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.