The Indian Shores Sky

The types of images above are best made with a tripod. But, as I indicated in yesterday's post, I didn't travel with a tripod. This limited me in certain ways. Particularly, it was next to, if not impossible to attempt catching the nice, smooth backwash effect as the water makes its way back the ocean from the beach. I am not sure if I am describing this in the best way. But many photogs find (or place) a shell in the foreground to anchor the scene and shoot a slow exposure of the water as it rushes back over the shell. It gives a nice silky look that I like. Also, crisp night scenes to include sunsets and cityscapes were pretty much out of the question. Like I indicated in another post, it was a family vacation and I would take what I could get from what time and gear I had.

Anyway, all the images here were handheld. There really isn't much, if any, camera movement noticeable in these. That's because I used a relatively open aperture. The types of images here are best exposed with a small aperture for greater depth of field. That's where the tripod (and remote shutter release) assists you.

The one with the beach in the extreme foreground was taken from the balcony of our condo. The other two were taken from somewhere on that beach.

More From The Shore

I travelled light on this vacation. For me, that means no tripod (sinful) and no 300mm f/2.8 lens. Everything else goes and is packed in a Lowe Pro Trekker backpack-style camera bag that I carry with me everywhere.

My tripod, while carbon fiber and fairly compact for its size, was an investment and I don't let it out of my sight. Meaning, I won't pack it in checked luggage and I am not sure if I would be allowed to hand-carry it on the plane. So, on trips made by plane I am sans tripod. Not the best of situations. I use Gitzo legs (tripod) with a Really Right Stuff BH-55 head. Tony Sweet recommended this combination to me some time ago while I was a student in one of the many classes he conducts every year.

At the time, I was lugging around a Bogen aluminum tripod with a center column and a 3-way tilt panhead. I'm not sure if everyone knows what I am referring to here, but that thing was a beast. Before Tony convinced me otherwise, I thought I had the best combination going. Don't get me wrong, the current combination that I use was a fairly expensive investment. But as Tony wisely told me, you will have a system that will never require replacement or upgrade. So true, unless it comes up missing which is why I don't take it on plane trips. Speaking of center columns on tripods, the Gitzo doesn't have one. The BH-55 mounts directly to the legs. That's the only way to roll. It creates a much more stable base. Another wise Tony Sweet comment, "Why put a monopod on top of a tripod?" Excellent point.

The image above was taken from a parking lot looking toward the shore. That's a beach umbrella in the background.

Indian Shores Florida - What's a Beach Without a Bucket?

Our trip to Indian Shores was a vacation. It wasn't a photo expedition, a photo surfari, or a photo trek. With that in mind and still wanting to make sure I did find some photo ops, I did a little research about the area and managed to get up early some mornings and venture out on my own. I don't know about you, but when I am out looking for scenes and shooting images, nobody wants to be around. I take too long. I take too many shots. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Vacations are always too short. You try and cram as much in as you can in a certain number of days and many times you go home exhausted. Exhausted from a trip that took you away from work and the routine of your daily life. A trip you took with the intent of relaxing and decompressing in order to get back to the real world feeling fresh and ready to take things head on. I know most, if not all, have felt this way at one time or another. It's funny. We joke about it. We accept it. And we do it again the next year.

We did lots of things on vacation, many of which I didn't document with a camera. I captured enough to personally remind us of the great time we spent in and around Indian Shores. And, I believe I managed to get a few keepers to satisfy my photography addiction.

*By the way, for those of you that believe I spelled "safari" wrong, it's a play on words, haha.

Vacation Indian Shores

As I have noted in recent posts, we vacationed in Florida. Indian Shores specifically. The plane ride from Virginia to Florida was a bit rough. More turbulence on a flight than I can recall in recent years (military flights excluded, haha). We never flew over water so I don't believe the seat cushion/flotation device was ever an issue.

Indian Shores is a barrier island on the west coast of Florida. It's a beautiful part of the State. Keep up with the blog for more images and notes from the trip. You can subscribe to the feed by clicking on the orange RSS icon.

Also, most images in this blog can be enlarged by left clicking on the image.

All images in this post were captured with an iPhone.

Great Egret

We recently took a trip to Indian Shores, Florida. It's on the Gulf side of Florida. The image above as well as the Blue Heron in the previous post were both made on the beach. It's home to lots of shore birds throughout the year. I am processing images from the trip and will post more images and information on the trip in future posts.

The Great Blue Heron

High Key Flower Image

Using a tabletop, I placed these three flowers on a white plate and used window lighting as well as artificial light and reflectors to make this image. I added texture in post processing. I have other images from this mini-session but have yet to process anything else.

Before and After Mirror Montage

The two images here show how a single image can be presented in different ways. The first is the original image (some texture added, of course). The second image is simply the first image using a mirror montage as mentioned in other posts.

If you work on this technique and decide to use textures as I did here, I recommend first creating the mirror montage then apply the texture. I first tried by simply making a mirror montage of the first processed image (after the texture was applied ~ lazy, I guess). But, it didn't work so well. Too much texture and not enough control of the texture. So, I went back to the files and used the original, pre-textured image, made a mirror montage, then applied the texture and adjusted it to my liking.

When it comes to techniques like this, the bottomline is its' all a matter of personal taste and satisfaction.

Differences

Here are two images depicting different tastes, different flavors and different attitude - literally and photographically.

PapayaScape and Andre Gallant website

A simple image of a sliced papaya and texture.

By the way, in a previous post I mentioned that Andre Gallant provided details on his website on how to do photo montages. Well, that was on his previous website edition. He has since changed the formatting and design of his website. Note that at this point, he hasn't included any instructional material.

I really enjoy his photography. It looks like he is in the process of populating galleries with newer images as well as some of his older work. Hopefully, he will archive lots of his older work. I never tire from going back and reveiwing all his work.

Mourning Dove from the Winter Window

Yet another image from the Winter Window. The doves seemed to stay close to the area over the winter. I guess they recognize a good, consistent food source when they see (or taste) one. The one in the image is taking a short winter break.

Key Lime Cupcakes and Zooborns

Above is another set from the Cupcake Campaign. This was a tasty cupcake. I like anything with Key Lime in the title. I love the Florida Keys, too. The entire system of keys is great, but I am partial to Marathon and points south. Everyone has their favorite.

Also, there is this neat website that shows images of newborn zoo animals from zoos all around the world. It's called Zooborns. All the babies are great, but I am partial to the otters, fennec foxes, ferrets and red pandas. Everyone has their favorite.

Textures and Flowers

This image was made using similar techniques discussed in the previous post. I tried it with and without a black border and it looked better to me without.

Some Fun With a Montage and Textures

I am getting some more mileage out of the tulip beds in D.C. The image above was made using a mirror technique. This involves taking the original image, duplicating it, flipping it and joining the two together. It's not a secret technique. Many photographers use the technique. But, Andre Gallant, one of my all-time favorite photographers is an absolute master at photo montages. He explains the technique on his website here . However, he not only explains the technique but also provides outstanding images that demonstrate the technique in his book, "Dreamscapes." See page 39 for the mirror technique. I caution you to not skip a single page of this book. It is full of incredible images using a variety of photo montage techniques. I digress.

Back to the image. I then applied a sandstone texture. On top of that I used a grunge-type texture and finished it off with a black border. The original image was captured with a LensBaby 2.0.

Winter Window Images

Here are two more images from my Winter Window. I want to preface this with I do not profess to be a bird expert or even a "birder." What I know about birds is only from what I have observed (mostly casual) and read (which is very little). I have a book sitting on the window sill of my Winter Window. As I see a bird I do not recognize, I use this book to help identify it and then read the facts about the bird. While this blog is mainly about photography (and our ferrets on occasion), I think it's a good thing to pass on a little info about the subject matter from time to time.

The first bird is a Dark-Eyed Junco. I was amazed to learn that this bird migrates from Canada to Virginia and parts further south. From what I have observed, it's mainly a ground feeder and they hang out in fairly large numbers. A very common sight around here in winter.

The second bird is an American Gold Finch. What a beautiful bird this is. The male takes on a bright color of yellow, however, during the winter it loses this color and looks much like the female does year round. Female birds, for the most part, lose out when it comes to color, don't they? This bird lives in Virginia all year. I counted 27 Gold Finches in my tree at one point. If you want to attract them, use Nyjer thistle seed. Wow. They devour this stuff. I put the seed in a "seed sock." Works great. Alas, they have all but disappeared from around the home. We did get to see quite a few males with the bright colors before they left. But, now that food is abundant, I suppose they have moved on to areas closer to open fields. Look for them in open areas hanging on thistle. I see them on golf courses quite a bit during the summer.

All B/W conversions done with Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro.

Cardinal In Winter

During the winter months, we spend quite a bit of time on weekend mornings watching birds through a window and from the comfort of our home.

I make it a point to keep several feeders and water (heated bird bath) available for the birds that continue to make Virginia their home during this time of the year. It's a dedicated task because it seems that the birds come to depend on the feeding "stations." I'm sure that they would find somewhere else to gather food if I stopped, but I like the idea that they know they can come to our yard, find food, eat and build energy to get them through the winter.

I started capturing shots of the different birds as they perched on the tree closest to our window. Grab shots, snap shots really. Through the window, no less. Most were captured with an 80-200mm f/2.8 lens and hand held.

I really have just started processing them. I filed them away in one of my external hard drives and have just begun to revisit them. Looking at them brings back those mornings in winter and, for me, I see personality in each one. They endured the winter and some have gone on to find food (and mates) elsewhere. Others stay close by and visit daily. I maintain the feeders and bath year round.

I add a hummingbird feeder starting in spring and we now have several that not only drain the feeder but also find the nectar (and insects) from the flowers I have planted around the home a part of their daily diet.

I will publish the Winter Window images periodically as I get to them.

More Tulips and Tungsten

The above image is the exact image from the last post except I brought it into ACR and changed the White Balance to 2800 (from 5250). Wow, I really, really like this one. The colors are magical. For me, the image from the last post is remarkable as well. I love the complementary colors of red and green. Both of these will make outstanding canvas gallery wraps.

Tulips, Texture and Tungsten from Spring

The first image was captured from one of many tulip beds planted around Washington, DC every year. This was taken at f/22 and a 1/2 second shutter. Slight movement up during the exposure qualifies this as a pan. I added a bit of texture and watercolor effect.

The second image is from the same tulip bed. However, the lens was at f/14 and the shutterspeed was 1/8 of a second. The camera movement was different as well. As you can see, during the exposure, I moved the camera in what could be described as a small "u." This is evident from the elongated white lines in the image.

It's likely you are saying this can't be the same tulip bed, the colors aren't even close to being the same as the image above. It's true, the colors aren't the same. But, it is from the same bed of tulips. During the initial processing of the image, in the Raw Converter, I changed the White Balance to Tungsten. This changed the color temperature from 5250 to 2850. Much cooler in more ways than one. I also added some film grain effect to the image via Nik Software Color Efex Pro 3.0.

The final image is a "mirror" of the Tungsten-converted image.

Some Ferret News

First, Bobby had successful surgery on Wednesday and he came home that evening. He is doing well. We have been keeping up with his medications. Amoxicilin and Pepto three times a day and pain medication once a day. Everything seems to be healing well. He has a good appetite. For now, we mostly let him out on his own so the other two ferrets down involve him in the rough-housing that usually goes on. He has a followup next Saturday.

Also, the Conservation and Research Center has verified that Tilly, the black-footed ferret, has been artificially inseminated and is due on June 23. Everyone keep your fingers crossed and your eyes glued to the FerretCam.

Bobby, The Surfer Dude Ferret

Last week we took two of our ferrets (Ariel and Bobby) in for their annual check-up and shots. Yes, we have a third ferret, Apache, but he is on a different annual schedule.

We suspected that Bobby may have some type of digestive issue so we mentioned that to the vet. He decided to run a battery of blood tests. While things concerning the digestive issue were negative, it was discovered that he has a very low glucose level. This can really only mean one thing, insulinoma. Essentially, tumors on the pancreas. It's an unfortunately common condition among domestic ferrets. He hasn't really exhibited any of the classical signs of insulinoma except maybe a bit less active than we are accustom to for him. He is our "surfer dude" ferret and has always been laid back so it's hard to say. Maybe some momentary staring into space, but he's just about completely blind so he stares around alot anyway.

He is scheduled for surgery this Wednesday. We hope and pray that everything will turn out well for Bobby. He has a great personality and we look forward to many more years of fun and entertainment from him.

Cupcake Campaign Collages

The campaign continues. The icing on these cupcakes is very light, full of flavor and melts in your mouth. The chocolate cupcake is hand-dipped. These cupcakes clearly fit in the category of "Gourmet."

Tilly, the Black-Footed Ferret

Tilly at the National Zoo's Center for Conservation and Research (CRC) has her belly shaved! You can see her on the Ferret Cam. This can only mean one thing, she has been artificially inseminated. She is following in Georgia's footsteps from last year. Georgia gave birth to Peanut last year as a result of successful aritificial insemination. Please see my other posts concerning her adventure from last year.

So, the vigil begins.

You can learn more about the Black-Footed Ferret here, here, and here. The last link has a great video on the Black-Footed Ferret. It's a must see! You gotta love the sound they make.

A Basic Cupcake

Here is what most of us would likely refer to as a basic cupcake. You know, the kind you usually find in the back of the grocery store in the bakery department. Some of these stores may make their cupcakes on-site, while many others have them trucked in from the stores' of-site bakery.

This kind of cupcake, although basic, is dependable. It's usually made from yellow or chocolate cake, topped with the standard non-flavored icing and multi-colored sprinkles and is sold in packages of six or more at a reasonable price. No frills, but kids love'em as do many others.

Another Cupcake

Cupcakes come in all varieties of sophistication these days. I wasn't fully aware of this until recently. To be honest, I never really thought about it until recently. From what I now understand, there are loads of cupcake aficionados out there. In search of the next best delectable cupcake treat. More to come on the Cupcake Campaign.

Mother's Day and the Cupcake Campaign

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. I hope everyone is enjoying the day. Have a cupcake to celebrate. We went and saw the new Star Trek movie at an IMAX theater. The movie was great. Great effects, excellent cast and most all, I thought the writing was spectacular. A sequel is clearly in the cards.

The cupcake campaign has started.

Apache

This is Apache, our #3 ferret. While he may be #3, all three of our ferrets are #1 in our hearts. They are great pets, full of fun and entertainment. I've blogged about them before, so if you are new here, make sure to zoom through the older posts to see and read more.

Apache is particularly obsessed with shoes and any stuffed object (animals, etc). This means that any shoe, boot or object that resembles a shoe or boot will be gathered by him, taken to a hiding place and put into a pile. Luckily, we know where most of his hiding places are. He does the same with stuffed objects.

He is the biggest of the three and exercises that "authority" from time to time with the others. Usually in a very playful way. The uninitiated need to know that ferrets can play rough with each other, but it's still play. He is very strong and smart. The image above was a lucky catch. He paused for a second and moved on. He is very active and usually in motion. He exhibits "flat ferret" or "speed bump" (google it!!) from time to time to gather energy and then he is up and running again.

As calm, cute and cuddly as he may appear in the image above, the one below seems to show a different side. It's not true, though. All ferrets have "fangs" and can look kind of menacing when caught up close. This is right after he woke up. Note the stuffed animal "paw" in the background. He dragged the animal down three floors, managed to get it into the cage and carry it up to the third level of the cage. That's right, they have three levels to their cage. It's made by Ferret Nation. They love this cage. Lots of room and it's owner friendly, too (easy to clean, etc.)

Under The Bridge

I really felt like I missed a great opportunity here. The sun was setting to my left and the light quality was superb. I had less than 10 minutes at this spot as I was on my way to an appointment. I switched lenses and camera positions and tried to work the scene as best as I could in that small amount of time. I didn't have a tripod, so I couldn't slow things down too much (to use the water movement as an element). I am not completely happy with the outcome.

This is one of those times where you catalog the place and time of day and make plans to come back another time.

Watercolors for Water Flowers

The Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington, DC is really a gem of a place. It is surrounded on three sides by a marsh that offers plenty of wildlife sightings, amphibians and birds are most plentiful. Check out the link for more info. The site describes all that the park offers better than I can. Pay close attention to the hours and when it's best to be there for the various plants and wildlife.

For me, I go there mostly for the lotus flowers. However, I have been lucky enough to grab photos of dragonflies, herons, and other wildlife. That's my kind of outing. Getting images of your intended subject and getting quality images of other subjects, too. See my entry of April 7 for more.

The above "watercolor" image is of two lotus flowers from the Gardens.

Spring Tulips Landscape

This image was made with the same setup as the earlier "Spring Tulips Through a Lensaby" entry. That is, a LensBaby Original, widest aperture ring, and the Telephoto Adapter. "What, why would you use a Telephoto Adapter on a landscape image?" you ask. Good question, I did have the LensBaby Wide Angle Adapter (I mention this because I think your question implies "why not wide angle"), however, I wanted to compress the image. That is, "stack" the foreground subject(s) with the background. To me, it made a better composition.

If you haven't been able to tell up to this point, I have a preference for a more abstract approach to things. Abstract may be too harsh or too extreme of a word, but I gravitate towards soft focus, soft colors, certain in-camera techniques and other things that throw the subject matter into a different zone.

Display near Lafayette Square

I couldn't resist this scene when I discovered it. A very basic display going unseen by many. This image (and many others) was made just around noon time near Lafayette Square in Washington, DC. As I made image after image, I drew some stares from people walking by on their lunch breaks, on their way to meetings, talking on their cell phones, hailing a cab, etc. They would look at me and then at what I was photographing and you could tell most were like, "what's he taking a picture of the wall for?"

This is an example of simplifying a larger scene into a single, isolated frame that, to me at least, is worth more than the total of the larger scene.

Red-Tailed Hawk

This is a Red-Tailed Hawk that is a resident of The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia. Among many of the dedicated duties of this all-volunteer organization is to rehabilitate and release to the wild the ill, injured and orphaned birds of prey native to Virginia. The Red-Tailed Hawk is one such native bird. I wish I could remember the story (how it came to be a resident at the Conservancy) of this particular bird, but I can't. Sorry about that. Some birds that the Conservancy takes in can't be released back to the wild due to circumstances determined to be detrimental to the birds possibility of survival.

It's a beautiful bird that we see often in northern Virginia.

More Tulips

Here is another image from the same "tulip patch" I posted about the other day. This is a little more representational. It looks like a flickering flame. The camera technique used is called a swipe. Using a slow shutterspeed, during the exposure you gently tilt the camera up or down or pan left or right. Or, even move the camera in a diagonal direction. In this instance, I used an upward swipe.

Yellow

I shot this small series of images this past weekend, early in the morning, in the rain.

Spring Tulips Through a LensBaby

I came across a "patch" of tulips the other day and knew I had to shoot some images. Tulips are probably one of the most photographed flowers around, especially in springtime. So, with that in mind, I wanted to represent them in a different, non-conforming way. In other words, not just the usual tulip portrait.

I got a few that I liked and will share them over a few blog entries. This first one was made with a LensBaby Original and the telephoto adapter attached. I was pleasantly surprised when viewing this image in the LCD of my camera and even more surprised and satisfied when I pulled it up on my computer screen.

I know you can't tell that they are tulips, so in that sense they are non-representational of a tulip, but I think the image clearly comes across as a rainbow of flowers.