Second Stop - J N Darling Wildlife Refuge

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The second stop on our photo travels was the J N Darling Wildlife Refuge, a 6,400 acre mangrove forest on Sanibel Island.  Cars can drive through the refuge and stop and explore at any time.  Because of the shallow waterways, the refuge attracts migratory birds and local bird populations.

The last time we visited, we observed Blue Herons, Great Egrets, crocodiles and Mangrove Tree Crabs.

On this trip we observed Blue Herons and Great Egrets, but we were also treated to a few other species of birds.

American White Pelicans.

Redish Egret.

White Ibis, which can have brown feathers.

Juvenile Black-Crowned Night Heron.

But the birds that I really wanted to see were the Roseate Spoonbills, and luckily we found a pair enjoying a little fishing.

These are beautiful birds that migrate from South America to Louisiana and Mississippi.  The last time we were in Florida in May, they had already migrated north.  Luckily for us, they were still in Florida in January.

Still more birding adventures coming, so stay tuned...

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Thanks for reading...

Mark

First Stop - Lovers Key State Park

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The first stop on our search for birds was Lovers Key State Park.  Lovers Key is a small island south of Fort Meyers Beach.  Although the highway passes through the island on the drive to Fort Meyers Beach, the entire island is a State Park.  Mary Ann's cousin Anne and I struck out one morning.

I had been to Lovers Key the last time I was in Florida, and recall seeing nesting Osprey and assorted Blue Herons, Great Egrets and Red Bellied Woodpeckers.  This time was no different.  And having a 600mm lens made it even more fun.

There were a few Osprey flying around the area, but I only found one pair staying close to a nest.

One of the pair was always around the nest, probably to safeguard it from other birds stealing it.  They did not seem to stay in one spot in the nest, so it may be a little early for eggs.

Anne was using my second camera body with a 80-200 f2.8, and liked to shoot the trees in the area, particularly the dead trees along the ocean.

The island is full of shallow waterways that are the food supply for many local birds.  Here are a few doing a little fishing.

 White Ibis.

Little Blue Heron (no kidding).

Stay tuned for further birding adventures...

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Thanks for reading...

Mark

January in Florida

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Mary Ann and I decided that we needed a break and some quiet time on our own, so we planned a trip to Maggie and Jay's condo in Fort Meyers, Florida.  We invited Mary Ann's cousin Anne and her husband Russ to join us, which they did.  This was my third time down to the condo, and each time is more relaxing.  The Gulf coast is full of nature photography opportunities, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The weather in the winter months can be hit-and-miss in Florida.  The week we picked was spectacular.  70's and 80's and sunny, all week (for those of you who can't speak Fahrenheit, it was around 25 degrees Centigrade all week).

Here are a few shots around the area.

Hanging around Fort Meyers Beach the first weekend we arrived.  Weather was terrific, and everyone was headed to the beach.

Not surprisingly, Fort Meyers Beach is made up of restaurants, bars, and souvenir shops.  But there was an energy about it, especially in nice weather.

 
The beach was made for sunsets, and still very crowded at 6:30 at night.

We learned that another cousin Janet was in Florida with a friend Cory.  We met them for an afternoon of exploring, and a few drinks on the beach on Sanibel Island.

Those of you who know me well, know that I would have been photographing birds non-stop if I could.  Not surprisingly, there are lots of stories about photography on this trip, but I'm saving those for a couple more blog postings.  I did manage to bring some birding gear with me, a really cool 600mm f4 lens I picked up from my friend Ron. A lens like that is a game changer, and takes photography to a whole new level.

You will have to stay tuned for those stories!

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Thanks for reading...

Mark

Christmas in Atlanta

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Happy New Year to all!  Sorry for not posting sooner, January just got away from me.  It has been a busy month, and I'm a few posts behind.  So let's start with Christmas...

The family (Mary Ann and I, Jeff, Chris and my mother-in-law Bea) travelled to stay with Mary Ann's sister in Atlanta for Christmas.  Maggie and Jay have been in Atlanta for many years, and their kids Philip, Mark and Danielle were home from school for the holidays.

Rather than bore everyone with family Christmas photos, I would like to share a trip that Jay and I took on one of the clear days (it rained most of the week).  Jay has become interested in Civil War history, and asked if I'd be interested in taking a road trip to a few Civil War sites in the area.  I was game.

We were headed for two sites - Chickamauga and Chattanooga.  Along the way, we were driving by the Georgia National Cemetery at sunrise.  We drove in for a quick photo of the sunrise.

The Georgia National Cemetery is the resting ground for Georgia military personnel and their spouses.

We were headed for Chattanooga Tennessee, about two hours north of Atlanta.  Chattanooga and nearby Chickamauga, were sites of heavy Civil War fighting, with casualties second only to the Battle of Gettysburg.  In total 120,000 troops fought in these battles, and the number of casualties was 65,000.

Chickamauga was little more than farmland and bush in the 1860's.  Luckily the sites were preserved in much the same was as they were 150 years ago.

The log cabin acted as a hospital.

Chattanooga was just north of Chickamauga, and was a key strategic location in the Civil War.  The Chattanooga River as well as a rail link from Atlanta north provided supplies to the Confederate war effort.  After heavy fighting, the Union troops captured Lookout Mountain, and provided a lear view of the Chattanooga river.

 
Capturing this site was a turning point and allowed the Union troops work their way toward Atalanta.

It was interesting to see the scale of these sites, and to imagine how a Civil War must have torn the country apart.

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays. Thanks for reading...

Mark

Dress Rehearsals

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Time flies... I have not posted a blog entry in many weeks, sorry about that, I'll try harder in the future.  Unfortunately my day job gets in the way once and a while.

Mary Ann has been involved with fundraising for the Richmond Hill Philharmonic Orchestra for most of November and December, so the performing arts weighed heavily on my mind.

My friend Lance invited me to photograph the dress rehearsal for Opera York's production of Lucia di Lammermoor with him.  The biggest challenge to photographing a dress rehearsal is the lighting (or should I say the lack thereof).  And no flash allowed.  I set up two cameras, the D300s on a tripod with a 24-70mm lens for full stage shots, and walking around with the D3 and the 80-200mm lens.  Here are a few of the images.

These images were taken at ISO 3200, with a shutter speed of between 1/80th and 1/160th of a second, with an aperture of between f2.8 and f3.5.  The D3 and Lightroom do a great job dealing with digital noise in high ISO images.  I was happy with the shoot.

I also had a opportunity to photograph the dress rehearsal of Alexander MacKenzie High School's production of Anything Goes!  In addition to the lighting challenges mentioned above, this production had many dancing sequences to deal with.  Here are a few of the images.

The lighting was brighter for this production, so I was able to shoot most at ISO 2000, with a shutter speed of 1/160th of a second, at an aperture of f4.5.

Having the equipment to handle the higher ISO, slower shutter speed and wider aperture is a big help in capturing these images.  Another variable is timing (sometimes luck) in capturing eye contact with the actors (and bonus marks for having a catch light in their eyes).

Stay tuned, there is another fun dress rehearsal coming next...

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays. Thanks for reading...

Mark

Up in Smoke

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Smoke photography is a technique I have seen in workshops, but not tried at home.  In its simplest form, it is photographing wisps of smoke.  From a practical point of view, it is a much different beast trying to get the smoke to behave the way you would like.  In other words, you have to control as many variables as possible.

When things go according to plan, and you feel a little creative in Photoshop, here is the result:

For the photographers in the crowd, here is the set up:

The camera is set up approximately 8 feet away from the incense, and the incense is approximately 3 feet away from the background.  It is set up this way to enable the flash and reflector to blast the incense with light, but keep any spill light from hitting the camera or background.

The camera was set on manual, manual focus, ISO 200, aperture of f8, and shutter speed of 1/100 sec.  The flash was also set on manual, 1/2 power, and fired with remote triggers. I tethered the MacBook Pro to the camera using Lightroom 5. This was the first time I tethered a laptop to the camera and was very happy with the result, instant feedback on a decent sized screen.

The most difficult part of the setup was controlling the air flow.  I was set up in the garage, so there was a fair amount of air flow.  Air flow from side to side was Ok, as it was within the focus area.  Air flow from front to back would mean that some of the smoke would be out of focus.

It did not take long to understand how the smoke generally behaved, and when to fire the shutter. Here is a typical shot that I thought had potential to work on in Photoshop.

Once in Photoshop, a few quick steps such as a rotation clockwise, colourize the smoke, and clean up the smoke a little, and this is the end result.

Doesn't even look like the same image, does it? Once you get used to the routine, then you can try mirroring the effect, like this:

The image at the top of this blog entry was given the same treatment.  That image was a composite of a single image, mirrored 4 ways.

You can also change the background from black to white (no colour added).  Here is a before and after:

There were several images taken over the course of the shoot that resembled faces.  I caught this one right away, although Mary Ann didn't see it quite the same way.

Depending on how creative you feel, the possibilities are endless.  There are many more images here to play with, I'll save those for a rainy day.

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Thanks for reading...

Mark

Starry Night in Algonquin

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My last blog entry looked at the sunrise and fall colours of Algonquin Park.  As I mentioned in that entry, Ron and I met our friend Glenn Springer for a trip into the park.

Not only did we shoot the sunrise and fall colours, but we spent the night before shooting the stars.  We left Glenn's place in Minden around 12:30 and made it to the park around 2:00 in the morning.  The weather conditions were perfect.  Mild temperatures, no wind, and not a cloud in the sky.

We were searching around the park for a location that had a northern exposure, with something interesting in the foreground.  We decided on the Lake of Two Rivers.  There was a beach on the south side of the lake, so the reflections off the lake and the tree line provided the foreground interest we were looking for.

Here is one of the first shots out of the camera.

I loved the reflection of the Big Dipper in the lake.

Since we were shooting in a northerly direction, we could not understand why there was so much light above the tree line.  That's Algonquin Park to the north. Then it hit us. It was the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.  How cool was that?  Then we noticed something else, directly overhead....

The Milky Way was directly overhead!  Very cool, indeed.  We don't see stars like that in the city.  Between the Northern Lights, the Milky Way, and the dozens of shooting stars, we were like kids in a candy store.

Here is another image of the Northern Lights with the lake and canoes in the foreground.

We set out photographing the stars to attempt an image of star trails.  Essentially, we shot 140 images of the stars in rapid succession, then combined them into a single image, so that the stars appear to circle Polaris, the North Star.  Here is my first attempt.

Each image was taken at a 30 second exposure, f2.8 with ISO 1,600. The 140 images were shot in RAW format, then imported into Lightroom.  After a few minor adjustments, and copying those adjustments to all 140 images, each image was rendered as a high quality jpeg.  StarStaX was used to combine the images into the final image.  StarStaX is a free download for a PC, or an experimental version for the Mac.  The Mac version worked flawlessly.

Pulling an all-nighter was the most fun I've had in a long time!

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Thanks for reading...

Mark