Great Blue Herons

During our walk the other morning at John Chestnut, Jr Park, we noticed several Great Blue Herons nesting in the pines across an inlet on Lake Tarpon.

There was quite a lot of activity with this pair. As we watched, we saw the male (I presume) flying back and forth gathering nesting material and bringing it back to the female so she could build the nest. This is just one of the many hand offs. At one point, he joined her in the nest and they were both weaving the twigs into this huge nest. We watched them with interest for quite a while.

Unlike most of these long-legged waders, Great Blue Herons do not roost with other birds. They are usually solitary. It seems it must be different during nesting season, because there were several pairs in these trees. As a matter of fact, at one point, we saw 2 Herons on the nest, while one watched from the position of the one pictured in this photo.

I only had my trusty 55-250mm lens, so this is a crop from the original. I thought it important to the photo to include the nest in the scene. This image was shot at ISO 400, in aperture priority mode with partial metering off the birds. It was exposed at F5.6 at 1/250 to get a high enough shutter speed to stop action to prevent blurring, since it was pretty dark up in the trees.

Crab-like Spiny Orb Weaver

This Crab-like Spiny Orb Weaver is one of my favorite spiders to photograph. I like their smiley faces on their backs and their colors.

These spiders are fairly common in this part of Florida. I can see them on most any days in my backyard; which is where I spotted this one. They're pretty small, only about 3/8" in diameter, but their webs are distinct, so they're easy to spot. They can be found in woodland edges and shrubby gardens and their favorite food is small insects.

Settings used for making this image are as follows: ISO 400, partial metering off the spider in aperture priority mode; 1/250 at F10 for greater depth of field and +1 2/3 exposure compensation because he was backlit against the sky and I wanted to retain detail in his head. I used fill flash at -2 exposure compensation to keep the whites from blowing out and I used my Tamron F2.8 90mm macro lens. This was shot hand held; but I recommend using a tripod whenever shooting macro shots. In this case, this spider was quite a bit over my head, so a tripod wasn't practical.

Tarpon Lake Scenic

We had a "girls" morning out on Friday morning, bright and early. Four of us went to John Chestnut, Jr Park in Palm Harbor for 7:00 am to try our luck at catching a few Deer.

We saw plenty of Deer all morning, but in low light, they're pretty hard to shoot through the fog and darkness. I did get a couple shots that I'm fairly happy with, but I had to increase my ISO to 800. That high of an ISO nearly always degrades the shot. So, I'm wondering if it's worth it. Maybe if it's a once in a lifetime shot, it's worth the trouble to clean up the shot; other than for that reason, it's just not worth it to me.

Personally, I'm happier with the scenics I shot that early in the morning. I'm more into waterscapes than I am into landscapes. It could be that I just don't "see" the landscapes we have in Florida. I'm a native New Englander, and used to landscapes with mountains, rolling hills, etc.

This one is one of my favorite that I shot this morning. I like the way the clouds and sky are reflected in the water, yet cannot be seen in the sky. That's pretty weird, isn't it? I'll probably be posting my Deer shots at a later time once I get all the editing done.

Settings used in this image taken in the early morning just as the fog/mist was lifting: ISO 400, 1/800 at F4.0, normally I don't make landscapes at F4.0, but I wasn't really trying to keep the background sharp, just the water and reeds, -2/3 exposure compensation to keep the sky from washing out completely, with partial metering on the reeds at 55mm with my 55-250mm trusty walk-around lens.

Chinese Shar Pei

This Chinese Shar Pei was being walked by his owner on the Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs, FL. I've always been fascinated by these wrinkly dogs. They look so soft and cuddly. This one, for some reason looked sad to me.

Shar Peis are known for their wrinkled skin and bluish tongue. At one time, they were a rare breed. Today, they are getting to be more common. The younger the dog, the more wrinkles they have. As they mature, they grow into their skin and some of the deep wrinkles disappear. Their fur is very course and bristly.

Shar Peis were bred in China as fighting dogs, but due to their prohibitive cost, they're now kept as guard dogs. They are extremely loyal and protective of their families and can become quite aggressive.

Settings used to create this image: ISO 400, 1/80 at F5.6, +1/3 exposure compensation to keep the shadow detail, aperture priority and partial metering off the dog. Focal length was 135mm with my trusty 50-250mm lens.

Igor

It seems I never shoot portraits or people, but here I am with another portrait just two days after my last one. I guess people are part of the natural world, so in a sense, it can qualify as nature--sort of, but not really.

Igor is one of my roommates. He needed a portrait for his sites and had been asking for months. Finally I gave in and made several of him. This is one I like.

He insisted on wearing his sunglasses, and it was a little difficult exposing so I'd show his eye without underexposing all the shadows. I used partial metering on his eye and it worked perfectly! Even I was surprised.

Settings used for this image taken in my backyard were as follows. ISO 400 because he was in the shade, 1/320 at F5.6 for shallow depth of field in aperture priority, (You may notice I use aperture priority mode for 99% of my shots. That's because I like to control the depth of field.) +1/3 exposure compensation, 180mm focal lenth with my 55-250mm lens.

Teddy Bear Sponge

This sponge was roped and drying on the side of a sponge boat at the Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs, FL. When I saw it hanging there, it reminded me of a Teddy Bear holding a bunny. It just looked so soft and cuddly, I had to snap a quick shot of it.

I tend to have quite an imagination when it comes to patterns and things spotted in nature and I'm always on the lookout for things like this. My visions seem to remind me of when I was a kid, lying on a hill with my friends looking up at the clouds and finding all sorts of interesting characters in the cloud formations. I guess this is a take-off from those times on lazy summer afternoons.

I keep a folder for things spotted like this, and I call it my Arbor Menagerie. This isn't a formation in tree bark, but it's close enough to include it there.

What does it remind you of? Let me know in your comments.

Settings used for this image were 1/200 (because I wasn't using my tripod (which I was carrying and too lazy to set up)) at F5.6 for shallow depth of field to blur the background, ISO 400 (it was a cloudy day, so I needed more light), 146mm with my 55-250mm trusty walk-around lens. Metering was set at Partial Metering in Aperture Priority mode.

Old Salt

Last Friday afternoon a couple friends and I went to the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks to shoot a bit and then go to dinner. While walking around on the docks, I spotted this elderly gentleman and he reminded me of an elderly sponge boat captain.

Whether he was actually a captain or even a diver I have no idea. He graciously let Frank and I take all the photos we wanted to of him. He has an amazing look.

For those of you who don't know about the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, if you are ever in Central Florida it is a must see. It is a Greek community built entirely around the sponge industry. This is where you will find the worlds finest natural sponges. There are many Greek restaurants, bakeries and boutiques. The little mom & pop stores are all along the docks with each of them carrying sponges, loofahs, shells and just about anything else you want. There is also a museum where you can watch the divers harvest the sponge. Many of the divers still use the old ways like their fathers and grandfathers did many years ago.

Settings used for this image were at ISO 400, Aperture Priority and partial metering, F 5.6, 1/160 and 0 exposure compensation at 90mm with my 55-250mm lens.

Water Lily

I thought a pretty flower might chase the Winter Blahs's away. This Water Lily was in bloom in the fountain in front of Plant Hall at the University of Tampa in November.

It has lost a lot of saturation due to the compression and I'm very disappointed. I wish you all could see how it really looks. It's a beautiful flower. This blog really does a number on my photos. :( What a shame!

Settings used for this shot were: Aperture Priority and partial metering off the flower at F7.1 at 1/250 with 200 ISO, -2/3 exposure to keep the highlights in check. Focal Length was 200mm.

Mallard Fight

A personal note to my followers: Sorry I haven't been posting much lately, but it's been way too cold in Florida and I haven't been taking any photos lately. In addition, my computer is right next to the front door so I haven't been editing due to the draft from the door. I just freeze.

You will probably have to click on this shot to get the best view. I wish there weren't so many reflections. These two Mallards got into a squabble and I was lucky enough to catch them in the heat of it. It was cool to watch them.

This is the first time there's been so many Mallards here. Usually, there's 4 Mottled Ducks who come back every year. I counted 10 Mallards this morning and I haven't seen the usual Mottled Ducks. I wonder why that is?

Settings used for this shot were ISO 400 to get a high shutter speed (1/250) to stop the action enough to get some clarity, F5.6 to try to blur out some of the sharp reflections, 55-200mm lens at 250mm, partial metering off the duck in flight, + 1 1/3 stops exposure compensation because the birds were backlit.

Mallard Drake

Nothing spectacular tonight; just this Mallard Drake swimming in the lake in my back yard.

Every year we get Mottled Ducks, but this year when they came back they brought along a few Mallards with them. This one is a young Drake. His head still isn't fully green, it's more of a dark green/black if that's such a color. He was one of about 10 swimming around today. In the past years, we've only had 2 pair that would come, nest, fledge their young and leave, only to return later and do the whole thing again. This is the first time I've seen these Mallards here and their quite welcome. It's nice to be able to photograph a few different birds when it's too cold to go out shooting anywhere else.

I just can believe how cold it is in Florida. Usually in January, we'll see a few days get into the 60's and maybe a night or two in the low 50's or upper 40's. This has been a rough 3 weeks! We're expecting more cold weather over the next week. I wish it would go back up north where it belongs.

Blackberry Lily

I was wondering what I was going to post tonight, since it's been so cold I haven't been shooting, when my screen saver came up and I saw this one.

This Blackberry Lily, which I mistook for some kind of Orchid is one of the only flowers other than the Sweet William that's still standing after this cold spell in the Butterfly garden at the Safety Harbor Marina.

I didn't this it was a lily because it is so small. It's only about 3" across from tip to tip. For a lily that's pretty small. I found one in my wildflower book while looking for another flower and I'm glad I did. I wasn't even aware that these are native flowers and grow wild.

I guess we learn more than photography whenever we shoot nature. I'm one of those curious souls that has to know everything about anything I capture with my camera. I've had an insatiable curiosity ever since I was a kid. It drives me crazy when I can't identify a plant or a bug or whatever. I'll keep digging and digging until I can come up with an answer.

Settings used for this image were ISO 200 at 250mm in Aperture Priority at F5.6 and 1/60th.

Snowy Egret

During my last Meetup at Lake Seminole Park, I spotted this Snowy Egret under a foot bridge hunting for his next meal. I was immediately attracted to the reflection of him in the water, which was so clear it showed his underparts.

This particular area under this footbridge is a favorite hunting/fishing place for all the shore birds in this park. There are plenty of Blue Crab to feed all of them. I've never failed to be able to find the birds here any time I've been to this area.

Settings used in making this image were with my camera set to Aperture Priority with partial metering on the bird, at 400 ISO because the light was pretty dim under the bridge, I exposed it at 1/30 at F5.6 with -2/3 exposure compensation to keep the white feathers of the bird from blowing out. I used my 55-250mm at 250mm to capture him.

Fountain Detail in Safety Harbor, FL

I've posted several shots from this fountain while the water was running and nighttime shots a while back in this blog, but never any detailed shots.

This fountain is located at the entrance to the Safety Harbor Marina on Bayshore Boulevard in Safety Harbor and the sculpture is one of the best I've seen. This is only one of the avian sculptures in the fountain. It is most likely a Great Blue Heron. I'm judging that by the feathers at the back of his head.

The shape of the bird is similar to the Great Egret, but the Great Egret has no feathers at the back of their heads. The detail is phenomenal and it's one of my favorites of all the fountains I've seen.

Of all the various subject matter that I photograph for personal leisure, fountains and bridges are probably my favorite with birds running a close second. This combines both.

Settings used for this image are as follows: ISO 200, 1/400 at F4.0 on a sunny afternoon, just prior to sunset. I added 1 2/3 exposure compensation because it is backlit by the sky in the background and I wanted to preserve the detail. I used aperture priority and partial metering off the bird, and my focal length was 60mm with my 55mm-250mm zoom lens.

Yaupon Holly

I thought by now you're all getting sick of my birds, so I'd post something a little more in season.

This is Yaupon Holly. Although the leaves don't have the traditional points that you'd expect to see, it is definitely in the Holly family. It's also one of the more seasonal-looking plants that one would find in nature. I found this during my meetup at Lake Seminole last Sunday. The bush was pretty full, so I got under the branch and shot up at the sky. This way, it eliminated the busy background, and it helped to make the plant stand out more. Yaupon Holly can be found in Florida growing in upland woods, streamsides, pondsides, dunes and pine flatwoods.

Settings used for this shot were, Aperture priority, with partial metering on the plant, ISO 400, 1/80th @ F5.6, -1/3 exposure compensation. I chose ISO 400 because it was very cloudy and their wasn't much light as you can tell by the settings used. The -1/3 exposure compensation was to keep the sky from blowing out.

This is another shot with a loss due to jpg compression for the site. This is much brighter not compressed.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Yup; another bird shot. I'm on a roll with these right now. When I visited Lake Seminole Park with my students, I couldn't believe all the birds we shot. This is one of the better shots I made.

This one, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron just kept right on posing for us only moving once. We first shot him/her when she was on the footbridge, then in an effort to get away (sort of) he/she flew down on the ground on the edge of the water. I think he wasn't giving up his spot for lunch, no matter what we did.

It's always a thrill to see and capture one of these elusive Night Herons. Since they're largely nocturnal, we don't get to see them too much during the day. When we do, they're pretty secretive. The only time they show themselves is when they're hungry, so it's usually a pretty easy shot. They don't give up their spots that easily just because we humans are there. They want to be sure to keep all the Crab for themselves.

Settings used for this shot were: Aperture Priority Mode with partial metering on the bird, ISO 400 for extra light sensitivity because I was shooting him under a bridge and it was a cloudy day. There wasn't much light to work with, 1/20th at F5.6 and -1/3 exposure compensation to keep the whites from blowing out. Focal length 208mm with my 55-250mm lens.

Great Egret

I don't think I've posted any birds in a little while. This one was shot at Lake Seminole Park yesterday while I was teaching a class.

He was so funny, he just came up to the picnic table where I was speaking to my group about exposure, and he was just begging to be photographed. I could see everyone getting a bit edgy, wanting to shoot him. He was posing so nice. Finally, I relented, since they weren't listening anyway. As soon as I said, "Well, what are you all waiting for? He's posing just for you". You could hear all the shutters being released. While they were shooting, I answered any quick exposure questions about shooting all white birds. Of course, all the while wanting to shoot him as well. I just couldn't help myself, I had to shoot him, too!

Settings used for this shot; ISO 400 because it was a cloudy day, and I needed more light. F5.6 at 1/250 in case he moved and because I was handholding the lens, +2/3 exposure compensation to capture detail in the whites without them going too gray, Aperture Priority Mode with partial metering on the bird. My focal length was 250mm with my 55-250mm lens.

Lake Seminole in HDR

Today I took my students to Lake Seminole Park for a lesson on exposure. This is one of the original images I made with the class. This image looked like it would make an excellent HDR study, so I tried it with this one. When I downloaded my photos to my computer, I noticed that I deleted the -2 stop exposure by mistake, so I made a pseudo HDR. I'm surprised it came out so well from one image.

The second image is the HDR image. As you can see, this one is much, much better. I don't like HDR when it's done over the top. It seems to present unnatural colors and a lot of noise, and I'm very happy with the way this one turned out. It's much brighter, the colors are more saturated and vibrant, and it's natural and believable.

Settings used for the original image are, ISO 200 because it is a cloudy day and the sensor needs more light for a proper exposure, Aperture Priority mode, which I use for about 95% of all my photography. The shutter speed was 1/100 at F7.1, which is the sharpest or sweet spot of my lens, 0 exposure compensation, with partial metering off the trees, which was the most important part of the scene (actually the greenery and reflections), 36mm with my 18-55mm lens.

Chicken Turtle and American Alligator

Note to my followers: I must apologize for getting out of my normal routine of posting one photo a day. I've been not feeling well, and terribly busy these past couple weeks.


This Chicken Turtle certainly isn't living up to his name as he sits atop an American Alligator's head. He must know that Alligators go into a semi-hibernation in the winter months and don't eat during this time. They go without food for approximately 4 months, living off their body fat.

This image was photographed Christmas day at Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL. I took my grandson to the park as part of his Christmas gift. We got off to a late start because it was raining in the morning, so we waiting for it to clear up. We still had a great time and stayed until closing.

Chicken Turtles can be found in shallows and fresh water, while American Alligators can be found in ponds, rivers, swamps, both fresh and brackish marshes, mangroves, canals and oceans (rarely) throughout Florida and the southern states.

This image was captured with my Canon 40D, Canon 55-250mm lens at 131mm, in late afternoon on a cloudy day. I used 400 ISO, in Aperture priority mode and partial metering off the turtle at 1/20 and F5.6.

Bullfrog

I caught this guy climbing up the side of a Palm tree in my backyard the other day. He was really big, as you can tell by the Palm tree trunk. It's amazing how they can cling to surfaces with their webbed feet.

The Bullfrog is the largest native American frog reaching lengths of 8 inches. They're found throughout central Florida in ponds, lakes and slow-moving streams. They eat young birds, snakes, crayfish and other frogs. That may explain why he was climbing up this tree.

The jpg compression has taken away the greenish tinge across his lower body. He's a lot more colorful than he looks in this shot. I wish I could post the full resolution image.

Settings used for this photo were at ISO 200, with my on camera flash (he was in a dark spot between 3 other trees) at 1/250 which is the shutter speed I set my flash to fire, F5.6 and +2 exposure compensation to be sure to get all the shadow detail, partial metering on the frog in aperture priority mode. I used my 50-250mm lens at 250mm so I wouldn't scare him away.

Lyman and Pat

My friends, Lyman and his brand new wife, Pat (as she likes to be called when in America) were married on the 30th of November on a little bridge that separates the Unity church and the Buddhist temple in Tampa. They had his minister and her monk officiate.

They met last year while Lyman was doing business in Thailand. He has a factory there, so he goes to Thailand every year for about 4 or 5 months to make sure everything is running all right.

They've had this long-distance relationship for the last year and now they've finally married. Lyman has had some serious health problems in the last few months and hopefully it'll all be ironed out before they leave to go back to Thailand in January. They'll be there for 4 or 5 months, then come back to Florida to live.

Lyman has been my friend for a few years now, and Pat has been my friend since she came to Florida last year. She is the sweetest girl and will make a good wife to Lyman. I'm very happy for both of them.

When Pat was here last year, she could barely speak English and was very shy. This year, I couldn't believe how well she speaks English. You'd think she'd been here for years. She says Lyman's been helping her to learn. But I think it's been sheer determination on her part that helped her to learn our language that quickly. Amazingly, since she can now speak the language well, she doesn't seem as shy.

They are both good friends and I wish them all the luck and happiness in the world.