Blue Mist Flower

This Blue Mist Flower, found in Sawgrass Lake Park, took some research to figure out what it was. It took four books until I finally found it. I didn't expect to find it in a Gardening book, since I assumed it was just a wildflower.

It's scientific name is Caryopteris clandonensis. It is in the Verbenaceae family. According to the "Southern Living Garden Book", it is an Asian native and is valued for their contribution of cool blue color to flower borders from mid-summer to frost.

I was attracted to its delicateness and the blue color. As many times as I've been in Sawgrass Lake Park, I don't remember ever seeing it before. It must've been planted by the birds.

Tom

Meet Tom. Tom is one of my grandchildren's cats. He had a partner, Jerry, who was recently run over by a car when he darted across the street. Now Tom is not allowed outside. We all thought the kids would be devastated by the accident; and they were--for a couple days. Mommy and Daddy explained that Jerry is up in heaven with Grandpa and Grandpa is taking care of him for them. They seem to be fine with that.

What's amazing is that their father doesn't especially like cats. He only agreed to allow the kids to have a cat after their Grandpa died to help them with their grieving. The one who's devastated the most is the kids' father. He's lost without that cat. It's amazing how an animal in the house can become a part of the family in no time at all.

I made this photo "just in case". It's too bad I wasn't able to make one of Jerry, but the cats are only a few months old, and I never met Jerry.

The kids love this photo, and since they have a link to Grammy's photo blog, I'm sure they'll be pleased to see Tom on it tonight.

This is for you all, Nick, Nathan, Noah, Austin and Alexis; Grammy loves you! XOXOXOXO

Indian Blanket Flower

While playing around with my macro lens at Veterans' Memorial Garden at the Safety Harbor Marina a couple weeks ago, I came across this beautiful Indian Blanket Flower and couldn't resist a closeup of the stamen. (Click on the photo to see better detail.)

This flower is also known as Blanket Flower or it's proper name is Gaillardia. The scientific name is Gaillardia aristata. It is in the Compositae family and named after Gaillard de Marentonneau, a French magistrate and patron of botany.

Gaillardia is a herbaceous perennial that comes in many varieties; but this one is my favorite. I love the colors and the fact that they can be found most anywhere in Florida. I've even seen them growing wild on the side of the road. They are one of my favorite flowers and they're right up there with Day Lilies.

Lila

Meet Lila, who is the kids' nanny's sister's little girl. She just under a year old and absolutely loves the camera.

Since I photograph babies for a living, I thought I'd post one here of an older baby. The babies I photograph are under 3 days old, so this is a very different technique for me.

All I had with me is my camera and on-camera flash, so I had to get creative with the exposure to keep from blowing out her pretty little face.

Lila was pre-occupied watching the older kids play and was enjoying her toys while in the walker.

Isn't she just the cutest little thing?

Lantana

There are many varieties of Lantana, but this one is my favorite. I love the soft pastel pink and yellow combination. I have the solid colored lavender ones in my yard and wish I had some of these as well.

This variety is called Lantana Camara and can be found growing wild anywhere in Florida. Butterflies love them and they're a great addition to any garden--especially if you want to attract butterflies. They certainly can do the job.

I found these growing wild at Sawgrass Lake Park in St Petersburg, Florida. Sawgrass lake is one of my favorite places to go when I want to get out and shoot nature. There are boardwalks throughout the park and a few walking trails. I've never gone there and failed to see an Alligator or two and Armadillos. I've also seen many varieties of snakes and birds as well.

This park is small, safe and free. The free part is the best part of it because it's one of the few places left in Florida that you can visit and not spend a dime. It's great for budget minded people.

Black-crowned Night Heron

After getting home from vacation, and taking a break outside yesterday morning, I spotted this Black-crowned Night Heron hunting on the banks of Joe's Creek, in my backyard.

This is the first time I find one of these guys in this area. I know they're around; but the Black-crowned Night Heron is very secretive, unlike his counterpart, the Yellow-crowned Night Heron. I see them at all times of day and night anywhere I go in Florida. This Black-crowned Night Heron is a rarity and quite a treat for me.

It was about 7:30 in the morning and the water was very still, which made a beautiful reflection for me to capture. What about a nice bonus. Be sure to click on the photo for a larger version so you can see the detail. It may not be my best avian shot, but I like this one because it's a rare opportunity to see one of these birds.

My Miracle Grandbabies

I just got back from vacation in NY visiting my miracle grandchildren. Miracle, you ask?

For those of you who don't know, these children were born extremely premature. Three of them were not expected to make it. They were just too small and too underdeveloped due to their prematurity. Crouse Hospital in Syracuse did an amazing job helping these tiny little babies to survive.

On the 18th, the triplets (top row from left), Noah, Nicholas and Nathaniel celebrated their 9th birthday and on the 22nd, the twins, Austin and Alexis, celebrated their 7th birthday. I was fortunate enough to be able to be with them on their birthdays. I'm thankful for that.

When the triplets were born, I told their mother I'd only stay for 2 months to help them and their nanny out. It was impossible to leave. I stayed 4 1/2 years helping to take care of them until finally the twins were in school all day before coming back to Florida. You can all imagine how much I miss them.

They had a birthday party with 32 other children, friends from school, Little League and family friends' children at the "Bouncy House" in Oswego. They all had a blast. For 2 hours they all ran around playing various video games and playing on the bouncy slide and bouncy house. What a thrill it was to watch them having so much fun.

I'm going to miss them once again, until my next visit to NY. :(

I realize this is not my best work, but a snapshot is the most I could expect under the circumstances. These kids just won't sit still and/or stop fooling around long enough for a decent photo of them. One of these days, I'll have to bring my lights, backgrounds, etc. to setup a nice formal portrait; but until then, I'll treasure this one.

Young Thai Dancer

Sunday my friends and I went to Songkran, the Thai New Year celebration at Thai Temple in Tampa. It was an incredible celebration; not at all like our American New Year celebration.

Besides tons and tons of delicious Thai food, there were many cultural dancers. There were two MC's; one who spoke Thai to the Thai people, and an English translator for the rest of us. Most Thai people were dressed in native Thai clothing that was beautiful; much more elaborate than the American Sunday dress and I must say much more beautiful. Entertainment was many Thai dancers performing traditional dances in full Thai dress. This young girl was one of the dancers.

There were two exhibitions of Moi Thai (kick-boxing). (My spelling is probably incorrect). In one of the exhibitions a girl sparred with her teacher. The other was an actual fight between a 4-year student and his instructor. They were both very good.

After that, they did a parade and a giant water fight. It is said that the more soaked you get, the more evil spirits are washed away. It was a blast watching how much fun the kids were having dumping large buckets of water over each others' heads then pouring powder onto them to make a very muddy mess. The elderly women blessed us by dipping a carnation into a mixture of water, Jasmine oil and powder and sprinkling it on our necks, shoulders and hands. This custom is to wash away evil spirits, to keep us healthy and to wish us much luck in the coming year. It smelled so good, I didn't want to change my clothes!

There were more than 200 people there and everyone enjoying the day. I had so much fun and it was so interesting. This is the second Thai festival I've gone to and I have learned to love the people and their culture. Thailand is called the land of 1,000 smiling faces and I can see why. It was almost like stepping into another world. What a wonderful experience.

Mother Great-horned Owl

Another trip to Kapok Park with my friend, Margo, was very productive. This time, we saw the mother guarding the nest. Since I've already shared the photos of the baby and the father, I thought it only fitting that I share the photo of the mother.

Owls never go very far from the nest. Usually, one parent hunts for food, while the other one stays behind to care for their Owlets. This tree is only a few feet from the tree the nest is in. As you can see, mother is keeping a watchful eye on her young.

Kapok Park is a small, community park in Clearwater, Florida. It hasn't been open that long but it promises to be a really good park for photo opportunities. There are marshes throughout the park and beautiful, Live Oak trees, like the one the Owlet is in. There are many foot bridges along the trails that allow crossing over the marshes. I have many photos from my two trips to this park to share with my readers. I've seen some amazing things here.

Great-Horned Owlet and Dad

This post is dedicated to my very good friend, Margo, who I met through this blog. Margo is going home after an extended visit and I'll miss her until she returns.

As promised to Margo, here is the shot of the 3-week old Great-horned Owlet from Kapok Park. You'll have to click on the photo to see her cute little red tongue. She's so adorable. I thank Margo for clewing me into this place. I'd have never found her if it hadn't been for her.

This second post is a more normal (what we'd expect) photo of the same Owlet. From what I can see there's only one.

This Owlet is the cutest little thing. We watched her/him for about 2 hours peeking down at us, preening and calling for Mommy.

I've never seen a Great-horned Owl in the wild, and to find an Owlet was a most pleasant experience. It was just icing on the cake! (Sorry about the cliche)

After a couple of hours, we saw Daddy return to a nearby tree to watch his little one. I guess Mommy was out hunting. A very nice birder told us the difference between the male and female is that the female has a wide, white stripe down the center of her chest.

Margo and I went back there today and saw the mother. It's still on my camera and I'll probably be posting it soon. We also made some more shots of the Owlet. What a thrill!

This year, was the first year I've had the experience to see Eagles on the nest and Owls on the nest. Previously, I had never seen either in the wild. It just motivates me even more to get that nice new 100-400mm lens all the much sooner. I'm saving as much as I can for it and can't wait to be able to buy it so I can get better close-ups of these cute little birds.

Eaglets

As promised, I told you all I'd post a photo of the Eaglets. This may or may not be the best shot I have; I still have to look through the (too) many photos I took of them. I've been shooting pretty much non-stop since yesterday morning.

I got up yesterday and went out to see if I could catch the Eaglets on top of the nest where I could shoot them. I stayed for about an hour and got a lot of shots. In one or two of them I caught the older of the two Eaglets trying to fly from branch to branch. If you look closely, you can see the smaller one with his beak open just under the branch to the left of the big one. I got some shots of the Eaglet try to fly from branch to branch, (I'll post when I get caught up with my editing). In the afternoon, I went on a shoot with my friends, Frank and Ford, in downtown St Petersburg. This morning, I went on a shoot with my Meetup Group, The Florida State Photography Meetup Group.

Ten of us went out to Hillsborough River State Park from 9:30 until 1:30 today. I will tell you I have a lot of photos to edit just in the last 2 days! Not to mention that I'm still working on a VIP event I just shot Friday night. I guess I'd better get started.

Bald Eagle

I guess it must seem to you all that I'm on another bird kick again. This is another shot of the Bald Eagle guarding her nest here in St Pete. I still haven't been able to get off a good shot of her Eaglets. According to my friend, Jim, they still haven't fledged as of last week. He was able to catch the Eaglets and one of them is still too small to fledge. I just have to get there early enough when they're feeding so I can catch a shot of them.

I have tomorrow morning off, so if I can get a decent night's sleep I'll be heading there first thing when I get up. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a shot of her babies.

We've been having some bad weather here again and both days I was off, it was raining. I sure hope I can get over there in the morning.

Update on my little Mottled Duck family: I haven't seen any of them since their first day out. I'm beginning to worry. I'm hoping to see them tomorrow while I'm off. Wish me luck--or rather, wish them luck. There's so many Hawks and that 'gator here I'm praying they'll make it long enough to fledge.

That's it for me tonight. If I'm going to get up early, I'll have to go to bed early.

Chicks First Day Out

Every year the Mallards, Mottled and Black Ducks come here to mate, raise their families and fly back to where ever they go once the chicks have fledged. And, every year we have a few more with the ones who survive.

This year is no exception. They always nest in the same place and they always bring their chicks to each lawn on their first day out. Last Saturday was their big day--or debut, so to speak. I was sitting on the patio when this Mottled pair spotted me and brought their chicks over to meet me. They're just so adorable. Be sure to click on the photo to bring up a larger size so you can really check out these cute little chicks. This must be one of the pairs who fledged last year, because the brood is so small. Usually, they have 12-15 chicks and only 4 or 5 make it before the 'gators and Hawks get them. So far, I've seen all 5 every day this week, so they're safe for now. I don't know how many will make it this year. Within about 3 - 4 weeks, they'll be as big as the mother. They grow so fast. For now, I'll just enjoy the cute little peeps I hear when they visit.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

While watching the Eagles last week, I was distracted by the call of this Red-bellied Woodpecker in a nearby tree. Being the bird lover that I am, I figured since nothing much was happening with the Eaglets, I'd go check out the call.

Well lo and behold, I found him perching in this tree calling what I assume is his mate, since this is Spring. He let me get fairly close, so I could get this shot. Then he took off as soon as he spotted the camera pointed in his direction; but not until I was able to get this nice shot of him. He was an obliging little fella.

There's something in me that just won't let me ignore the call of a bird--any bird. I hear it, I need to get a shot of it. It's just that simple.

Playing Around With HDR

This scene was made at John Chestnut Park in Palm Harbor. If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know I love to photograph bridges and I love this one.

The scene was kind of bleak, so I decided to play around with it in Photomatix. It was a 3-shot combination at eV +1, 0 and -1. I combined the RAW files in Photomatix, then brought it back into Lightroom to tweak it a bit more.

While I'm not a fan of artsy HDR, I do like natural-looking HDR and this was the effect I was going for here. I've posted this before, but not on this blog. I would like a good critique from some of you other photographers out there. I'm particularly interested in what your initial impression of the shot is and any suggestions you can think of that would be helpful.

Thank you all in advance. I'm looking forward to your response.

Rose

With Spring FINALLY arriving in the Tampa Bay area, I thought I'd post a sure sign of Spring in these parts.

This Rose was in the garden at Veterans' Memorial Garden at the Safety Harbor Marina a couple weeks ago when I went out for our regular Monday Night Meetup.

I love the smell, texture and color of Roses. The ones people buy from florists are beautiful, but they're too perfect. This is the kind of Rose most people plant in their gardens. Not only are they beautiful, but their fragrance can only be topped by Orange blossoms, as far as I'm concerned. The bees love them though, so I need to be careful around them because I'm allergic to bee stings.

I know, you're all thinking about how many bees I photograph--I do it with a very, long lens. Usually, bees aren't intimidated by lenses being poked in their faces. They're too busy going about their business. Just imagine without bees and butterflies, we wouldn't have such beautiful flowers in our gardens.

Lemon Macro

During our regular Monday Night Meetup a couple weeks ago, we were all fooling around with macro photography at the Safety Harbor Grille after dinner.

One of our members, Lyman, made a macro using the bottom of a glass. That started the ball rolling. We were photographing everything left on the table. I got out my Tamron 90mm macro lens and joined in on the fun.

This lemon is one of my favorite shots from the evening. It was garnishing a glass of water, so I had to be careful not to include the glass.

This shot was made hand held inside the restaurant patio at ISO 800, because of the low light and the lack of a tripod to steady the camera, 1/250 at F8 for better depth of field in aperture priority mode with partial metering on the lemon and used the on-camera flash at -1 stop so it wouldn't wash out. I'm thrilled at how well it came out considering the circumstances.

The great thing about digital is that it costs nothing to experiment. This is one shot, I'd have probably passed up because of the low lighting conditions and the lack of tripod.

Bald Eagle

While I'm recovering from my broken foot, I had to cut my hours at work, so I have some extra time on my hands. Today I went to check on a local Eagle nest. The Eaglets are getting bigger and the word is that they're ready to fledge. I didn't see the Eaglets today at all. I probably went at the wrong time.

This is either the mother or father; I think they look the same--at least to me, they do. She/he was preparing to take flight, so I waited and waited and got lucky. As luck would have it, I got the second shot just as she/he was lifting off. There's some motion blur due to panning to keep her in my viewfinder. They lift off so fast.

Their nest is huge! It's hard to tell from these shots, but it's enormous. I'll be sad when they leave the nest. It's been a lot of fun watching them.

Little Green Heron

While at the Safety Harbor Marina with my friends from my photography group, the Florida State Photography Meetup Group, we spotted this Little Green Heron on the branches under the mangroves.

Little Green Herons are very shy and rarely come out when people are around. They usually hide out on the edges of the water in heavy cover when they're fishing for their prey. Tonight was no different except this one was spotted by someone in our group. We all used our longest lenses so we wouldn't disturb him trying to capture him capturing his dinner. It didn't work out that way, though. He spotted us and moved on. I was lucky to capture this image.

Melissa

If you're all wondering where I've been all week, I've been very busy editing a wedding I shot with my friend, Mark, last Sunday. It was actually Mark's wedding and I was the second shooter. This is one of my favorite photos of the bride, Melissa. She definitely made a beautiful bride; I'm sure you'll all agree. We only covered the formals and the actual wedding. The bride's father videotaped the reception afterward.

This wedding was held at the beautiful Tampa Palms Country Club in Tampa, FL.

It was a good thing the father was shooting the reception, since I shot this with a broken foot. I didn't get my cast until this Thursday, and I can tell you, with dress shoes on and walking in the grass on uneven ground, it really hurt. But, a commitment is a commitment, no matter what, so I took lots of Ibuprofen and forgot about the pain until I was all done. What a relief that was.

This was an afternoon wedding and the lighting was pretty difficult with the bright sun. Thank God for the luxury of shooting RAW files. The bride wanted to show the scenery behind her in all the photos. It was the reason she chose (and paid dearly for) this country club. I can't say that I blame her. It was beautiful.