Nature & Wildlife

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve Macro Photography St. Petersburg Florida

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Something small will emerge in Boyd Hill Nature Preserve - Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR Micro @ f/11 ISO 200 1/40th tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/16th power handheld to frame left-frontBoyd Hill Nature Preserve is less than twenty minutes from my front door, but in nearly three years I have never visited it.  This is mostly due to the fact the park does not allow dogs and I prefer to visit such places with beloved puppy, Kiki.  However, I was feeling restless today and could not concentrate well so thought this was a chance to go out and just make some photographs for my own personal enjoyment wiht just me and my tripod.

Small green leaf in Boyd Hill Nature Preserve - Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR Micro @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/100th tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/16th power handheld to frame left-frontI decided before I stepped out the door to only bring my trusty macro lens, the Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR micro f/2.8G.  I also decided to work the entire time from on my Induro CT214 tripod.  I highly recommend approaching personal photography projects in this way.  For the first ten minutes walking in the forest I just observed, camera and tripod still in their bags.  I did not want to spend the entire time behind the lens.

Lady bug in Boyd Hill Nature Preserve - Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR Micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1/60th tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/16th power handheld to frame left-frontI came across some flowering plants which were a busy intersection for a variety of insects.  There was one lady bug tucked away in some leaves perhaps napping.  The challenge with macro photography in the field is that things move.  As you can see I used f/22 and still was working with a crazy shallow DoF due to the properties of the macro lens.  Therefore, even a 1 millimeter sway in the wind by the plant can throw off a carefully calculated manual focus on a subject.  I recommend picking a day with no wind for macro photography.

A small relative of Mothra's perhaps in Boyd Hill Nature Preserve - Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR Micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1/60th tripod mounted with cable releaseThere was a monarch butterfly proudly fluttering about, as well as a gulf fritillary butterfly, but only the above moth was willing to stay put long enough to be photographed.  

It was a pleasant time in Boyd Hill Nature Preserve.  Admission is $3 and you are not allowed to bring any food or drink on the trails.  Visit their official website for more details.


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Banyan Trees of Cape Coral Florida Rotary Park

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Banyan trees in Rotary Park Cape Coral Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/160th

This year I have started to look for and photograph banyan trees on purpose.  The trees above are not from my current home of St. Petersburg, Florida, but from my distant past home of Cape Coral.  I chose this unusual composition and framing purposefully by positioning myself so that the background tree would be clean (not overlapping the foreground tree).  I wanted to exaggerate the distance between the trees as well to create in my mind a duality.  To me, the foreground tree is how one sees a tree in actuality, while the background tree is how one sees a tree in one's mind.

Double Headed Cabbage Palm of Cape Coral Florida State Tree

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A rare double headed cabbage palm in Cape Coral Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/320thI would say that this double headed cabbage palm is the most famous object in all of Cape Coral, Florida.  I cannot even think what the second most would be.  The cabbage palm itself, in normal single head form, is the Florida state tree.  Personally, I think the cabbage palm is perhaps the least good looking of all palm trees in Florida.

While visiting Cape Coral a few years ago someone tipped me off to the existence of this most unusual tree.  I was able to find it, but I cannot recall the reason why I did not photograph it at that time.  This time I sought it out prepared to shoot it. 

It does not hold any hallowed ground, living its life in a very humble bit of land that serves as the median of a suburban road in a little traveled part of Cape Coral.  

If you would like to visit the most famous denizen of Cape Coral, you can find it here:


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The Moon besides Venus astrophotography

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Moon & Venus side-by-side - Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/200th on Induro CT214 with Nikon MC-30 cable releaseAs I was driving home from the dog park yesterday evening with Kiki, I noticed the Moon and Venus in unusual positions:  side-by-side of each other.  Usually I find Venus to be below the Moon.  In the above photograph this does not look as peculiar as it did to the naked eye, but in order for Venus to show up in the shot at all, I had to fill the frame with them as much as possible.  It kind of looked like they were friends, just hanging out next to each other.  

This is a very easy kind of astrophotograph to make, if you use manual mode.  One must choose a shutter speed carefully.  Too long of a shutter speed, even like 1/80th of a second will result in the moon looking just like a white disc.  So the one tricky part was finding a balance of exposing the Moon as well as possible while still having Venus be visible.

Also, even though I used a relatively fast shutter speed of 1/200th, handholding this type of shot is not advised.  Using a stable tripod makes it much easier.  In addition, I used a cable release to further reduce shake.  There is no money better spent in photography than on a no-compromises tripod.

this image is available for commercial license & fine art print - contact Jason today

Egret takes flight from Shinobazu Pond Ueno Japan

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Egret takes flight from Shinobazu Pond in Ueno, Tokyo Japan - November 2008 - Nikon D80 with Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/2.8 ISO 400 1/4000th -0.33 evThis photograph was a mistake.  I could not react fast enough to catch the egret fully in frame as it took off from Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan when out shooting with old friend Can. Mike.  I may have never paid this photograph any attention if not for someone saying they liked it when I showed all the shots of the day to a group of friends.  This was early in my DSLR photography career.  My culling process was not as refined as it is today.  

Now when I look at the image I get a sense of potential, of Freedom, of the unknown.  All I can see is that the bird is in flight and headed to a place I cannot see.  I wonder if it was late in starting its migration?  Now living in Florida, it is a place birds migrate to about this time of year.  It would perhaps be a nice bookend to make an image of an egret landing in water.  

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    • Horseshoe crab continues the cycle of life

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    Farewell, my friend . . . Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8D lens @ f/2.8 ISO 200 1/5000th natural light; lying on my stomachA horseshoe crab is perhaps the first creature of such size I ever saw dead in the wild.  I think as a child though I never really thought of the ones I found on the beach as being dead.  I think I probably just thought that's how these creatures exist.  I mean, by all outward appearances a horseshoe crab on the beach with its solid eyes still open and unblinking, appears alive.  

    I came across this horseshoe crab on a hidden beach in Bradenton as it was preparing to continue the cycle of life.  I got down on my stomach and laid flat on the sand to see life from its perspective.  It was also the best angle to photograph the horseshoe crab from.

    Photography Tip -- lie on your stomach for a unique composition and viewpoint

    At my current age and in my present mindset I did not view this horseshoe crab as being dead, nor do I other of nature's creatures.  I think of them as merely continuing the cycle of life.  Afterall, if everything lived for ever, then there would be no meaning to life.  It is a very clever system, one that requires some to die so that others may live.   

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    • Sunset Beach Florida Panorama Landscape at Twilight

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    Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida at Twilight - click to view at 1800px - 4-shot panorama image - available for commercial license and fine art print

    I have heard that Montana is called Big Sky Country.  Picturing that in my mind has fascinated me for years.  I have lived in claustrophobic places, where glimpes of the sky are all that is allowed.  Fortunately, for a majority of my life I have been able to gaze westward across a 180 degree expanse of the Gulf of Mexico.  The horizon is not infinity, it is Texas.  Still, since 1992 when I first discovered Sunset Beach, it has become a sacred place to me.  

    A whole novel could be written about my time on that half mile strip of sand over the past 19 years, though I would not want to share those stories, at least not yet.  For now I will only share the view that has given me solace and freedom of mind.