Sitting Pelican at Vinoy Park

One day I will photograph a pelican like this just skimming the water's surface.

I have stated before in another blog post my desire to photograph a pelican just skimming over the water, and how after a few attempts I am yet to be successful.  Well, I was not even close with this shot of course, but I could not pass up a chance to photograph such a friendly and accomodating bird.  Actually, I was not the only one to photograph her/him.  Kelley during our first DSLR Photography Lesson did too.

To me a pelican is a SUV of a bird.  It's a rather large bird, can hold a lot of stuff in its billowing bag of lower jaw skin, can dive and crash into water in a nose dive unscathed, and they are all over the place.  Since they are always around and not really afraid of people, you get the impression you could just go up to one and hug it, though I have never actually tried.  

If you want to find one when you visit Florida, just head to any fishing pier.

Sunny Florida at f/11 project #01 - Kapok Park Pond HDR

I broke my own rule and made this HDR image without a tripod.

I bet when most people imagine Florida in their minds, the image is of a white sandy beach with palm trees.  However, such places make up only a very small part of Florida's land mass.  In fact, most of Florida looks like the above landscape -- flat countryside with a mix of trees scattered about.  Spanish Moss hanging from live oak trees should be as iconic a Florida image as the coconut palm tree.  

I assigned myself a personal photography project for 2010 -- "Sunny Florida at f/11" and the above photograph is my first official shot in that series.  If you have no ongoing, personal photo project yet for yourself, I highly recommend it as both a means of having a photography goal for the year and to make a number of images in the same theme that could potentially be used for a gallery exhibition!  

On this particular day my goal was first to photograph birds, but when I realized my Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens was not going to get me nearly close enough, I thought I would have to change the day's shooting goal to landscapes.  Then a friend let me borrow a Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm VR f/2.8G lens and Nikon 2x Teleconverter for the day so I was able to photograph birds after all.  Still, I could not resist breaking my own rules when I saw this landscape scene and photographed something outside of my theme for the day and even worse handheld an HDR shot!

If you have a personal photography project for 2010 describe and link to it in the comments below. 

Free iPhone Wallpaper - Tin Type Pelican in Flight

free iPhone wallpaper -- Brown Pelican in Flight in Saint Petersburg Florida in tin type processing

Start your work week off with a free new wallpaper for your iPhone or iPod touch!

For several weeks I have had an ongoing project to photograph a pelican just skimming over the water's surface.  I have not yet been successful in making that image, however in that pursuit I was able to make this in-flight shot of a brown pelican.  I chose tin type processing for this image because a few weeks ago I went to an antiques fair and had a chance to browse some true tin type prints and was fascinated about how vivid some of them remained even though they were printed over a 100 years ago.  

I hope to be able to provide a shot of a pelican skimming over the water soon!  In the meantime, it is always fun for me to photograph birds in any manner.

A high resolution print of Tin Type Pelican in Flight can be purchased here.

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My full (and growing) collection of iPhone wallpapers can be viewed HERE and are available for just $1 each.

*********

 To Install the wallpaper onto your iPhone:

1. Right-click or control-click on the image.

2. Select “Save as…”

* Mac users:  save the image to a folder or add it to your iPhoto library.

* PC users:   save the image in your “My Pictures” folder.

Connect the iPhone/iPod Touch to your computer and do the following:

1. Launch iTunes, click your iPhone icon on iTunes, choose the Photos tab, and select “Sync photos from:”

2. From the pop-up menu, do one of the following:

* If your using a Mac, choose iPhoto or your Pictures folder.
* If you’re using a PC, choose My Pictures folder.

3. Choose Folder, then choose any folder on your computer that has images.

4. Choose “All photos,” or choose “Selected folders” or “Selected albums” and choose the folders or albums you want to sync.

On your iPhone:

5. Launch the Photos app. Browse through the albums or Camera Roll until you find the picture you wish to use.

6. Select the picture so it is displayed full screen.

7. Tap the icon in the lower left corner of the screen. If you don’t see the icon, single tap the picture to display the menus.

8. A menu pops up with three options: Email Photo, Use as Wallpaper, or Assign to Contact.

9. Choose “Use as Wallpaper"

Thanks to Photo Focus and Scott Bourne for the directions above.

All iPhone/iPod Touch Wallpapers are provided without any technical support. Each image is a 320×480 jpg file. All images are Copyright Jason Collin Photography, All Rights Reserved. You are granted a single use, non-exclusive, perpetual license to install this wallpaper on any iPhone or iPod Touch personally owned by you. This license grants you the right to use the wallpaper for non-commercial/personal use only. You may not re-sell, distribute, print or otherwise publish the image without the express written consent of the Copyright owner: Jason Collin Photography 

Mangrove Coast of Ft. Desoto Park

This felt like an old childhood "hiding spot" under the canopy of this mangrove tree in Ft. Desoto State Park

Before settling in for a full afternoon and evening of football, I felt it important that I head out in the morning to be around a bit of quiet nature.  The Arrowhead Trail at Ft. Desoto Park is a short one, only about 1.5 miles long, but it is little trafficked and has a few of its own small, secret beaches.  Mangroves claim most of the coast along the edges of the peninsula the Arrowhead Trail follows, but there are a few openings that I fully intend to return to in the spring and use as private swimming holes.

 I have always been very curious about these organic deposits in otherwise clear water.

The first time I came to this area it was low tide and there was a good length of beach.  It was high tide this time, however, so the beachhead was limited to just a few spots.  Still, there was enough space to stand and gaze out over the intercoastal waterway in peace with only a baby horseshoe crab for company, who politely did not make a sound.

One of nearly countless spots on Florida's west coast that would make for great, scenic kayaking

White Ibises in Flight

White Ibis return to their island in Smacks Bayou in Snell Isle Saint Petersburg

I had scouted out a corner of Smacks Bayou a few weeks ago with a seawall close to where pelicans were flying past just above the water.  Since then I had been envisioning making a photo of a pelican doing just that, skimming over the surface of the water made from as close to its eye level as possible without a kayak.  After 650+ shots this late afternoon, and 30 minutes of lying on my stomach right on the concrete seawall, I was not successful in making the shot I had imagined.  

My consolation prize (hardly) was the above photograph of a flock of white ibis heading back to what I call the "bird island of Smacks Bayou."  It will have to do for now.  

The next time I go back to that spot it will be at sunrise to see if light from the opposite corner of the bayou is any better.

Free iPhone Wallpaper Monday: Brown Pelican

free iPhone wallpaper -- Brown Pelican on the Ft. Myers Beach Pier in Florida

Start your work week off with a free new wallpaper for your iPhone or iPod touch!

Florida is a great place to photograph birds, with or without a 600mm lens.  This brown pelican was only a few feet from me.  Of course brown pelicans are very used to people and always hanging around fisherman in the hopes they will be tossed an unwanted catch!

*********

My full (and growing) collection of iPhone wallpapers can be viewed HERE and are available for just $1 each.

*********

 To Install the wallpaper onto your iPhone:

1. Right-click or control-click on the image.

2. Select “Save as…”

* Mac users:  save the image to a folder or add it to your iPhoto library.

* PC users:   save the image in your “My Pictures” folder.

Connect the iPhone/iPod Touch to your computer and do the following:

1. Launch iTunes, click your iPhone icon on iTunes, choose the Photos tab, and select “Sync photos from:”

2. From the pop-up menu, do one of the following:

* If your using a Mac, choose iPhoto or your Pictures folder.
* If you’re using a PC, choose My Pictures folder.

3. Choose Folder, then choose any folder on your computer that has images.

4. Choose “All photos,” or choose “Selected folders” or “Selected albums” and choose the folders or albums you want to sync.

On your iPhone:

5. Launch the Photos app. Browse through the albums or Camera Roll until you find the picture you wish to use.

6. Select the picture so it is displayed full screen.

7. Tap the icon in the lower left corner of the screen. If you don’t see the icon, single tap the picture to display the menus.

8. A menu pops up with three options: Email Photo, Use as Wallpaper, or Assign to Contact.

9. Choose “Use as Wallpaper"

Thanks to Photo Focus and Scott Bourne for the directions above.

All iPhone/iPod Touch Wallpapers are provided without any technical support. Each image is a 320×480 jpg file. All images are Copyright Jason Collin Photography, All Rights Reserved. You are granted a single use, non-exclusive, perpetual license to install this wallpaper on any iPhone or iPod Touch personally owned by you. This license grants you the right to use the wallpaper for non-commercial/personal use only. You may not re-sell, distribute, print or otherwise publish the image without the express written consent of the Copyright owner: Jason Collin Photography 

Photo Story: Christmas Sunrise over Cape Coral Florida

I got up just in time to capture the last bit of sunshine of the Christmas morning sunrise in Cape Coral, Florida.

I saw at least four weather forecasts declaring that Christmas Day was going to be an on and off rainy day in Cape Coral.  I did not expect there to be fleeting dawn light with the sunrise.  I hustled out of my mom's condo with the Nikon D300 in tow and raced to a secret high spot.  Anyone that knows Cape Coral might have a hard time believing this sunrise photograph was made there because Cape Coral is largely a desert-like landscape of poor land made dry by hundreds of canals.  

I was about 10 minutes late from making an actual sunrise photograph of quality.  By the time I clamored up to the top of this viewpoint, there was no more golden orange light reflecting off the clouds, nothing warming the tops of the trees.  

This should be a lesson for me and others:  real photographers do not let semi-incompetent weathermen dictate when they shoot.  I should have at least had my gear prepared and popped my head out the window 45 minutes before sunrise just in case shooting conditions were good.  Another photographer's rule to apply to this situation is that you can never wake up too early to go shooting!