photoartflightBlackwater NWR Early Morning Landscape
Posted on March 28, 2018
Going through my old files looking for images to post. This was taken at the Blackwater NWR in Maryland early in the morning along the Wildlife Drive. I used my small Panasonic Pocket Camera. I usually keep a small pocket camera or a m43 camera with a 14-140mm lens with me for Photo Subjects that require a wider view, since my main camera usually here has a 400mm lens with a 1.4X teleconverter. I have tried my iPhone for this but I feel it is not quite as good as I would want it to be. I have used the iPhone, but that is usually when I do not have any other camera with me.
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Sunsets
Posted on March 25, 2018
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge has some amazing sunsets. Being somewhat close to the coast it seems like the sunsets are more colorful than usual. Sunrises are also very colorful if you can get there that early. We live about 4 hours from Blackwater so we do not get there as often as I would like. If you position yourself near the end of the Wildlife Drive at sunset, you can stay for a short while after the theoretical closing time to enjoy the sunsets. They used to drive through to make sure everyone leaves, but are usually cooperative. Quite often you see flocks of birds flying through the colorful skies which adds some interest to the colorful skies. For the featured image I was using a Canon 15mm Fisheye f/2.8 lens. I corrected some distortion in Camera Raw.
The above image was shot with a Panasonic LX Pocket camera. This is along the Wildlife Drive right before the final turn in the road to the straight away to the exit, where the featured photo was taken.
Multi-Image FlyOut Panorama at Sunset – Panned during a burst of images, assembled in Photoshop. Also along the last straight away to the exit.
Colorful Morning Sky At Blackwater NWR
Posted on February 14, 2018
A still colorful morning sky after the sun had come up. This was from along the Wildlife Drive at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland. I was going to do a series of images for a panorama, but then decided it was better as 1 image.
Brigantine Division Winter Landscape
Posted on February 6, 2017
This is a 7 shot handheld panorama from the Wildlife Drive at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville NJ. The sun came out and the heavy cloud cover disappeared to give us a nice blue sky with fluffy clouds. Since there was not a lot of activity with birds closely, I switched to a 12-24mm lens, shooting a series of shots for a variety on panoramas. The featured image was shot at 12mm shooting out towards the North Pool. I am still getting use to Photoshop cc 2017 for panoramas. Sometimes it seems to do a few strange things to the images. I used to use CS6 Extended which also sometimes did strange things, but I was used to it!
The following are just a few more panoramas. There was not much action for birds, so I switched to landscapes. The clouds and sky were awesome for a while, so I shot quite a few assorted landscapes and panoramas.
3 overlapping vertical shots for a semi horizontal panorama @ 12mm
5 overlapping horizontal shots for a vertical panorama @12mm
7 Image Panorama Sunset At Blackwater NWR
Posted on January 25, 2017
This is a 7 image capture of a sunset at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Handheld series with 7 overlapping images shot with a 400mm lens with a 1.4X teleconverter. I was photographing birds flying through the colorful sunset, going to roost or settle down for the evening, but the sunset was so colorful, I tried a quick series to capture a enough images for a panorama. Then a tried a couple of vertical panorama setups. Ending with just some detail sections.
Two image vertical panorama, 400mm with 1.4X Teleconverter
Two image vertical panorama, 400mm with 1.4X Teleconverter
Sunset @ 400mm
Dusk @ 400mm w/1.4X Teleconverter
Sunset @ 400mm w/1.4X Teleconverter
Blackwater Landscapes Along The Wildlife Drive
Posted on December 6, 2016
Usually we go to Blackwater NWR (Maryland) for photographing Eagles, Ospreys and other Birds & Wildlife. Or if we stay til dark, they have very colorful sunsets, being close to the coast. But lately I have been photographing more of the landscapes along the Wildlife Drive. Also gives some practice trying HDR techniques or Panoramas. The eagle population is still growing as many Eagles are returning to the Refuge for the Winter. Next I have to try views along the trails. Usually when I am on the trails I have long lenses with me to capture birds in the trees. At this time of year the Ospreys have left and the Eagles are gaining numbers as many come down from Canada.
The featured image was a 5 shot panorama, over lapping images, shot at 24mm. The next image is a 6 image HDR bracketed panorama image assembled in Photoshop. 3 bracketed exposures for each of the 2 sections, combined in Photoshop. Still trying to get use to CC 2017 Photoshop, from my usual CS6 workflow.
Blackwater NWR Landscape
Posted on November 12, 2016
While at Blackwater NWR, I wanted to try a few 12mm landscapes along the wooded area on the Wildlife Drive. I thought I would have more luck with the landscapes since it is in November and some of the leaves would have fallen to let more sunlight in between the trees. In the summer or spring the leaves block so much light it is hard to get interesting images like this. Also the leaves on the ground, I think add an interesting texture to the foreground. This one is also 2 images stacked in Photoshop.
Single 12mm image taken a little further down the Wildlife Drive.
Two image stacked image taken around the bend from the previous stacked image. This is when you get more in the open along the Wildlife Drive. Also 12mm view stacked image.
Blackwater NWR Sunset
Posted on December 21, 2014
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland has some very dramatic sunsets. They are close to the coast which helps provide the dramatic colors. All I was missing was a flock of birds flying through the colorful sky.
Blackwater NWR Morning Clouds at Sunrise Panorama
Posted on October 12, 2014
I found this series of morning cloud images from a previous visit to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland. I was photographing Eagles in the morning with the warm light when I noticed this cloud formation. I was using a Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO telephoto lens with a Canon Series III 1.4X teleconverter. I just shot a series of 23 images handheld along the length of the cloud formation. For this image I assembled the 23 images in Photoshop with soft edge masks between each image. The final image came out to be 196″ x 13″ at 240 ppi. I do not know what I am going to do with it, but it was fun to put together. I might try printing it just for the fun of it. Also a group of other photos from the same day at Blackwater NWR.
Bald Eagle on Snag. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO, w/ Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/14 @ 1/800 sec, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 1250.
Sunrise at Blackwater. Canon EOS 1D MkIII, Canon 24-105 f/4 L IS @ 105mm, f/16 @ 1/125 sec, ISO 400.
Sunrise at Blackwater. Canon EOS 1D MkIII, Canon 24-105 f/4 L IS @ 105mm, f/16 @ 1/60 sec, ISO 400.
Bald Eagle in Flight. Canon EOS 1D MkIV w/ Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/11 @ 1/800 sec, + 0.33 exposure compensation, ISO 800
Immature Bald Eagle in Flight. Canon EOS 1D MkIV w/ Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/11 @ 1/640 sec, + 1.33 exposure compensation, ISO 800
Morning at Blackwater. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO, w/ Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/13 @ 1/1250 sec., -0.67 exposure compensation, ISO 800.
Morning at Blackwater. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO, w/ Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/13 @ 1/2000 sec., -1 exposure compensation, ISO 800.
Sun Shinning Through Clouds. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO, w/ Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/14 @ 1/1250 sec., -1 exposure compensation, ISO 1250.
Bald Eagle on Snag at Sunrise. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO, w/ Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/14 @ 1/250 sec, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 800.
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