Happy Thanksgiving! Thursday November 26, 2015

Nikon D750, Nikkor 28-300mm lens at 190mm, f/32, 1/20sec., ISO 100

It's Thanksgiving Day in America, so Happy Thanksgiving to you, reader.

This holiday was originally intended for us to give thanks to God for how he's blessed us.

Unfortunately, now most people forget the God part and just "feel thankful."

Thank you God for your blessings on all of us.

God, please call us to return to you and serve YOU once more.

Sunset Colors (taken 11/11/2015)

Nikon D750, Nikkor 28-300mm lens at 28mm, f/14, 1.6sec., ISO 100

After all these years in Florida, and thousands of sunsets, the colors can still amaze me.

This young man had just finished cleaning about six good-sized fish at Rykman Park in Melbourne Beach, Fla.

Two Fisher"men"

Nikon D750, Nikkor 28-300mm lens at 300mm, f/8 ,  1/2500sec., ISO 100

Sunlight glinting on water.

One of my favorite sights on earth. I guess I'm attracted to shiny things, like most men.

The sun was intensely bright and hot on this November morning.

The bird up there on the post with his wings spread is a cormorant. They dive and swim underwater to catch fish. Their feathers don't have nearly as much oil in them as, say, a duck, so they perch somewhere and spread their wings to let the sun and wind dry them out.

Cormorants are the birds generations of Japanese fishermen would use for fishing by training them to dive for fish and come back up the "their" boat and they had a string tied around their neck so the bird couldn't swallow the fish. The fishermen would get the fish out of the bird's throat and send them for more fish.

Great Egret and Snowy Egrets

Nikon D750, Nikkor 28-300mm lens at 230mm, f/5.6 ,  1/1000sec., ISO 100

Nikon D750, Nikkor 28-300mm lens at 230mm, f/5.6 ,  1/1000sec., ISO 100

Here in Palm Bay, there is a nice park that I keep returning to.  Over and over. Castaways Point Park on the Indian River Lagoon.

Today (Thursday 8/20/2015) while I was there, I saw a lot of birds.  There must be really good fishing there, because there's always numerous birds AND people fishing at this park.

The top photo is a "great egret," and the bottom photo is of two "snowy egrets."

These are the first photos that I've posted with my new Nikon D750 body.  Holy cow this camera is awesome.

Fake High Dynamic Range photo

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 18mm, f/8, 1/30sec, ISO 200

This isn't a true HDR image, it was a single photo that I processed to look like a dramatic high dynamic range image.
True HDR is a blending of several photos taken at different exposures that create a picture with tones from light to dark that would never be possible otherwise.
The dramatic clouds in this shot seemed to call for that dramatic, painterly look.
That's a wood stork there in front-center who was kind enough to pause in his fishing efforts for 1/30 of a second to allow me to include him in the shot.
This was taken along the Eau Gallie River in Melbourne, Florida's Ballard Park.
This park is an amazing place to get photos of exotic birds in winter while they're visiting and enjoying our mild January/February weather.

Father and Son

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 135mm, f/11, 1/2500sec, ISO 200

I'm a big guy, and when I point my big camera and lens at people, I don't normally get a good reaction.
My best people photos tend to be from a distance, while they are engaged in a favorite activity.
Like fishing.
And every once in a while, the back-lit scene includes something as awesome as a river, in this case the Eau Gallie River in Melbourne, Florida, with back lighting from the golden evening sun creating nice silhouettes.

Yes, Another Sunset, Sun. 6/21/15

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/16, 1/200sec, ISO 200

OK, so I live in Florida.
I have a camera I love to use.
Sunsets happen most days, so, why not?
This was last night from Riverside Park in Indialantic, Florida.
This is almost straight from camera.  It was RAW, so I did a slight curve on it and made a jpeg.  My camera is set to Neutral colors, and this is still what resulted.  Scout's honor.
I saw on facebook that a girl I went to high school with and hadn't seen in 35 years was on vacation in Melbourne Beach with her husband and two friends.
Google maps told me this was a mere 10.3 miles from my home.
So I messaged her, told her where to watch a great sunset, then met her and her husband there.
As we talked I fired off a few shots as the sun came below this cloud, headed for the horizon.
It was a great, if too short, visit, and nice to meet her husband.
Great company, great scenery. 

My Best Ever Sunset Photo, So Far

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 18mm, f/16, 1/15sec, ISO 200, 11 vert. photos

On June 6th, I was in a quandary.

My back and gimpy left leg had me in misery.  I had tried my physical therapy stretches and exercises, medicine, heating pad, theragesic rub, all to little effect.

So instead of curling up on the bed and surrendering to misery, I got my camera and tripod and went to watch the sunset.

Turned out to be a magnificent one, and this panorama made all the effort worthwhile.

Melbourne (Florida) City Hall at Night

Nikon D90, Nikon 10-24mm lens at 13mm, f/16, 15 seconds, ISO 200

Nikon D90, Nikon 10-24mm lens at 10mm, f/16, 30 seconds, ISO 200

Nikon D90, Nikon 10-24mm lens at 24mm, f/11, 8 seconds, ISO 200

Sometime in April, as I came back to the mainland from the barrier island to watch the sunset over the Indian River Lagoon, I thought the Melbourne City Hall looked pretty in the last of the blue light of the day.

I knew I needed to come back with my camera and tripod and on Wednesday night, 6/3/2015, I finally did it.  That first shot up there is pretty much what I had envisioned beforehand, the others are bonus.

I like night photography.  Now I need to follow my instinct that I've been avoiding and start driving around at sunset and night to find other local spots that light up well in the darkness.

Nifty Looking Clouds Over the Beach

Nikon D90, Nikon 10-24mm lens at 10mm, f/22, 1/1250sec, ISO 200

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 18mm, f/5.6, 1/400sec, ISO 200, polarizing filter

I see the Indian River Lagoon almost daily, and the water is big enough to scratch that itch where you want the feeling of being on or beside big water.

Sometimes only the ocean will do.  Wednesday the 18th was one of those days for me, so I headed to the Atlantic with my camera.

When there are unique looking clouds, I usually break out my trusty 10-24mm lens, as in the first photo.

(I had my polarizer on my 18-300mm lens in the second photo, hence the ultra-dark blue sky.)

We've been having a warm winter, but a cold front had come in and I wore my trusty Levi's jacket to combat the cold wind.

But I still got my feet wet.  Some things need to be done despite the cold weather.

Crawfishin' Egret

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/500sec, ISO 200

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/500sec, ISO 200

As a Louisiana boy, I can relate to liking a big mess of crawfish.

I DO like mine cooked though.

Taken at Blue Cypress Conservation Area near Fellsmere, Florida.

Great Blue Heron Posing Session

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/2500sec, ISO 200

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/2500sec, ISO 200

I arrived at Ballard Park in Melbourne, Florida one morning after dropping my wife off at work.

This great blue heron was on a post in the Eau Gallie River and he stood here for a solid forty five minutes grooming himself.

I took photos of him and walked away and every time I came back by he was still there.

I ended up getting a lot of really good shots of this guy.

These are two of my favorites of him from that day.

Florida Birds of Prey... I Mean Butterflies

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 200

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/400sec, ISO 200

I saw these two fellas while out at Blue Cypress Conservation Area near Fellsmere, Florida.

Pelican Flight 321 Taking Off

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 220mm, f/5.6, 1/1000sec, ISO 200

Lately I've been trying to take some photos of birds flying.

This pelican was taking off in the waters of the Eau Gallie River at Ballard Park, in Melbourne, Florida.

Most of my action shots of birds fail dismally, but I quite like this one.

I like how they use their feet to push off of the water six or eight times before finally getting airborne.

The water behind them looks as if someone skipped a stone.

Falcon 9 Rocket Launch, Wed. Feb. 11, 2015

Nikon D90, 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 200

Nikon D90, 18-300mm lens at 38mm, f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 200

Nikon D90, 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 200

This Falcon 9 rocket had been delayed day after day, I originally went out this past Saturday to see the launch from a park on the Indian River Lagoon (Intracoastal Waterway).

I had to pick my wife up from work on Wednesday at 6:00pm, and according to the radio the launch was on for 6:05pm.

I simply took my camera with me and we watched the launch from the parking lot where my wife works in Melbourne, Florida.

This was carrying a satellite that is supposed to watch and monitor the climate on earth.

It's still a good show, even from about twenty five miles (40km) away.

Fatbikes

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 18mm, f/8, 1/25sec, ISO 200

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 40mm, f/8, 1/25sec, ISO 200

These are two of the coolest bicycles I've ever seen.

Because of the monstrous tires, they are called "fatbikes."

We saw them at Bob's Beach Bicycle Works, across from the beach in Indialantic By The Sea, Florida, our closest beach access from our home on the mainland.

Two of my very best friends as a boy and as a teenager were two bicycles that I had and rode on for many, many miles.

I could see myself tooling along the streets on the silver and blue bicycle in the first photo.  But I'd prefer to add a Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 TS (14 speed internal geared rear hub) to mine, 'cause hey, I dig gears on a bicycle!

I can dream can't I?

That Glorious Golden Evening Sunlight

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 210mm, f/11, 1/100sec, ISO 200

What do you do when you want to get out in the beautiful weather, in a place as glorious as Florida in January, yet you are hurting?

I face this question almost daily.

The other day, being cooped-up in the house was getting to me in a bad way.

I grabbed my camera and headed to where I thought I might see a good sunset worth photographing.

I could see that I would not make it to the Atlantic, so I stopped at a favorite old park on the way and took a few pictures.

The quality and wow factor of photos on a day like this are a distant second place to just getting out and hobbling around in the fantastic weather and the golden light of the last of a day's sunshine.  I couldn't stand up all the way that day, I walked like Tim Conway as the old man character on The Carol Burnett Show years ago, if you remember that.

This is one such photo.  Not great, but an accurate shot of the color of the light that afternoon.

The capital letter M in the blue sign is absolutely white, the blacks in the deep shadow are truly black, and and the grays are accurate.

What do I mean by that?  If you have a true white, black, and gray point in a photo, the rest of the colors are true and very accurate to what could be seen by human eyes.

Egret Landing

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec, ISO 200

I took some photos of this egret as he was coming in for a landing at Blue Cypress Conservation Area near Fellsmere, Florida, and I liked this one the best.

I'm not great at photographing birds in flight, but this one came out pretty decent to me.

Gator Jerky

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 240mm, f/11, 1/400 sec, ISO 200

Signs for gator jerky are pretty common in Florida.  It's sold on the side of the road like fruit and vegetables from the back of folk's pickup trucks and at small stands.

I haven't had the guts to try eating it though.

Yeah, this photo is a bit soft, but in my defense, I was driving.  There were no cars as far as the eye could see, either in front of me or behind, so I slowed to a stop in the road.  That didn't prevent me from being nervous, as if doing something wrong, and snapping the shot so quickly that it's a bit blurry.  I probably could have sat there a whole minute at least before another car came along, but I don't break rules easily or effectively.

Still, I finally got a photo of a gator jerky sign, a very Florida-y thing to see.

Blue Cypress Conservation Area, near Fellsmere, Florida

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 18mm, f/22, 1/8sec, ISO 200

This past Sunday, I went a few miles south of Fellsmere, Florida to the Blue Cypress Conservation Area.
The day was as pretty I've ever witnessed in my 52 years, just gorgeous with a high of 65F (18.3C).
The Blue Cypress is basically swamp.
Lots and lots of birds, but they are hard to photograph because there are airboats back and forth through all the waterways all day long that cause the birds to fly from place to place a lot.
This was a stretch of swamp along a walking path where I could get away from the boat ramps and boats coming and going.
I approximated the Orton effect in this photo.
.

Favorite Photo of Atlas V Rocket Launch, Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Nikon D90, Nikon 10-24mm lens at 10mm, f/16, 139 seconds, ISO 200

Crop of above photo

I live about forty miles (65km) south of Kennedy Space Center.  You've heard of that.
Just south of Kennedy Space Center is Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where many rocket launches also happen, especially US military sponsored launches (Secure military base).  This puts this photo having been taken from about thirty miles south of the launch, as the crow flies.
This was a US Navy satellite being lifted to orbit on this Atlas V.
I knew the launch was that day, but sat, searching Google Earth for a good local location to get a time exposure shot of the launch.
I settled on, and went to Ballard Park, set up and took a few practice shots and waited.
When I saw a big portion of the sky light up behind those palm trees, I started my exposure.
This is one of my best photos I've taken in a long, long time.

The second photo is a crop of the first.
I just loved the way the light through those clouds looked there above that home and palm trees.

Warning!

I just kinda liked how these crinkled, knocked crooked signs looked. 

I guess such things as this sign never get looked at again after being placed, to see if they need adjustment or repair.

It reminds me of Ebenezer Scrooge's line in A Christmas Carol, "Time will erase it at no cost to us."

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300 lens at 120mm, f/11, 1/100sec, ISO 200

Low Clouds on the Beach

A couple of weeks ago (Jan. 8th), I was having a bit of "cabin fever" and got out with my camera even though it was cloudy and yucky looking at home. 

When I looked toward the Atlantic, the sky seemed to be clearing up, so I took a chance and headed out.

It cleared up some before sunset, but the low clouds over the beach looked kinda dramatic.

Nikon D90, Nikon 10-24mm at 10mm, f/22, 1/160sec, ISO 800

Nikon D90, Nikon 10-24mm at 10mm, f/22, 1/160sec, ISO 800

Ron Jon Surf Shop Custom Dodge Magnum (Photos From My Archive)

I was looking through some of my photos from years past and thought I'd post a few today.

These are of a Dodge Magnum station wagon nicely customized in the style of a 1940's Woody, for Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

They were taken in 2008.

Nikon D70s, Nikon 18-200mm lens at 20mm, f/4.5, 1/1250sec, ISO 200

Nikon D70s, Nikon 18-200mm lens at 36mm, f/4.5, 1/1000xsec, ISO 200

Nikon D70s, Nikon 18-200mm lens at 31mm, f/4.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 200

Pelicans in Palm Bay (the body of water)

Nikon D90, 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/9, 1/125sec, ISO 200

I live in Palm Bay, Florida, about equidistant from Jacksonville and Miami.
Many who live here don't know that there is a body of water on the Indian River Lagoon (Intracoastal Waterway) that the city is named after.
I was on the sidewalk, walking along the shore of Palm Bay when I heard a racket and turned to see this pelican starting his take-off from the water.
My camera was set for rather sedate landscape shots, not action photos of birds taking flight.  But, without time to change settings, I fired off a bunch of shots, hoping for the best.
The above photo was the best of the bunch of the pelican taking off.
I do like the way his wing tips are a bit blurred and you can see his wet stomach and drops of water falling off his tail.

Nikon D90, 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/400sec, ISO 200

The above photo of the two pelicans and the boat coming into the bay is one of those photos I took just calmly pointing here and there and taking photos of what looked to be decent compositions.
After getting the photos on the computer and going through them, I found that I really liked this one.
It's a good "storytelling" photo, it has distinct foreground, middle ground, and background subjects, similar to how stories have a beginning, middle, and ending.
The background buildings and land are on the barrier island across the Intracoastal Waterway.  That's some prime real estate out there.

Timed Exposures, Palm Bay (the body of water), FL

Nikon D90, 18-300 lens at 18mm, f/11, 30 seconds, ISO 200

This past Sunday afternoon 1/4/15, I had the urge to get out and about with my camera.  I was heading to the beach to see how the Atlantic was looking, and never made it there.

The light was so good that I stopped on the side of the road on the way to take some photos of a train track / road crossing, and then stopped at this park on the Intracoastal Waterway, officially known in this area as the Indian River Lagoon.

This park, Castaway Point Park is on one end of the body of water named Palm Bay, after which the city is named.  (or it may be that the bay was named after the city, I don't know for sure)

I had taken photos all through the sunset and then turned and I thought the park itself looked pretty with the lights throughout the trees and took one last photo, this 30 second exposure.

It turned out to be one of my favorites of the day.

This next photo, I had taken about fifteen minutes prior to the above one.  It is looking to the Florida mainland from the pier I was on, toward the city of Palm Bay, across the water of Palm Bay.

I liked this one too, how, although the sky was almost dark, the 1.3 second exposure allowed a beautiful blue sky to appear in the photo.  That's streaks of car's lights along US highway 1, which runs from Key West up to Maine.

Nikon D90, 18-300 lens at 18mm, f/5.6, 1.3 seconds, ISO 200

Michael Dolsey Designs MD335 Deluxe Guitar Photos

My homemade light strips from my previous post were used for lighting to take these photos of my most recent guitar adoption, an orange, Michael Dolsey Designs MD335 Deluxe.

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 52mm, f/13, 1/30sec, ISO 200

I have had severe g.a.s. (guitar acquisition syndrome) for years concerning a jazz type guitar.

My fantasy is the Gibson L-5 CES, but at $10,000, it's way out of my budget.  I looked at more reasonably priced copies of the L-5, but I ended up deciding to get a Gibson ES-335 style guitar instead.  I can get jazz tones, but also rock out as needed.

No need to go into too much detail about guitars on a photography blog, so I'll just say that I have been pleasantly blown away by the beauty, tone, and playability of this Michael Dolsey guitar.  I fully expected to have to change out the pickups soon after purchase, that's happened several times over the years, but this guitar is spot-on what I wanted in tone, right out of the box.

If I had to be nit picky, I'd say that I would love for this guitar to have a fat neck instead of the very slim one that it actually has.  But, having said that, this is the only guitar I have ever kept that had a skinny neck.  For some strange reason that I cannot seem to put into words, this slim neck works well for me despite my much preferring fat necks on guitars.  I'm not arguing with success, and the pickups have a great classic vintage Gibson PAF type tone that I love.  I knew after playing it a while on the day it arrived that I would NOT be changing these pickups, ever.  I haven't moved the action or pickup height or anything, the complete setup was perfect out of the box.  Again, no reason to mess with success just because I like to tinker.  The only change is cosmetic, I took off the pickguard. I don't like pickguards on archtop guitars like this and my Les Paul.

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 18mm, f/22, 1/30sec, ISO 200

My DIY Versions of the SaberStrip Photo Light Modifier

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 18mm, f/4, 1/30sec, ISO 200

I had a desire to buy or make some strip lights to use my old Nikon SB-28 flashes in and make better photos of my guitars, and the guitars of my friends who often have me work on their guitars for them. (One friend has a room full of Gibson Custom Shop guitars he has me adjust and work on for him. I can't give them back without taking photos and playing them a bit.)

First of all, if I had the money, I'd have bought two real SaberStrip light modifiers.  They look to be pretty amazing, and would be perfect for photographing guitars.

But, being on a fixed income (disability, ruined back), I wanted a cheaper alternative to the $135/each that a SaberStrip costs.

I am not much of a do it yourself person, but when things REALLY interest me, I can be quite handy.  (Like learning to do guitar adjustments and some types of guitar repair.)

I first searched the interwebs to see what kind of DIY versions of this device would be out there, and I was not disappointed, and quickly made a list of things to buy and also sketched some modifications to "improve" the homemade strip light for my personal use.

Hats off to Mr. Andrew Birklid, whose own DIY "Saver Strip" was the design I followed closely in making my own.

If you visit his site and instruction, you'll see that, compared to my photo of mine above, I cut holes near the bottom of the tubes to allow me to place and remove the flashes as needed, but more importantly, to reach in there and make setting changes to the flashes while in use.  The real SaberStrip requires that you take the bottom of the tube off and make changes and put the thing back together again before more shooting.

My version allows on-the-fly flash setting changes, which works great in reality.  In the end, for about $120, less than the price of one real SaberStrip, I made two, bought two heavy duty light stands, and two adapters for mounting the strips on the light stands, PLUS a new large photo tent.  That's the kind of financial efficiency I can live with!

Here's a photo of my finished DIY light strips in action on my Les Paul Studio guitar.

Sweet!  And they work wonderfully.

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 34mm, f/13, 1/30sec, ISO 200

First Methodist Episcopal Church, Fellsmere, Florida

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 25mm, f/18, 1/400sec, ISO 800

This is the First Methodist Episcopal Church on North Broadway Street in Fellsmere, Florida.

Lovely Wife and I were out for a drive one day and ended up in Fellsmere, about twenty miles south of where we live in Palm Bay.  This gorgeous little church was looking great in the afternoon light, but alas, due to time constraints I just had to take the photo from the window of the car.  Not enough time to get out and roam for better angles.

I thought it had been a house that had been converted to a church, but we later learned it was not built as a home, it was built in 1924 as a church and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Homemade Mailbox, Fellsmere, Fla.

Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 52mm, f/11, 1/60sec, ISO 800

Yeah, it's not an exciting photo, but sometimes you don't have time to create "art" and you want to record something you like.

I really liked this old, homemade mail box in Fellsmere, Florida.  Lovely Wife was kind enough to stop the car and I jumped out took a photo of this old charmer.

He has lots of character, even if I wasn't able to get creative.