photoartflightDragonflies From Davidsons Mill Pond Park
Posted on July 10, 2019
Some Dragonflies from a recent walk at Davidsons Mill Pond Park. Featured image is a Blue Dasher (male). All images captured with a Canon 1D MkIV with a 300mm f/4 lens & 1.4X Teleconverter.
Another Blue dasher – Male
Eastern Pondhawk – Female
Eastern Pondhawk – Female
Eastern Pondhawk – Male
Slaty Skimmer Male
Common Whitetail Male
Widow Skimmer – Female
Eastern Amberwing – Male
Calico Pennant – Male
Widow Skimmer – Female
Widow Skimmer – Male
Sandhill Crane Portraits
Posted on June 19, 2019
On our visit to Lake Wooodruff NWR in Deland, Florida we were lucky to find a few Sandhill Cranes. Years ago when we were there, we saw large flocks of Sandhill Cranes. But on this quick stop we only saw a scattered few. All these photos are taken with a 400mm f/4 DO lens with a 1.4X Teleconverter as we were walking along the trails there. Lake Woodruff NWR does not seem to gather the large crowds of people as a well known Ding Darling NWR attracts. It has a small parking area and usually you only see a few people as you walk the trails and explore. In a way it is a little strange in that you feel quite alone there in this vast NWR. But it is a huge NWR in area and seems more relaxing to explore there. We visited on our way home so we got there in the afternoon when the birds are less active. Next post will have Sandhill Cranes with a Colt (Chick) foraging with the parents.
Sandhill Crane greeting us on the entrance path on our way in. 2 horizontal images to make a Vertical Panorama, handheld. They are a LARGE Bird so even trying to shoot a vertical image Crane did not fit in image area.
Sandhill Cranes deeper in the Refuge
Sandhill Crane Composite – 3 images. Reminded me of a wanted poster
Sandhill Crane Flyby from Lake Woodruff NWR
Posted on June 13, 2019
Here are a few more images from our photo trip to Florida. We picked a few of our favorite locations to visit plus some we passed along the way. Years ago we liked Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge in DeLeon Springs, Florida. It had suffered quite a bit of damage from hurricanes years ago. We have not been back for many years since then. So on our way home we stopped at Lake Woodruff NWR to see how it was and see what we could find to photograph. It is a huge refuge at 22,000 acres. The refuge contains a myriad of habitats, among them are marshes, swamps, creeks, hammocks and uplands.
Some of our favorite subjects here are the Sandhill Cranes & Swallow-tailed kites. You usually do not see them often at other refuges in Florida. On a previous trip years ago we saw a Whooping Crane in with the large flock of Sandhill Cranes. It was fun to see and photograph them, especially flying by.
On this trip we only saw 1 pair of Sandhill Cranes with a colt walking along the dykes and another one that did a close flyby. I will start with the flyby images of the Sandhill Crane.
BWR Observation Platform – 24mm
Posted on December 9, 2016
While we were at the Wildlife Refuge, I was looking along the Observation Platform to see if I could find something interesting to photograph. As I was walking down, I looked back and thought the platform itself was interesting. Plus I had a fairly Dramatic Sky to work with. Then I tried a series of effects in Photoshop, blending color and monotone into 1 image. If nothing else it kept me amused for a while trying different colors, tones, masks & combinations together. Plus it was fun to see different effects and how they work together.
Panoramas From The Celery Farm Natural Area
Posted on November 26, 2016
I went to one of the Nature Areas I used to go to frequently to see if there were any subjects to photograph. Usually at this time there are a number of different types of ducks. But this day there were mostly Mallards and way out in the distance were a pair of Dudy Ducks. Being bored, I thought, try some panoramas. So I tried shooting a few series of panoramas to try out assembling them in the new CC Photoshops I downloaded (CC2015.5 & CC2017). I have been a user of Photoshop since version 2 in 1991 and my CS6 version was getting outdated. I resented paying a monthly subscription for the CC version after paying Adobe for all the boxed suites and multiple versions my studio used, but finally had to subcome after all these years. All were images photographed with a 400mm f/4 DO lens on a Canon 1D MkIV. The featured 4 image pano was of 4 Mallards swimming by where I was setup. I had to shoot quickly as they were moving along. After some practice you can make panoramas of moving subjects, just needing a few Quick Masks to help in the blending.
Then I tried a 14 shot pano across the lake. The CC Photoshop versions, I feel did not work as well as the CS6 version. But it was tougher with the wind making different ripples in the water. The CC versions seem to distort & bow sections more than the CS6 Photoshop does. This I shot with more overlapping than usually I do. I could have worked on it more, but it was just a test and not all that interesting anyway. And I did get a gull in it off to the left that flew in as I was shooting the pano series.
My last series was a tree on the left side of the lake that had lost all its leaves by now, but there were leaves on trees higher and behind it. This one was 12 overlapping images and worked out much better. I was curious to see how much detail I would get in the branches and leaves. This worked well in the CC Photoshops. After the pano was assembled, I tried using the Macphun Luminar photo editor to add some detail. I usually use the Nik suite of Filters, but so far my CC Photoshop versions do not play well with them. So when there are no photo subjects, it is a good time to try different techniques and ways to photograph your subjects. You never know when it will come in handy and get you the image when you might not have gotten it otherwise.
photoartflight 