In my last post, I mentioned stopping to see Kevin M. in Chattanooga and that he gave me back the very same Nikon D90 that was my primary camera in 2008 and 2009. Thanks again, Kevin!
The camera is in fine shape and after buying some inexpensive after market batteries I was ready to try it out – again. I took it along on a recent outing to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. This small pond is near the west entrance to Gator Creek Road and has an easterly view at dawn over the water.
A pretty place for a camera test…
The only Nikon lens I still have is an even older 50mm f/1.8, so I used it for this image. It’s a stitched panorama from 2 rows of 8 frames resulting in a final image size of 9732×7462 pixels (72.6M Pixels in a 4×5 aspect ratio). I used my latest workflow and software and I think it came out pretty nice for 16+ year old tech!
I did notice that the auto focus capabilities are nowhere near as good as current cameras. And the resolution (12 MegaPixels) is pretty low too. But the dynamic range, color, and noise performance held up very well – especially with RAW files run through modern software.
It was a lot of fun to use the D90 again. I was surprised by how comfortable I was with the controls after so long. It was a very good camera when it was released. And it’s still an impressive camera now. Will I take it out and use it sometimes? Yes, for old times sake. But I’m not going to give up my Sony gear!
If you click on this image, you can see a higher resolution version on Flickr along, with EXIF info and a map showing the location.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Stay positive, be kind, and take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos – even with old gear!
We just returned from a trip to Nashville Tennessee, Archbold Ohio and back. We spent 15 days on the road and saw family, friends, and many sights. I thought I’d offer you some photos along with a few words about our journey.
Header image: another view of Chattanooga from Lookout Mountain.
Kevin also gave me a “new old” camera! It’s a Nikon D90 that I originally owned from 2008 – 2010 before I passed it on to him. It was his main camera for a while, but he no longer needs it and asked if I wanted it back. Yes! It’s still working and I plan to try it out (again) on my next photo outing. Thanks Kevin for the tour and the camera!!
Nashville
We stayed with MK in Nashville over the 4th of July. There was a lot of good food and some sightseeing too. She found a close by park with a view of the downtown skyline:
Nashville Skyline – from Love Circle Park, elevation 744 feet.
And after dinner one evening they dropped me off for a few minutes so I could make a few photos downtown:
Downtown Nashville, Broadway, near the river
We’d heard about the Gallery of Iconic Guitars (GIG: https://www.thegigatbelmont.com) and visiting it was one of the highlights of the trip. We got there early and had the place to ourselves!
Gallery of Iconic Guitars. The GIG at Belmont University in Nashville has dozens of historic instruments on display from a total of about 500 in the collection.
1887 Martin D-28. One of the oldest instruments on display at the GIG.
Ohio
Next, we headed up to Archbold Ohio. Although I didn’t make any photos there, one highlight on the drive was a stop at Sweetwater Music in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It’s quite a place and if you have any interest in music, you should visit if you get a chance.
We drove home from Ohio along I-75. It’s a scenic route, but there aren’t many places to pull over for a photo. This one spot a bit north east of Chattanooga was the only safe overlook that we found.
Overlooking Owl Hollow; Stitched panorama from 4 RAW format iPhone frames.
It was a very nice trip, although we spent way too many hours in the car. Family, friends, sightseeing, food, convention, and more. A great time!
You can click on these photos to see higher resolution versions on Flickr.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. Stay positive, be kind, and take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos on your road trip!
Lynn and I are moving next week, so we’ve been busy and I haven’t been on any recent photo field trips. I did have a little time though to browse through my Lightroom catalog and found two older images that I decided to re-visit.
The first one is a two frame, vertical panorama made with an IR modified Olympus E-PL5 way back in 2015 at Casey Key on the gulf coast of Florida. It’s two Raw frames that I’d ignored at the time. I made it with a 14mm (28mm equivalent) lens at f/5.6, 2.0 sec, ISO 200. Here’s my current work flow:
Initial processing of the Raw file with DxO Photo Lab 6 DeepPrime XD Noise Reduction
Lightroom: color and exposure settings and panorama merge
Photoshop: cropping, final adjustments, sharpening with Topaz Sharpen AI
Lightroom again: B&W conversion and publish
Beach view
I was really happy with the result, especially the detail and how the light looks in the clouds. It was nice to rediscover this one in the archives!
I don’t know how interested you’d be in more detailed processing steps, but I’d be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments. Here’s a before and after comparison of the Beach View photo (Raw on the left and final on the right):
The second one is from even further back: A single frame from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in 2010, made with a Nikon D90, at 150mm, f/6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 640. I used a similar work flow (except no panorama merge or B&W conversion).
Spoonbill Touchdown
I’m very happy with this one too. The Nikon D90 was quite capable for its time and the files look pretty good, especially when processed with current software.
I often return from a photo op with too many photos. I’ll delete the obvious bad frames or duplicates. But I try not to delete too many because it’s a little hard to predict what the processed versions will end up looking like. Sometimes I’m very glad I saved images – even 9 and 14 years later!
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you have time, make some photos – or at least process an old one!
I hadn’t been out to Orlando Wetlands since early May and I’ve been curious about what’s going on. So Lutfi and I met there about a week ago to walk around and do a little scouting.
As far as the park itself goes, they’re still working on the new Visitor Center. The hours remain sunup to sundown, and they also close now on Mondays so plan accordingly.
The views along the boardwalk and many paths remain very pretty and a little Cypress Tree fall color is showing.
Cypress and reflections (iPhone, 3 raw frames, stitched panorama)
They’ve also put up some gates at the boardwalk entrances to keep alligators out. I imagine removing gators from the boardwalk was an interesting exercise for the rangers – and the gators!
As far as birds go, it was quiet. In addition to some regulars, we saw a couple Belted Kingfishers and an Eastern Phoebe, but no Roseate Spoonbills. Other birds that were breeding in the rookery last season aren’t there yet either, although this family of Black Bellied Whistling Ducks got an early start.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, visit Orlando Wetlands and make some photos!
We were able to spend some time with MK at her place last month. She’s a most excellent host and Nashville has a lot to see and do!
On our drive up, we stopped and had lunch with Kevin M. It was fun to catch up with him and hear about his recent expedition to Costa Rica. He saw 100+ life birds there! https://www.flickr.com/photos/44542650@N08/albums/72177720310091373. Unfortunately, we forgot to get a photo at lunch – but I did get some photos in Nashville.
All three of us have watched and enjoyed the Nashville series and it was fun when MK pointed out places around town that we’d seen on TV. The Blue Bird Cafe is featured prominently and she managed to get us tickets. The music was just as awesome in real life!
Blue Bird Cafe, Sept. 2nd 2023: In the round with Rob Harris, Jamie Rowe, Kim Parent, and Adam Wheeler
Nashville has some really great guitar stores. Both MK and Lynn were very understanding and let me indulge my guitar obsession. I’d been to Gruhn Guitars before, but the Gibson Garage was new for me. I’d never seen a guitar conveyor belt:
MK suggested a bit of exercise one morning so we walked around Radnor Lake Park.
There were quite a few ducks and Canada Geese on the water. These swam in formation for me:
Canada Convoy
MK’s cat Narwhal is a certified therapy cat with Love on a Leash. He has a busy schedule and while we were there he volunteered at a Nashville area nursing home. He really seems to enjoy his work:
I’ve wanted to walk the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge across the Cumberland River, but hadn’t made it before this trip. MK and Lynn dropped me off in East Nashville and I walked across and met them on the other side. They report that there are plenty of rooftop bars to wait at. I found some photos while they were waiting:
Nashville’s John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge
The Gateway Bridge (also known as the ‘Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge’) is just south of the pedestrian bridge. I’m not sure if it’s alway lit up like this – it was pretty on that night:
Blue Hour on the Cumberland River
The view of the downtown waterfront is amazing:
Evening along the river
I think the buildings along the river look good in B&W. I like the Gateway Bridge reflection in the windows on the lower right:
Nashville Reflections
And finally, here’s what lower Broadway looks like as the country music starts to crank up in the Honky Tonks for the night:
Blue Hour on Broadway
Eating was also a highlight on the visit – both at some very nice restaurants and the meals that MK made at her place!
The only not so good part of our trip was testing positive with Covid when we got home. It was the first time either of us have had it but fortunately our vaccines were up to date and we got prescriptions for Paxlovid, so the symptoms weren’t too awful. They lasted for two solid weeks, but we’re better now thankfully.
Thanks for visiting my blog. Stay positive (and Covid negative!), be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, see some of Nashville!
I mentioned last time that there might be enough photos from my visit to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for another blog entry. Here they are.
I used a cropped version of this first one as the header image in the last post but didn’t show the full frame. Here’s a larger crop – as usual, you can click on it to see a high res version on Flickr. This one is from Space View Park in Titusville, looking east towards the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge from the west side of the Indian River.
<Early clouds above the refuge
I saw a wading bird in the distance as I entered Black Point Wildlife Drive. I thought it was a Great Blue Heron, but wasn’t sure. Who stops the car and gets out and walks to make a Great Blue Heron photo? Usually not me – I already have so many of them. They’re very common around here. But given it was the dog days of August, I wasn’t expecting to see much on that visit so I did get out and wander over. I’m glad I did. The bird cooperated and waded out so I could catch this moment in the circle of life. These birds truly are formidable hunters.
Heron 1, Snake 0
I also had my macro lens mounted and looked for subjects to use it on. I’ve driven by this tree each time on Black Point Wildlife Drive. The texture patterns in the bark are very interesting.
Juniper Tree Abstract
These blooming flowers were plentiful and this one was in nice light.
Firewheel (gaillardia pulchella ) close-up
I’m not able to tell you what this tiny plant was. It was only about an 1/8 of an inch long. It too was in good light and the dew drops on one side added interest.
Morning dew
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos!
I’ve been busy with other things and it’s been terribly hot here (and everywhere). So I haven’t been photographing much lately. I know summer isn’t the best time for wildlife but I really needed to scratch my photography itch. So I headed out one morning about a week ago toward Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
I usually try to make a sunrise photo before I start looking for wildlife. This time I wasn’t sure where to set up for a landscape, so I decided to go early and stop at several places. Sunrise was at 6:41am and I got to the my first spot a little before six. This is a two frame vertical panorama cropped to 4×5, at 24mm, f/8, 25 sec @ ISO 800. The scene was a bit dark!
Early morning by the river, Titusville – Marina Park, 5:54:48am.
The sky was so dramatic, I made a second photo from the same spot a few minutes later. On this one I zoomed in to show some of the detail in the distance. Single frame, 66mm, f/8, 29 sec @ ISO 250.
Early morning by marker 6, Titusville – Marina Park, 5:58:22am.
At that point, I decided to move to Scobie Park – just south of Veterans Memorial Park. The folks that live in that condo have a great view every morning! Single frame, 49mm, f/11, 20 sec @ ISO 100.
Rooms with a view, Titusville – Scobie Park, 6:07:41am
I moved again to Veterans Memorial Park and made this next photo from the gazebo to highlight the virga beyond the bridge. It’s a two frame exposure bracket, 69mm, f/11, 5 sec and 2.5 sec @ISO 100.
Might be raining beyond the bridge, Titusville – Veterans Memorial Park, 6:20:27am
I thought the show was about done, so I put things back in the car and started over to MINWR. On the way the sky kept changing. I hurried to a small pond on the left near the entrance to Gator Creek Road. Luckily I still had my 24 – 105 landscape lens on my camera. I quickly jumped out of the car, set up my tripod and made this image. It’s a stitched panorama blend of 7 exposure bracketed frames, 24mm, f/8, 1/125 – 1.6 sec @ISO 100.
Cloud shadows at sunrise, MINWR – Gator Creek Road, 6:39:50am
And the header image is actually a 6th photo: a black and white conversion of another image made from the gazebo at Veterans Memorial Park.
After all that, I switched lenses and drove through the refuge looking for wildlife and macro subjects. I didn’t get too many of those, but maybe there’s enough for a future blog post.
I went out that morning with no expectations. My only goal was to exercise my photo muscles. I came home with these 5 images (and more!) that I really like. That’s one reason I enjoy the photography hobby so much – it surprises me almost every time. Sunrise isn’t just a moment. This one took about an hour to unfold. If you want some great sunrise (or sunset) photos, show up early and stay late. And it helps to be familiar with an area so you can get a variety of viewpoints / perspectives in your photos.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, spend 45 minutes photographing sunrise!
I haven’t posted in a while, so it’s about time. And I have been making some photos lately. Here are a few that I like – all made since my last post.
Another quiet morning on the St. Johns river.
(February 17; Boat ramp on HW 50 at the St. Johns River; three frame panorama; merged in Photoshop.)
Warm light on a wading Willet.
(February 17, Gator Creek Road in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, single frame, cropped.)
A wary Raccoon.
(February 23; Orlando Wetlands Park, single frame, cropped.)
Forest flowers.
(February 24, Central Winds Park in Winter Springs; Focus Bracket in Camera, merged in Photoshop.)
Through the trees.
(March 4; Orlando Wetlands Park; single frame; cropped.)
Nesting Woodstork.
(March 4, Orlando Wetlands Park, single frame, Adobe enhanced resolution, cropped.)
Ruffled Feathers.
(Eastern Meadowlark; March 7; Joe Overstreet Road; single Frame; cropped.)
A river runs through it.
(March 10; Leroy Wright recreational area along SR 520 at the St. Johns river , Cocoa Fl; Sony Pixel Shift Multi Shoot (16 frames), merged in Sony Imaging Edge; Converted to B&W in Lightroom.)
I made all of these (and more!) while trying out and setting up my new camera.
In late October of last year, Sony announced the latest version of their high resolution model line: the A7R V. There’s a lot of info available on the web about it. I read a great deal of that over 3+ months before finally deciding to upgrade my faithful A7R III (which was announced way back in October of 2017). I packed up quite a bit of my existing camera gear and traded it in for the new one. If you’re interested, you can read a lot of the same info I researched on-line, so I’m not going to repeat any of that here. I’ll just summarize some things and give you my first impressions to go along with the images above.
6 years is a long time in the camera design universe. These are changes that I really like:
The native sensor resolution is slightly higher – nice for landscapes and very helpful for wildlife photos. The pixel shift multi shot capability now seems to work very well (it didn’t on the A7R III and I never used it). For static subjects where you want huge resolution files, I think it’s a better implementation than even the Olympus EM 1 MII version that I used a lot when I had that camera.
Focus capabilities are immensely improved. The human eye auto focus on the A7R III convinced me to buy that years ago. The A7R V AI auto focus is much better and will be wonderful for many subjects, not just people.
Image Stabilization on the A7R III was not a standout feature. On the A7R V it is.
The A7R V has a huge image buffer. You can shoot continuously at the highest frame rate for up to 1000 frames (using CF Express cards). Even using SD UHS-II cards (slower than CF Express) it will still shoot over 100 frames before the buffer fills.
Many RAW Image formats are now supported. You can choose compressed / uncompressed as well as medium or low resolution RAW files if you don’t need the full resolution.
Video is much improved (although I should study this and use it more often!).
The Electronic Viewfinder and the back LCD are both improved with higher resolution and frame rates. The LCD also tilts and swivels – very useful.
Other things have changed, but they’re minor (for me). In summary I like everything Sony did with this camera and I hope to use it for a long time to come. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to try and answer them in the comments.
By the way, nesting activity at Orlando Wetlands is still in full swing. It’s a good opportunity to observe several species creating new life.
Click on any of these photos to see higher resolution versions on Flickr.
My good friend Kevin M. was in town a week ago and wanted to visit LAWLD. We also invited Lutfi and the three of us met and drove up together.
It’s about the same distance for me as Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and has a wide variety of birds to see (especially at this time of year). It’s one of my favorite places but I struggle to make landscape photos there. I think this is mostly because I like the light before sunrise and the gate doesn’t open until 7am. Anyway, I did make this one shortly after we arrived. It’s two RAW iPhone frames, stitched together and processed in Lightroom / Photoshop. I like the color contrast of the winter Cypress trees against the blue sky and water.
Winter Cypress
Small birds were plentiful near the entrance. Here are a couple I was able to make reasonable photos of:
Swamp Sparrow on the rocks
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – more orange / blue contrast
And here are two more that we spotted near the Pump House:
Raising offspring is hard for most every species. Seeing these birds cooperate to bring new life into the world is spellbinding and makes for a great photo op. I think my favorite photo of the trip is this gentle, back-lit handoff:
Great Blue Herons nesting – handoff
There’s almost always other action on LAWLD too. The Anhingas are adept anglers and with a little luck you can freeze action like this:
LAWLD is the only place I’ve ever seen Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, so I was happy to spot them this time too.
Fulvous Whistling-Duck Trio
We also saw: Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, a Painted Bunting, a Common Yellow-throat, Black-crowned Night Herons, Northern Harriers, a Red-shoulder Hawk, Tree Swallows, and many of our more common birds.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. I hope all of you are doing well and that you have a wonderful 2023! Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make a few photos!
I stopped by the St. Johns river at the SR 50 boat ramp before sunrise recently. The sky was a bit plain, but there were a few clouds low on the horizon with some pre-sunrise color showing. And Venus was visible below and to the left of a waning crescent moon, which added some interest. I made a few photos hoping to capture what I was seeing.
Venus and the Moon over the Marsh
This image is a four frame panorama that I stitched together in Photoshop. Separate exposures of the sky and foreground helped me record a wider field of view and control the enormous dynamic range of the light. I like the way it turned out. If you click on it, you’ll go to Flickr.com where you can see a larger version as well as zoom in.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Your visits, comments, and likes are always welcome and a big motivator for me. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can — make some photos!
A pretty place for a camera test…
