Elizabeth in Soft Light at Dusk

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. 

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....

[click on any image for a larger view]

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.  

More images can be seen at the link below:    http://www.pbase.com/tim32225/elizabeth

Space Shuttle Endeavour - STS 134 Final Mission

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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. 

I owe a special note of thanks to Cindy's cousin, David Turko 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.

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. 

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.

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.  

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. 

A larger variety of photos of this launch can also be seen on my main web page here:

http://www.pbase.com/tim32225/sts134_endeavour  along with the availability to purchase prints.

Snowy Egret

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.

These images were captured at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge while on a cross Florida photo trip with my friend Ken Conger.

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.

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.

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 Terry Seaney, 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. 

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.  

If you see images of the space shuttle launch in my next post, you will know I was able to pull it off.

Tricolor Heron

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.

[click on any image for a larger view]

Juvenile Night Heron




40-13600 - Night Heron headshot

 

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.  [click on any image to enlarge]






40-13606 - Juvenile Night Heron

 


#89078 - Juvenile Night Heron

 

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge



96987 - Great Blue Heron



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.

Below is a full body shot of the same bird.  (Click on any image for a larger view.)

97008 - Great Blue Heron

And finally, one with a fish.




96969 - Great Blue Heron

 

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.



40-14265 Belted Kingfisher



The last two are a reddish egret and a tricolor heron.  



97137 - Reddish Egret





96848 - Tricolor Heron



Reworking Old Photos




Night Heron in Flight (juvenile) 2005

[Click on any image for a larger view]

 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.

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.

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. 

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.

Here are a few images I reworked today...




Tricolor Heron in breeding plumage, 2009

 


Red Shoulder Hawk, 2008





Yellow Crowned Night Heron, 2010

  


 


Meadowlark, 2008

 





Wood Stork (nest building), 2009

 





Great Egret with nesting material, 2009

 




Photographing the Lunar Eclipse

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. 

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. 

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.

[Click on any image to see a larger view]

Image #1 of 12 - 12:58am

Image #2 of 12 - 1:59am

Image #3 of 12 - 2:15am

Image #4 of 12 - 2:39am

Image #5 of 12 - 3:22am

Image #6 of 12 - 3:46am

Image #7 of 12 - 3:52am

Image #8 of 12 - 3:56am

Image #9 of 12 - 4:14am

Image #10 of 12 - 4:32am

Image #11 of 12 - 4:53am

Image #12 of 12 - 5:03am