White Ibis and the Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret and White Ibis

It is well known that birds use all sorts of methods to hide their reflections from the fish or crustaceans they're hunting, but this one is a new one on me. I suppose if I were a fish or crustacean, I would be confused by this reflection.

I'm not quite sure what is going on, but White Ibis normally probe for insects. Are there underwater insects? Maybe he's just company for the Snowy Egret? Snowy Egrets spear fish and small aquatic animals for their food. Maybe they're chumming around together to help one another find food?

It seems I have a lot of questions when I look at this photo. What do you all think?

Pilings

While I was at The Pier with my friend, Frank, a week-and-a-half ago, I spotted the reflections of these pilings in the water. I rarely shoot anything like this, but for some unexplainable reason, I just happened to like the way they looked.

It's not my usual style, but like I've mentioned in several blogs lately, I've been working on my creativity instead of just walking up to something that looks neat, snap it and quickly walk away. I have a name for that kind of shooting. I call it a "walk up shooter". It's just this type of shooting that I've been trying to work on for several months now. I'm doing a whole lot more thinking and planning a shot before I squeeze that shutter button. Does it work? I'm not sure, but I do like this one. How do you all feel? Let me know in your comments. It would be imteresting to hear someone else's opinion.

Settings used for this shot were handheld 1/2000 at F5.6, Aperture Priority in spot focusing mode (on the reflections), ISO 400 at 240mm with my 55-250mm lens and +1/3 exposure compensation, which I judged by my histogram which was a little to the left side.

It's sometimes difficult to judge your exposure in your viewfinder window. Always trust your histogram. It never lies.

Reflections

Reflections have always fascinated me and these of the Oswego, NY Courthouse on the window of the Oswego County Legislature Building are no exception.

I love how they bend and twist throughout the photo, yet manage to stay clear enough to show what building is being reflected. I also like how they contrast the old with the new or modern architecture.

My friend, Frank, a member of my photography group lives in upstate NY, not far from my grandchildren's home. He stays there 4 months a year and 8 months in St Petersburg, FL. It's always a thrill to visit him during the summer when I visit my grandchildren. It gives us just a little more time to shoot together. This was taken on our day. Frank came to Oswego with his nephew, Carl, and we went out shooting for a little bit. We didn't have a lot of time, but we made the most of it. After our shoot, we went to our favorite place in Oswego for lunch, Rudy's Lakeside Drive-In. It's just like the old Drive-In restaurants that were so popular in the '50's and '60's.

Rudy's is a hamburg, hot dog and sea food place near SUNY Oswego College. It's fairly large and a favorite of the locals. Since it's not open during the winter months, it's a big treat to go there for a hot dog by the water. He has inside and outside tables. The outside tables sit on a deck overlooking Lake Ontario. The only problem is one has to be careful the Gulls don't steal our food. They've been fed for so many years by people, that they think the food is for them. They've also lost their fear of humans, so the Gulls have no problem stealing french fries or a hot dog right off your plate. Here is a link to learn more about Rudy's (Click Here) If you're ever in the area, it's a must stop--you won't be sorry you did.

As I look at this shot, I'm trying to remember what park I took it at. I cheated; I looked in the metadata (thank goodness for keywords) and as it turned out, it was taken at Florida Botanical Gardens about 3 weeks ago.

One of my favorite flowers is in the foreground, it is the Indian Blanket flower. They can be found growing most anywhere in this area. I love the colors. I also like lily pads, and although these don't have beautiful waterlilies sitting amongst them, there are a few Spatterdocks peeking out here and there.

Florida Botanical Gardens is a fairly new park. I remember I stumbled across it by accident and it just happened to be the day it was dedicated. Since then, I've taken many a walk through it's beautiful gardens.

The Crystal

While on my trolley tour meetup in Tampa a couple weeks ago, I spotted this crystal in a florist's window. There were flowers behind it and I originally thought a flower caught in one of the facets of the crystal would make a very pretty composition.

I tried and tried and made quite a few with the flowers in the facets, but because the flowers were white (I think, anyway), they just didn't come off as I had envisioned. There was also the problem with reflections in the glass and I didn't have a polarizer with me. (Shame on me.)

I like the colors in this one, and like it even though it's not what I envisioned. Sometimes, we just have to create something else and be satisfied. I think the next time I go back there, I'm going to give it another go. Hopefully, the florist will be open and I'll be able to get inside and not have to worry about a polarizer. Of course, I've learned my lesson; I will have my polarizer with me this time.

What was that old Boy Scout motto? "Be prepared"; that could work for us all.

Reflections

Last night was our monthly meetup at the Safety Harbor Marina. I think since April our group has photographed every blade of grass in that city. It's so much of a challenge to come up with different photo everytime we go there.

When I got to the marina, I couldn't help but notice these reflections. Other than this one spot, the water was a calm and quiet as glass. The only thing I could see was these reflections.

I can only hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed capturing them.

Tampa Skyline Pano & Explosion

Last night I attended another class with Jim Sykes. This time it was on night photography and skylines.

This shot is of the Tampa skyline as seen from Davis Island. Eight of us took the class and learned a lot of new tricks and techniques. We experimented with doing several zoom explosions which, at best were interesting.

This explosion was taken from the same spot. I used a 30 second exposure and zoomed in during the last half of the exposure. Of the different tries, I like this one the best. The splashes of colors is what attracted me to this one.

If you like my work, please comment--even if you don't like it, I'd like to hear what you think.

If you'd like to see more of my work, please visit my website here.

Downtown Tampa From the UT Campus

This is only one of many beautiful views of downtown Tampa that can be seen from the University of Tampa campus.

The buildings, from left to right are, the Sykes building, the Bank of America building and the Regions Bank buildings.

Arch Detail

Arch detail and reflections in window of Regions Bank, which is in downtown Tampa. The University of Tampa campus is one of the preferred places to create "out of the box" images of downtown Tampa.

These arches are over the main doors in Plant Hall at the University of Tampa.

Common Spatterdocks

Today my friend and I went for an early morning walk through Sawgrass Lake Park, here in St Petersburg, FL, looking to capture some bird photos.

While we didn't see many birds, I spotted these Spatterdocks and liked the way the light was hitting them, The reflections of the tree in the upper center frame is just icing on the cake to complete my composition.

Loyce