives: buildings

Maitland, Florida

February 15, 2014Birds of Prey Center, INSIDE FLORIDA, Maitland, Orlandobirds, black and white, buildings, duck, Eagle, infrared, reviewsEd Rosack

Intro / Description

Maitland is a particularly photogenic city in the greater Orlando metro area. I’ve found several locations there with good photo ops – my most recent visit was to the Maitland Art Center with Keith H.

Way out: A gate in the wall at the Maitland Art Center (Infrared, Black and White)

The Maitland Art Center used to be known as The Research Studio and is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It’s one of the few examples in our area of Mayan Revival architecture, which can make for some intriguing details to photograph. The grounds are a popular place for weddings. You may run into one on weekends that will keep you out of one or more of the venues.

Mayan Revival carved door – I wonder if this is where Indiana Jones keeps his stuff?

Other museums in this location in addition to the Art Center are: the Telephone Museum; the William H. Waterhouse House Museum; and the Carpentry Shop Museum. If you’re visiting, check the websites linked here – the hours and fees vary.

Info for Photographers

Photo hints:

My approach was to wander and photograph whatever caught my eye. I found the Art and History Museum productive for IR / B&W photography.

Tripod/Monopod: Allowed and helpful.

Lenses: You’ll probably use wide and normal lenses the most. I didn’t feel any need for a telephoto lens. A polarizing filter might be helpful to block reflections in glass.

They’re all in the garden at the party

Best time to visit: Year round, early or late in the day for the best light. Avoid weekends if possible so you don’t run into any weddings.

Other:

There are some other photo ops close by. I’ve written before about the Audubon Birds of Prey center – a great place to get close portraits of some very impressive birds.

Recovering eagle, Audubon Birds of Prey center

And the park at Lake Lilly is also photogenic. Try some sunrise or sunset photos there, or walk through the farmers market on Saturdays for some local interest / people photos. Be careful the ducks don’t peck on your lens!

Wide angle, backlit, ducklings at Lake Lilly – looking for a handout

And the Fort Maitland boat ramp at 900 South Orlando Ave. would be a great place to launch your kayak!

Summary

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:	Maitland on Flickr
Website:	http://artandhistory.org
Address / Phone:	231 West Packwood Avenue, Maitland, Florida
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	A great place to explore; Lots of photo ops

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

Ponce Inlet and Bulow Creek – changing light

December 28, 2013Bulow Plantation, INSIDE FLORIDA, Ponce Inletbirds, boat, buildings, focus stacking, landscape, sunrise, Tern, treeEd Rosack

Tom M. suggested we meet at Ponce Inlet for sunrise a week ago. I readily agreed, since the last time I was there was August 2010. We met at the park entrance just after it opened and were set up well before sunrise. Here’s one of my first photos. It was very nice of them to put up red and green buoy lights for Christmas. 🙂

Sunrise at the inlet – I thought the Christmas colored buoy lights added a nice holiday touch

I’m always amazed by how much light can change over a short time. Here’s an example.

Daybreak departure – A fishing boat heads out to sea at sunrise

The physical distance between these first two photos was only a few paces, but the time change made a huge difference. The first was at 6:32am, f/8, 30 seconds, and ISO 125. The second was at 7:22am, f/16, 1/60 seconds, and ISO 100. The amount and quality of light shifted dramatically over 50 minutes (and the sun rays came in for a short time too).

Moral of the story: If you’re going to get up for a sunrise photo, you may as well get going a bit early – so you can see and photograph the entire show. I try to arrive at least 30 minutes before sunrise.

I’d been watching large numbers of mostly resting Pelicans, Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers down on the beach. After sunrise, I moved off the jetty and photographed them for a few minutes. I was able to get close to this one without disturbing it, and I thought the low, warm light and the shadow behind the bird made an interesting scene.

Caspian Tern and shadow – The bird wasn’t really alone, there were many others close by

When we visited Bulow Plantation several weeks ago, Tom and I were a little disappointed in the light. Rain and clouds that day made photography a challenge. Since it was early when we finished at Ponce Inlet, and the weather was so much better – we decided to go back to Bulow. The light had changed a lot here too. But over a few weeks instead of 50 minutes.

Bulow Plantation Ruins – I merged three images with focus stack in Photoshop to increase depth of field. The light this time was much better than our last visit. And our cameras didn’t get wet!

So that was a very fine, final photo op for 2013. Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

And since this is my last post of the year, Happy New Year! See you again in 2014!

Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park

November 24, 2013Bulow Plantation, INSIDE FLORIDAblack and white, buildings, infraredEd Rosack

Tom M. and I went over to Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park in Flagler Beach, Florida. The buildings there were built out of the local coquina rock starting in 1821. It was thriving in 1831 when John James Audubon visited. It’s been abandoned since the Second Seminole War and was burned by Seminole Indians in 1836. The walls and chimneys of the sugar mill on the site remain standing today and are listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Bulow Plantation Ruins

The park has a hiking trail, a boat ramp, screened picnic pavilion, and a park interpretive center with original artifacts and exhibits. The boat ramp is on Bulow Creek, which is a designated Florida State Canoe Trail. It’s open 9 – 5, Thursday through Monday, and there’s a $4 / car entry fee.

Bulow Plantation Ruins (665nm Infrared, toned B&W)

We didn’t expect such bad weather – it was quite different on the coast. The rain and clouds made the light rather poor. I think we’ll need to go back for better photos.

The view down the dirt road leading out of Bulow Creek Plantation (665nm false color Infrared)

This is a fascinating place where you can look back into Florida history. It’s well worth a visit.

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

Chicago, Ill. Sept. 2013

November 2, 2013Chicago, OUTSIDE FLORIDAarchitecture, black and white, buildings, city, people, river, sculpture, sunsetEd Rosack

I’ve always wanted to see Chicago. It’s my birthplace – but we moved away shortly after I was born. For some reason, I never made it back until this year. I spent a few days exploring at the end of September. My daughter had a business trip there and some spare frequent flyer points, so she gave me a ticket. Thanks, MK!!!

Chicago and Lake Michigan from the air – my first photo of the trip. It was wonderfully clear as we approached the city. You can really see how large Lake Michigan is.

Mary was busy, so I booked a hotel downtown and spent the first afternoon and evening wandering around by the lake shore. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a bit of a problem. I wasn’t used to all that walking and ended up with sore feet and blisters. Which didn’t help me to walk around on the following days – but I still managed to get a few photos.

I did some research online and asked a few questions about places to photograph. One of my Flickr contacts (Brian Koprowski) lives in the area and gave me several good hints. Thanks to him, I ended up at the Adler Planetarium on the first evening. The sunset wasn’t that exciting, but I thought the city across the water at twilight was pretty.

City at twilight

I also liked this fisheye view of the Field Museum that I made on my way back to the hotel. It reminded me of the movie “Night at the Museum“, although that wasn’t filmed here.

Night at the museum – Field Museum

The next day I again walked the city (and made my feet worse). My first stop was the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), where there’s a view from the glass balcony observation deck on the 103rd floor. A wonderful place for a fisheye lens!

From the top of Chicago – Another fisheye view. This one is from the Willis Tower observation deck, 1353 feet above the city

There’s a lot to see around the city including a great deal of sculpture and artwork. And glass on the buildings creates many compositional opportunities. In this image, I waited for the photographer on the near right to get into place so I could finish my photo – I had hoped she’d move a bit more to the left, but oh well.

Flamingo – This artwork by Alexander Calder is in the Federal Plaza

Here’s another rather strange piece of street art. I couldn’t resist adding a little “digital makeup” in Photoshop.

Planter head

Later that evening I ended up in Millennium Park where the Cloud Gate sculpture is located. I liked the scene – with all the people contrasting with the buildings and sculpture.

Cloud Gate (AKA “the bean”)

My son Mike drove down to meet us and we spent the next morning riding the “L” train, bicycling along the lake shore, and visiting Portillo’s Delli for a Chicago Dog. When Mary joined us that afternoon we took a boat tour on the Chicago River and ate some very good Chicago deep dish pizza for dinner. The final morning before our flight back to Orlando we toured the Museum of Science and Technology and drove by Mercy Hospital where I was born. I was only a little disappointed that there was no “Welcome Back Ed!” banner above the hospital entrance.

I enjoyed my short visit and definitely felt a kinship with this wonderful city. I want to go back again and see more. It’s so diverse that no trip as short as this could possible do it justice.

You can see larger versions of these photos and some others from our Chicago trip in this set on Flickr.

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