Tag Archives: Flowers

Return to Animal Kingdom

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

We had family in town last weekend and they invited Lynn and I along on their visit to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  I’ve blogged about this place before (here and here) and this was a chance to return and see if I still liked it as much as last time.

Yes, I did.  I can confirm that Animal Kingdom is still the nicest zoo I’ve ever been too.  It’s enhanced by the rides and shows, and seeing it with our young nieces and nephew makes it an even more wonderful experience.

Here are a few scenes from the trip.  You can see more photos (and larger versions of these) in this set on Flickr.

Male Silverback Gorilla holding grass
Male Silverback Gorilla holding grass. In the gorilla enclosure on Pangani Trail at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

American Crow
An American Crow enjoys a stolen onion ring

Hibiscus
Hibiscus

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Orlando’s Leu Gardens

Downtown Orlando, INSIDE FLORIDA, Leu Gardens, Orlando, , ,

Intro / Description

Do you enjoy gardening?  Flower or landscape photography?  Historical sites?  Then Leu Gardens in downtown Orlando, is a place you should check out. It’s a 50 acre park on the grounds of the former home of Harry P. Leu, who donated the property to the city in 1961.

Hibiscus and sky
Hibiscus and sky

There are about 40 different plant collections in the park including aroids, azaleas, bamboo, bananas, bromeliads, camellias, citrus, conifers, crepe myrtles, conifers, cycads, ferns, flowering shrubs, flowering trees, gingers, heliconias, hibiscus and mallows,magnolias, ornamental grasses, palms,perennials, roses, trees, and vines.  Many are labeled to help you figure out what you’re looking at.  Various pieces of sculpture are also located around the garden as well as some interesting planters.

Planter
Pot Heads:  Heads full of flowers:  A Leu Gardens Planter

The gardens are arranged in sometimes geometrical layouts which can lead to interesting photos.  These include the butterfly, kitchen, rose, and palm gardens along with many others.  And don’t forget to see the fairly famous floral clock!

The Leu House Museum has been restored and is on the National Historical Register.  It’s open for tours on the half hour starting at 10am (except in July when it’s closed for refurbishment).

Info for Photographers

Leu Gardens is very photo friendly.  Photography and video is permitted for personal, non-commercial use, but commercial photography requires approval in advance.

The house at the end of the lane
The house at the end of the lane on one end of the gardens.  False color IR photograph.

Photo hints:

A leisurely stroll through the grounds is the best way to find photo opportunities and will take you an hour or two.  Make sure you carry your gear with you.  The parking lot is too far to go back to if you want to switch lenses or grab a flash.  Speaking of flash – some of the flowers are located in very shaded areas.  I found myself making photos with my camera in my right hand and a flash in my left to help light my subjects.

Busy Bee
Busy Bee gathers pollen at Leu Gardens

Tripod/Monopod:

Tripods are allowed and would be good for all the normal reasons.  I didn’t bring one either time I visited.  I know, I know – I should have, but I was just carrying too much already.

Lenses:

You’ll want to have your macro and wide-angle lenses with you.  A longer macro will be most helpful.  Not all the blooms and interesting plants are right next to the paths.  And a longer distance to your subject will scare fewer insects away.

Best time to visit:

They’re open all year except Christmas day. Hours are 9am to 5pm.  There are different plants blooming year round.  Here’s a partial list by season (info from the Leu Gardens Map and Visitors Guide):

Spring  roses, hibiscus, day lilies, gardenias, trumpet trees, azaleas, citrus
Summer  roses, hibiscus, ginger, heliconias, canna, magnolia, crepe myrtle, banana, cassia, bird of paradise
Autumn roses, floss silk tree, cassia, hibiscus, ginger, helconia, bottlebrush tree
Winter  camellia, pink trumpet tree, azaleas, orchid tree

They occasionally host flower shows.  If you can catch one of those, you’ll be in for some extra treats.

Leu Gardens can be a very popular place, especially on weekends and during wedding season.  I visited once when two weddings were taking place and almost got knocked over by two photographers running backwards photographing a wedding party.  The weddings can sometimes block off areas in the park too.  Another time I visited was on a Friday morning and I had most of the place to myself.  So I’d suggest you try to avoid the weekends and weddings if you can.

Other:

Adult admission is $7.00, children in grades K – 12 are $2.00.  If you can visit on the first Monday of the month, admission is free.

I did see some birds there during my visit including Cardinals, Woodpeckers, and Northern Mockingbirds, among others.  And the birdsong adds a nice soundtrack to your stroll.

Summary

Please visit my Leu Gardens set on Flickr to see more examples of the photo ops you might find there.  I’m sure if you go, you come up with many others.  If you do, let me know about it.

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/sets/72157629660062855/with/7012298391/
Website:  http://www.leugardens.org/index.htm
Address / Phone: 1920 North Forest Avenue, Orlando, FL; Phone: 407-246-2620
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:  Botanical beauty.  A great place for a walk with many fine photo opportunities.

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Landscapes and Bobcat at the Circle B Bar Reserve

Circle B Bar Reserve, INSIDE FLORIDA, , , , , , ,

Last weekend, I went over to the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, Florida with Kevin M., Lutfi E., and Frank B. I almost didn’t go – we checked Flickr for new photos from the area and didn’t see much being posted. But I remembered seeing yellow flowers blooming there at this time last year and wanted to see them again.

Early morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve
Early morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve – The yellow flowers are Burr Marigolds. These are all over the Circle B Bar in mid to late November.

Sunrise sure does happen early since the time changed. We met at 5:15am to drive over and arrived just as it started to get light. I find it very hard to predict how sunrise will look. Weather and clouds can shift over the time / distance of the drive. But this morning turned out nice and I managed to make a good image or two.

Sunrise at the Circle B Bar Reserve
Sunrise at the Circle B Bar Reserve

The bird population was a bit disappointing. We saw the usual suspects, including Anhingas, Cormorants, Woodstorks, Ospreys, Herons, Egrets, Coots, Moorhens, and Whistling Ducks. I attempted a few bird photos, but none came out blog worthy. Here’s a landscape that includes a few birds:

Tree and Woodstorks
Tree and Woodstorks

So – I didn’t see any new birds or make any great bird photos, but I did make some landscapes I like. Enough to count the trip as a success. And then…

A jogger came by us and told us about “a Bobcat up in tree about 300 yards away on the right past a palm tree”. That got my photo adrenalin going! I’ve seen Bobcats in the wild three times or so. In one case at dusk I was able to get a single underexposed, blurry photo before it moved off a trail at Orlando Wetlands. In my experience they take a look at you and then they’re gone. You only have a few seconds to make the photo. So this situation sounded exciting.

We took off down the trail – and Frank and I walked right by it! Lucky for us, Kevin was trailing us, saw it and called us back. It was very well camouflaged and it sure helped to have multiple sets of eyes searching. There was no one around at first. The Bobcat looked healthy, and appeared to be resting and watching from about 35 – 40 feet up. I was really happy that I had my long lens and flash with me. It was backlit against the sky and a real tough exposure without flash. We made some photos and moved on down the trail. When we returned, there was a crowd gathered and it was pretty famous on Flickr the next day! Judging from the photos in the Circle B Bar Flickr pool, it’s a good place to see Bobcats.

Bobcat in Tree, Circle B Bar Reserve

Bobcat in Tree, Circle B Bar – I’ve seen Bobcats in the wild before, but I’ve never been able to take a good photo of one. We saw this one resting up on a branch and it posed for a while. In this image, I think it was trying to figure out how to get through the crowd of humans at the base of the tree.

So the moral of this story is: You won’t make any good photos if you don’t get up and get out there. You’ll never know what you could have seen if you don’t make the effort to go out and see it. You may be surprised and if you are, I hope you’re ready!

You can view other photos I’ve made at the Circle B Bar in this set on Flickr.

Oh, and have a Happy Thanksgiving. Even with all the problems we have in the economy, country, world, and our personal lives – we can each find many things to be grateful for.

I’m thankful that you stop by and read my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2011, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

MINWR is a big place!

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

I’m extremely fortunate to live near the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and the more I learn about it, the bigger and better it seems. I’ve been going to Black Point Wildlife Drive for several years, but only recently started exploring other locations in the Refuge. If you only have a short time to visit, Black Point is a great place to see – but there’s so much more. If you have time, visit East Gator Creek Road, Shiloh Marsh Road, Bio-Lab Road, Scrub Ridge Trail and other areas. Look here for maps of these and other MINWR trails.

Kevin M., Lutfi and I were in place on East Gator Creek Road this morning in time for sunrise. It was my first time at this spot and I was very happy with the views. Highly recommended for sunrise shots!

Merrit Island Sunrise
Merritt Island Sunrise

Next, we drove up to Shiloh Marsh Road. We were able to drive in only a short distance from either end before the way was blocked by chains – I think for duck hunting season. If you decide to drive this road, check to make sure it’s open and make sure your vehicle has plenty of ground clearance. There are some grand canyon sized potholes out there.

After Shiloh, we drove Black Point Wildlife Drive. This road was resurfaced this year and is in very good shape. Not too many potholes here.

Little Green Heron in flight
Little Green Heron in flight; I made this photo very close to the same spot a few weeks ago – is this the same bird?

Finally, we headed over to the MINWR Visitor Center to see if the Painted Buntings had arrived for the winter. But it was closed too – we’re not sure why.

Today was a wonderful day for wildlife and nature watching. We saw Spoonbills, Ospreys, Redish Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Black Vultures, Turkey Vultures, Lesser Yellowlegs, Willets, Little Green Herons, Belted Kingfishers, Tri-Color Herons, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Crabs, a deer, flowers, Bald Eagles, Ibis, European Sparrows, Cormorants, Anhingas, Cardinals and butterflys among other things.

Butterfly and flower
Butterfly and flower

For more info on MINWR, this search will bring up other things I’ve written about it. And you can view some other photos I’ve made at the Refuge on Flickr here, and here.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2011, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

The Lake Jesup Flowers are back!

INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Jesup, Lake Jesup Sunflowers, Must do list, , , , ,

We may not get much Autumn color on our trees in Central Florida, but we do have one wonderful sign that fall is here – the sudden appearance of  huge fields of Swamp Sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolius, also called Narrow Leaf Sunflowers) covering the Marl Bed Flats in the Lake Jesup Conservation Area.

If you haven’t driven over Lake Jesup on the 417 toll road to see this year’s flower extravaganza on the north shore, now’s the time .  They started blooming last weekend and the peak will probably last through this coming weekend.  You can see my earlier posts for more info:

Here’s a photo I made last Sunday evening near sunset:

Marl Bed Flats Flowers
Marl Bed Flats Sunflowers: They bloom in late September / early October and cover a large part of the Lake Jesup Conservation area.

You can look at other photos I’ve made here in this set on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/sets/72157622430520287/

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2011, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Circle B Bar Reserve – Summer Sizzle

Circle B Bar Reserve, INSIDE FLORIDA, , ,

It’s hot and muggy here in the land of sunshine and the later in the day you go somewhere, the hotter it gets.  This is real motivation to get out early – so Frank and I were on the road at 5:30 am yesterday to drive over to the Circle B Bar Reserve near Lakeland, Florida in time to catch the sunrise.  I’m not sure what these flowers are, but I really like how they almost match the color of the horizon:

Misty Sunrise Flower
Misty Sunrise Flower; 9 bracket capture processed with Nik HDR Efex Pro

We saw a lot of the usual wildlife:  Limpkins (one with a very large, fist sized snail!), Great Blue Herons, Egrets, Little Blue Herons, Moorhens, Grebes, many Woodstorks (especially in trees) – including some juveniles, a Bald Eagle, quite a few Ospreys, several Hawks,  and of course a few Alligators (mostly in Lake Hancock).  This Great Blue was posing in front of some Spanish Moss.  I wanted to do something a little different, so I converted it to Black and White.  It makes it much more of an abstract composition:

Great Blue Heron on one leg with Spanish Moss
Great Blue Heron on one leg with Spanish Moss; B&W conversion with Nik Silver Efex Pro

All in all another good visit, but by the time we left it was very warm.  I’d like to share some tips with you for this kind of weather.  When you travel somewhere in your air-conditioned car and take your cool camera gear out into an environment like this, your lens and eyepiece are very likely to fog up.  Try these things to minimize the issue:

  • Keep your gear packed up while inside the car to insulate it from the cold.  It will be much worse if your camera is sitting on the seat by you right in the A/C blast zone as you drive
  • Consider running the A/C at a higher temp on your way over so the gear doesn’t get so cold
  • Try to arrive a few minutes early to give your gear time to warm up
  • Take a lens cloth with you
  • If you have a filter on the front of your lens, you can remove it when it fogs and get the next shot before the front element fogs up
  • The smaller your gear, the quicker it will warm up and stop fogging.  If your big DSLR glass fogs, pull your point and shoot out of your pocket and keep going.

You can read what else I’ve written about the Circle B Bar here.  And you can view photos I’ve posted from this great place in this set on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2011, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Viera Wetlands Visit

INSIDE FLORIDA, Viera Wetlands, , , , ,

Lynn and I drove over to Viera Wetlands yesterday morning in her Prius. This was our first photo outing with the vehicle and it is outstanding for this purpose. There’s plenty of room. It’s very fuel-efficient when driving in the slow speed mode you use through an area like the wetlands. And, it’s quiet. Cars normally serve as a very good blind for bird photography, but when your vehicle is this quiet, you can get even closer to the subjects without scaring them.

This first image was one of the scenes that we saw. We’d been there for a while and were just turning a corner out in the middle of the wetlands when we both commented about the light on the left side of the car. The sun through the clouds was changing rapidly and I wasn’t set up for landscapes. I ended up asking Lynn to back up and then scrambling to switch to my wide-angle lens. I made the photo using this two image composite technique I described here. I think it came out pretty well for a hand-held, scramble photo.

Swamp grass, flowers, water, and sky
Swamp grass, flowers, water, and sky

There is lot less activity at the wetlands than there was a month or two ago, but we still saw a good variety of birds. I’ve included a couple below and you can see more in my Viera Wetlands set on Flickr.

Anhinga dryiing wings
Anhinga drying wings: The bird was only a few feet from the car. I had to stitch together a two image panorama, in Photoshop.

Female Blue Wing Teal
Female Blue Wing Teal: This bird let us approach very closely.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
©2011, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Central Florida Orchid Society show

INSIDE FLORIDA,

On April 2 – 3, the Central Florida Orchid Society held a show at the Maitland Civic Center.  Admission was only $5, and  offered a great opportunity to see and photograph many examples of this family of plants, which is “believed to be the largest variety of flowering plants”.

Once again, your intrepid Central Florida Photo Ops reporter was there – in person and on the scene – to record and report a sample of the photo ops on offer.  You can see a couple of my photos below and more in this set on Flickr.  You can also review a previous post I wrote here for more info and hints on flower show photography.

Orchid
Orchid

You should keep an eye out for these kinds of photo ops.  They happen quite often are a great way to make some interesting photos.

By the way, the blog is now starting its 5th year.  The first post was May 4th, 2007.  That’s a long time in blog years!  I hope you continue to enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.  Now – go make some photos!
©2011, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

A few more updates

Cameras and Photography, INSIDE FLORIDA, Ravine Gardens, Viera Wetlands, , , , ,

Sorry for not posting last weekend.  Much to do and little time to do it.  Here’s an update on three recent Central Florida Photo Op topics.

Ravine Gardens:  We made another trip up there and I’ve refreshed the main Ravine Gardens post with a few small revisions and two additional photos following our visit yesterday.  Bottom line:  A nice place for spring flowers.

Dogwood blossom in front of azaleas

Dogwood blossom in front of azaleas at Ravine Gardens

Viera Wetlands:  Kevin M. and I went by last Saturday.  Highlights of the trip were the White Pelicans in the click ponds (migrants in Florida) as well as getting images of 3 new (for me) birds.  By the way, the Tree Swallows are very difficult to photograph.  They never seem to perch and their flight patterns are very erratic.  But they are good practice for flight shots!

Least Bittern in the reeds

Least Bittern in the reeds

Tree Swallow?

Tree Swallow

European Starling

European Starling

Sigma 150 – 500 OS:  I did use this lens at Viera last weekend.  It worked well, but started to  “chatter”  one time.  Then it stopped and worked fine after that.  Not sure what to make of it, other than to keep an eye on it over time.

Thanks for stopping by!

© 2011, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

The Sigma 150 – 500 returns and more flowers

Cameras and Photography, Technique, ,

I mentioned at the bottom of this post that I was having trouble with my Sigma 150 – 500mm OS lens and that I’d let you know how it turned out.  I said that I’ve been very happy with it and one of my few complaints was that the Optical Stabilization was a bit noisy.  Lately, it’s developed a “chatter” where it sounds like the OS motor is vibrating back and forth.  While it does this, you can see the image vibrating through the viewfinder.  I sent it back to Sigma to have them check it out.

Sigma called after about a week and said that it tested OK for them.  I described what I’d seen happening in detail and they agreed to look at it one more time.  They called again and said that it still checks out OK and that they were sending it back.  They did mention that cold weather (which can lower the power available from the camera’s battery) might make this happen.  But I shoot in Florida, so I doubt that’s it.  They also said that hitting / knocking the lens can make the OS oscillate.  I’m very careful with my gear and don’t remember hitting it at all, much less the several times when it’s done this, so I don’t think that’s it either.  It arrived late on Friday (after work, so I actually was here for the UPS guy!).  I’m under the weather with another bad cold, so I haven’t had a chance to try it out.  But I will.  I do have two more years of the extended warranty remaining, so I’m not too worried.  If I learn anything more, I’ll update you.

And just so this poor blog doesn’t go too long without an image, here’s one that I reprocessed this morning.

Composite Black and White Image

Composite Black and White Image

The original photo was made in October of 2004 with a Minolta Dimage 7Hi.

Source image

Flowers in glass water bowl

This morning, I ran it back through Nik Silver Effects Pro with four different settings and re-arranged the results into the single B&W image that leads this post.

© 2004 and 2011, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.