Tag Archives: vacation

Christmas Time Cruising

Cruise Ships, OUTSIDE FLORIDA, , , , , , , ,

Mike, Sara, and Mary joined Lynn and I for Christmas this year.  When we’re together we often visit a theme park, but since we liked our last cruise so much, we decided to take a holiday cruise instead.  We booked on Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas and departed from Port Canaveral for Nassau and Coco Cay on Friday, Dec. 21st.

Port Canaveral is about an hour east of Orlando on the 528 Beachline.  We found parking right at the pier and the embarkation wasn’t too bad, although there was a line getting through security.

Overall  the Monarch of the Seas was very enjoyable.  The food was good (the Strawberry Pavlova dessert was a BIG hit!), and so was the service.  Our staterooms were in different parts of the ship this time, which made coordination a little more difficult – but we worked it out.  Once nice thing about sailing at this time of year is that the ship was fully decked out for the holidays – Christmas trees, gingerbread houses, and other seasonal touches.

Seasons Greetings!
Ship’s decorations in the main atrium

We departed Port Canaveral late in the afternoon.  The weather was nice for the whole cruise and although Friday’s sunset wasn’t that great Saturday’s sunrise made up for it:

Pre-dawn clouds
Pre-dawn clouds in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida

We arrived in Nassau Saturday afternoon and spent time shopping.  Then Mike and Sara found us a great place to sample the local food (the Bahamian Cookin’ Restaurant) where we enjoyed their Conch Fritters.  After that, we all boarded a catamaran for a sunset tour of the harbor.  The low light combined with a moving boat made for a challenging photo-op, but I did get a few nice images.  One of the highlights was seeing Oprah Winfrey’s pair of side by side mansions (with a huge matching yacht).  I guess she uses the second mansion for guests – quite impressive.

Nassau harbor at night
Nassau harbor at night from the sunset cruise catamaran.  I thought the red and green running lights were an unexpected seasonal bonus!

From Nassau, we sailed to the Berry Islands where Royal Caribbean has exclusive use of Coco Cay (also known as Little Stirrup Cay).  They’ve set the place up for cruise passengers to enjoy beach time, snorkeling, shopping at a straw market, parasailing, wave runners, an aqua park, kayaking, hammocks, and of course – food. We had kayak reservations for first thing in the morning.  The wind was really blowing and even though we were a bit worried about it we went anyway.  It was a workout, but worth it in the end.  We paddled about a mile to a sand bar off of Big Stirrup Cay, where I made this photo:

A starfish in the ocean
A starfish in the ocean near a sand bar at Big Stirrup Cay.  We haven’t been able to ID this one – our guide told us it isn’t common.

Later, back on Coco Cay we relaxed, shopped, and yes, ate too much. Mike and Sara also went snorkeling and saw fish, Sting Rays, Spotted Eagle Rays, and coral.

Sara and Mike enjoy the view
Sara and Mike enjoy the view from our Coco Cay cabana

It was a wonderful way to spend time with our family.  Except for the wind, the weather was great and not at all typical of the season in most of the country.  Poor Mike and Sara had to return home to winter storms and snow.  I imagine it was a bit of a change!

You can click any of the photos above to see larger versions on Flickr and I’ve posted several more from our cruise in this set.

This is my last post of 2012.  I’ll be back next year and I hope you will too.  May you, your family, and your friends all have a happy and prosperous new year.  Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.  Now, get cruising and make some photos!

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

The year in review – My favorite photos from 2012

VARIOUS, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Holidays!  Once again the season has snuck up on us.  I hope that all of you, your families, and your friends have a joyful and happy season!

Photographer Jim Goldstein has an annual tradition of organizing a “best photos of the year” listing.   I’m very glad he started this, since it’s a good reminder for each of us to take time to review results and contemplate how to improve our photography.  And also to put together an annual “Favorite photos of the year” post.

2012 was another good year for me photographically.  The 2012 folder on my hard drive takes up about 284 GB of space – almost double 2011.  There are 80 folders, and each one represents a separate “photo-op”, with a total of  over 6200 photos, so it does look like I’m trying!  I had a lot of opportunity to make good images this year, and I’m pleased with the results I achieved.  But it doesn’t seem like my ability and skills have grown as much this year as in the past.  Perhaps I’ve plateaued.  Maybe I don’t know what I don’t know about getting better.  Maybe I’m just getting more picky and critical.  Regardless, I think I need to make a stronger effort in 2013.

I’m still using the following system to rate my photos.  The numbers in parentheses are the counts for 2012.

  • 1 star   – The photo is interesting (174)
  • 2 stars – The photo is worth showing to others (396)
  • 3 stars – The photo is the best of (or one of the best of ) any given photo shoot (68)
  • 4 stars – My favorite photo of a year (1)
  • 5 stars – My favorite photo ever (still none, I’m not finished making photos yet!)

The rest of the photos don’t have stars and are seconds or not so good versions. I usually keep them, but they probably won’t get any more attention. This system seems to work for me and I’ve reviewed my 2012 photos and selected my favorites.  This is a hard process for any photographer.  It’s difficult to separate my opinion about a photograph from any emotional connections that I might have with the scene or situation.  But making this effort is important and part of the learning process.  Still, at the end of the day, I don’t claim to be objective about my photography.  These photos are the ones that I like best, so feel free to disagree – but I hope you’ll enjoy looking at the ones I’ve picked.

You can click on each of these to go to Flickr and see a larger version.  Or you can click on this link to go to the complete set on Flickr.

I have 1 miscellaneous subject, 1 mammal, 1 bird, 3 people photos, 7 landscapes, 3 sunrises, 0 sunsets, 6 color, 4 Black and White, and 4 Infra-Red photos.  Definitely a trend away from wildlife and toward landscapes and infra-red.  Here we go…

My number 1 favorite photo of 2012:

Many cypress trees
 Many cypress trees, Blue Cypress Lake, near Vero Beach, Florida, June.  

I have a thing for Cypress trees anyway and when I made my first and only visit to Blue Cypress Lake this year, the natural beauty of this place overwhelmed me.  I’m planning to return early next year when I can also see many nesting Ospreys and other birds.  See this post for more info.

My number 2 favorite photo of 2012:

Pre-dawn Jetty
 Pre-dawn Jetty, Jetty Park, Cocoa, Florida, October.  

When I saw this scene, I really liked the way the light on the walk drew my eye to the bottom left and then the rail and the jetty lead to the sun rays coming up from below the horizon.  So I straddled the rail with my tripod and made this photo.  See this post for more info.

My number 3 favorite photo of 2012:

Keb' Mo'
 Keb’ Mo’ in concert, Plaza Theatre, Orlando, Florida, February.

I like The Plaza and they often bring in acts that I like too.  We were lucky to get seats up front and when the spotlights lit up the smoke, I made this photo.  See this post for more info.

My number 4 favorite photo of 2012:

Water Dragon Sunrise
Water Dragon Sunrise, on board the Carnival Paridise in the Gulf of Mexico, April.  

I stalked this sunrise for about 45 minutes before this scene developed.  I’m happy I waited for it – sometimes patience pays off!  See this post for more info.

My number 5 favorite photo of 2012:

Submarine sunrise
 Submarine sunrise: The British Trident ballistic missile submarine HMS Vigilant leaving Port Canaveral, Florida just after dawn, October.

This was a bonus photo when the sub turned south after leaving the inlet and posed for us under the rising sun.  See this post for more info.

My number 6 favorite photo of 2012:

Cocoa Sunrise
 Cocoa Sunrise, North of the Hubert Humphrey Causeway in Cocoa, Florida, August.

This is an infra-red, fish-eye photo (an “IRFE”).  It’s a really good combination to shake up your photography and inspire some creativity.

My number 7 favorite photo of 2012:

Play time at Union Station
Play time at Union Station, Cincinnati, Ohio, December 2011

This photo missed the deadline for last year’s favorites – so I included it here.  I usually wait for people to clear out when I’m trying to make a photo. This time I went ahead and made it while these two girls played around the fountain. Since this is a stitched panorama, they show up multiple times, which I think adds to the image.  See this post for more info.

My number 8 favorite photo of 2012:

Cruising White Pelican
 Cruising White Pelican, Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, December.

White Pelicans are winter migrants to our area, so we don’t get to see them very often.  This one cruised right in and posed in the middle of my viewfinder.  I couldn’t have arranged it better!  See this post for more info.

My number 9 favorite photo of 2012:

On the beach
 On the beach, Venice Beach, Florida, September.

We were wandering around exploring the area near the Venice Pier. Since it was close to mid-day, I didn’t expect the light to be good, but I took my IR camera in case something came up. I think the IR characteristics add a lot of interest to the photo. And it makes a great example of how “playing around” can lead to good things.  See this post for more info.

My number 10 favorite photo of 2012:

Late night?
Late night?, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando, Florida, May.

This photo was difficult to make since the lighting was challenging and I had to photograph the Gorilla through glass.  But it’s a great pose and expression and I was able to clean the image up considerably in post processing.  He looks like I’ve felt a few times.  See this post for more info.

And here is one last photo that I care a lot about:

The Senator
The “Senator” – a 3500 year old Bald Cypress tree, Big Tree Park, Longwood, Florida.

I made this image in September of 2011, so it doesn’t officially qualify for a 2012 favorite.  The reason I put it in this post is because in January of 2012, the tree caught fire, burned and collapsed. The fire was at first thought to have been caused by lightning, but later was determined to have been started by a woman inside the hollow tree so she could see the illegal drugs she was using. Now no one else will ever make a photo of this, so it became a lot more important to me in 2012.  What a crazy, sad event.  For more info see this post and this post.

If you’d like to see my favorite photos from earlier years, you can click on these links: 2009, 2010, and 2011.

I hope you’ve had a great photo 2012 too.  Thanks for stopping by and looking at my 2012 favorites.  Now – go make some favorites of your own!
©2011 – 2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Happy Labor Day!

Casey Key, INSIDE FLORIDA, , , , , , , , , , ,

Like many people in the US, Lynn and I headed to the beach for Labor Day.  We really like Casey Key on the Gulf Coast of Florida just north of Venice.  Like always, it was very relaxing.  We swam, shelled, ate, walked the beach, and got plenty of sun.  I also had a little time for some photography.

Jetty Sunset
The north jetty at the inlet in Casey Key Florida is full of people fishing and watching the sunset. I watched from the south jetty in Venice. The sail boat was a nice bonus.

Willet on the beach
Willet on the beach – This bird was very cooperative.  When not fishing in the surf, it would occasionally come close.

On the beach
On the beach – We were wandering around exploring the area near the Venice Pier. Since it was close to mid-day, I didn’t expect any good light but I took my IR camera in case something came up. I think the IR characteristics add a lot of interest to the photo.

You can see some other photos from Casey Key in this set on Flickr.

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved

Cruise Ship Photography Ops

Cruise Ships, INSIDE FLORIDA, Must do list, OUTSIDE FLORIDA, , , , , , , , ,

Intro / Description

Cruising is a great way to vacation and Florida is a great departure point.  There are several ports where you can board a ship, leave your everyday concerns behind, and set sail for exotic destinations.  Tampa, Miami, Palm Beach, Port Everglades, and Port Canaveral all offer cruises – both seasonal and some that go farther. We recently cruised out of Tampa on the Carnival Paradise sailing to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and back.

The party starts
The party starts –  The Carnival Paradise departing Tampa.

Cruising provides a large choice of activities:  Spend time with friends and family, relax, sample gourmet level food, party, attend shows and other entertainment, lose money at the casino, etc.  Ports of call along the way let you to see the sights and sample what life is like in other cultures.  You can sign up for excursions to do things you may not get a chance to do everyday.  And even if your trip isn’t photography centric, you can sneak in some non-interference photography ops.

The snorkel yacht - Lynn's getting ready to jump in
A snorkeling excursion off of Grand Cayman – Lynn’s getting ready to jump in.

Your preferences will help you select which cruise to go on. For ours, we were limited to a small selection since we wanted to leave from Tampa on a specific date.

Info for Photographers

There are some cruises that cater to photographers and some destinations that are more photogenic than others.  Why you are going, where you are going, and what you expect to see will decide what equipment you should bring.  Since our cruise was a family get together, I brought a much lighter gear bag than on our Alaskan cruise in 2009.  We went snorkeling in Grand Cayman, so I took my old Canon G9 (which still works remarkably well) and the underwater housing I have for it.  I also wanted to take my IR modified camera to use at the Mayan ruins in Cozumel.  Your trip and interests will be different so you’ll need to plan accordingly.

The San Gervasio Arch Structure
The San Gervasio Arch Structure on Cozumel. This Mayan ruin dates from 1000 to 1600 AD.

Photo hints:

Spend some time enjoying sunrise and sunset.  Relax, get a cup of coffee or a drink and sit and watch.  It’s hard to tell what will develop, especially when there are clouds around.  Do some research before you go.  Flickr is a great place to search for the places you’re going to see what others have posted.

If you’re on a family trip, you’ll want to document all the fun and together times.  Be careful not to spend too much time away from your family making photographs.

One good idea is to combine everyone’s photos into a common pool and share them so that everyone has images of everything that happens.  You’ll be glad you did.

Another thing to think about is creating a photo book from your images.  Make several copies and share them with your travel companions.  They’ll make good reading several years in the future and will remind you of the good times.

Always keep a camera with you and when you’re wandering around the ship, keep an eye out for interesting art work or interesting people.

A cruise is also a good time to practice some food photography.  Take your camera to dinner and see if you can create some drool worthy images.

Tripod/Monopod:  The ship’s motion will make long exposures from the deck problematic.  A Gorillapod or something similar would be handy for HDR or long exposure photography inside the ship.  You might also want to use it for some time-lapse photography from a railing on deck.  This can be interesting as you cruise along a shoreline or enter / leave a port.

Lenses:  This depends on your destination / interests.  Bring a versatile zoom or a small assortment of lenses.  On a family cruise, you don’t want to be lugging a huge camera bag around all the time.  If you’re going to Alaska or some other once in a lifetime destination, you’ll want to take your full kit.

Best time to visit:  Do some research on your departure port and destinations.  April is a great time for the route we took.  It’s before hurricane season and the weather is warm, but not too warm yet.  If you’re into birding, April is a big time in the Caribbean for migration.  I only did some incidental birding, but I did get three life birds in Cozumel.  The Mayan ruins at San Gervasio are out in the middle of the jungle, so there are birds around.  I saw a Black-and-white Warbler, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and several others I couldn’t get a photo of or ID.  I also saw this one circling the ship when we returned:

A Magnificent Frigatebird
A Magnificent Frigatebird

Other:

I’ve posted three sets of photos from this cruise on Flickr.  If you look through them, you can get an idea of the things you’ll see on a similar cruise.

For descriptions of a different type of cruise experience, you can go back and read my three posts about our Alaska cruise here, here, and here.

Summary

You’ll have a great time!

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/collections/72157629896267577/
Website:  Various – search out the cruise line / travel sites for the departure port you select
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:  This is a Central Florida Photo Op MUST DO!

 

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Water Dragon Sunrise

OUTSIDE FLORIDA, Technique,

Just a quick entry to say I’m very sorry about not posting last week.  I was busy with family and found it hard to update the blog.  But the good news is that I’ve got a lot of new images and info to share with you (as soon as I get finished editing my photos).

Mary graduated from the University of Florida with her MBA degree and Lynn and I celebrated with her, Mike, and Sara by taking a family cruise.  Here’s one favorite image from the trip:

Water Dragon Sunrise
Water Dragon Sunrise – The view from the deck of the Carnival Paradise last Thursday morning, somewhere near Yucatán in the Gulf of Mexico.

This illustrates an important point for sunrise photography:  It’s very hard to predict – so you have to wait and see what develops.  This scene looked very mundane at first.  Several people came out on deck, took a photo and went back inside.  But then an interesting cloud formation developed and drifted left right in front of the sun. I really liked the shape. And the back / rim lighting. And the rays. And the shadows coming up from the head that look like smoke. And the mist on the horizon. And the ocean…

And the food at breakfast was pretty good too!

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

©2012, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Cincinnati Christmas

Ohio, , , , , , , ,

Lynn and I had a wonderful visit with our daughter Mary at her place in Cincinnati over Christmas. Once again, she was the perfect hostess and kept us busy with all sorts of activities. We spent a lot of time eating, both at restaurants (Nada, Melt, Christmas brunch at the Hilton, Tom+Chee, Papa Johns pizza, Cracker Barrel) and cooking (crab cakes, Quiche, salmon, gingerbread, etc.) and too much time shopping (antique mall, after Christmas sales, outlet mall). In between we went to the Nutcracker, bought hats at Batsakes, visited the local wine shop and gave her new Nespresso machine a real work out. It was primo family time, but I did sneak in a little photography:

Roebling Bridge and Ohio River at night from Kentucky
Roebling Bridge and Ohio River at night from Kentucky

Play time at Union Station
Play time at Union Station – Cincinnati, Ohio. I usually wait for people to clear out when I’m trying to make a photo. This time I went ahead and made it while these two girls played around the fountain. Since this is a stitched panorama, they show up multiple times, which I think adds to the image.

Cappuccino
Cappuccino: We enjoyed using Mary’s new machine and overdosed on caffeine while we were there.

What a great visit! You can see more photos from our trip to Cincinnati in this set on Flickr. You can re-read my other posts mentioning Cincinnati here and here.

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

Mount Evans Redux

Colorado, Must do list, , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been to Mount Evans before and written about it here.  I got a chance to go back this week and my second visit was as good as the first.  Maybe even better, since I showed this wonderful place off to Sara, Mike, and Julie.

The highest paved road in North America starts in Idaho Springs, Colorado and winds for 28 miles around tight switchbacks to an altitude of just over 14,100 feet.  There’s a small parking lot near the summit, and a short (but vertical) hike to the very top at 14,270 feet.  The road is quite narrow in spots, and is exciting or scary depending on your attitude and its altitude / slope.  There are many places to pull over that offer outstanding views of the surrounding landscapes and wildlife.

Bristlecone pine
Bristlecone pine:  This species of tree is the longest lived single organism on earth

Take I-70 west from Denver and exit at County Road 103.  The first half of the drive from there is pretty but not too out of the ordinary.  The fee station is around the halfway point, and this is where most of the excitement begins. Pick up a brochure so you’ll have a map and information about the park.

Both times I’ve gone have been in early July so I can’t say much about the rest of the year.  Try to visit on a weekday to avoid crowds, and if you can’t go on a weekday – leave early.  The only day we could drive up was the 4th, so we left around 7am.  When we asked the ranger at the fee station, he said it wasn’t crowded yet but would be, and recommended we go up to the top and stop at places on the way down.  If you don’t, you might not get a parking spot – they get very limited at the top as the day goes on.  We saw lots of cars headed up as we were leaving.

Wildflowers are abundant in July.  Even above 14,000 feet where the terrain seems barren – you can see flowers in between the rocks.  July is also a great time to view wildlife.  On this trip we saw a Deer, Chipmunks, Elk, Mountain Goats,  Marmots, and a Pika.

Baby mountain goat
Baby mountain goat –  There were several families of mountain goats near the summit.  This little one posed for me so I could frame him against the out of focus mountains in the background.  It’s amazing to watch them scramble from rock to rock and never slip.

Pair of Marmots
Pair of Marmots

At the summit, the average summer temperature is ~44 degrees (F) and the average wind is ~30 mph, so we were particularly blessed with a low temp of 55 and very calm winds.  The winds were so calm that on the way down we decided to stop and hike to a couple of pools of water, hoping for a photo of the clouds reflecting in the ice melt.  It seemed like a really short hike downhill from the road to this pool.  When we turned around to go back uphill, the car looked really, really tiny and far, far away.

Catch pool reflection
Catch pool reflection and Mike admiring the view

If you’re ever in the Denver area, you just have to visit Mount Evans.  It’s spectacular and very accessible.  Flatlanders like me shouldn’t do the trip on their first day at altitude.  I’m not in the best of shape and at 14,000 feet I found I was out of breath even after short walks.  A few days to acclimate at around 5000 feet may have helped.

Click on any of the photos above to go to Flickr where you can see a larger version.  You can see the rest of my Mount Evans photos from this trip here, and you can see photos from my earlier trip here.

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

My favorite Florida links

Cameras and Photography, INSIDE FLORIDA, VARIOUS, , ,

Note (3/17/19):  Sadly, after almost 12 years of blog posts, I’ve had to go through and prune out dead or dying links.  I plan to follow-up with a new post on my favorite Florida links soon.

I follow many blogs and websites.  It occurred to me that if you’re interested in Florida Photo Ops, you might be interested in some of the same sites I look at.  Here’s a list of some of my Florida related favorites:

  • Friends of the Viera Wetlands (sorry, no longer available)— A blog with frequent updates about the happenings at Viera
  • Michael Libbe Photography (sorry, no longer available)— An Orlando based photographer interested in bird and wildlife photography
  • Florida Nature Photography …notes from the field (sorry, no longer available)— An extensive blog / website with a lot of information on natural Florida
  • Native Swamp & Rookery (sorry, no longer available)— The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Rookery Blog
  • Scott Helfrich Photography(sorry, no longer available)— Scott Helfrich is a Florida based photographer and posts some wonderful bird and wildlife photos
  • Finding Tampa (sorry, no longer available)— A blog about the Tampa Bay area

I’ve also updated my links page to point to these, so you can always get back to this list by clicking on the “Links” button at the top on the right side of the header.  Enjoy, and tell them I sent you. (sorry, no longer available)

Ed

Casey Key

Casey Key, INSIDE FLORIDA, , , , , , , , ,

Intro / Description

Lynn and I have been visiting Casey Key on the Gulf coast of Florida for many years and last weekend Mary joined us for another very pleasant stay over Labor Day.

Casey Key is a barrier island created by the intracoastal waterway and is south of Sarasota and just north of Venice.  It lies partially in the city of Nokomis, Florida and is an easy drive that’s about 2 hours from Orlando via I-4 and I-75.

It’s a very wealthy community with very little commercial development and consists mostly of high end homes.  There are a few small beach hotels near the southern end.  We stayed at the Gulf Sands Beach Resort, which is an older place located right on the beach.

Info for Photographers

Casey Key is very scenic and would be a good place to hold a workshop on sunset photography.  The three nights we were there, they ranged from very nice to spectacular.  Here is one photo I made with some fairly prominent sun dogs visible.

Sunset, pelican, and parheliaCasey Key: Sunset, flowers, pelican, and parhelia

Photo hints: We don’t normally go to the Gulf coast for surfing since the water is usually calm and clear.  In the past I’ve seen it as clear as a swimming pool, so it’s often a wonderful place for snorkeling.  Anticipating this, I brought  my Canon G9 and underwater housing.  But I didn’t get to use them much this time because the waves were pretty high (for the Gulf) and the water was murky.  I think it’s still stirred up from recent tropical storms passing through.

Casey Key itself has the best view to the west so get ready for some very nice sunset photos.  The scenery to the east consists mostly of housing.  You may get some color in the morning clouds to the west if you watch for it.  You might also want to try a sunrise photo from the jetty area.

For sunsets, set up early and stay late since the color often changes after the sun goes down.  This is easy to do if you have a place right on the beach.  You may also want to go back out later for some night shots.  The night sky to the west will be fairly dark and allow you to get some stars in your exposure. Vary your foreground, the height of your camera, and your lens field of view to create some different looks.

You’ll also see a variety of birds.  We saw pelicans, gulls, Great Blue Herons, and several other species during our visit.

Seagull
Bird watching me – a seagull at Casey Key

Tripod/Monopod: You can get by without a tripod, but having one will give you much more flexibility.  I tried some High Dynamic Range photography and was glad I had my tripod.

Lenses: You’ll appreciate a wide angle lens for sunset and landscape photos.  My most used lens was the  16-35mm wide angle.  You might also want to bring a longer lens too for the birds on the beach and nearby.

Best time to visit: Anytime (when the tropical outlook is calm).

Other:

If you like to fish, you can do so from the beach and also from the north jetty which is a very short drive to the south end of the key.  I once caught a very nice snook from this jetty, but had to let it go because the season ended the day before.

Three Fishermen
Three Fishermen: A Great Blue Heron stalks two humans, waiting for a handout.

There are many shells on the beach at Casey Key, so walking can be a bit rough for a city tenderfoot.   You might want to bring something to walk in.  And you definitely should walk the beach.  You’ll find many pretty shells as well as sharks teeth there.

Casey Key shells and shark teeth

Here are some other things that are close to Casey Key.  If you can stay a bit longer, you might want to check them out:

  • Warm Mineral Springs in North Port, Florida is a private resort with beautiful clear water.  Take your snorkel and underwater camera.
  • The Venice Rookery is a few miles south.  This is a small island in a small pond and hosts many species during nesting season.  If you’re there in the spring, be sure to stop by.
  • The Myakka River State Park has an unusual Canopy Walkway that would be worth seeing.
  • Oscar Scherer State Park is also very close by.
  • We’ve also been to the Mote Marine Lab for an interesting visit.  One morning we also saw one of their researchers monitoring the sea turtle nests on the beach at Casey Key.

Summary

Please visit my set on Flickr to see more photos from Casey Key as well as larger versions of the ones above.

My Gallery / Flickr photo set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/sets/72157624780918915/
Website: http://www.gulfsandsbeachresort.com/
Address / Phone: Gulf Sands Beach Resort

433 Casey Key Rd.
Nokomis, Fl. 34275
941-488-7272
Fax (941) 484-6827

View in Google Maps
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating: Make some nice photos while you relax

©2010, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.

Evansville, Indiana photo ops

Cameras and Photography, , , , ,

Sorry about not updating my Blog last weekend.  We were on vacation and didn’t get back home until late on Sunday.  Having to be at work all week, starting on Monday morning has really interfered with my photographic activities.

For our vacation this year, Lynn and I attended the Pressing Iron and Trivet Collectors of America (PITCA) 2010 Convention in Evansville, Indiana.

The convention was held and we stayed at the Aztar Casino Hotel in downtown Evansville – right on the Ohio River.  I enjoyed the parts of the convention that I attended – it’s amazing how knowledgeable people are.  But I also used some time while Lynn was busy with trivet things to explore the area looking for photo ops.  Here’s a couple of views from the Casino area:

Sunset at the Aztar Casino_IMG_1139-40_panoSunset at the Aztar Casino, looking southwest over the Ohio River

The night time Ohio River at Evansville
Night time Ohio River at Evansville

Evansville has a very nice river walk and they’ve done quite a bit of flower gardening along the way.  Here are some examples of what it looks like:

The Evansville, Indiana visitor's centerThe Evansville, Indiana visitor’s center

 

Evansville also has a museum with a transportation center showcasing several rail cars and railroad equipment.

Evansville rail cars

The USS LST-325 Ship Memorial in Evansville is the home of the only remaining operational Landing Ship Tank (LST) in the world.  The LST-325 has quite a history and is a very lucky ship.  She made 44 trips between England and France during the WW II invasion of Normandy.  Here is an interesting account of how the ship was acquired, repaired and sailed across the Atlantic by a crew of US Navy Veterans in 2000.

By the way, all of the photos I made of the ship were with a Nikon 16-35mm f/4 VR lens, combined with auto ISO on my D-700 DSLR.  The lens VR combined with setting the minimum shutter speed to 1/15 sec and the ISO range of 200 – 1600 allowed me to shoot without flash in the dim interior of the ship.  I also was able to make sharp hand held photos down to a shutter speed of 1/8 sec, when the light was even dimmer.

LST-325 Deck Gun Barrel

On the second day of the convention auction, I left the hotel early to visit the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, which is a little over 3 hours away from Evansville.  It was worth the time, although I didn’t stay very long due to the heat.

The Gateway ArchThe Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri

I’m sure there are many other photo ops in the area that I didn’t have time to explore.  For instance there is a zoo and botanical gardens in the city, and several caves within driving distance.   The PITCA convention will probably return to Evansville next year, so I may get a chance to continue my search.

I’ve posted more of my photos (and larger versions) from this trip in a gallery here:  https://edrosack.com/Evansville/

©2010, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.