Fort Desoto

Chris and I spent last night camped in the parking lot at Lazydays again. We waited for overnight delivery of a circuit board for our energy management system. Unfortunately, we learned after lunch today that the part did not arrive, so Lazydays has kindly put us up at the Rallypark across the street at no cost. Hopefully the part arrives Wednesday. In any event, we will stay here until Thursday, when Chris flies back to Ottawa from Tampa. Makes no sense to drive to Thousand Trails in Orlando tomorrow afternoon, only to have to run her back to the airport in Tampa on Thursday.

We were up before sunrise this morning and drove out to Fort Desoto in St Petersburg. We spent a few days here last year on our tandem bicycle and really enjoyed the beaches. Today, we both had our cameras going. I caught this snowy egret on the fishing pier mooching a few scraps of fish from the guys fishing on the pier. We enjoyed a morning of warm sunshine after a stormy day yesterday. The top shot was taken looking north from the fishing pier as well.

Venice Rookery - Part Deux

My new Gitxo GT3541XLS tripod arrived Monday evening around 5 pm via UPS. I set it up with the new Wimberley II head complete with flash bracket and mounted my 5D2 with the 500mm lens. This tripod handles this camera/lens combination with ease. I only need to extend 3 sections on each leg to bring the tripod to my eye level. Can't imagine ever needing the 4th section unless I am in some very difficult terrain.

I scooted over to the rookery in Venice again this morning to put my new set up through its paces. A bit nicer day than the first trip there last week. There was a small photo excursion group already at the rookery. The leader was a girl named Laurie from Oregon and she had a very nice Nikon set up with a wicked frame rate for continuous shooting. I was a little more selective on the pictures I took this morning than the last time. Tried working more on composition instead of just taking lots of pictures. This great blue heron landed about 10 meters away from me. It was foraging for nest material and flying back and forth to its nest for about an hour while we all stood and took pictures. I think the heron knew full well what we were doing.

Weather turned ugly this afternoon. Quite stormy on the way back and then what had been out in the Gulf finally blew into Sebring around 6 pm. Lots of wind and rain. Hopefully the awnings stay on the windows. The power has been out for about 40 minutes so far but I've got the inverter running so no lack of power in our Bounder.

Pond Life

I caught this little guy sticking his head out of the water at the pond down the road this morning shortly after sunrise. And the bird (not sure what kind), sat on a bush for about 5 minutes preening itself. Both shot with my 500 lens with 1.4 converter from the driver's seat while parked (of course).

I played pickleball for the first time in a month after injuring my wrist. Hardly any pain anymore, just the odd twinge every now and then. I still have the wrist wrapped for extra support. I think things went pretty well. Played well and rested lots too.

A bunch of us went out for brunch at Bob Evans.....kind of our Easter dinner and it was very nice. We have a last supper planned for Homer's on April 16th, a few days before everyone packs up and heads for home. I'm running the rig up to Lazydays in Tampa next Sunday and will pick Chris up at the airport later that same day.

LOOKING LEFT, looking left (GET it?)

This a cropped version of the original shot of a great egret and chick on nest I took at Venice rookery the other day. I had to work on this one quite a bit in Photoshop CS4 and am still not totally happy with it. I need lots of practice in CS4. I cloned out a few annoying branches behind the baby's head and also blurred the background more than it was in the original in an effort to put more focus on the two main subjects. I even thought about cloning out the big branches behind the mother but wasn't sure I had the skills to do it without making it looked PSd. So I'm going with this one for now. Let me know what you think please by leaving a comment or two.

By the way, if you look closely, I think there is a second chick in the nest to the left of the one sitting up. It never moved at all during the time I was there so I suspect it may not have survived.

Great Blue Herons

Had a chance to have a look through some more photos from the Venice Rookery yesterday. This pair of herons were busy adding twigs to their nest and going through the usual mating rituals. Neither seemed at all phased by the 3 or 4 photographers poking huge lenses towards them throughout the morning. The fellow below just sat and posed like a good fellow. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to head up to Lake Wales to get my awning sunshade cut back in size just a little. The sunshade is a two piece model made by J+J Sunshade with the smaller top piece channeling into the furrow of the main awning roller. It hangs down about 2 feet from the awning when it is extended. I'd like to cut that back to about a foot if possible so that it can be rolled up inside the awning when retracted. Forgot to check if J+J will be open with the Easter weekend pending, so I'll have to call them first.

Venice Rookery

I was up early this morning to make the 2 hour drive to Venice, FL south of Sarasota by sunrise and on the road by 5 am. I wasn't really sure what to expect even though I had read lots online about it. The rookery is essentially a group of large bushes located about one hundred feet offshore in a small pond by the Venice Audobon Society offices, just off Tamiami Rd S in Venice. Right behind the Florida Highway Patrol office. It was still dark when I arrived just before 7 am, so hard seeing much of anything. I pulled into the parking lot across from the pavillion and pond and could make out hundreds of birds in the rookery just off shore. Great egrets, great blue herons, ibises, anhingas, cormorants and many others. A pretty amazing sight.

I spent almost 3 hours taking photographs filling an 8GB compact flash card completely. I was alone for the first hour before a couple from Waterloo, Ontario joined me. I picked up a few tips about Gitzo tripods which I have been looking at. Much cooler today than yesterday with a chilly wind blowing but I persevered in shorts and sandals! The sun came out occasionally but for the most part it remained overcast most of the day. Lots more photos to process.

Young Sandhill Crane

Another one from the nearby pond last night. This little guy was very curious as he zipped by in front of me dutifully following his parents along the water's edge . The family made it out to its raised nest in the middle of the pond about 80 feet away, but soon after they reached the nest, a small alligator positioned itself low in the water about 15 feet from the nest, basically between the nest and the reed bed where the cranes came from. Both adult cranes remained vigilent and the gator never came any closer. A lady taking pictures near where I was told me that cranes will actually attack a gator when protecting their young ones. Apparently the cranes try to peck the gator's eyes out. Maybe that is where Alfred Hitchcock got the idea in his classic movie "The Birds". Hope you like the picture.

Sandhill Crane

I went back to the pond down the road again this evening and saw the sandhill cranes again. They must be getting used to me because they walked right between me and the water to get to their nest area and showed no fear at all. In fact, they were so close to me that I couldn't focus on them with my big lens. I stayed there until about 7:30 pm and took a lot of pictures using fill flash today. First time using fill flash with this lens and I think it worked pretty well. No crop on this one just some very minor touch ups in Photoshop CS4. I'm working on a few more of the babies but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Time for a little shuteye.

Canon EF 500mm f4 Lens!

My latest acquisiton arrived today around lunch time courtesy of USPS. I've been looking for a bird and wildlife lens for a few months and found this used one for sale online on http://www.fredmiranda.com/.

Sandhill Crane Chick Chasing Sibling and Parent

Sandhill Crane Family On Nest

Of course it was raining buckets too, so there was no way to get out and test it right away. Finally around 4pm it started to clear, so I packed up my camera and new lens and headed out the door for a Starbucks coffee. On the way home, I purposely drove by the little pond just off Schumacher Rd, looking for the pair of sandhill cranes and chicks that have been nesting there. They showed up eventually but I had lots of other subjects to focus on in the mean time.

Green Backed Heron

This lens is bigger than anything I have ever used on a camera and even comes in its own hard plastic storage trunk. I opted for the 500mm instead of the 600mm because the 500 is lighter and supposedly can be handheld, once the proper technique is learned. It handled well on my Manfrotto monopod while I sat on the bank of the pond, but I may have to look into getting a heavier tripod and a Wimberley Sidekick to handle this bad boy, especially when shooting in remote areas.

Not Sure Yet

(Immature Little Blue Heron?)

Same As Above (Not Sure Yet)

(Immature Little Blue Heron?)

So you can see a few sample photos taken with my new lens above. These are all taken with available light between 5 and 7 pm, and have been cropped. ISO settings ranged from 160 to 3200, shutter speeds 1/160 to 1/500 second. Sorry, but I am a newcomer to birding and can not yet readily identify the subject of the last two shots. Comments on my photos and blog are always appreciated, especially if you know what the last two are. Guess it is time to buy a bird reference book.....but there are so many!

Topaz Adjust Plugin for Photoshop

I discovered this Photoshop plugin online this morning and thought I would check it out. Please click on the title of this entry to go to the Topaz site where you will see before and after versions of various photos as well as videos on the many features of this plugin. I thought I'd try Topaz Adjust on my last photo from Sebring so you could see the difference, kind of a before and after.

This plugin generates an HDR effect from only one image instead of the usual multiple images for normal HDR. The desired effect is totally user controlled by various slider controls within the plugin. Being new to Photoshop and especially plugins, I first made use of the handful of presets (with thumbnail photos) available within the plugin itself for my starting point. I then played with the various sliders in order to come up with the final version seen above.

All in all, it worked very well and I like the effect, although it may not be to everyone's taste. I'm using a fully functional 30 day trial version of the plugin right now. This plugin (version 3.1) did make CS4 crash on me multiple times after applying it. Topaz knows about this problem and is working on a fix.

I'd appreciate comments on how this version of my photo compares with the original seen in my last post.

Sebring International Raceway

So, Chris and I went for a drive yesterday out to the raceway. I knew the 12 Hours of Sebring race was already over but I wanted to show her the track. We stopped at the raceway office and asked permission for access. The manager was great and even gave us a map and told us where to go to get some good pictures of some test driving. We went to a raised viewing area mound at turn #2 and watched in awe as this Peugeot, Lemans series car, blasted around the track for almost an hour. I popped my Canon 100-400mm zoom on my 5D2 with a monopod and managed to catch quite a few shots like the one above. Would you believe 1/4000 and sometimes 1/5000 sec shutter speed! This guy was really flying! I've also uploaded a much high resolution copy of this picture onto my SmugMug site. I invite you to please check it out. SmugMug links are in the right margin. Thanks for looking. Comments are always invited.

Pelican

I've been laying low these last few days giving my wrist sprain a chance to heal. First time I've ever experienced a joint sprain without a fall, very strange. It feels better after a few days rest but is still a little tender in places. I've been able to swim and bike though with no discomfort, so it shouldn't be long.

I spent a little time in Photoshop CS4 this morning. Quite a learning curve, but I'm getting there....slowly. Watching lots of video tutorials and reading some as well. Now if I could only remember the steps...... This a cropped shot of a brown pelican from Key West last month. Had to remove some other birds and also played around with curves and levels a bit.

A few of the Peace River pickleball gang are on their way to Tanglewood later this afternoon. May have to swing a paddle...lightly. Best of all, Chris arrives again on Monday for another brief stay. Won't be long before we are heading back north, likely early May.

Pickleball Injury

Yes....they do happen!

Playing yesterday morning, I tweaked my right wrist and may have stretched a tendon. Couldn't swing my paddle without some pain on the lateral side of my wrist. Hopefully, nothing serious, but a few days off will do me good.

Update on the sandhill cranes seen in my last post. I haven't seen them around the pond for the last few days. The pond is drying up fast and usually dries out completely every spring. A tractor mower was seen cutting the grass and reeds right down to the water level a few days ago. The chicks weren't capable of flight yet, so it is hard to say where they may have gone.

Sandhill Crane and Chicks

There is a small pond right next to the road, not far from the back entrance to Tanglewood actually, that has been home to a pair of sandhill cranes for the last two years. They were seen nesting last month. I rode past on my bike today to discover that there are now two chicks in the pond as well. Seems to be a fair bit of bird activity around this pond with quite a few ibises, egrets, herons and grackles in the area. I also noticed a gator in the pond too, so hopefully these cranes are on their toes. Hoping to go back again with my big lens in the coming days to get a better picture.

I was out on my bike this morning doing a couple of loops around Lake Jackson and popped by the pond on the way home. Had my 5D2 in the rear carrier but only with my 24-105 lens on. Not as close as I would have liked.

All comments appreciated.

Water Heater and Photography Connection

I've made an appointment for service with Lazydays for April 1, 2009 to have them rewire our hot water heater. You may recall that the electric has not worked since before we arrived in Florida and that we have been heating our water with propane all winter. Fleetwood is still deciding whether or not to cover the rewire as part of my warranty, even though our coach is no longer under warranty. Tank was acting up while it was still under warranty though, so that is why they are considering it. Bottom line, it needs to be fixed one way or another. Taking forever for Fleetwood to make up their mind though.

I chose April 1st so that I can attend this David Ziser photography workshop in Tampa that evening. Figured I may as well kill two birds with one stone. The workshop runs until 10 pm so I'm planning on staying the night at Lazydays.

Heartland Senior Games (Pickleball)

Pickleball ruled at Tanglewood for the last two days. Friday was mens and ladies doubles matches. Saturday was mixed doubles matches. We witnessed some great matches and, as a photographer, referee and player (all at different times of course), I managed to get a ringside seat for most of the games. We met many new friends and got reacquainted with some old ones too. I think this event was a definite homerun for Tanglewood and my thanks to Wayne Roswell and the many, many volunteers for helping to bring it all together.

I only played on Friday as my mixed doubles partner was back in Ottawa bringing in the bacon unfortunately. Travis Weaver, a great player and friend, who we met in Peace River last year, carried me as his mens double partner for much of the day. He even had to come down into my age 50-59 age group. What a guy! Anyway, I think we played 10 games on a very long and hot day. We even managed to take the silver medal. Not too shabby.

As the guy who is normally taking the photographs, I don't usually get to be the subject of many of them. My thanks to Roy Boisvert for sending me the one you see here. Nice job Roy! For those of you looking for my tournament photos, they are now available for viewing on my Smugmug page. Just click the title of this blog entry and you should be sent there.

Lastly, tournament results are now online and can be viewed at:

http://usapa.org/tourney/bracket_list.php?tname=heartland09

Pickleball and Photography

Tanglewood is hosting the Senior Games pickleball tournament this weekend and I have been asked to have my camera with me, so I thought a little practice might be in order. Weather is warming up again nicely so I threw on my 17-40mm wide angle and grabbed these shots this morning. The one of Rich serving was taken with me laying on the court right below where he was striking the ball. Shutter Priority mode at around 1/1000 sec. I could feel the air rush by as he smacked the ball. All comments welcome please.

Photoshop CS4

I recently upgraded Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 to Adobe Photoshop CS4. Adobe had a killer upgrade price of only $299 running until the end February 2009, so I just had to give it a go. Regular upgrade cost is $599, so the saving was considerable. I've also started reading Photoshop User magazine which has some really good articles on the many features in CS4. I can see that the learning curve is going to be substantial as well.

One of the features I really like about Photoshop are the various filters, textures, effects, etc, one can add to photographs. The top example, is a sunrise in Sebring previously posted on my blog. I added a canvas texture to the original and came up with the next version, making it look more like a painting than a photograph. Lastly, I used a puzzle texture on the final version below. From what I can see, textures are totally adjustable as well, making it possible to go for a stronger effect if desired.

Something else to play with now!

Brown Pelican

Took a shot of this guy swimming around a marina in Islamorada last week. Loved the colours on his head. Apparently this is a 2 year old brown pelican who's full plummage has not yet come in, hence the coloured instead of brown head. I kind of like this look personally.

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

We were up early yesterday morning to catch the sunrise in Key West before heading back to the mainland. This is a shot of the dock on the east side of Key West as the sun was starting to come up. About a 10 second exposure, that is why the water looks so smooth.

Our next stop was at John Pennecamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo. The title of this entry will link you to their website. This is a renowned snorkeling and scuba diving paradise. We opted for the glass bottom catamaran boat tour instead. The 2.5 hour return trip took us over some very shallow reffs and we both enjoyed seeing all the colorful reef life. The above shot is red mangrove which grows everywhere in the shallow off shore waters. An above water plant, mangrove has the ability to absorb nutrients from the salt water through it's formidable root system, convert it to fresh water, and then excrete the salt through it's leaves. Pretty amazing.

The main aquarium is under reconstruction at the moment but we enjoyed a quick tour of the smaller ones. This colorful lobster seemed to be very curious about my camera as I brought it up to the glass.