photoartflightBeaver Lodges At Davidsons Mill Pond Park
Posted on September 26, 2019
A few weeks ago we were at Davidson’s Mill Pond Park and we saw a lot of Beaver activity by the water areas along the trail through the woods. We were there for a walk so I only had a m43 camera with a 14-140mm zoom, which with it’s small sensor has a field of view sort of equivalent to 28-280mm on a full frame camera. There are a lot of fallen trees so we could see they have been very busy. But as were were looking at what we thought was a Beaver Lodge, a beaver actually ran along a fallen tree and submerged to go inside the Lodge. It was fun to watch, but Beavers are mostly busy at night. It was a distant shot so it was not great, but I still documented it. We went back, but during the day they are usually not active, so I was shooting a series of the 2 Lodges we could see and the surrounding landscape. Around the bend we thought we spotted a few more Lodges but could not get clear shots of them. Another Park we enjoy walking in, Plainsboro Preserve & Audobon Facility, has even more Beaver Activity / Damage. But it is hard to get close to the water, and along the trails you see more trees chewed down. So there is even more Beaver activity there.
3 image Panorama of the 2 Lodges
CloseUp Beaver Lodge #1
Beaver Lodge #1 & 2- 7 image Panorama – Tamron 150-600mm @ 150mm – showing surrounding landscape
Beaver Lodges 1 & 2 – 5 img Panorama, Tamron 150-600mm
Closer View Beaver Lodge #1
Turtles on felled tree by Lodge #1
CloseUp Beaver Lodge #2
Beaver Felled Tree – Amazing how they can take down Large Trees
Beaver “Lodge #1” with Otter in forground – 140mm m43, X-Large crop
Camera setup to photograph Lodges in the distance, iPhone 6
Tree Felled by Beavers – Amazing how many there are and how long it must take. but I guess they do not have anything else to do.
Davidsons Mill Pond Park Panorama
Posted on September 2, 2019
We went to a local park for a walk so I only took a lightweight camera setup, the Olympus OM1-Mk1 with a Panasonic 14-140mm lens. It is the perfect walk around camera when you are not going to photograph something very specific and just want something better than your camera in the iphone. Before we got to the trail through the woods, I saw this view I thought was interesting with the clouds. I shot a 3 image series to combine in Photoshop @ 14mm. It is interesting that when doing a panorama @ 14mm with a m43 format, you have some slight touchups to get a nice panorama. Full frame cameras seem to handle panoramas better. It also seems worse if you do even more over-laping frame sections. So I shoot more frames and then just pick a few to use for the final panorama. But this way I have choices of which frames I can select or turn off to get the best results.
2 image panorama @ 14mm, combined in Photoshop
3 Horizontal Images Stacked Vertically @14mm ea.
2 Horizontal Images @ 14mm
2 Horizontal Images @ 14mm
2 Horizontal Images @ 14mm
Bailey Tract – J.N. Ding Darling NWR
Posted on August 2, 2019
Most people that go to J.N. Ding Darling NWR do not know of, or go to the Bailey Tract in Sanibels’ Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The tract is on Tarpon Bay Rd., not in the main Refuge and Wildlife Drive. The major feature of the Bailey Tract is a series of impoundments and dikes built years ago to attract waterfowl, including ducks, grebes, coots and moorhens. It still does, but as part of the J.N. “Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge it also creates a perfect place for hikers and bikers to see them. It’s a great place to take a peaceful walk or hike on its 100 acre grounds. We just took a leisurely walk though one afternoon when we were in Sanibel. We did not see a lot of Wildlife, but that was probably because it was in the afternoon when things quiet down. It seems like it is not visited much like the main Refuge. So you can feel quite alone here. It was rare to see another person walking the trails as you walk through. Also there are no staff here. I was traveling light with just an Olympus OM1 with a 14 – 140mm lens. We were just enjoying the beautiful day and a nice walk.
Information Signs along the way to help visitors ID or give information for what they might see.
2 image panorama @ 14mm, m43 format
2 image panorama @ 14mm, m43 format (very slight overlapping of images)
3 horizontal images stacked @14mm – m43 Olympus
Single Image @ 41mm
Bailey Landscape – 2 image panorama @14mm
2 image Panorama @ 14mm
Single Image @ 28mm
Lizard @ 140mm
Small Pond with Alligator Submerged @ 48mm
Same as above 14mm view
Landscape w/ hidden Alligator @ 32mm (2 img pano) – above this plant in the water on left
Another Lizard @ 140mm
4 Image Panorama – Flying Brant Ducks with Atlantic City Skyline
Posted on February 28, 2019
As I was photographing these Brant Ducks, I also shot a series of the flying birds for a panorama, to see how it might work out. I was surprised it pretty much just worked out fine with no retouching of overlapping Brants. I was using a m43 camera with a Panasonic 14-140mm lens @48mm. I started on the left and just shot a quick series going to the right. I always shoot the pano of flying birds in the direction they are going. Seems to work better that way. The files adjusted in Adobe Camera Raw and the panorama assembled & blended in Photoshop for the final image.
Flying Brant Ducks with Atlantic City Skyline
Posted on February 26, 2019
As I was photographing clouds along the Wildlife Drive at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Brigantine Division, this group of Brant Ducks took off. I thought it looked interesting as they flew over this little jetty of land in the water’s edge. Then they banked and flew farther to the right and over the Atlantic City Skyline you could see in the distance. The sky was constantly changing depending on which direction you were looking at. The cloud cover went from heavily overcast and ominous looking to blue sky with nice feathery clouds. But it did make for a wide variety of cloudscapes in one outing.
Olympus OMD-1, 14-140mm lens @ 48mm
Early Morning Landscapes Along BWR Wildlife Drive
Posted on February 13, 2019
Here is a series of early morning landscapes from the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge along the Wildlife Drive. The clouds this day were amazing in a dark kind of way. Blackwater NWR is one of my favorite places to photograph. It is great for birds & Wildlife, but also fun for landscapes! On this morning the clouds and sky were amazing. These were all shot with an Olympus m43 Camera with a 14-140mm lens at 14mm (full frame FOV equivalent 28mm). Some are 2 image panoramas to add height or length to the image.
2 image panorama to include more height for showing clouds @ 14mm
Early Morning Landscape from Wildlife Drive @ 14mm
Early Morning Landscape Concentrating On Clouds @ 14mm
2 Horizonal images (Panorama) to Add Vertical Height for Showing More Clouds – 14mm
Another Panorama with 2 Horizontal Images @14mm to Add Height for Showing Clouds. (Eagle flying in top left corner)
Last Image in my Early Morning Clouds Series showing the clorful clouds we saw on this session along the Blackwater Wildlife Drive. 14mm
Blackwater Sunset Multi-image Panorama
Posted on January 10, 2019
I am still going through all the images I shot at Blackwater NWR. The featured image is another sunset panorama from our trip. This is a 3 image panorama shot @ 14mm with an Olympus m43 Camera (FOV 28mm full frame format equivalent). The panorama was blended in Photoshop.
BWR Sunset @ 14mm m43 format (single image)
2 Eagles On Treetops At Sunset.
Posted on January 9, 2019
As the sun was going down on our first day of our trip to Blackwater NWR, we noticed these 2 Eagles on the top of the trees along the last leg of the Wildlife Drive. Their nest seems to be a little further down from these trees, but that is for another post. It seems the male is on the left, the female is on the right. The featured image is shot @ 140mm with a m43 lens on a Olympus Camera (FOV full frame camera equivalent 280mm)
Eagles Roosting Along Wildlife Drive – Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens with Canon Series III 1.4x Teleconverter
More Blackwater NWR Landscapes and Panoramas
Posted on January 5, 2019
Some more panoramas & landscapes from our visit to Blackwater NWR. Featured image is a 3 image panorama, shot @ 48mm with a m43 Olympus and a 14-140mm lens. Assembled in Photoshop. Below are more assorted landscapes and panoramas from along the Wildlife Drive as the sun was setting.
Sunset setting @24mm Olympus OMD mk-1
Sun Setting along Wildlife Drive @14mm Olympus OMD mk-1
BWR Sunset Along Wildlife Drive @32mm. Eagles roosting on first tall snag and forth tall snag. The nest is in a tree further down to the right. Olympus OMD mk-1
BWR 3 img panorama before sunset @ 14mm, m43 Olympus OMD mk-1
BWR Sunset @ 14mm m43, Olympus OMD mk-1
BWR Sunset 14mm, 2 img stacked pano, @14mm, Olympus OMD mk-1
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Is Open
Posted on January 4, 2019
We went to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge a few days ago. We were not sure if it would be open during the government shutdown but the Refuge & Wildlife Drive were open and we had a great 2 days there. The visitor center and gift shop were closed though. Lots of Snow Geese, Tundra Swans & Canada Geese, etc. We also saw quite a few Bald Eagles but not many close by. But the sunsets & clouds were amazing.
Sunset near end of the Wildlife Drive. OMD E-M1, Mk I, With 14-140mm @14mm
photoartflight 