Tag Archives: people

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!

Pocket Computational Photography

November 13, 2016Cameras and Photography, INSIDE FLORIDAcomputation, iPhone, people, softwareEd Rosack

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you may have seen my earlier posts on computational photography. If not, you can review them at this link: https://edrosack.com/?s=computational+photography. The term refers to using software algorithms to supplement or replace optical capture processes. Common examples are multi-frame panoramas, focus stacking, HDR processing, post capture focus, and other techniques. You can read more about it at this link on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_photography

As phone capabilities increase, their computational photography power is growing. Camera phones have long been able to do on the fly panorama and HDR capture. And here’s an example of a new capability that arrived on the iPhone 7+.

Bokeh

Apple calls this “Portrait Mode”. It’s available in Beta on the iPhone 7+ in the latest version of IOS. Since the 7+ has two cameras separated by a small distance, it provides the info necessary to compute a “depth map” of pixels in the frame. The software uses this to selectively blur pixels based on distance to add a “Bokeh” (shallow depth of field) effect that helps with subject isolation. For comparison, here is the non-computed version of the image. You can see that the background looks very different.

All isn’t perfect. The algorithm has problems around small features at the boundaries. Look closely at the next frame and you can see blurring issues at the edges of the reed.

The processing blurred parts of the reed that we wanted sharp. For the first photo above – I cheated and used Photoshop to correct the problems. Maybe in future versions the software will be better.

Here’s one more example. This is Lynn, rocking an election day t-shirt. First, the portrait mode version.

And finally, the original. In this case, the software did much better, with no obvious blurring issues. These two are straight out of the camera with no processing on my part.

It’s fascinating how photography and computers are merging. For someone who started out programming a large room sized Univac in FORTRAN with punch cards, the power and ability that fits in my pocket is just stunning. I’m glad to have it with me.

What can they possibly think of next? Do you use computational photography techniques? Do you like or hate them?

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go compute some images!

Went for a drive last night

July 31, 2016INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWRBPWD, cloud, Gator Creek Road, landscape, panorama, Parrish Park, people, sunsetEd Rosack

I haven’t been to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in a while (the last time was back in May!) and I miss the place. So I left around 6pm yesterday and headed over.

Along Gator Creek Road

It was raining at our house in Winter Springs. Over on the coast, it was dry, but threatening. The clouds were just awesome – I even spotted some that looked like Mammatus clouds.

Next time I’ll leave a bit earlier – the light was a little dim for bird photography but I did see a few. I’m usually there in the morning and they behave differently in the evening. It was interesting to watch them going home in formation to roost for the night and to spot groups perched in trees and lined up along power lines.

After a turn around Gator Creek Road and then Black Point Wildlife Drive I stopped at Parrish Park to watch the sun set.

The sun sets over the Indian River – There were a lot of people enjoying the end of the day at Parrish Park on the Max Brewer Causeway.

It was very busy – the parking lot was full of cars and people were boating, sunbathing, picnicking, fishing, and watching nature’s show. I was content to make a few photos and head home.

It was a pleasant drive.

You can click on these photos to see larger versions, and I have many more MINWR images in this album on Flickr.

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”.

Sunrise and Terns

May 29, 2016Cocoa, Cocoa Beach Pier, INSIDE FLORIDAbirds, birds in flight, landscape, least tern, people, sunriseEd Rosack

Tom M. and I went over to Cocoa Beach last week. Jim B. told us about some Least Terns nesting on a hotel rooftop there, and we wanted to take a look.

I got up at o-dark-thirty and met Tom to drive over. Our reward was a gorgeous morning!

Seeing the sun rise above the sea soothed her soul

I don’t know the woman in this photo. She was enjoying the sunrise too, and I was grateful for her contribution to my composition.

When the sunrise show was over, we headed south on SR A1A to find the Terns. They were right where Jim said they would be. We knew we were in the right place when we noticed all the guano in the parking lot and on the cars.

The birds were flying off the roof in small groups with an occasional eruption of what seemed like the entire colony. At times there must’ve been over a hundred in the air.

Least Tern in flight

They’re small (8 or 9 inches long) and fast and erratic flyers. To get a photo, you’ll need a long lens, good technique, and / or persistence and some good luck. I used my Nikon D-800 with the Tamron 150 – 600mm lens. Even with such a long lens, I had to crop these two images pretty heavily. The main issues I had were trying to follow the birds in such a magnified field of view – and hoping that the focus on my camera could keep up.

Getting consistent results is difficult. I took many photos and got few keepers. Tracking something so small, fast, and erratic with a long telephoto lens takes some practice!

Least Tern in flight with minnow

Cocoa and the surrounding area is a very photogenic place. You can see other photos I’ve made there in this set on Flickr. And you can also read Jim’s blog post about the Terns at this link: ~~http://jbophoto.com/least-terns-2/~~ (sorry – no longer available). Thanks Jim!

And thanks to all of you for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

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!

Viera Wetlands – 11/20/15

November 22, 2015INSIDE FLORIDA, Viera Wetlandsbirds, black and white, Flowers, insects, people, reflection, TamronEd Rosack

I slept in a bit Friday. Instead of getting up for sunrise, I met Kevin M. at 7am to go to Viera Wetlands. I know, I know – missing dawn is for photo wimps. Well, don’t do as I do – do as I say! Get up for sunrise!

On the way, we stopped by the boat ramp at SR 520 and the St. Johns River for a few minutes. Water Lily photos are a bit cliché, but I like how the tear in the leaf only shows in the reflection.

Reflection Imperfection

This is a popular place to launch boats. I caught this one coming back into the ramp and liked the way the wake patterns look.

A boat on the St. Johns River

There were a few herons along the boardwalk and a great many Swallows – which I have trouble photographing. They seem to almost always be in the air and change directions before I can track them. My Tamron 150-600mm lens was also acting up. For some reason, it has an intermittent focusing issue. After I use it a while, the focus seems to slow and then stop. Usually I can turn the camera off and back on and it will work again, but yesterday that didn’t help. I did some research on-line when I got home and many folks are complaining about this. Two of my friends have this lens and theirs sometimes do it too. I cleaned the contacts on the lens and camera – maybe that will fix it. If not, Tamron has a 6 year USA warranty.

When we got to Viera Wetlands, the road was closed (lots of rain lately), so we got to walk the circuit around the nearest ponds. There are very few ducks so far. But there were lots of Wrens, Terns, herons,and egrets. We also had a Black Crowned Night Heron, an Osprey fishing, an American Eagle fly over, a Caracarra, a Harrier, and a Belted Kingfisher – all in the distance. I missed getting a photo of the eagle because I was fooling around with my phone. Again, don’t do as I do – do as I say! Quit messing with your phone!

Forster’s Tern in flight – and example of when my Tamron would focus

Kevin spots things all the time that I don’t notice. He discovered an American Bittern back in the reeds. They have very effective camouflage. It took me several minutes to find it – even with him telling me where it was.

Flower and fly – Another flight shot

The Click ponds have been closed for a while. They’re open now but almost empty of birds. Maybe next time.

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

Vacation!

September 13, 2015New Jersey, OUTSIDE FLORIDA, VARIOUSbarn, people, train, travelEd Rosack

Lynn and I returned yesterday from our longest vacation in a while, to New Jersey and Virginia. We enjoyed riding the Amtrak Autotrain from Sanford, Florida to Lorton, Virginia and back – something we last did about 25 years ago. We highly recommend it for travel up and down the south-east coast.

Sanford Auto Train

In Newton, NJ, we attended the International Congress of Iron Collectors, and the Pressing Iron and Trivet Collectors convention. After that we drove to Shenandoah National Park in VA and stayed for 5 wonderful days.

I was the “semi-official” photographer, so I spent a lot of time there photographing all the activities, displays and people. And Lynn photographed too, especially when I wasn’t around.

Something that you might not know: Lynn is the author of two books on trivet collecting: The A-Z Guide to Collecting Trivets, Identification and Value Guide and The Expanded A to Z Guide to Collecting Trivets – Identification and Values (read more about them on her blog), and I made the photographs for her books. Which, by the way, is an excellent justification for camera and lens purchases. 😉

Pressing Iron and Trivet Collectors business meeting

Lynn and I have a lot of work left to finish going through the photos from the conventions and distributing them to people. I also have a lot of work to finish going through photos from Shenandoah, so I’ll try to write about that next time.

I didn’t do a lot of photography outside of the conventions in New Jersey, but there was a nice red barn next to the fair grounds where the meetings took place and I made this photo one day when I had a few minutes off.

New Jersey Barn Window

I like the peeling paint texture and the reflections in the surviving window panes.

More to follow…

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

Viera Wetlands – 8/28/15

August 29, 2015INSIDE FLORIDA, Viera Wetlandspeople, reflection, sunrise, vultureEd Rosack

Kevin M. organized a trip to Viera Wetlands on Friday and Kevin K., and I went along. We were at the small park across from the Lone Cabbage Fish Camp where SR 520 crosses the St. Johns River about 45 minutes before sunrise. It was very dark – making focusing difficult and exposures long. It was also very calm, and I thought the reflections in the water were lovely.

Before Sunrise – Two frame panorama, 24mm, f/8, 30 seconds at ISO 160

Kevin M. noticed a puddle in the parking lot and we spent several minutes using it to frame the sunrise. You should check out Kevin K’s version of this here on Flickr.

“Hey Ed – sunrise is over here!” – Kevin K. helping me figure out which way is east. Isn’t it amazing how level he’s holding that leg of his tripod?

At Viera Wetlands, the rangers closed the roads because of all the rain we’ve had, so we walked around the cell closest to the entrance. It was quieter than the last few times I’ve been there, but we still saw many of the usual Florida avians. This Turkey Vulture was posing in good light on one of the observation platforms.

Why don’t I ever see Eagles posing like this?

It’s still plenty hot here in Florida, but the days are getting shorter. We can look forward to cooler weather soon along with the arrival of migrants and winter visitors to make the birding even more interesting.

We’ve posted many more photos from this trip on Flickr. You can see Kevin K’s photos here, Kevin M’s photos here, and mine are in this album.

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

Brevard Zoo

July 26, 2015Brevard Zoo, INSIDE FLORIDAblack and white, Deer, jaguar, Meerkat, peopleEd Rosack

I’ve heard nice things about the Brevard Zoo and I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. It’s just a coincidence that my first visit was this week – at the same time that TripAdvisor named it one of the nation’s best.

It’s a smaller zoo than either the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa or the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford, but it’s laid out nicely and the animals seem happy. Especially the Meerkats.

Muddy Meerkat says “Cheese”

Meerkats make wonderful subjects and these were active – digging burrows and keeping watch. This one even looked like it was trying to smile for my camera. I was able to frame this photo over the glass against a nice background.

One of the things mentioned by TripAdvisor is how friendly their staff is. We saw that too. A deer kept following this zookeeper around the enclosure and bumping into her. After she bent down and hugged it, the deer left her alone and wandered off for a while. The animals do seem well cared for.

Animal Care

Like at every zoo, I was somewhat conflicted. A few of the animals act a little too “caged”. The big cats for instance seem either restless or a little melancholy. Watching them can make me feel a bit low too. This Jaguar was resting in the shade and watching the watchers.

Jaguar

By the way, I knew that Jaguars once lived from Brazil up to much of the Southwest United States. I didn’t realize that they’ve been sighted as recently as 2013 in Arizona.

Brevard Zoo is very nice. One of the best smaller zoos I’ve ever been too. They have some unique attractions too – like a guided kayak tour around their African exhibit. If you like zoos or want to practice your animal photography, it’s a great place to visit.

You can see a few more of my photos here. For some hints on zoo photography, you can look at prior blog posts here, here, and here. And the Firefall Photography Blog has a write-up about the Brevard zoo with some good info and photos – well worth a look.

The zoo is in Melbourne, Florida at 8225 N. Wickham Road (Phone: 321-254-9453). It’s not too far from Viera Wetlands, so check that out too if you get down there. Admission is $15 for adults and the hours are 9:30 to 5.

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