Sarasota, Florida

I attended a wedding in Sarasota last week and had a great time. I've been to many parts of Florida but it's the first time I have really been to this part of Florida and absolutely found it to be a great place.

Here are four images that I made during some down time between the many fantastic pre- and post-wedding activities. The image with the kids was made at Lido Beach (actually a Key) while the other three were captured on Longboat Key. Two nice places to visit. I wish I had more time to explore and I will in the future.

All images were shot in color. I decided to convert these four to B/W using the Infrared filter in Nik Software's Color Efex Pro 3.0. Nik now has a dedicated B/W software called Silver Efex Pro that is fantastic.

I also added grain to the images using the Nik Software. Sometimes I use the "Film Effects" filter and select a "high speed" film that adds a certain tone and grain, while other times I will use the "Film Grain" filter to simply add grain. It's trial and error to get the image the way you want it.

I've printed the images and framed them together in a horizontal format. I think they represent my short visit to the beach very well.

Nice Shape and Some Texture

I pass by this tree from time to time. It's near my home, sets on a hill top and serves as a foreground for the daily sunset. I think it has almost the perfect, symmetrical triangle shape. Not bad for a tree growing in the wild without the care of a tree-trimmer. On this particular day, the clouds were low hanging and taking on a great cast of colors. I increased the brilliance of the colors and added a texture layer in post-processing.

Spring Collage Collection

I've put together four final collages that represent the all-new Spring Collection 2008. I am currently working on capturing images for the summer collage collection. Collectors items for sure :)

I have decided to title them "Spring Collection No. 1" rather than "Spring Collection 2008." I like the idea of creating a timeless series rather than a dated collection. Some photos should have a date attached to document a time in your life, etc. while others should be timeless. I think timeless is best in this case.













There are many ideas of what "spring" is. I usually approach things from a less representational side and tend to be a bit more abstract. Bold colors, hints of flowers in bloom as well as wild grasses round out this series.

Georgia is a New Mommy!

For those of you that have been following Georgia's pregnancy, then you likely know that she gave birth today to a single kit. I believe that was the total size of the litter. If you are new here and don't know about Georgia, please read the previous posts to get up to speed and then checkout the Ferret Cam. From my observation, Georgia is a great, caring, attentive mother. As of this posting, the Zoo hasn't posted any new info on the birth. However, they do indicate that (not including Georgia's kit) two ferrets have given birth so far with a count of 4 and 6 kits having survived to this point. This is incredible news!

Personally, I can sit for hours and just watch Georgia "baby" her new little one. Make sure to get over to the Ferret Cam and see.

That's all for now and congrats to the new mom!!

Panthera Leo Portraits

Here you see a couple of images I recently made at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. They are African Lions. The image of the male was made just before one of his morning roars.

A lion's roar, by the way, can be heard up to 5 miles away. And, I recently learned that a tiger is the lion's closest cousin and, get this, if you shaved both animals of their coats, they would look so similar that only an expert would be able to tell them apart. For some reason, that makes me think of the question, "Is a zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes?"

Someday I would like to take a photo safari in Africa and capture various "big cats" in their natural environment. I know that there are many photographers that specialize in this sort of thing but one site that I have come across that I keep going back to is Andy Biggs' site. He really has some fantastic images and from what I can tell provides a great photo safari (albeit a bit pricey for my blood).

So, for now, captive animals that are native to some far off continent will have to do.

More on Georgia, the Black-Footed Ferret

There's great news!! I have reported on Georgia in previous posts, so if you are new to the blog, please read them, too!

The Zoo let us know by email that Georgia has indeed been artificially inseminated and is due on or about June 19. So, keep your fingers crossed and your eyes glued to the Ferret Cam. It's tough getting updated, fresh information from the Zoo because they have lots to do and we greatly appreciate their efforts to keep us informed.

More to come as we find out more.

Web Woes

This weekend I had about 45 minutes to kill so I headed out to the field at Meadowood (see other blog entries for info). It was very foggy on this morning and I was traveling light, gear-wise. Camera, 50mm 1.4, 12-24mm 4.0, tripod (Gitzo 1348 with a Really Right Stuff BH55 Head) and assorted small things in my camera bag. I really had some landscape images in mind heading out. However, the fog was very heavy and dense. I couldn't see anything in the field, trees, wildlife, sky, nothing. I didn't have time to trek about looking for solid compositions. I was ready to just head home when I noticed the webs, laden with dew drops! Granted, I was ill-prepared to shoot these little gems but I really wanted to come away with something since I rarely see them in this area. I had no macro or long lens, I was wearing shorts and the tall grass was very wet and I didn't have a plastic trash bag that I usually use to kneel on to keep from getting wet and muddy. Minor inconveniences, that's all.

So, I fooled around with the 50mm lens, looking for a good composition. Nothing was happening at that focal length. Extension Tubes!! I pulled out a couple of tubes, attached various ones to my camera and sorta found what I was looking for. The working distance between the lens and the subject was tight and between my legs, tripod or arms hitting the tall grass and thus making the webs sway, it wasn't the ideal situation. But, better than walking away with nothing. I made a note to myself to bring more lenses because you never know. You set out with one visual in mind and the next thing you know, your vision voice takes you in another direction. The images you see are some of what I came away with in about 45 minutes time.