tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37709015963720259662024-03-13T23:29:13.255-04:00Photography by Tim RucciTim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-45990280718931525442013-10-24T13:27:00.000-04:002013-10-24T13:28:18.669-04:00Alaska: Breaching Humbpack Whales<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Before my most recent trip to Alaska, I had been out on two previous all-day whale watching tours. Both times we saw a few whales. But we never saw more than a few of them swimming on the surface and I never managed to get any images I felt good about showing to anyone else. I had never even managed to get a decent water-dripping tail shot, or a photo of a whale exhaling through its blowhole. In short, whale photography has been a complete bust for me until now. It has always been my dream to see a breaching whale, and if it ever actually happened, I hoped to be quick enough to get a decent photo. I always figured it would probably be a 'one-and-done' opportunity that would likely never repeat itself.<br />
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This trip out of Seward Alaska started out like the other two. After a while we found some whales but I was not getting opportunities that were any better than I had seen in the past. It seemed likely that this day would bring more of the same. We did see some puffins and other birds but found it very challenging to photograph them in flight. One person likened it to attempting to photograph a bullet, and it's not as much an exaggeration as you'd think until the first time you actually try it. It's would be difficult enough if you were standing on stable ground, but trying to do it from a boat bobbing up and down in the water adds that much more difficulty to the task.<br />
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We also saw sea lions on rocks near an island, but nothing very exciting when one thinks of an image worth showing anyone else.<br />
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At one point our boat captain got a call on the radio and told us we were leaving. He didn't tell us where we were going or what had been seen, but told us if nothing changed this was going to be worth it.<br />
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After about a 15 minute ride we came upon some whales and they were continuously beaching. I don't know how many there were but there must have been a lot because everywhere we looked, they were breaching. Sometimes they were breaching more than one at a time and we had to choose which direction to point our lenses. <br />
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It happens very quickly and you need capable equipment in order to point in the right direction and focus in time to get a good shot before the whale falls back into the water with a huge splash. To add to the challenge, most of the time our 35-foot boat was bobbing up and down in the seas. It would have been easily to slip and drop my gear if I had not been extremely careful. <br />
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Our group of six photographed the humpback whales continuously for what seemed like close to an hour. Looking at the time stamp on my images, I later determined that I had been photographing breaching whales for 48 minutes straight. At one point during this time, I turned to my cousin, <a href="http://www.davidturkophotography.net/" target="_blank">David </a> and told him I was seriously wondering if we were about to wake up and learn that this was all just a dream. It certainly seemed like it. I would have never believed this could happen if I had not actually experienced it myself. <br />
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I have already written a lot more than I had planned as I attempted to explain what we witnessed that day. So I'll stop here and get to some photos. I photographed 47 separate breaches, and most were multiple image bursts that look like a video when I look at them in secession. Most were pretty sharp or at least usable, so I was able to choose a few favorites to post. If you have have <em>half as much</em> fun viewing these as I did shooting them I will have accomplished my task. This day was nothing short of indescribable. It is a day I will never forget. <br />
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You can see more images from this trip on my website at <a href="http://www.timrucci.com/">www.timrucci.com</a><br />
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Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com5Seward, AK 99664, USA60.104166699999993 -149.442222260.040881699999993 -149.6035837 60.167451699999994 -149.2808607tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-70163601532879797842013-10-19T14:09:00.001-04:002013-10-23T08:27:44.284-04:00Alaska: Bald Eagle in Flight<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On my recent trip to Alaska, I finally had a decent opportunity to photograph a bald eagle in flight. This was my 4th trip to Alaska but ironically I had never had this opportunity before. This is mainly because I had not spent much time in the coastal areas of Alaska. As we all know, if you want to see a specific bird or other animal, the best plan is traveling to where its food supply is. Since eagles mainly feed on fish, your best chances are in coastal areas. <br />
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On this occasion I was in Homer Alaska, which bills itself as the halibut capital of the world. One evening I saw an eagle up on a perch in a light falling drizzle in less than perfect light. The daylight was also waning as I waited nearly an hour to see if the eagle would leave its perch. Every few minutes I would take a test shot to meter the light and ensure that I would nail the exposure in the event the eagle would take flight and gave me the opportunity that so far had evaded me. I was about ready to give up when the eagle started to move and raise some optimism that it would soon fly.<br />
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I was shooting in manual exposure mode to ensure that the camera would not try to adjust the exposure as the color of the background changed. Having the camera automatically adjust the exposure when using aperture priority or shutter priority modes will result in incorrect exposures and lost shots if the color of the background changes. As long as the general level of light is not getting brighter or darker, manual exposure is the best approach to this type situation. While I waited, the correct exposure ranged from +1EV to about +1.67 or +2EV by the time the eagle flew. To get the correct exposure I had to overexpose the shots about 2-stops compared to what the camera metering system <em>thought</em> was the correct exposure. The white background filling at least 3/4 of the frame compared to the dark colored bird was fooling the metering system. So the photographer must trust the histogram if he intends to get the true, correct exposure.<br />
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For this entire series of images, the settings were 1/1600 @f4, iso 1600, (+2EV) with Canon 1DX camera and 500L f4 IS lens.<br />
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The eagle finally launched itself and I was firing immediately from the start. I seldom if ever shoot long bursts, but this was an occasion where such action was warranted. I knew it might be difficult to keep my focus sensor pattern trained on the eagle as it flew, so I used settings that caused the camera to delay searching for the subject in the event the focus sensors were not on the bird the entire time as I attempted to track its flight.<br />
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I ended up firing a burst of 37 consecutive shots in a period of just over 3 seconds. I managed to track the eagle relatively well through the flight and only lost focus as the bird banked and flew over my head. Upon reviewing the images on the rear LCD of my Canon 1DX, I found that about 32 of the 37 shots were tack sharp, and 2 or 3 more were acceptably sharp. The 2 shots that were unusable were the last 2 in the sequence where I no longer had the focus sensor pattern on the bird as it flew past me. (in other words, the 2 unusable shots were my fault, not the camera's).<br />
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With birds in flight, it's always good to have lots of in-focus shots so one can pick out the most flattering images with the most appealing wing positions. I chose several from this sequence and posted them below. <br />
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You can see more images from this trip on my website here: <br />
<a href="http://www.pbase.com/tim32225/alaska_2013" target="_blank">http://www.pbase.com/tim32225/alaska_2013</a><br />
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Please feel free to click on the link above and take a look.<br />
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Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com4Homer, AK, USA59.642500000000013 -151.5483332999999759.514090500000016 -151.87105679999996 59.770909500000009 -151.22560979999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-79330022759581688362013-01-11T08:51:00.001-05:002013-01-11T08:51:18.602-05:00Great Blue Heron - Nest Building<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It's been a few months since I've posted anything here, but lately I have gathered some new material so finally I have some images to share. I recently treated myself to a new camera, and the images in this post were gathered while trying it out for the first time at a couple of my favorite venues for bird photography. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Male heron handing a twig to the female<br />
1/3200 @f10, iso 3200, 700mm</td></tr>
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The camera is a Canon 1Dx and I so far am very pleased with it. I was shooting a Canon 1D Mark 4 prior to this and now that camera will serve as a very capable backup. The 1Dx is absolutely the fastest, most responsive camera I have ever held in my hands. The speed and accuracy of focus acquisition is simply amazing, even compared to the Mark 4. I am confident that this camera will serve me well on my coming trip to Kenya. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1DX_0687 Male heron gatering sticks<br />
1/320 @f7.1, iso 800, 700mm</td></tr>
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Last week I tried out the camera at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and Viera Wetlands, about 30 miles further south. There was not much bird activity at Merritt Island the first day but a trip down the road to Viera proved to be very productive. There were several pairs of great blue herons building nests, and as you have probably already realized, they are the subject of this post. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1Dx_0669 Male flying back to the nest <br />
1/640 @f7.1, iso800, 700mm </td></tr>
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I had observed great blue herons nest building on prior occasions, and discovered that their behavior is very predicatable. The male repeatedly flies to and from the nest, gathering twigs and handing them off to the female. The female then places each twig exactly where she wants it in the nest. This process repeats itself over and over so it is not too difficult to get in a good position to photograph it. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1Dx_0733 Male heron flying back to the nest <br />
1/5000 @f10, iso 1600, 700mm</td></tr>
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About every 5 minutes or so, the male would leave the nest and fly off to find aother twig. It would only take about a minute for him to find one and then fly back to the nest. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1Dx_0672 Male heron landing in the nest <br />
1/1250 @f7.1, iso 800, 700mm </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1Dx_ 0680 Male heron preparing to hand the twig to the female<br />
1/1250 @f7.1, iso 800, 700mm</td></tr>
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Typically in just a few minutes, the male is flying away again to gather more nesting material. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1Dx_0725 Male heron headed out to find nesting material <br />
1/4000 @f10, iso 1600, 700mm</td></tr>
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Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com6Brevard, FL, USA28.228794447059975 -80.75576663017272928.227919947059977 -80.75702713017273 28.229668947059974 -80.754506130172729tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-14437648350934317472012-06-29T02:01:00.000-04:002012-06-30T20:15:39.853-04:00Whitewater ! Ohiopyle Falls, PA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We recently returned from a two week vacation that included a several days in a golf resort near Morgantown, West Virgina. While we were there, my wife took our nephew white water rafting one day, but I opted to sit out and just try to get a few photos of them as they put in and started off in their rafts. This was across the border in Pennsylvania, on the Youghiogheny River. There is a park along the river adjacent to where the rafters set in, and just upstream is the 20 foot high Ohiopyle Falls.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W48xFYZfi4o/T-04p7fs0vI/AAAAAAAABRg/RwYlkz2Tl-g/s1600/M4_05587w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W48xFYZfi4o/T-04p7fs0vI/AAAAAAAABRg/RwYlkz2Tl-g/s640/M4_05587w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ohiopyle Falls</td></tr>
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While I was on a viewing platform at the falls, a woman I spoke to there told me that three of her friends would be going over the falls in kayaks in the next few minutes. I turned my attention to the falls, and watched and photographed all three of them individually as they paddled through the rapids and then went over the falls. It was an interesting spectacle to watch. I shot sequences of about 25 images of each kayaker, and you can see a few of them below as each paddler went over the falls.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#5661 - 1/3200 @f7.1, iso 800</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#5662 - 1/3200 @f7.1, iso 800</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#5663 - 1/3200 @f7.1, iso 800</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#5702 - 1/3200 @f7/1, iso 800</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#5703 - 1/3200 @f7.1, iso 800<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#5624 - 1/3200 @f7.1, iso 800</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#5625 - 1/3200 @f7.1, iso 800</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#5628 - 1/3200 @f7.1, iso 800</td></tr>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-57238860444800578542012-05-25T15:49:00.000-04:002012-05-26T11:54:38.837-04:00Photographing Roseate Spoonbills in Flight<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The roseate spoonbill is one of my favorite birds to photograph. It's fun to watch them fly and their pink color against a bright blue sky makes in interesting photograph. I had the occasion to see a few of them the last couple weeks and managed to get a few decent flight shots. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mC0xiOogIjc/T7_NkJP3m9I/AAAAAAAABQI/_EF4yhZTaIY/s1600/M4_03086w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="344" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mC0xiOogIjc/T7_NkJP3m9I/AAAAAAAABQI/_EF4yhZTaIY/s640/M4_03086w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_03086 1/2500 @f5.6, iso 640, 400mm, distance = 74.7 ft<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 100-400L IS lens</td></tr>
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Typically I try to keep my shutter at 1/2000 second of higher for flight shots in order to eliminate any motion blur. If I manage to keep tracking the moving bird effectively, this gives me a chance to get a decent photo. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2cC7i9DZGAQ/T7_FxmTjNuI/AAAAAAAABPQ/MF1zqdyLf6U/s1600/M4_03087w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2cC7i9DZGAQ/T7_FxmTjNuI/AAAAAAAABPQ/MF1zqdyLf6U/s640/M4_03087w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_03087 1/2500 @f5.6, iso 640, 285mm, distance = 59.3 ft<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 100-400L IS lens</td></tr>
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The photo above was the next image in the same series as the bird flew overhead. The wing position in this one is what I like. The image always seems more appealing to me with the wings in the full spread position. The curled primary feathers at the tip of the wings are an added plus.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9NsgBDv70UU/T7_IWpDU9RI/AAAAAAAABPg/6zueNxzE_CI/s1600/M4_03058w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9NsgBDv70UU/T7_IWpDU9RI/AAAAAAAABPg/6zueNxzE_CI/s640/M4_03058w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_03058 1/2500 @f5.6, iso 640, 310mm, distance = 59.3 ft.<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 100-400L IS lens</td></tr>
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One thing that makes it challenging to get an attractive photo of a bird in flight, is the fact that usually the underside of the wings is shadowed and therefore dark. The exception is late in the early morning or late evening when the sun is low, as sometimes the sun lights up the underside of the wing. That is the case only if the sun is behind you and the bird is flying toward the light. But even then, the chances of the underside of the wings being properly lit are not very high. For this reason, I almost always shoot with a flash and a 'better beamer' flash extender, which increases the range of the flash by about 2.5 times. In the image directly above, even though I used flash, the sunlight hitting the bird from above was still much brighter than the flash.<br />
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You can see how just a little different angle of light makes for a better photo in the example below. With the bird about 25 feet closer and banking slightly more, I am able to get more light under the wings from my flash.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-watryF3Z-1E/T7_Y6NssmPI/AAAAAAAABQ4/BBOKKAtzyN8/s1600/M4_03178w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-watryF3Z-1E/T7_Y6NssmPI/AAAAAAAABQ4/BBOKKAtzyN8/s640/M4_03178w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_03178 1/2500 @f6.3, iso 400, 210mm, distance = 35.4 ft.<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 100-400L IS lens<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EwL4kiWRO88/T7_K1pwTMaI/AAAAAAAABPw/3YhARaJ1U40/s1600/M4_04948cw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EwL4kiWRO88/T7_K1pwTMaI/AAAAAAAABPw/3YhARaJ1U40/s640/M4_04948cw.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_04948 1/2500 @f5.0, iso 400, 300mm, distance = 83.6 ft.<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 300L f2.8 IS lens</td></tr>
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I almost always shoot in full manual exposure mode because it offers several advantages over the programed auto exposure modes. First, in manual mode the camera does not alter the exposure according to the brightness of the scene. Allowing the camera to control the exposure us usually a deal breaker for birds in flight, because the brightness of the background changes dramatically if the bird suddenly flies away from the blue sky background and in front of a darker background of water or foliage. In auto exposure modes such as aperture priority or shutter priority, this would result in an overexposure of about 2 stops which means your image goes straight to the recycle bin.<br />
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Second, in the Canon system the external flash automatically fires at higher power when the camera is in manual exposure mode. (Flash acts only as fill in Av and Tv modes, resulting in a lower power flash). Using the better beamer and full power flash gives me over double the flash range. I can easily throw light from the flash on a bird 100 feet away using this method. The better beamer uses a fresnel lens and works by concentrating the light into a narrow beam, thereby increasing the amount of light that hits the target.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EjhjMaIp2OU/T7_P8FYmpUI/AAAAAAAABQQ/uhjm_8ArScs/s1600/M4_03063w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EjhjMaIp2OU/T7_P8FYmpUI/AAAAAAAABQQ/uhjm_8ArScs/s640/M4_03063w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_03063 1/2500 @f5.6, iso 640, 260mm, distanced = 48.8 ft.<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 100-400L IS lens</td></tr>
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The images directly above and below are of younger spoonbills. The colors are more pale, and darken as the bird grows older. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Bji1jbtFcM/T7_RN82zl1I/AAAAAAAABQY/fkk-uf3fgOY/s1600/M4_04871w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Bji1jbtFcM/T7_RN82zl1I/AAAAAAAABQY/fkk-uf3fgOY/s640/M4_04871w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_04871 1/2000 @ f5.6, iso 400, 170mm, distance = 35.4 ft.<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 100-400L IS lens</td></tr>
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For birds in flight, I typically use the center focus point, with the surrounding 6 focus points also activated in A1-Servo (focus tracking) mode. This gives me 7 active focus points in the middle of the frame to track the moving bird. Once I achieve focus, as long as I keep at least one of these focus points on the moving bird, the camera will track it and try to keep it in focus. Sometimes it's a little more difficult than it sounds.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hj2c4g1_3iM/T7_UFEFN7UI/AAAAAAAABQo/W7qng3C_DEc/s1600/M4_05029w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hj2c4g1_3iM/T7_UFEFN7UI/AAAAAAAABQo/W7qng3C_DEc/s640/M4_05029w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_05029 1/2000 @f5.0, iso 400, 300mm, distance = 83.4 ft.<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 300L f2.8 IS lens</td></tr>
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I thought the leg kick in the photo above made it interesting. He was probably changing direction, as they usually keep both legs pointed straight back as they glide through the air. Below is the same bird just 7 seconds later as it flew past from right to left. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xyhu7Ttu9vM/T7_WlIurOII/AAAAAAAABQw/wFDK9SnAaMY/s1600/M4_05033w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xyhu7Ttu9vM/T7_WlIurOII/AAAAAAAABQw/wFDK9SnAaMY/s640/M4_05033w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_05033 1/2000 @f5.0, iso 400, 300mm, distance = 58.3 ft<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 300L f2.8 IS lens</td></tr>
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Some people photograph birds in flight by pointing the camera and firing off a burst of a half dozen or more shots. While my camera is capable of shooting 10 frames per second, I prefer to track the bird and instead fire off 2 or 3 shots at most, at just the right time. This results in a lot less work sorting through a bunch of extra photos. Also, if I am using flash, it cannot recycle fast enough to fire on every shot in a burst, usually only flashing on every 3rd or 4th shot if I'm firing at 10 frames per second. Sometimes I can get a good shot without the flash if light is perfect, but it's the exception. So I see firing long bursts as usually just a waste of battery power and memory space. <br />
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I sometimes fired bursts when shooting sports, because flash is not used and sometimes you miss the best shot in a series if you don't. But it has not been as useful for me when photographing birds. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pD060mvNLDo/T7_eah64EgI/AAAAAAAABRI/1h15gEdLs6g/s1600/M4_05058w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pD060mvNLDo/T7_eah64EgI/AAAAAAAABRI/1h15gEdLs6g/s640/M4_05058w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_05058 1/2500 @f5.0, iso 400, 300mm, distance =45.2 ft.<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 300L f2.8 IS lens</td></tr>
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Here is one final shot with the sun lighting up the wings and hitting the bird's eye just right. The flash did not fire on the photo below and this is the kind of exception I mentioned earlier, where you sometimes get a good shot of a 'flyer' without flash if the light is just right. <span style="color: red;"> [NOTE: Click on any image in this post to see a larger view of the bird]</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-53afYYpuuRo/T7_fEtzUK6I/AAAAAAAABRQ/1C7_J65VTp8/s1600/M4_04949w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-53afYYpuuRo/T7_fEtzUK6I/AAAAAAAABRQ/1C7_J65VTp8/s640/M4_04949w.jpg" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_04949 1/2500 @f5.0, iso 400, 300mm, distance = 58.4 ft.<br />
Canon 1D Mark 4 & 300L f2.8 IS lens</td></tr>
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<br /></div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com2St Augustine, FL, USA29.8942639 -81.313208329.8391989 -81.3921723 29.949328899999998 -81.2342443tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-72458727923916946232012-04-21T10:45:00.000-04:002012-04-21T10:54:01.612-04:00Cumberland Island<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last Saturday I spent the day at Cumberland Island with some friends. It was a fun day, and a good opportunity to explore the main points of interest on the island. I had been wanting to visit Cumberland Island since last year, when I had to cancel a planned week long trip because it was about to happen at the same time I got sick and ended up spending extended time in the hospital. <br />
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Transportation to the island is by ferry, and it leaves at 9am from the dock in St. Marys. There are 2 return trips at 2:45pm and 4:45pm on Saturdays. On weekdays there is only the 4:45 return. The trip is about 45 minutes up the St. Marys River.<span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;"> [click any photo to enlarge]</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YS6rl62Esx8/T5JAq3L3MfI/AAAAAAAABMo/ObstLL76GFE/s1600/M4_02746w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" qda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YS6rl62Esx8/T5JAq3L3MfI/AAAAAAAABMo/ObstLL76GFE/s640/M4_02746w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#M4_02746 - The Beach at Cumberland Island</td></tr>
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The island is an interesting place to see. There are lots of old oak trees and most are covered with Spanish moss which remind me of moss covered trees scattered around the school I attended in Jacksonville as a child.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ktBxfDityQE/T5JJFGM4HkI/AAAAAAAABM4/ScZm21ejh_g/s1600/M4_02733w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" qda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ktBxfDityQE/T5JJFGM4HkI/AAAAAAAABM4/ScZm21ejh_g/s640/M4_02733w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02733 - Oak Tree in front of Carnegie Mansion</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-unGdwfNfmiA/T5JHQUDVwsI/AAAAAAAABMw/TlNmJRfJo9Q/s1600/M4_02744w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" qda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-unGdwfNfmiA/T5JHQUDVwsI/AAAAAAAABMw/TlNmJRfJo9Q/s640/M4_02744w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02744 - Salt Marsh at low tide</td></tr>
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Some items of interest in the island are the 24,000 square foot Carnegie Mansion, and the ruins of Dungeness castle, which was a 59 room Scottish castle built by Thomas Carnegie, although he died before it was completed. Dungeness was named by Thomas' wife, Lucy, after another building on the island that had burned down some years earlier. Dungeness was also destroyed by fire in 1959 and was vacant at the time. Also on the island is the small chapel where John F. Kennedy, Jr. was married.<br />
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There are approximately 160 wild horses roaming freely on the island, and we saw lots of them during our day there, including several ponies. The horses were the main attraction that I hoped to be able to photograph.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VdoK4WH6ZXw/T5JJxs6fh3I/AAAAAAAABNA/Kk5Zek9SED0/s1600/M4_02645w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" qda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VdoK4WH6ZXw/T5JJxs6fh3I/AAAAAAAABNA/Kk5Zek9SED0/s640/M4_02645w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02645 - Wild Horses</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FViC51VQaq4/T5JJ98p2yqI/AAAAAAAABNI/IHFEEkiK0N0/s1600/M4_02626w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" qda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FViC51VQaq4/T5JJ98p2yqI/AAAAAAAABNI/IHFEEkiK0N0/s640/M4_02626w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02626 - Wild Horses</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8vfSIRG92vw/T5JYbkOnVoI/AAAAAAAABO4/VGjgzGSCxro/s1600/M4_02544w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" qda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8vfSIRG92vw/T5JYbkOnVoI/AAAAAAAABO4/VGjgzGSCxro/s640/M4_02544w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02544 - Wild Horses</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zw9ynYVWqn4/T5JKVsnAQvI/AAAAAAAABNQ/PFbTN98-GZA/s1600/M4_02606w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" qda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zw9ynYVWqn4/T5JKVsnAQvI/AAAAAAAABNQ/PFbTN98-GZA/s640/M4_02606w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02606 - Pony</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-miaWOMcEk5A/T5JKjx8b6EI/AAAAAAAABNY/HAr1ag_wXKc/s1600/M4_02807w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" qda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-miaWOMcEk5A/T5JKjx8b6EI/AAAAAAAABNY/HAr1ag_wXKc/s640/M4_02807w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02607 - Pony with Mother </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OK4PucTf8ms/T5JK3pdMJxI/AAAAAAAABNg/N_UkU7UtYYA/s1600/M4_02826w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" qda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OK4PucTf8ms/T5JK3pdMJxI/AAAAAAAABNg/N_UkU7UtYYA/s1600/M4_02826w.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02826 - White Pony</td></tr>
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When we arrived at the Dungeness ruins, we walked behind the structure and saw a group of about a six or eight horses, including this white pony that was with his mother, nursing at the time. I tried to get a few close up photos of him because he looked really cute.<br />
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We walked around completely around the Dungeness ruins and I took some photos from different angles. I am only posting two of them below; one from the front and one from the back. We did not approach the horses very closely and they didn't seem to mind us being there.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kt064XIs9FE/T5JNeBdnXzI/AAAAAAAABNo/t9Ef1SnHpnY/s1600/M4_02780w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" qda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kt064XIs9FE/T5JNeBdnXzI/AAAAAAAABNo/t9Ef1SnHpnY/s640/M4_02780w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02780 - Ruins of Dungeness Castle (front)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RhWY4GoMUC4/T5JNsK0k5-I/AAAAAAAABNw/G4t_f-VMwMk/s1600/M4_02842w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" qda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RhWY4GoMUC4/T5JNsK0k5-I/AAAAAAAABNw/G4t_f-VMwMk/s640/M4_02842w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02842 - Dungeness Ruins (back)</td></tr>
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Shown below is the small chapel (First African Baptist Church) where John F. Kennedy Jr. was married. It was built in 1937 to replace an earlier structure that was built in 1893.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OfvrlyCl32o/T5JOICxiBpI/AAAAAAAABN4/gVzsd5XcKOc/s1600/M4_02769w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" qda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OfvrlyCl32o/T5JOICxiBpI/AAAAAAAABN4/gVzsd5XcKOc/s640/M4_02769w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02769 - Chapel (JFK Jr was married here)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xweYJ3tk820/T5JOUNWQ1WI/AAAAAAAABOA/sqaEGGdVM3c/s1600/M4_02762w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" qda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xweYJ3tk820/T5JOUNWQ1WI/AAAAAAAABOA/sqaEGGdVM3c/s640/M4_02762w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02762 - Inside the Chapel</td></tr>
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We were also able to take a tour of the Carnegie Mansion. It is being restored by the National Park Service and most of the first and second floor is accessible to visitors. The images below show some exterior views and some of the spaces inside that I felt were interesting. An air conditioning system has been added during the restoration to allow visitors to tour the building in comfort.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MUJwXbzBpEM/T5JPsLE_N9I/AAAAAAAABOI/dnZcyBGyJA4/s1600/M4_02669w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="434" qda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MUJwXbzBpEM/T5JPsLE_N9I/AAAAAAAABOI/dnZcyBGyJA4/s640/M4_02669w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02669 - Carnegie Mansion</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_-ZXjHXy_RM/T5JSBZptQXI/AAAAAAAABOQ/8z9E_bnAAkU/s1600/M4_02687w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" qda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_-ZXjHXy_RM/T5JSBZptQXI/AAAAAAAABOQ/8z9E_bnAAkU/s640/M4_02687w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02687 - Inside the Carnegie Mansion</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--3VyMTB9o3c/T5JSM0RwsoI/AAAAAAAABOY/V4-KVQfKPKc/s1600/M4_02688w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" qda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--3VyMTB9o3c/T5JSM0RwsoI/AAAAAAAABOY/V4-KVQfKPKc/s640/M4_02688w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02688 - Inside the Carnegie Mansion</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A-x6S5Z5sZg/T5JTcA2aHyI/AAAAAAAABOg/UtAFK0LyC54/s1600/M4_02693w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" qda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A-x6S5Z5sZg/T5JTcA2aHyI/AAAAAAAABOg/UtAFK0LyC54/s640/M4_02693w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02693 - Inside the Carnegie Mansion</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yBN0kK6CE2w/T5JUNx8F2bI/AAAAAAAABOo/A7qE5jmQdCM/s1600/M4_02712w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" qda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yBN0kK6CE2w/T5JUNx8F2bI/AAAAAAAABOo/A7qE5jmQdCM/s640/M4_02712w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02712 - Inside the Carnegie Mansion</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wyzXlsnDX_I/T5JVNp5CHfI/AAAAAAAABOw/ILxgeOM54EI/s1600/M4_02722w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" qda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wyzXlsnDX_I/T5JVNp5CHfI/AAAAAAAABOw/ILxgeOM54EI/s640/M4_02722w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02722 - Inside the Carnegie Mansion</td></tr>
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Below is a photo of our gang having lunch under the oak trees next to the Carnegie Mansion. If you plan to visit Cumberland Island, you'll need to pack yourself a lunch and bring a water bottle or two to get you through the day. <br />
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There is no food service on the island unless you are staying at the Greyfield Inn. There are no stores or restaurants, and you must pack out your trash and take it back out with you. Likewise, there are no paved roads or trails, and no way to bring a vehicle onto the island. Virtually all travel is on foot or by bicycle (rentals available) unless you take a van tour of the island. There are several camping sites on the island but only one has running water and bathroom facilities with cold showers. <br />
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We took an all day van tour that got us to the points of interest that I've shown in the photos. The dirt roads are very rough and full of holes, and we all felt like bobble head dolls by the end of the day. But it was a fun time and very interesting. Reservations are recommended for both the ferry and for island tours. The National Park Service limits the number of visitors on the island to no more than 300 at a time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tI2HwQ0hZr8/T5JaG9zMD1I/AAAAAAAABPA/TfVOrcvbI2c/s1600/M4_02736w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" qda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tI2HwQ0hZr8/T5JaG9zMD1I/AAAAAAAABPA/TfVOrcvbI2c/s640/M4_02736w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M4_02736 - Lunch time</td></tr>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-87062367940665004962012-04-10T21:20:00.000-04:002012-04-10T21:54:40.704-04:00Climbing Moro Rock<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK</span><br />
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To celebrate the end of my chemo and radiation treatments back in October, we spent 2 weeks in California visiting a few places we had always wanted to see. High on my list was Yosemite National Park, and it seemed to make sense to also visit Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks since they are nearby.<br />
<span style="color: red;">[click any image to enlarge]</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UFFKwXX-Ees/T4TRV32AR6I/AAAAAAAABLI/8Zq5KrkT4Zo/s1600/7D_1495w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UFFKwXX-Ees/T4TRV32AR6I/AAAAAAAABLI/8Zq5KrkT4Zo/s640/7D_1495w.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Our timing could have been better as I misjudged the date that the radiation treatments would end, and it only left a week between the end of treatments and the departure date for our trip. (This snafu happened because it took 2 weeks longer than expected for the insurance company to give approval for the treatments). Radiation gradually wears a person down and my radiation oncologist explained that it would take at least a month for me to get my strength back after the treatments. Oh well... reservations were already made and plane tickets purchased, so we were going.<br />
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I decided to just enjoy the trip and try not push myself too hard physically so I could get the most enjoyment possible from our travels. Cindy did virtually all the driving once we landed in California, and it was really great sitting in the seat on the right for a change. <br />
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After 3 days at Yosemite, we drove south to Sequoia National Park. Aside from seeing redwood and sequoia forests we planned to climb Moro Rock, which is a 6,725 foot high granite rock which resembles a much smaller version of Half Dome. It's very easily accessible and you can park at the bottom of a sequence of 400 steps that take you to the top. Some of the steps are carved into the rock and others are poured concrete, but the route is cleverly blended into the natural surroundings.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YDMf44oYv3c/T4TSsQz-VQI/AAAAAAAABLY/Exh_faT18Ac/s1600/7D_1520w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YDMf44oYv3c/T4TSsQz-VQI/AAAAAAAABLY/Exh_faT18Ac/s640/7D_1520w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7_1520 - About half way to the top</td></tr>
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The views we were treated to during our climb were worth stopping for pictures, and this served the dual purpose of giving me a chance to catch my breath. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UE0qwWeQ4cI/T4TT1eJh7SI/AAAAAAAABLo/XpqbZ8Rdlb0/s1600/7D_1497w2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UE0qwWeQ4cI/T4TT1eJh7SI/AAAAAAAABLo/XpqbZ8Rdlb0/s640/7D_1497w2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7_1497 - View from the steps on the way to the summit</td></tr>
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Climbing the steps was a little bit tiring for me and I had to stop and rest several times along the way. But we got to the top and enjoyed the sunset with one other couple who had gotten there before us. I was surprised that there were not more people up there that evening.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pt43-nKJ8iA/T4TU841aW7I/AAAAAAAABLw/xXhfAZbYxf0/s1600/7D_1508w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pt43-nKJ8iA/T4TU841aW7I/AAAAAAAABLw/xXhfAZbYxf0/s640/7D_1508w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7_1508 - Another view from the steps</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yjsuoeGHwA4/T4TVNmtQ5JI/AAAAAAAABL4/gnUTbFUViGo/s1600/7D_1524w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yjsuoeGHwA4/T4TVNmtQ5JI/AAAAAAAABL4/gnUTbFUViGo/s640/7D_1524w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7_1510 - Reaching the summit</td></tr>
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The view from the top was well worth the climb. We stayed through the sunset and snapped a few photos, then started back down before it got completely dark. We used flashlights to light up the area in front of us as we decended, but there was still enough ambient light to see where we were going.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D4k8qBAmkHw/T4TWrHFCX3I/AAAAAAAABMQ/9Xo7n2eAAO4/s1600/7D_1549w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D4k8qBAmkHw/T4TWrHFCX3I/AAAAAAAABMQ/9Xo7n2eAAO4/s640/7D_1549w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7_1549 - View of the Mountains to the south</td></tr>
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#7_1538 - Sunset at Moro Rock</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bb5panL5f3Q/T4TWhXLDLoI/AAAAAAAABMI/J7AbAFPGLMA/s1600/7D_1540w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bb5panL5f3Q/T4TWhXLDLoI/AAAAAAAABMI/J7AbAFPGLMA/s640/7D_1540w.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">#7_1540 - Layers of Mountains</td></tr>
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Here are a couple images of the sequoias from earlier in the day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qvJfMOwL0Vc/T4TXZCYRUMI/AAAAAAAABMY/kCaThGQt_9M/s1600/7D_1430w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" nda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qvJfMOwL0Vc/T4TXZCYRUMI/AAAAAAAABMY/kCaThGQt_9M/s1600/7D_1430w.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7_1430 - Giant Sequoia Trees</td></tr>
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The park rangers were doing a controlled burn to remove some underbrush, and the sunlight shining through the smoke made an interesting photo.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7_1490 - Controlled Burn</td></tr>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com1Sequoia National Park, 47050 Generals Hwy, Three Rivers, CA 93271, USA36.4977439 -118.570734636.089284400000004 -119.2024486 36.9062034 -117.93902059999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-48890361326397239652012-02-27T15:54:00.000-05:002012-02-28T00:18:55.497-05:00Strolling Around Washington, D.C.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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If you appreciate history or architecture, Washington DC is a fabulous place to visit. Although I've been there several times, without a doubt my most memorable visit was back in 2005 when I spent 5 days there during the cherry blossom festival. With the entire city bathed in pink, it was absolutely beautiful. Additionally, for anyone who has not had time to explore the city at night, some of these images my prove interesting.<br />
<span style="color: red;">[click on any image to enlarge]</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YdbP3VlubW0/T0sQq72uz0I/AAAAAAAABIY/NOvCKPW6YkA/s1600/IMG_28741w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" lda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YdbP3VlubW0/T0sQq72uz0I/AAAAAAAABIY/NOvCKPW6YkA/s640/IMG_28741w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#10_28741 Jefferson Memorial - 1/160 @f13, iso 400, 44mm </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7JdLsuafnQ/T0sL0xRdgMI/AAAAAAAABH4/Qj2HFwGXNII/s1600/IMG_27885w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" lda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7JdLsuafnQ/T0sL0xRdgMI/AAAAAAAABH4/Qj2HFwGXNII/s640/IMG_27885w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#10_27885 The Path Around the Tidal Basin </td></tr>
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Walking along the edge of the tidal basin to the Jefferson Memorial was just an amazing splash of color with the cherry trees in bloom. The photo above gives an idea of what it looks like but it's hardly a substitute for being there in person. After visiting in April, it will be difficult to get excited about going there again at any other time of the year. <br />
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Washington is also a great place for night time photography. To me, there is something magical watching as the darkness slowly filters out the daytime distractions to provide a different perspective the buildings and monuments.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-PEeP44Zyc/T0Vhh87epOI/AAAAAAAABHY/Uz6tGZogpb0/s1600/IMG_28252w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" lda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-PEeP44Zyc/T0Vhh87epOI/AAAAAAAABHY/Uz6tGZogpb0/s640/IMG_28252w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#10_28252 US Capitol at Dusk - 2 seconds @f6.3, iso 100</td></tr>
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The image above was made at 8:03pm, and the one below was taken just 16 minutes later. While dusk is my favorite time for photography, it's easy to see that one can only photograph one or two sites in a day before the light is gone. Since I was standing on the national mall only a few steps from the Smithsonian, I was able to photograph it as well before the sky was too dark. With few exceptions, once the sky is black it's usually too late to get a good photo.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wMnJIMjnJSI/T0r8GZFPPFI/AAAAAAAABHw/6qlS4BplRT8/s1600/IMG_28278w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" lda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wMnJIMjnJSI/T0r8GZFPPFI/AAAAAAAABHw/6qlS4BplRT8/s640/IMG_28278w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#10-28278 US Capitol at Night - 8 seconds @f8, iso 100, 65mm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dQKnygYClXo/T0sS--q086I/AAAAAAAABIg/p9VCRd6k9XY/s1600/IMG_28283w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" lda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dQKnygYClXo/T0sS--q086I/AAAAAAAABIg/p9VCRd6k9XY/s640/IMG_28283w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#10_28283 Smithsonian Castle - 15 seconds @f4, iso 100, 33mm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l0GEJfi5i4A/T0r5eTR5ygI/AAAAAAAABHo/k96MDhN2Q9U/s1600/1D_50872w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" lda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l0GEJfi5i4A/T0r5eTR5ygI/AAAAAAAABHo/k96MDhN2Q9U/s640/1D_50872w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_50872 Iwo Jima Memorial - 0.4sec @f4, iso 200, 30mm</td></tr>
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For best results when photographing the monuments, it's important to have a wide angle lens. Most of the buildings cannot be photographed very well without one, and using one gives you the opportunity to capture some really interesting perspectives. Both views of the Jefferson Memorial below were photographed with a 17mm lens. In the second one, I was lying on my back to get as much of dome as possible in the photo.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WyCdNQmYoOQ/T0sO2BtxKjI/AAAAAAAABII/BAazhRD4zSY/s1600/1D_50672w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="452" lda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WyCdNQmYoOQ/T0sO2BtxKjI/AAAAAAAABII/BAazhRD4zSY/s640/1D_50672w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_50672 Jefferson Memorial - 1/40 @f9, iso 200, 17mm </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dxAvVu3YxRY/T0sPPb7mfnI/AAAAAAAABIQ/dwHzhdtBF8M/s1600/1D_50676w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" lda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dxAvVu3YxRY/T0sPPb7mfnI/AAAAAAAABIQ/dwHzhdtBF8M/s640/1D_50676w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_50676 Jefferson Memorial - 1/50 @f9, iso 200, 17mm </td></tr>
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When I visited the Lincoln Memorial, I stood there trying to figure out a way to make a photograph that would not look the same as all the other ones I had seen. I photographed the statue of Abraham Lincoln from the front, the back, and both sides, figuring I should be able to come up with something a little bit different. My favorite photo is below.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xEvn_-BX1qQ/T0sV_EFUq2I/AAAAAAAABIo/KvjvwbW8cFs/s1600/IMG_27818w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" lda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xEvn_-BX1qQ/T0sV_EFUq2I/AAAAAAAABIo/KvjvwbW8cFs/s640/IMG_27818w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#10_27818 Lincoln Memorial - 1/60 @f4.5, iso 400, 44mm </td></tr>
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Although I did not have time to go inside the US Capitol on my trip back in 2005, I finally did take the Capitol tour in 2010. Since the last time I had been to Washington, the new visitor center had been built, which now has guests entering the capitol from underground.<br />
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Even my 15mm fisheye lens was not wide enough to capture the underside of the capitol dome the way I wanted to. The first image below is the best I could do, and the next one shows a close up of the painting under the dome. <span style="color: red;">[click any image to enlarge]</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tgDHHpb6y_0/T0sZtuSWQ0I/AAAAAAAABIw/msgT-wFn4Ss/s1600/1D_96508w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" lda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tgDHHpb6y_0/T0sZtuSWQ0I/AAAAAAAABIw/msgT-wFn4Ss/s640/1D_96508w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_96508 US Capitol Dome - 1/100 @f6.3, iso 400, 15mm </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_96516 - Painting Under the Capitol Dome - 1/30 @ f5.6, iso 400, 95mm</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#10-28609 The White House - 1/250 @f5, iso 200, 65mm</td></tr>
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The last few images are Washington National Cathedral.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HmFwK7E76f4/T0vk0fQXiWI/AAAAAAAABJQ/8qH9sYzg0b0/s1600/1D_96443w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" lda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HmFwK7E76f4/T0vk0fQXiWI/AAAAAAAABJQ/8qH9sYzg0b0/s640/1D_96443w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_96443 National Cathedral - 1/125 @f13, iso 200, 15mm fisheye (straightened)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_96435 National Cathedral - 1/10 @f2.8, iso 800, 15mm fisheye (straightened)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_96386 National Cathedral - 1/20 @f2.8, iso 800, 15mm fisheye (straightened)</td></tr>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-23851081193033001802012-02-17T14:21:00.002-05:002012-02-27T21:38:28.572-05:00A Stroll Around Jacksonville<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Despite the crisp weather this past Monday, I spent the afternoon taking pictures of some of Jacksonville's more recognizable points of interest.</span> </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7_0288 Friendship Fountain - 1/3 @f3.5, iso 800, 28mm <br />
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Starting out at Treaty Oak Park, I photographed the oak tree centerpiece that is believed to be over 250 years old. Treaty Oak is over 70 feet tall and its width is more than double it's height. Here is a look at the tree from 2 different angles.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m_T7RZp6WzM/Tz1iDdPjRXI/AAAAAAAABFQ/Tow2GxMsi5k/s1600/N_112380w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m_T7RZp6WzM/Tz1iDdPjRXI/AAAAAAAABFQ/Tow2GxMsi5k/s640/N_112380w.jpg" width="640" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112380 Treaty Oak - 1/160sec. @ f8, iso 200, 17mm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-10cGJYX0vmE/Tz0stX4mIeI/AAAAAAAABEo/skqnomZ0lFg/s1600/N_112364w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="444" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-10cGJYX0vmE/Tz0stX4mIeI/AAAAAAAABEo/skqnomZ0lFg/s640/N_112364w.jpg" width="640" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112364 Treaty Oak - 1/125sec. @f8, iso 200, 17mm</td></tr>
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The downtown skyline has not changed much the last few years with the exception of titles on the buildings. Wells Fargo has now replaced Modis, on what was originally the Independent Life Building. Just east of the Main Street Bridge is the Maritime Museum, and the US Navy Memorial behind it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M48M-2SL6mQ/Tz1nOub5VzI/AAAAAAAABFo/Sl4-x0Pbd7s/s1600/N_112437w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="436" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M48M-2SL6mQ/Tz1nOub5VzI/AAAAAAAABFo/Sl4-x0Pbd7s/s640/N_112437w.jpg" width="640" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112437 US Navy Memorial - 1/1600 @f4, iso 100, 24mm</td></tr>
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From Friendship Fountain, I shot several photos of the city skyline and I like this one the best, mainly because of the really cool cloud formation.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4sfFPofpAp0/Tz6XFn1h70I/AAAAAAAABGI/AheiRy4VFeQ/s1600/N_112662w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="436" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4sfFPofpAp0/Tz6XFn1h70I/AAAAAAAABGI/AheiRy4VFeQ/s640/N_112662w.jpg" width="640" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112262 Jacksonville Skyline - 1/160 @f7.1, iso 100, 17mm </td></tr>
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Here is a similar image shot from the Acosta Bridge. <span style="color: red;"> [click any photo for a larger</span> <span style="color: red;">view]</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112468 Jacksonville Riverfront Panorama - 1/400sec @f8, iso 100, 17mm</td></tr>
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To the west of the bridge is the Museum of Science and History. I have not been inside for several years and I don't know if it's still the same, but when I was growing up we came here for 'cosmic concerts' at the Alexander Brest Planetarium, located inside. It had theatre seats that tilted back so that you were looking up at the dome shaped ceiling. Music would be playing while a fancy Minolta gizmo using laser light would project all sorts of planetary images across the ceiling, which acted as a huge movie screen. It was a hot ticket when I was a teen.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112463 Museum of Sciense & History - 1/400 @f8, iso 100, 35mm</td></tr>
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For anyone who is curious about the progress of the new courthouse, here is a photo of it under construction. The building takes up 4 city blocks.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112510 New Courthouse - 1/1000 @ f5.6, iso 100, 15mm fisheye<br />
(this was shot with a fisheye lens and then straightened in photoshop)</td></tr>
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Next to the Jacksonville Landing is the Times Union Center. The second image (night photo) shows it back in 2004.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nsT7YX66eIw/Tz1qK-R52XI/AAAAAAAABF4/MOFomg3nFzY/s1600/N_112550w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nsT7YX66eIw/Tz1qK-R52XI/AAAAAAAABF4/MOFomg3nFzY/s640/N_112550w.jpg" width="640" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112550 Times Union Center - 1/400 @f8, iso 100, 17mm </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1zyNZy5SLV8/Tz1qSvJ7zRI/AAAAAAAABGA/xm_QC0pvn2w/s1600/IMG_10430w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1zyNZy5SLV8/Tz1qSvJ7zRI/AAAAAAAABGA/xm_QC0pvn2w/s640/IMG_10430w.jpg" width="640" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#10d_10430 Times Union Center at night - 2004</td></tr>
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It's always fun to photograph the buildings on the waterfront when it starts to get dark and the lights of the buildings begin to appear. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9-M_51pOoXc/Tz6Zvt62-GI/AAAAAAAABGQ/IxWca02ySpk/s1600/N_112729w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9-M_51pOoXc/Tz6Zvt62-GI/AAAAAAAABGQ/IxWca02ySpk/s640/N_112729w.jpg" width="640" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112729 Waterfront at Dusk - 1/20 @f4, iso 400, 41mm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-phaSkZJ88ec/Tz6aZrfsMnI/AAAAAAAABGY/IqyFbxw_s7I/s1600/N_112736w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-phaSkZJ88ec/Tz6aZrfsMnI/AAAAAAAABGY/IqyFbxw_s7I/s640/N_112736w.jpg" width="640" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112736 The Jacksonville Landing - 1/13@ f5.6, iso 400, 135mm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DNyQKgnTwWI/Tz6av72lwXI/AAAAAAAABGg/wrvf6WhsN8c/s1600/N_112740w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="418" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DNyQKgnTwWI/Tz6av72lwXI/AAAAAAAABGg/wrvf6WhsN8c/s640/N_112740w.jpg" width="640" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112740 The Waterfront at Night - 1/10 @f4, iso 400, 17mm</td></tr>
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I had planned to photograph the fountain at night, but skipped it because the fountain was not working properly. I fill finish up with two images of Friendship Fountain below, that I shot back in November.</div>
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#7_0288 Friendship Fountain - 1/3 @f3.5, iso 800, 28mm </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Z1MW24oxgk/Tz6fywLVYqI/AAAAAAAABHI/mQ6mZrO8EBk/s1600/N-110246w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="330" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Z1MW24oxgk/Tz6fywLVYqI/AAAAAAAABHI/mQ6mZrO8EBk/s640/N-110246w.jpg" width="640" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#110246 Friendship Fountain - 1/10 @f2.8, iso 400, 15mm fisheye<br />
(shot with 15mm fisheye lens, then straightened in photoshop)</td></tr>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-86229835222909540872012-02-03T00:06:00.000-05:002012-02-27T21:39:41.926-05:00Photographing Alligators (or not)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #cccccc;">During my various travels photographing birds, I have for the most part ignored alligators when I've seen them. This is mainly because they are about as plentiful as mosquitoes here in Florida and I feel that if you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all. Up until a few years ago, we had a few gators in the pond that borders our back yard, so I hardly get excited when I see one. </span><br />
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On many occasions where I've been visiting a wildlife sanctuary to photograph birds, invariably someone approaches me when they notice one of my rather large white lenses, to tell me they see an alligator that I should go photograph. This always puts me in the rather awkward position of figuring out a polite way to tell them that I couldn't care less about photographing an alligator. But keeping that thought to myself, I always thank them and tell them that perhaps I'll check it out when I'm finished with what I'm working on now. I'm guessing that most of these folks are probably northern visitors. I guess if I were in Maine and saw a whale, I'd get excited too.<br />
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Every now and then while photographing birds, I have also photographed the occasional alligator. When I've done so, I did it with the thought that if I ever decided to take a closer look at gators I would have a few images to work with. But unlike birds, gators all look the same to me with the exception of differences in size. What sometimes sets them apart are different surroundings and/or colorful reflections in the water from trees or other foliage on the bank of the pond. <br />
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This past week at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, I saw many gators, but two in particular that were close together that finally caught my interest. They were facing opposite directions and the soft early morning light made them interesting, so I decided to snap a few shots. One was a little larger than the other (probably about 8 or 9 feet in length) and was facing to the left,while the smaller one was facing the right.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HwJIzxb748o/TytYUBPYTMI/AAAAAAAABDo/8oEvbz7PadI/s1600/N_112154F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" sda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HwJIzxb748o/TytYUBPYTMI/AAAAAAAABDo/8oEvbz7PadI/s640/N_112154F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_112154 - Shot settings: 1/1250 @f6/3, iso 400 at 500mm, hand held</td></tr>
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When I later took a closer look at these images on the computer, I liked what I saw so I figured it was finally time to post a few gator photos. These first two images show the same gator. The image below is a close up cropped from the one above.<br />
<span style="color: red;">[click on any image for a larger view]</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QlfnvtDXk54/TytYssbNg_I/AAAAAAAABDw/jgPDQ2eYqpg/s1600/N_112154F2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" sda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QlfnvtDXk54/TytYssbNg_I/AAAAAAAABDw/jgPDQ2eYqpg/s640/N_112154F2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_112154c (cropped from the photo above)</td></tr>
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The soft light and a bit of fill flash reveal some detail in the head shot, and that's what I liked about this particular image. <br />
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The next image is the smaller gator that was facing the right. If you are thinking this is just your typical average boring alligator photo, I pretty much agree. This is why I seldom bother to even take pictures of them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5LGcG7wWww/TytZZnMPjLI/AAAAAAAABD4/A6kfJP1PGmc/s1600/N_112142F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" sda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5LGcG7wWww/TytZZnMPjLI/AAAAAAAABD4/A6kfJP1PGmc/s640/N_112142F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_112142 (1/1000 @ f6.3, iso 400, at 500mm.)</td></tr>
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Although gators all look about the same to me, sometimes different surroundings make the shot more interesting than the gator itself. I particularly like colorful reflections, as shown in the next few images. <br />
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Thinking back, I knew I had some images with reflections from the Everglades National Park, so I dug them out to add them to this post. The same gator is pictured in both images below; the first a little further away and the second as it approached me a little closer.<br />
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#N_80810 (1/500 @f5.6, iso 400 at 420mm)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_80811 (1/500 @ f5.6, iso 400 at 420mm) </td></tr>
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This last image may be my favorite of the few I have shot over the last few years. I like the open mouth, and the way we can see the roof of the gator's mouth in the reflection in the water.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u-IlR4wdpTA/TytoXSuMVOI/AAAAAAAABEY/uwyM5iRfeek/s1600/1D_63432F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" sda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u-IlR4wdpTA/TytoXSuMVOI/AAAAAAAABEY/uwyM5iRfeek/s640/1D_63432F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_63432 (1/200 @ f5.6, iso 800 at 400mm)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-39605140706067627472012-01-27T17:30:00.000-05:002012-02-27T21:39:04.757-05:00Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #cccccc;">I was glad to be able to make my first trip of the season to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge earlier this week, and fortunately there were enough birds to make the trip worthwhile. It's about 150 miles away, so I have to start out around 4:45 am in order to get there by sunrise and take advantage of the soft early morning light. </span><br />
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I was able to photograph a couple new species on this trip so that was an extra bonus. This time of year the birds are starting to dawn their breeding colors, so that makes the photography all the more rewarding. I met up on this trip with <a href="http://davidturko.smugmug.com/" target="_blank">Dave Turko </a>and we spent the morning tooling around Blackpoint Drive and Biolab Road, within the refuge.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-79-CV3_0R6I/TyMNcJfT6mI/AAAAAAAABB4/o2qMVOJfpVE/s1600/N_111890F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="456" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-79-CV3_0R6I/TyMNcJfT6mI/AAAAAAAABB4/o2qMVOJfpVE/s640/N_111890F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#111890 - Reddish Egret - 1/1250 @f4, iso 400, 500mm</td></tr>
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We saw quite a few reddish egrets, and enjoyed watching them strut around in the shallow water and pounce on countless fish. They always put on a good show. The image above shows a typical early morning scene. Below, the bird is ready to strike at a fish, and they rarely miss.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yYzRapIMJKo/TyMORIa3GtI/AAAAAAAABCA/eXzZ1GpR0hE/s1600/N_111990F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="456" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yYzRapIMJKo/TyMORIa3GtI/AAAAAAAABCA/eXzZ1GpR0hE/s640/N_111990F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#111990 - Reddish Egret - 1/800 @f8, iso 400, 1000mm hand-held </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V44dhJv2c1k/TyMPg4qFAvI/AAAAAAAABCI/RoI1dpWwZ-4/s1600/N_111873F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="456" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V44dhJv2c1k/TyMPg4qFAvI/AAAAAAAABCI/RoI1dpWwZ-4/s640/N_111873F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#111873 - Reddish Egret with Catch - 1/1250 @f4, iso 400, 500mm</td></tr>
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One species I have rarely seen and had never photographed, is the white morph reddish egret. We were fortunate to see one but not in the best light. I did not manage to get a photo I was happy with, but I captured the image below as documentation of having seen it. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cm9moEH5Vqo/TyMQYHMphuI/AAAAAAAABCQ/-p8i2jNvnqI/s1600/N_111906F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="456" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cm9moEH5Vqo/TyMQYHMphuI/AAAAAAAABCQ/-p8i2jNvnqI/s640/N_111906F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#111906 - White Morph Reddish Egret - 1/2500 @f5, iso 400, 500mm</td></tr>
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The white morph is one of the most beautiful birds I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure the color of the bird's bill and lore get brighter than you see here. I hope to be able to get some better images of this species at a later time. <br />
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The image below is a Northern Shoveler. They are common but I had not gotten a decent photo of one before now.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kVMKwrd1mxA/TyMR-0VP7mI/AAAAAAAABCY/CF2hBREzqa8/s1600/N_111951F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="456" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kVMKwrd1mxA/TyMR-0VP7mI/AAAAAAAABCY/CF2hBREzqa8/s640/N_111951F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#111951 - Northern Shoveler - 1/1250 @f8, iso 400, 1000mm hand-held</td></tr>
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This is the first time I've tried hand holding my camera with 500mm lens and 2x teleconverter attached. Adding the flash, the entire rig weighs 15 pounds. It's quite a bit of weight to try and hold steady to get sharp photos. I've gotten used to stooping down and propping up the lens with my left arm, resting it against my knee for support. Dave shot this photo of me holding this rig. When time permits, it's a lot less work to mount it on a tripod with gimbal head. <br />
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One thing that really surprised me was that the images shot with the 2x teleconverter on this outing were surprisingly sharp. Many times in the past I have avoided using the 2x except occasionally on my 300L f2.8 and 500L f4 lenses, and even then only as a last resort. In theory, an extender will degrade image quality slightly, so you only want to mount it if you are using a very high quality lens to start with. I sent my 500 f4 to Canon to have the calibration checked a few months back and this outing indicates that it's performing noticeably better now. Before calibration, the images were noticeably softer with a teleconverter attached, than what I am getting now.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kvjYaqNGT3c/TyMUAOA5X3I/AAAAAAAABCg/Jo0uG8MimO8/s1600/IMG_5528F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="512" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kvjYaqNGT3c/TyMUAOA5X3I/AAAAAAAABCg/Jo0uG8MimO8/s640/IMG_5528F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canon 1D Mk2N camera, Canon 500L f4 IS lens, 2x Teleconverter, and 580EX II flash with "better beamer" flash extender</td></tr>
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The next two images are a horned grebe. I had seen this bird one time before, but had not gotten a photo of it until now. Again, this was not the best light angle, so I'll have to try and do better next time. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pjd7lXC0isA/TyMWzntXlsI/AAAAAAAABCo/M2_VRelc5lM/s1600/N_112120F2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="456" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pjd7lXC0isA/TyMWzntXlsI/AAAAAAAABCo/M2_VRelc5lM/s640/N_112120F2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112120 - Horned Grebe - 1/1000 @ f5.6, iso 400, 700mm</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_9UAwE5J84w/TyMXTXwKuyI/AAAAAAAABCw/-xeCZpmrgIc/s1600/N_112125F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="456" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_9UAwE5J84w/TyMXTXwKuyI/AAAAAAAABCw/-xeCZpmrgIc/s640/N_112125F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112125 Horned Grebe - 1/1250 @f5/6, iso 400, 700mm </td></tr>
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While driving around Blackpoint drive, we saw two bald eagles in a tree in the distance. They were not close enough for the photo to show much detail, but I took the shot below anyway. This is at 1000mm, and with the 1.3x crop of the camera sensor, it's equivalent to 1300 mm on a 35mm film camera.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oD2tHTC73Qc/TyMdXbhkKlI/AAAAAAAABC4/5jWWy9C3QY8/s1600/N_112089F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oD2tHTC73Qc/TyMdXbhkKlI/AAAAAAAABC4/5jWWy9C3QY8/s1600/N_112089F.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112089 - Bald Eagles - 1/3200 @f8, iso 400, 1000mm hand-held</td></tr>
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On the way out of the wildlife refuge, there were lots of birds in the water along the causeway. I took the opportunity to get the close up shots shown below.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8BkcsmzVvCI/TyMed9elfhI/AAAAAAAABDA/Y_iRQvObL3U/s1600/N_112273F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8BkcsmzVvCI/TyMed9elfhI/AAAAAAAABDA/Y_iRQvObL3U/s640/N_112273F.jpg" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112273 - Black Skimmer - 1/1600 @f8, iso 400, 1000mm</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uoWP9ovxzvM/TyMfD2odm2I/AAAAAAAABDI/BpAW-P4kilg/s1600/N_112213F2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="512" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uoWP9ovxzvM/TyMfD2odm2I/AAAAAAAABDI/BpAW-P4kilg/s640/N_112213F2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112213 - Black Skimmer in flight - 1/2500 @f6.3, iso 400, 700mm</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W38zLrqmppA/TyMfbcOUm0I/AAAAAAAABDQ/2BaYg0wDoCA/s1600/N_112297F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="456" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W38zLrqmppA/TyMfbcOUm0I/AAAAAAAABDQ/2BaYg0wDoCA/s640/N_112297F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112297 - Royal Tern - 1/1600 @f10, iso 400, 700mm </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vpLDjVCLErU/TyMgOB7gt7I/AAAAAAAABDY/HfLZVrIdp34/s1600/N_112268F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vpLDjVCLErU/TyMgOB7gt7I/AAAAAAAABDY/HfLZVrIdp34/s640/N_112268F.jpg" width="456" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112268 - Royal Tern - 1/1600 @ f8, iso 400, 1000mm </td></tr>
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I saved one reddish egret photo to use as the last image. This guy was more or less posing for me.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nayGiLnJ0OY/TyMiGBaDhSI/AAAAAAAABDg/5lxYBBegB6c/s1600/N_112011F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gda="true" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nayGiLnJ0OY/TyMiGBaDhSI/AAAAAAAABDg/5lxYBBegB6c/s640/N_112011F.jpg" width="456" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#112011 - Reddish Egret - 1/1250 @f8, iso 400, 1000 mm </td></tr>
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Overall, this was a good trip. I photographed several species I had not gotten before, and finally seeing a white morph reddish egret made it a memorable day. <br />
</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com3Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge - Visitor Information Center, FL, USA28.6412885 -80.735565128.6395465 -80.7380326 28.643030500000002 -80.733097600000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-90170882646432788952011-12-24T13:03:00.000-05:002012-02-27T21:40:12.199-05:00Remembering the Fire<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #cccccc;">Today being Christmas eve, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. In addition to being a time of celebration, for many of us this is also a time for reflection on the past. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">It was 4 years ago yesterday that the sanctuary at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church was completely destroyed by fire.</span> </span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dJuXmafTCOw/TvWcQ10LDrI/AAAAAAAABBA/9Y80kXirs9s/s1600/1D_16855w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dJuXmafTCOw/TvWcQ10LDrI/AAAAAAAABBA/9Y80kXirs9s/s640/1D_16855w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_16855 - Before the fire</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4HF7wDGkl9k/TvWTwgesgXI/AAAAAAAABAc/9BvTgH8Q59I/s1600/1D_35818F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4HF7wDGkl9k/TvWTwgesgXI/AAAAAAAABAc/9BvTgH8Q59I/s640/1D_35818F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_35818 </td></tr>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">I suspect that nobody who was present the morning of December 23, 2007 will ever forget that day. It was like a bad dream waking up on Sunday morning 2 days before Christmas, learning that your church had been reduced to ruins in an overnight fire. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">After a lot of work, study and planning, a new sanctuary was built to replace that which burned and it opened on the 2nd anniversary of the fire, December 23, 2009.</span> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FSBinrMOUGI/TvX_RNZ57mI/AAAAAAAABBY/VBg_UyYQuA4/s1600/1D_78383w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FSBinrMOUGI/TvX_RNZ57mI/AAAAAAAABBY/VBg_UyYQuA4/s640/1D_78383w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_78383</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Yesterday, two years after the first service in the new sanctuary, a sculpture was dedicated to mark the place in history where the congregation moved beyond the tragedy of the fire to continue forward. The sculpture was created by Jim Smith from a twisted, melted steel beam that was part of the roof support structure in the original sanctuary. You can clearly see in the 2nd image above the steel beams melted and sagging from the intense heat of the fire. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KPnNr4K0tFE/TvWaCn-o9lI/AAAAAAAABA0/Bq_LJ85QjAs/s1600/N_111631w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KPnNr4K0tFE/TvWaCn-o9lI/AAAAAAAABA0/Bq_LJ85QjAs/s640/N_111631w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_111631 - The "Rising" by artist Jim Smith</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Below are a few more images of the new church.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nCiHrQCpOis/TvWXF3PKNlI/AAAAAAAABAo/ge-Zh1M1_kk/s1600/1D_78409F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="462" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nCiHrQCpOis/TvWXF3PKNlI/AAAAAAAABAo/ge-Zh1M1_kk/s640/1D_78409F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_78409 - Outside at night</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3WKiuXTbnjw/TvYGLqs8b-I/AAAAAAAABBk/oPsi8FygK-U/s1600/1D_78851B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3WKiuXTbnjw/TvYGLqs8b-I/AAAAAAAABBk/oPsi8FygK-U/s640/1D_78851B.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_78851B - Inside Stained Glass</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-djfr6BrDzeo/TvYHPsiq6lI/AAAAAAAABBw/Gs24yK4mB8w/s1600/1D_78158w2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-djfr6BrDzeo/TvYHPsiq6lI/AAAAAAAABBw/Gs24yK4mB8w/s640/1D_78158w2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_78158 - Antiphonal Organ (fisheye view)</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">The 60 rank pipe organ was built and installed by</span> <a href="http://pipe-organ.com/">A.E. Schulter Pipe Organ Company </a><span style="color: #cccccc;">of Lithonia, Georgia. I created this image using a fisheye lens from behind the antiphonal organ.</span><br />
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-45810633035415989672011-12-02T16:07:00.000-05:002012-02-27T21:40:35.867-05:00Yosemite National Park - Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7D_1001 El Capitan and Cathedral Rocks at night</td></tr>
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I'll start off with a my favorite night time Yosemite image, which was photographed from the area called gates of the valley. It is a small turnout off northside drive and offers a great view of both El Capitan and Cathedral rocks. The image above is a 30 second exposure that was taken in near total darkness at f4, iso 200 with a 17mm lens. Due to the long exposure, the moving water creates a nice blur as it flows over the rocks, and the stars in the sky are just beginning to form star trails. Because there was no moon, an exposure this long was necessary to get enough light on the mountains. <br />
The next image is taken from the same exact spot but looking a little more to the right at Cathedral Rocks. You can see the blur of headlights and tail lights from cars passing on the road in the distance, and also rocks lit in the river from headlights of cars pulling into a parking area behind me. The light on the rocks was unintentional, but I could not control it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lHNQzk8020o/TtlB6TNG7AI/AAAAAAAAA-4/9SWYmHYx6jU/s1600/7D_0998w+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lHNQzk8020o/TtlB6TNG7AI/AAAAAAAAA-4/9SWYmHYx6jU/s640/7D_0998w+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7D_998 - Cathedral Rocks at Night</td></tr>
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The following evening we were photographing Half Dome from the Sentinel Bridge and this was the first time I used a graduated neutral density filter. It worked wonders at equalizing the bright light in the sky so that I could get a decent exposure of both the foreground and background, without blowing out highlights. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7D_ 1271 - Half Dome </td></tr>
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Had I done a little more investigating on filters prior to this trip, I could have saved myself a lot of grief the first couple days we were there. The filter proved invaluable in many different situations and made it a lot easier to get photos that would have been impossible to capture without it. <br />
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Where I had been bracketing exposures the first couple days in situations where the light was too harsh, I found myself wanting to go back to places I had been and re-shoot.<br />
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As I had said earlier, there was not much water flow in any of the falls this time of the year, so it was not a priority to photograph them. I did however, photograph several of the falls that were visible either from the road, or after just a short hike. <br />
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Although these are not very good photos, I am including them just to show what was there. I do plan to return sometime in the summer so that I can get photos of the falls with more water flow, and also take the longer hikes required to photograph Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DI0zdt-vkwc/TtlJQ0UhxjI/AAAAAAAAA_I/BAh7d-NK0ag/s1600/N_110753w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DI0zdt-vkwc/TtlJQ0UhxjI/AAAAAAAAA_I/BAh7d-NK0ag/s640/N_110753w.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N110753 - Bridalveil Falls (photographed from the tunnel on Hwy 41)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FywnToMa_CA/TtlKFKuEVvI/AAAAAAAAA_Y/1fp6UisGejY/s1600/N_110494w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FywnToMa_CA/TtlKFKuEVvI/AAAAAAAAA_Y/1fp6UisGejY/s640/N_110494w.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N110494 - Upper Yosemite Falls </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2f4q3yFOdz0/TtlKQMFRSQI/AAAAAAAAA_g/t63szcA4mlE/s1600/7D_0747w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2f4q3yFOdz0/TtlKQMFRSQI/AAAAAAAAA_g/t63szcA4mlE/s640/7D_0747w.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7D_747 - Lower Yosemite Falls </td></tr>
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We finally drove up to Glacier Point, which is about an hours drive from the valley floor, depending on where you start. It was along this drive that I showed the coyote photo in the previous post. It's a long and winding road climbing several thousand feet, but offers spectacular views of the valley once you get to the top. The following images show the observation area as well as a view of the valley. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XMDfAyel3Ng/TtlNtGMRkVI/AAAAAAAABAQ/MF9HxAKw72I/s1600/N_110710w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XMDfAyel3Ng/TtlNtGMRkVI/AAAAAAAABAQ/MF9HxAKw72I/s640/N_110710w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_110710 - This is the famous overhanging rock. Many photos have been taken here.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7D_1261 - The observation area at Glacier Point </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i0GsG5HjbLE/TtlMouftn0I/AAAAAAAABAI/1QdyvLIGhWw/s1600/N_110716w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i0GsG5HjbLE/TtlMouftn0I/AAAAAAAABAI/1QdyvLIGhWw/s640/N_110716w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N_110716 - View of Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point</td></tr>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-62970360779267196752011-11-13T03:17:00.136-05:002012-02-27T21:40:59.228-05:00Yosemite National Park - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7D_0976: Valley View - El Capitan on left and Cathedral Rocks on right from the the Merced River<br />
(6 second exposure at f8, iso 100)</td></tr>
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As most of my close friends know, I recently completed 6 months of cancer treatment and my wife and I celebrated with a 2-week trip to California. The first week we visited three national parks: Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia; and the second week was spent in and around San Francisco. For all who may be wondering about me, I am fine as far as I know, and I will have periodic scans every few months to check and verify that I remain cancer free. During this trip I was still a little worn down from the radiation treatments I had just finished 7 days before we left, and I had to stop and rest frequently during uphill hikes. But in the next few weeks I should get my normal strength back, and hopefully I have seen the end of the lymphoma. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9VZT5XsSklk/Tr9_YHCrnOI/AAAAAAAAA9w/FMgzT9HmMoM/s1600/IMG_1166w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9VZT5XsSklk/Tr9_YHCrnOI/AAAAAAAAA9w/FMgzT9HmMoM/s640/IMG_1166w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7D_1166: Cathedral Rock - Photographed from a meadow north of the Merced River <br />
(1/100 second at f9, iso 200)</td></tr>
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My wife and I had never been to Yosemite or to San Francisco, so this was a special trip in several ways. My main objective was to enjoy the beauty and try and get a few pictures at the same time. Yosemite did not disappoint. It is beautiful in every way and it is surely a place I will visit again in the future. I plan to return in the summertime when there is higher water volume in the falls. Since I was not in shape to do some of the longer hikes required to see Vernal Falls or Nevada Falls I was not planning to photograph them on this trip anyway. There will be a better time for that when there is more water flowing, and when I'm back in shape and able to enjoy the long hikes. I pre-planned where we would go to take pictures each morning and evening to take advantage of the good light. In between those times, we explored the valley and photographed some places that were not so dependent on the light coming from any particular angle. It was also fun to photograph some of the same places during the daytime, and then again under the stars at night. In the next post, you will see some of the night time photos. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GEUmhMuLVhA/Tr-B3Unfx7I/AAAAAAAAA94/bnS_lkjj36A/s1600/N_110735cw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GEUmhMuLVhA/Tr-B3Unfx7I/AAAAAAAAA94/bnS_lkjj36A/s640/N_110735cw.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N110735: Coyote <br />
(1/250 sec at f4.5, iso 400)</td></tr>
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I had not expected to see much wildlife on this trip but to my surprise, we came upon a coyote one afternoon on the drive up to Glacier Point. I was able to fire off a few shots out of the rolled down car window and I think the photo above is probably the best one. I also took a few shots of a deer I saw when we stopped to photograph El Capitan. Those two photos are below.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PstHKXaA8SM/Tr-DRqaP7OI/AAAAAAAAA-A/2OoP6bgCpcY/s1600/N_110810w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PstHKXaA8SM/Tr-DRqaP7OI/AAAAAAAAA-A/2OoP6bgCpcY/s640/N_110810w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N110810 - Deer<br />
(1/160 second @ f2.8, iso 400)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hg9I9Fly_Vc/Tr-EeDHpRzI/AAAAAAAAA-I/kMnoW_Su5JQ/s1600/N_110805w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hg9I9Fly_Vc/Tr-EeDHpRzI/AAAAAAAAA-I/kMnoW_Su5JQ/s640/N_110805w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">#N110805: El Capitan<br />
(1/640 sec @ f4, iso 200, -2/3 EV)</td></tr>
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The next image was taken from the swinging bridge. It shows Cathedral Rock in the distance, with the Merced River in the foreground. I really liked the contrast of colors in this scene.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aASoyYs5egk/Tr-O3yIC_QI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/pjpPnvGued8/s1600/7D_0781w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aASoyYs5egk/Tr-O3yIC_QI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/pjpPnvGued8/s640/7D_0781w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7D_1181: View from the Swinging Bridge<br />
(1/500 @ f6.3, iso 400)</td></tr>
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Next is an image of Half Dome photographed from Cook's Meadow, with a large elm tree in the foreground. From this location, you can see several of the notable Yosemite landmarks simply by looking in a different direction.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LuhhyXrwg08/Tr-RZlkQtII/AAAAAAAAA-g/t2g3IpLCeoA/s1600/7D_0906w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="414" nda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LuhhyXrwg08/Tr-RZlkQtII/AAAAAAAAA-g/t2g3IpLCeoA/s640/7D_0906w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7D_0906: Half Dome from Cook's Meadow<br />
(1/250 @ f8, iso 200, -1EV)</td></tr>
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Next is a photo of El Capitan with its reflection in the Merced River, photographed from Cathedral Beach. This image was difficult to capture and it took my widest lens, a 15mm fisheye, to fit the entire reflection in the frame. Some of the barrel distortion from the lens has been removed in photoshop. This was a very cold morning with temperatures in the 30's and after about an hour my numb fingers told me it was time to get back to the car and move on.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YWDRdnvB-D8/Tr-Swqr-XQI/AAAAAAAAA-o/AAXwkm-bpO8/s1600/N_110571w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" nda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YWDRdnvB-D8/Tr-Swqr-XQI/AAAAAAAAA-o/AAXwkm-bpO8/s640/N_110571w.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#N110571: El Capitan from Cathedral Beach<br />
(1/200 second @ f8, iso 100, 15mm fisheye lens)</td></tr>
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Of course, no trip to Yosemite would be complete without the classic photo below taken from just outside the tunnel on highway 41, commonly referred to as 'tunnel view'. This is probably the most commonly photographed scene at Yosemite.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qlHGCv9sMh0/Tr-LicStnMI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/dYsPq2YD-7g/s1600/IMG_1267w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" nda="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qlHGCv9sMh0/Tr-LicStnMI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/dYsPq2YD-7g/s640/IMG_1267w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#7D_1267: Tunnel View<br />
(1/500 @f7.1, iso 200, with 2-stop graduated neutral density filter)<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">In the next post, I will show some of the waterfalls and the night time photos, as well as some views from Glacier Point, looking down into the valley from above. </span></div>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-80232764554977711142011-05-25T22:11:00.002-04:002012-02-27T21:41:25.966-05:00Back to Birding...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I have been itching to get out with the camera lately, and today I finally pushed myself a bit and went out to photograph birds. I did not have my usual stamina, and found that I had to stop and take a rest every hour or so. But it was nice to get outdoors and once again occupy myself with something I really enjoy doing.<br />
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I was able to get a few decent photos, including one of a roseate spoonbill chick. Prior to today I did not have any images of chicks of this particular species, and it was difficult to get this one due to twigs and branches obstructing my view to the bird as it hobbled around in the nest. But waiting and watching for quite some time finally paid off and resulted in the image below. You can contrast this image with of the adult spoonbill below it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roseate Spoonbill - chick</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roseate Spoonbill - adult</td></tr>
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The next image is a cattle egret in full breeding plumage. It's quite amazing how a fairly boring white bird transforms itself into the colorful version you see below in breeding season.<br />
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Next is a young tricolor heron. As the bird gets older, the browns will turn to blues as seen in the top image in this article.<br />
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Finally a great white egret both perched and in flight.<br />
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-89282514510716973942011-05-22T15:18:00.008-04:002012-06-03T00:25:24.030-04:00Elizabeth in Soft Light at Dusk<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Last weekend I traveled to Cocoa Beach to visit relatives and witness the final launch of space shuttle Endeavour. The shuttle photography was challenging as we were looking in the direction of the light and it was only the low cloud cover that prevented lens flare and made it possible to get decent phots. <br />
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But the evening before I enjoyed some of the best light I've ever experienced with my camera in my hand. After enjoying a fantastic home cooked dinner with Liz and David, we went out cruising on a boat before sunset and were washed in some fantastic soft light. I took advantage of that for nearly two hours, shooting away with Elizabeth and trying to create some nice images. Balancing fill flash with ambient light in this situation was so amagingly easy that it was fun. It's not difficult to see that I could really enjoy doing a lot more of this kind of photography. It was so much fun creating the images you see here with almost no effort. And obvioulsy it helped to have such an attractive subject in front of the lens. Thanks for your willingness to pose for the photos, Liz. I hope you like the results....<br />
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<span style="color: red;">[click on any image for a larger view]</span></div>
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I decided to post this to share a look at some of my favorite images from that evening with anyone who may be interested. Thanks to David, Elizabeth, and Patty for a fantastic weekend, for wonderful company and a lot of just plain fun. It was the perfect weekend and a sort of escape for me, having just been through my 2nd round of chemotherapy. And thanks again to Liz for posing for these images. </div>
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More images can be seen at the link below: <a href="http://www.pbase.com/tim32225/elizabeth">http://www.pbase.com/tim32225/elizabeth</a></div>
</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-86302959949791690642011-05-18T02:02:00.021-04:002012-02-27T21:42:47.628-05:00Space Shuttle Endeavour - STS 134 Final Mission<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">Program notes: Click on any photo to see a larger version. Prints are available from a link to my web page posted at the bottom of this entry.</span><br />
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The story continues. I managed to get back down to the Cape for one last chance to see Space Shuttle Endeavour launch on it's final journey, and everything went fine with the shuttle lifting off on time at 8:56am Monday. I have just chocked one more item off my 'bucket list'. <br />
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On this visit, I was at the "turn basin" viewing site, which is a few hundred yards in front of the VAB Building, approximately 3 miles from the launch pad. This is the closest I've ever been to witness a shuttle launch. On previous outings, my best attempts had come from the NASA Causeway, which is about 6.5 to 7 miles south of the launch pad. One advantage viewing it from the turn basin is the smoke plume from the solid rocket boosters does not obstruct your view as it does from the Causeway.<br />
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Due to the low cloud cover, the shuttle was gone in just about 22 seconds from the time it lifted off. Usually I am able to follow it through my lens and photograph the solid rocket booster separation, which does not happen until well beyond 2 minutes into the flight. On this occasion, we could not see the shuttle at all after it ascended above the first cloud layer.</div>
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So this time it was over quickly. We arrived at around 5:30am and staked out a spot to shoot from within the relatively small area that was roped off for spectators, then we waited about 3.5 hours to view the launch. This launch was spectacular. It's much more exciting from this distance, and the ground felt almost like an earthquake as the loud rumble from the shuttle shook everything in sight. Light was not the best for photography, with the sun about 20 degrees to our right and up roughly 30 degrees off the horizon at launch time. But the low cloud cover actually helped a bit to cut down on the lens flare I had been seeing through the lens prior to when the clouds rolled in. At least we were not shooting into direct sunlight, which would have made it next to impossible to get any decent photos. </div>
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I owe a special note of thanks to Cindy's cousin, <a href="http://davidturko.smugmug.com/">David Turko </a>who obtained the NASA pass and then invited us to join him and his sister Patty for the launch. We had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend which also included a boat cruise at sunset Sunday, when we took advantage of some fantastic soft light to do a photo shoot with David's better half, Liz. You may see some of those images in my nest post. <br />
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While waiting for the launch we visited with folks we met, and we monitored the light. As the conditions constantly changed we discussed camera settings in hopes that everyone would be able to get properly exposed photos. Exposures can be tricky, especially if one is used to shooting in aperture priority or shutter priority mode. I avoid those settings and shoot manual exposures so that the bright flame of the solid booster does not affect the metering of the camera, and therefore change the exposure. I have seen many people ruin photos by not taking this into account. For anyone who may have been unfortunate it that regard, I have made prints available from a link at the bottom of this post. </div>
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During our wait we especially enjoyed meeting Alyson and 3 of her friends, who we learned all who work for the American Cancer Society. After I lifted my hat revealing my bald head, and told them I was fighting non-hodgkins lymphoma, we ended up having a lot to talk about, and they were all very helpful and supportive.</div>
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I am disappointed that the shuttle program is coming to a close, and there is no other program ready yet to go behind it. This is also going to be devastating to the central Florida economy as all the NASA employees begin to loose their jobs over the next month or two. </div>
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I cannot help but believe there is enough fat and waste in our federal budget that could be cut in order to provide funding for projects such as NASA. Our space program over the years has resulted in many discoveries and innovations that have led to scores of products we use in our every day lives, such as teflon used to make cookware, and many, many others. It is a shame that a program that has been so vital to us is now dying due to lack of funding and what I believe are misguided priorities. </div>
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A larger variety of photos of this launch can also be seen on my main web page here:<br />
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<a href="http://www.pbase.com/tim32225/sts134_endeavour">http://www.pbase.com/tim32225/sts134_endeavour</a> along with the availability to purchase prints.</div>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-60743219571662216792011-05-03T00:03:00.009-04:002012-02-27T21:43:19.896-05:00Snowy Egret<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of my favorite birds to photograph, although one of the most difficult to photograph in flight, is the snowy egret. The snowy egret seems to fly in a much more erratic manner than other types of egrets, and I find that I have more throwaway photos of this species than any other when attempting flight shots. Because they almost always change direction abruptly in flight, often just prior to landing, it's often difficult to get sharp photos of them in flight. The images posted here are a few that I am happy with.<br />
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These images were captured at <a href="http://www.fws.gov/loxahatchee/">Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge </a>while on a cross Florida photo trip with my friend <a href="http://www.kencongerphotography.com/">Ken Conger. </a><br />
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While following observing several snowy egrets landing in a pond and fishing I was fortunate to capture a few images below showing the bird with it's catch.<br />
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I am using some past material in this post because I have been under the weather the last month or so and unable to get out and obtain any new images. After over a month of sickness and a 15 day hosptial stay, I am back on the mend and undergoing chemotherapy treatments after being diagnosed with a type of non-hodgkins lymphoma on April 21. I had mixed feelings about posting this publicly, but I figured most of my friends know the situation, and I wanted the folks whose blogs I used to comment on to understand part of the reason I seem to have vanished from the scene lately. The good news is this type of cancer is treatable and the prognosis is good for a full recovery.</div>
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I am finding that the side effects of the chemotherapy are the worst the first few days after treatment, and then I bounce back to my normal self and actually feel pretty good after that. I am learning how to deal with it one day at a time and I am planning to have as normal a life as possible along this new journey. I actually traveled to Cape Kennedy 12 hours after being discharged from the hospital in hopes of photographing the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour , sts-134. I was taking medicine to deal with the side effects of the chemotherapy I had just had slightly over a day before. I owe a special thanks to my friend <a href="http://www.pbase.com/tbs26/root">Terry Seaney,</a> for graciously offering to drive me from St. Augustine down to Cape Kennedy, and then back home after the launch was srubbed. I still plan to photograph the launch as long as the revised launch schedule does not conflict with my treatment. </div>
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My oncologist advised me against making the trip, but my regular doctor gave me his blessing based on certain precautions I was able to take. </div>
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If you see images of the space shuttle launch in my next post, you will know I was able to pull it off.</div>
</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-20824823045636827812011-03-28T15:59:00.001-04:002012-02-27T21:44:01.951-05:00Tricolor Heron<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The tricolor heron is one of the most colorful birds we see here in Florida in the springtime. Since I've been a little under the weather lately these images are from an earlier outing.</div>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-29914029539499908422011-03-01T17:58:00.001-05:002012-02-27T21:44:30.201-05:00Juvenile Night Heron<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">40-13600 - Night Heron headshot</td></tr>
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Since I don't have may photos of this species, I thought I'd post a couple images from a recent outing. This is not a full grown bird, but rather a juvenile. Night herons in this stage are sometimes mistaken for the American bittern, and they can sometimes look similar. The night heron is usually more hunched over when perched, and I believe the larger orange eye of the night heron sets it apart. There is also a dark brown mark under the neck of the American bittern that turns black in adults, and no such mark exists on the night heron. An American bittern will often points its head and bill straight upward when startled. <span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="color: red;">[click on any image to enlarge]</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#89078 - Juvenile Night Heron<br />
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-16581813336126198202011-02-23T14:00:00.001-05:002012-02-27T21:44:57.865-05:00Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I recently made a quick trip to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and have finally gotten around to posting a few photos. This great blue heron was standing in some grass near a pond and was in pretty good light. I made quite a few shots but I like the head angle on this one the best.</div>
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Below is a full body shot of the same bird. (Click on any image for a larger view.)</div>
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And finally, one with a fish.</div>
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I have never managed to get a really good shot of a belted kingfisher, and as of today I still haven't. This one below is probably my best effort so far, but it is cropped from a larger image. These birds spook easily and it's very difficult to approach one to get a closer shot.</div>
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The last two are a reddish egret and a tricolor heron. </div>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-76057399845279117572011-01-29T19:48:00.011-05:002012-02-27T21:46:06.353-05:00Reworking Old Photos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Night Heron in Flight (juvenile) 2005<br />
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It seems as software gets more and more sophisticated and one's editing skills improve, there is always a desire to go back and re-edit old photos. On that topic, I often tell my friends that I don't think any of us will live long enought to go back and fix all of the images we'd like to fix. But accepting that as reality, it's still fun to take some time now and then to dabble a little bit just to see the difference between our editing skills now, versus what they were back whenever.<br />
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I have been cleaning up some old computer files this weekend and deleting a lot of old images that I no longer feel are worth holding onto. But in that process I stumbled across a few photos I couldn't resist taking time to rework.<br />
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I've been using Photoshop CS5 since it was released a last year and I believe it is absolutely the best upgrade Adobe has ever released in the CS line of software. Adobe Camera Raw version 6 (raw image editor) is absolutely amazing compared to even the last version that preceded it. The improvements in ACR alone make CS5 worth the upgrade price. <br />
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The first image above of a juvenile night heron in flight, is a lucky shot I made back in 2005 with my first ever DSLR, a Canon 10d. It typically could not focus fast enough to track a moving bird, but I got lucky on this attempt. This is still one of my favorite shots of all the birds in flight I have photographed since. <br />
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Here are a few images I reworked today...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tricolor Heron in breeding plumage, 2009</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Shoulder Hawk, 2008</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow Crowned Night Heron, 2010</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meadowlark, 2008</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wood Stork (nest building), 2009</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great Egret with nesting material, 2009</td></tr>
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</div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-17199480327063693092010-12-22T07:03:00.011-05:002011-05-19T11:48:23.522-04:00Photographing the Lunar Eclipse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRI5T4aSo5I/AAAAAAAAA3U/wdX2EoAsn24/s1600/1D_97789Rc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRI5T4aSo5I/AAAAAAAAA3U/wdX2EoAsn24/s640/1D_97789Rc.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Early yesterday I morning went outside to photograph the lunar eclipse that was visible all across north America. Although it was not my original plan, I ended up staying up all night and shooting over 400 images during the event. <br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Since the moon was directly overhead for part of the time, I was unable to mount my lens on my tripod because it cannot be tilted that far upward without the long lens or the camera body hitting the top of the tripod. Due to this, I hand-held my rig for a good portion of the time, and fired short bursts hoping to get a few sharp images out of each attempt. Later when the moon was at a lower angle, I mounted my rig on the tripod and was able to just fire single shots every couple minutes. One has to constantly adjust the camera aim since the moon actually moves rather quickly across the sky. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
What I have posted below is a sequence of 12 images that I believe summarizes what I saw over the four-hour period. If you were not able to stay up all night, or if the weather prevented you from seeing it (as was the case in parts of the Western United States) you can get a glimpse of what you missed below.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">[Click on any image to see a larger view]</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHfyIpppHI/AAAAAAAAA2k/lV-RHWbXjX0/s1600/1D_97572w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHfyIpppHI/AAAAAAAAA2k/lV-RHWbXjX0/s400/1D_97572w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Image #1 of 12 - 12:58am</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHgBL1CmcI/AAAAAAAAA2o/FCBy_uUiUCU/s1600/1D_97585w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHgBL1CmcI/AAAAAAAAA2o/FCBy_uUiUCU/s400/1D_97585w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Image #2 of 12 - 1:59am</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHgIeMR9UI/AAAAAAAAA2s/1QUGxn9pD84/s1600/1D_97593zw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHgIeMR9UI/AAAAAAAAA2s/1QUGxn9pD84/s400/1D_97593zw.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Image #3 of 12 - 2:15am</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHgT5v5e5I/AAAAAAAAA20/vauLSywSZ-k/s1600/1D_97788w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHgT5v5e5I/AAAAAAAAA20/vauLSywSZ-k/s400/1D_97788w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Image #5 of 12 - 3:22am</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHgZ6WLzEI/AAAAAAAAA24/I3laLC1BSIQ/s1600/1D_97821w2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHgZ6WLzEI/AAAAAAAAA24/I3laLC1BSIQ/s400/1D_97821w2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Image #6 of 12 - 3:46am</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHgq11sh3I/AAAAAAAAA28/XGqJ-CzpvF8/s1600/1D_97823w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHgq11sh3I/AAAAAAAAA28/XGqJ-CzpvF8/s400/1D_97823w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Image #7 of 12 - 3:52am</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHhC5XWCFI/AAAAAAAAA3A/2TYj2TLfM4E/s1600/1D_97845w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHhC5XWCFI/AAAAAAAAA3A/2TYj2TLfM4E/s400/1D_97845w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Image #8 of 12 - 3:56am</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHhO4ACMJI/AAAAAAAAA3E/9STZ9zUBcBg/s1600/1D_97882w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHhO4ACMJI/AAAAAAAAA3E/9STZ9zUBcBg/s400/1D_97882w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Image #9 of 12 - 4:14am</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHhVp4l35I/AAAAAAAAA3I/tX1ZZFUuyVI/s1600/1D_97916w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHhVp4l35I/AAAAAAAAA3I/tX1ZZFUuyVI/s400/1D_97916w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Image #10 of 12 - 4:32am</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHhoRZ-H2I/AAAAAAAAA3Q/1dHaIcxoXvk/s1600/1D_97968w2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TRHhoRZ-H2I/AAAAAAAAA3Q/1dHaIcxoXvk/s400/1D_97968w2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Image #12 of 12 - 5:03am</div></div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-54850509380910252112010-10-19T22:05:00.000-04:002010-10-19T22:05:00.899-04:00Photographing the International Space Station<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TL4vZ4F_y4I/AAAAAAAAA2g/XcD8dVHsC7s/s1600/40d_13912w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TL4vZ4F_y4I/AAAAAAAAA2g/XcD8dVHsC7s/s400/40d_13912w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Ever since my curiosity led me to try photographing the International Space Station as it flew overhead one evening in June, I've had the desire for closer images with more detail than I got on my first attempt. Using the NASA website, it's easy to tell exactly when the ISS fill fly over any location you enter, and NASA's "skywatch" program calculates the times when it will actually be visible. These are always in times of darkness, or in the early morning or late evening when light from the sun illuminates the space station in the dark sky. Usually the biggest deal breaker to getting photos is the weather. You need a clear sky with few clouds or ideally no clouds to get in the way. <br />
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This morning was one of the best opportunities yet for photography. At it's closest point, the ISS was only going to be 221 miles overhead at exactly 6:44:52am. It would come into view from the Northwest about 800 miles away, and be visible to the naked eye a little over 2 minutes prior to passing at its closest distance. After passing almost directly overhead (89 degrees from my location) it would be visible for another 2 minutes or so as it sped away toward the Southeast. <br />
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This morning I slept through my alarm and luckily got outside with my camera gear just in time to see it approaching. Usually I find the moon and set my camera focus on it to get a good 'infinity' focus setting, and then switch to manual focus to shoot the ISS, being careful not to touch the focus ring on my 500mm lens. Today I was rushed and there was no moon in sight so I had to use autofocus and hope for the best. <br />
Looking through a long lens and teleconverter at high magnification, it is difficult to even find the bright dot streaking across the dark sky, even though it is clearly visible to the naked eye. And trying to get the camera to auto-focus on it under these conditions is iffy at best.<br />
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This morning I managed to get photos of the space station approaching, but unfortunately I lost it after it got closer than 270 miles away. When I found it again through the lens, I shot more photos as it sped away, but none of them were properly focused. The solar arrays are clearly visible in the images of the ISS approaching but still not as close as I had hoped, since I was unable to get a shot of it when it was at its closest distance. <br />
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<span style="color: red;">(Click on the image below to see a full size composite showing 7 images of the ISS as it passed over this morning)</span> <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TL4ONQeO50I/AAAAAAAAA2c/_bkX73TrlhE/s1600/40d_ISS+Composite+10-19-10+WEB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TL4ONQeO50I/AAAAAAAAA2c/_bkX73TrlhE/s1600/40d_ISS+Composite+10-19-10+WEB.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Distances listed in the image are calculated using tables from NASA's skywatch program, and interpolating the distances between the 20 second intervals listed. Before doing this, I synchronized the time setting in my camera with an atomic clock to be sure time time stamp on each image was accurate. This allowed me to determine the distance in each photo referencing the NASA charts. You can clearly see that each successive image of the international space station is slightly larger than the previous one, since it is getting closer in each frame. Even though it is difficult to keep the ISS in the viewfinder even at 1000 mm, I have pretty much decided that I need to stack teleconverters to get even more magnification if I ever hope to get a closer shot. This will make it even more difficult to find in the viewfinder, but if I succeed the image will be 40% larger.Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3770901596372025966.post-87973400484940063702010-10-15T16:11:00.007-04:002011-05-27T07:35:45.039-04:00Camping in Denali National Park<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Photographing Mt McKinley</span></div> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TLiSbDG-xqI/AAAAAAAAA1g/EPwQtbWQJPo/s1600/40d_13473w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="425" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TLiSbDG-xqI/AAAAAAAAA1g/EPwQtbWQJPo/s640/40d_13473w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise on Mt. McKinley - From Reflection Pond, Denali National Park</td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The highlight of my last few days in Alaska this year was camping at Wonder Lake, which is only 23 miles from Mt. McKinley. We had driven almost all night to return to Denali from Seward, and this bought me a extra day since we had planned for Monday to be a travel day. Arriving back in Denali in the early morning, we found that there was space available on the 2pm camper bus, so we unpacked our camping gear and dried out our tents, then repacked for Wonder Lake. Since it rained the last day at Brooks Falls we had been forced to pack our tents wet before getting on a float plane to fly out. We went for a good lunch before hopping on the bus. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama from Eielson Visitor Center - [Click to enlarge]</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Wonder Lake is located at mile post 88 on the Denali Park Road - about 6 hours from the park entrance. On a clear day there is breathtaking scenery along the way, especially at polychrome pass and at Eielsen Visitor Center. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TLiXR78ySxI/AAAAAAAAA1o/2r9KnwgCLL8/s1600/40d_13437w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TLiXR78ySxI/AAAAAAAAA1o/2r9KnwgCLL8/s640/40d_13437w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our tents set up near Wonder Lake - Denali National Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table> </div>Upon arrival at Wonder Lake, we set up our tents and then cooked dinner before getting ready to hike up to Reflection pond to photograph the mountain. We did not know it yet, but we were in for a special treat. We heard there had not been a clear day there in the previous 3 weeks. But we had arrived to a blue sky with a few puffy clouds that moved out during the evening leaving a clear view of Mt McKinley. Our hope was to get photos with the reflections in the water.<br />
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The hike to the pond is about 2.5 miles, and it's mostly uphill. We set out for the pond, carrying only minimal camera gear. The bugs were pretty bad so we wore mosquito nets to keep them off our faces. We arrived at the pond a little before 10pm, a good hour prior to sunset. While we were at the pond, several others arrived, all with their cameras. Most folks marvelled at the view, and I was no exception. It is a rare sight to see the top of McKinley because it is usually shrouded by clouds. Today it was clear and the lake that stood in front of us was icing on the cake. We shot lots of photos and made plans to return around 4:30am to do it again when the light from the sunrise would first start hitting the top of the mountain.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TLilKqzia-I/AAAAAAAAA18/a9NDo5nZXcA/s1600/1D_89420w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="425" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TLilKqzia-I/AAAAAAAAA18/a9NDo5nZXcA/s640/1D_89420w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Denali before sunset (10:24pm) </td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">We arrived back at our tents around midnight planned to get back up at 3am. We would need to take up camp and pack all our gear in the morning, before we could hike back up to the pond. The hike had taken just short of an hour so we needed to budget at least that much time for the morning, since we would be carrying 40+ lbs of gear in each of our backpacks. </div><br />
In the morning the sky was clear, so we packed up our camping gear and left it at the bus pickup point and started out for the pond. All went as planned, and we arrived at the pond at 4:30am. We shot various photos of the mountain and had plenty of time to plan prior to the 5:08am sunrise. <br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We were fortunate that there was not much wind and this resulted on few ripples in the water to spoil the reflection. I shot lots of photos, but my favorite one is the first one at the top of this post. It was shot at 5:13am, just 5 minutes after the sunlight began to hit the top of the mountain. It is repeated again below to show the progression from dark to light.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-dawn McKinley (4:30am) </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just before Sunrise (5:01am) </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Five minutes after sunrise (5:13am) </td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We started making our way back to the bus stop at 5:30am in order to catch the 6:30 bus. Along the way, I couldn't resist photographing this scene, with the lush green meadow in the foreground and the mountain as a backdrop.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Denali through the meadow</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We were back waiting for the bus with time to spare, and were able to relax on the long bus ride back. I was really tired but it was well worth it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This last photo was taken by a passerby on Monday evening. I'm the guy on the right, and the other guy is my friend, Ken Conger. Ken is a park ranger at Denali National Park and he has captured amazing wildlife images all around Alaska and elsewhere. You can see his website <a href="http://www.kencongerphotography.com/">HERE.</a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TLixxCnYEjI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/lsRIopfg0aU/s1600/1D_89413w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="425" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WTnyXwJP2F0/TLixxCnYEjI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/lsRIopfg0aU/s640/1D_89413w.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>Tim Ruccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16526456035056199631noreply@blogger.com4