Photo of the Day

Sand Key, Clearwater Beach Florida

It has been a brutal winter so far his year. As of today, 01-12-11, there is snow on the ground in 49 out of the 50 states in the United States. Currently only Florida is the only state that is snow free. So in honor of the Sunshine State, I am posting one of my many Florida Seascape photos. As I sit and look out at the grey cloudy skies and eye the thermometer at single digits without adding in a wind chill factor, I am wishing I was back down in south Florida. I used to make fun of the "snowbirds" who would flee the winters and head to warmer climates for several months. Now as I am getting older I am trying to figure out how I can do the same thing!

Destin Florida

I took a family vacation to Destin Florida with the intent of taking a short break from writing a daily blog. 2 1/2 months later I finally started back. Taking time to write a daily blog got to be to much, so I have decided to limit it to once or twice a week depending on what is happening in my life. It would be ideal to have more leisure time to travel, photograph, and write about my adventures. But reality set in, and like most people I still need to work to support my travel and photography addicition.

I did not expect to get in a lot of nature and wildlife photography on this trip with the family, so mine time alone was limited to the very early mornings. What is interesting about Destin, and all beaches on the panhandle of Florida is that the beaches run east and west. The sunrises and sunsets are actually behind you over the bay area when you are out on the beach. If you want that classic orange ball sun rising or setting into the water you have to shoot it in the bay between the barrier beach and the mainland. You can still create some amazing scences with the early morning light, it is just not your classic shot with the sun being in the frame.   

The beaches along the Florida panhandle are really some of the most beautiful you will find. The quartz sand is bright white and very soft. The waters here are clear and warm. It is an ideal place for a family beach vacation. There are many entertainment activities, restaurants, and shopping locations in the many towns along the panhandle.

What was frustrating for me as a nature photographer was the lack of birds and other wildlife to photograph on the beach. I guess I am pretty spoiled going to south Florida so often where the birds far outnumber the people. Don't get me wrong, there were some birds around, but they were far and few between. Even in the early mornings at first light there was not much to photograph except the overall scenery. A couple mornings I even drove down to some protected national seashore beaches were no development is allowed. I did see and photograph some birds and other wildlife, but I was dissapointed with the overall numbers and results of those trips. So I just concentrated on the seascapes.

    

One evening a large thunderstorm started building right offshore out in the Gulf of Mexico. The light show put on by mother nature was spectacular! I was able to set up my tripod on an elevated deck overlooking the beach and capture the best lightning shots I have ever taken. Since it was so dark I simply had my camera on complete manual settings. I shot at ISO 100 with an apeture of f11 using a wide angle lens. Shutter was set to bulb and a electronic shutter release as used to trip the shutter. Many of the exposures were around 30 seconds that the shutter was open until I captured a big lightning strike.

 I spent five days in a friends beachfront condo and had a great time. Having your family together on a trip like this makes it very special. I know that I would never get tiredof living on the beach. I love the mountains, but those eary morning walks on the beach are the best.

Waikiki Beach

When I planned my trip to Hawaii, I flew in and out of Honolulu, which is located on the Island of Oahu. Honolulu is a city of about 400,000 people, but it feels much bigger since much of it is packed along the famous Waikiki Beach. Oahu, an island occupying 597 square miles, is the second oldest island in the Hawaiian chain of visitable islands. She lies between her sister islands Kauai and Maui.

Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, HI.

With its calm waters, the beaches of Waikiki offer a great place for swimming as well as your very first surf lesson.  Waikiki is known in Hawaiian as “sprouting waters”. The water is very calm and a great beach to relax on and people watch. It will get pretty crowded though with the urban population so densley packed around it. I really enjoyed the sunsets from the beachfront area though.  The sunsets  I experienced in Hawaii were pretty amazing. Pull up a beach chair and have a cooler with some relaxing adult beverages and watch the show.

                             Sunset from Waikiki Beach

The weather on Oahu is ideal, and tempreatures range between 75-88 degrees F.  With moderate humidity and constant ocean breezes, even the hottest months are very comfortable. There are many great attractions, and resturants in the Honolulu area. I knew that Hawaii was going to be expensive, but the sticker shock to my conservative (cheap) mid-western values was painful. It is very easy to bust your budget trying to see and do all the tourist things you want to do while you are there.  I only had three days to spend on Oahu, so I rushed around to see as much as I could fit in and afford. At least the sunsets were free.

 

          The Sun Sinks Slowly Into The Pacific Ocean  

I think this photograph is a good representation of the Honolulu area. Beautiful but somewhat crowded. You see a commercial air plane, cruise ships, sailboats,and swimmers and surfers in the water. Although I prefer my beaches to be less crowded, Waikiki is a very cool place to hang out.

 

                           The Honolulu Pier after Sunset

This was my favorite photograph of my numerous attempts at long exposure shots and sunsets. The sun had dipped below the horizion and left the orange after glow in the sky. I took numerous exposures to try and capture people when they were not moving much so they would retain their forms. This was my best shot of the bunch.

Sunsets and Fishing Piers

There are always certain types of photos that we love and are drawn to. Personally I have always loved the sunsets over the ocean with a fishing pier in them. Many people would say they are cliché type post card shots, but I don't care. When people see the photographs I do of them, they love them. I sell quite a few prints of them. I also do them in note cards that are also quite popular. Having been born and raised in the mid-west, I only saw the oceans when I went on vacation. Fortunately my parents loved to travel and we always took some great vacations. If I would win the lottery someday, I would split my time between a home on a tropical beach, and a small ranch out west somewhere in the mountains.

Hanging out on a beach and watching a glorious sunset into the ocean is truly a relaxing experience for me. What most people miss is the best part of the show. As soon as the sun slips below the horizon, most people take off thinking the best part is over. Actually some of the most beautiful light and colors start then. There is a window of time, usually 10-20 minutes, when the sunlight is reflecting back into the sky over the curve of the earth and lighting the underside of the clouds. That is when you see the most vivid colors in the sky. This also applies to the sunrise before the sun comes up over the horizon, but the time frame for the best colors is much shorter.

Doing this type of photography is not very difficult, it just requires a little planning, some patience, and some basic equipment. I will usually scout out the scene an hour or so before sunset to see the angle, and where the sun will be going below the horizon in relation to what I am going to use as my main subject. I think about what I want the composition to look like and I will take a couple test shots hand held to see how it will look. Then it is a matter of waiting until the right light.

These are long exposure shots so the camera needs to be on a sturdy tripod. I use an electronic shutter release to trip the shutter. If you do not have a shutter release cable, you can use your camera's self timer to trip the shutter so you are not in contact with the camera. You want to avoid introducing any type of possible vibrations that might cause blurring. Since these are usually pretty long exposures, I do not use the mirror lockup feature like I would doing macro photography. I usually use the camera's evaluative metering system on the first shot and look at the results on the back of the camera. I usually then have to make adjustments depending on how the histogram looks. I either switch to manual mode and bracket the exposures, or I just use exposure compensation if it does not need much correction.

This last photo was not a sunset photo. This is a shot of the Sanibel Island Fishing Pier and Lighthouse taken about 15 minutes after the sun had set behind me. I wanted to catch the twilight night sky which is the blue to purple colors you get before the black night sky. Long exposures also tend to give everything a strong blue color cast anyway. This was shot from the causeway back to the mainland. I used a 500mm telephoto with a 1.4 extender to give me 700mm of focal length. This was about a 30 second exposure. I thought it made a unique looking photograph.

J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge

There are countless amazing locations to photograph wildlife in Florida. There are dozens of books and publications that cover everything you would want to know on the subject. I regularly visit one of the top rated bird photography spots in the country. It is located on Sanibel Island, off the coast of Ft. Myers. J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is a bird photographer’s paradise. I have made the trip to this place at least once or twice a year for the past five years. I usually spend several days photographing the diverse bird population that can be found there.

 
 
 
 
One of the big attractions at the refuge is the large colony of American White Pelicans that come to winter and start their breeding season. It is fun to watch these large birds come crusing in for a landing in the shallow waters to feed or rest. They are a good target to practice your in-flight photography skills on as they are very large and do not move erratically like many birds do. They will winter as far north as the St. Louis area. You can see them in the Riverlands Wetland Area over in West Alton.
 

Another favorite target of mine is the numerous Ospreys that are found in the refuge. The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as the sea hawk, is large raptor reaching 24 inches in length with a 5-6 foot wing span. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts, with a black eye patch and wings. Fish make up 99% of their diet. They are efficent hunters and have hugh curved talons for grabbing fish just below the surface of the water.

This photo is of a Female Common Merganser Duck. The long, narrow bill with serrated edges readily distinguishes mergansers from all other ducks. Common mergansers are among the largest ducks, but are less stocky than eiders and goldeneyes. In flight, they appear more elongated than other ducks, flying in trailing lines close to the water's surface. Male common mergansers have a greenish-black crested head and upper neck. The lower neck, breast and underparts are creamy-white with a variable pink wash. They have black backs and upperwing coverts with white scapulars. The bill is red with a blackish culmen and nail. The legs and feet are a deep red. Female common mergansers have a tufted red-brown head that is clearly defined from the lower neck by a clear whitish chin. The back and sides are silver-gray and the breast and belly are white. The bill is red with a blackish culmen and nail. The legs and feet are deep red.

Although the weather has been less than ideal for my entire week in Florida, It was still better here than in St. Louis. But the sun has set on my final day here and I will be returning home on Saturday.

Have a great weekend.

Scott

Sanibel Island Photography

Thick clouds, cold temperatures, and a stiff wind do not make for good conditions to do bird photography in a sub-tropical climate. Upon my arrival at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, there were only a few birds around. Most were sittting far back in the trees trying to stay warm. There did not appear to be any signs of a break in the clouds so I did what any good photographer would do. I went to breakfast. Then I took my wife shopping. While keeping my eye on the skies, I saw a few breaks in the clouds. My wife was nice enough to keep shopping and allow me to head back to the refuge.

Small pockets of sunlight started peeking through breaks in the clouds. Although there was not much to photograph, I was able to spot this Great Blue Heron perched on a log.  He was sitting back in a dark spot, but had some sunlight shining on him. I spot metered on the heron and it allowed the background to go completely black. I think it makes for a dramatic photograph. But then it clouded up again and the photography was on hold for a while.

Finally late in the day the skies cleared and I was able to start looking for something to focus that 800mm lens on. I headed to the south end of the island by the lighthouse. There is a nesting pair of Osprey that have been there for a few years using the same nest. I pulled into the parking lot and was setting up when this Osprey landed in the tree right over my head. (My luck was finally improving) It appears that fresh Flounder was on his menu as he started to feed. I actually had to back up across the parking lot to get him all in the frame.  (How rare is that when you have to back up instead of trying to get closer) He kept having to flare his wings to keep his balance as the wind was still blowing pretty hard.   

With the sun quickly going down and clouds starting build, I headed out onto the beach to try some shorebird photography. To be honest, I do not know exactly what species of shorebird this is, but I think it is a Black Bellied Plover, but I will have to ID it when I get home. There was a nice soft light at this point, and I was able to get a few photographs. There were a lot of people on the beach and it became to difficult to do any photography, so I called it a day. I wanted to get a nice sunset, but off shore clouds were moving in. So I have posted a nice sunset I did from Blind Pass Beach that I did last year at this time.

  

Have a great day

Welcome to Margaritaville

You cannot come to Key West without doing the famous "Duval Crawl". Now for you first timers, that is a pub crawl down Duval Street. Think of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, or Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. Duval Street is the main attraction that is lined with bars, shops, bars, restaurants, and more bars. If you start at the intersection of Front St. and Duval St. you can walk and drink all night and not begin to hit all the bars that are on Duval St. or within a block or two.  During the day it is a pretty laid back atmosphere with many families enjoying the sights, restaurants, and shops along the street. At night, this becomes party central and it can get pretty wild. There are several famous bars in Key West, and probably the most famous is Sloppy Joes. This was Ernest Hemmingway's favorite bar that he hung out at while he lived in Key West.

I took numerous photos of some of the places we visited to sample their adult beverages. I did a composite piece here to save space and show you a sliver of the many establishments you may choose to visit. I didn't do much night photography on this last trip, as I was enjoying the night life to much. The night shot of Sloppy Joe's Bar was from my last trip in November of 2005. Luckily I was staying at the Westin right down on the dock area. This made for a nice short walk back to my hotel room after a night of trying to recapture my more youthful days. Let me tell you that headache feels worse as you squint at the morning sunrise while you are trying to photograph it and down your third large coffee from the Waffle House.  

If you have never visited Key West, I highly recommend it. There are many sites and attractions for all ages. The Island is steeped in fascinating history. But my favorite part of the trip will be tomorrows post.

A Day At The Beach

Sitting at my computer looking out the window at the gray dreary skies and feeling the damp cold. The weather forcast just came up for the next five days and it did not look to promising. Luckily I will be in sunny Southwest Florida in 9 days! Heading down to Ft. Myers and Sanibel Island for a week of R&R and some photography. I had promised my wife a trip down to visit her parents and hit the beach. I visit this area often, and Sanibel Island is my favorite place in Florida. So today you get the classic post card shots of  beach scenes. Hoping it will inspire you to go ahead and book that trip! I have probably been on almost every beach on both coasts of Florida over the years. The photo above was taken at Ft. Desoto State Park. The empty lifeguard stand was getting a fly by from a flock of Black Skimmers.
   

The photograph of the "Endless Cabanas" I made on Ft. Myers Beach. I used my 70-200 to compress the view and make them appear closer together. I was there in the off season so the lack of people in the early morning made the shot. The Hobie Cat Sailboats and rental shack were shot on Clearwater Beach. "Hobies In Waiting" is a favorite and I love the simple composition. I like the distinct layers of sand, water, and sky.  

But here is my favorite classic post card beach scene. I jokingly call this "Scott & Janna's Retirement Spot"

Shot on Clearwater Beach, the mix of sunlight, clouds, shadows, and blue skies was perfect here. Just stare at it and picture yourself sitting there with a cooler of iced adult beverages and a good book. The stress just melts away. Have a great day and think warm thoughts!