Nature & Wildlife

Silly Goose at Crescent Lake Park St. Petersburg Florida DSLR Photography Lesson with Stacy

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A goose being silly in Crescent Lake Park in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/320This morning I met long time DSLR Photography Lesson student Stacy in Crescent Lake Park, where I knew it was very likely we would be able to photograph a goose or two.  I suggested she bring a blanket so that she could lie down comfortably on the grass in order to be able to get at eye level to the birds.  I got down low myself for the shot above.  

In this lesson I pointed out even more to Stacy that the meter gives just a suggestion, as to get a good exposure of the geese in the deep shade they were standing in, it was necessary to use settings that the meter thought would result in an overexposed shot.  That was mostly due to the background being much brighter than the foreground.  Also, I recommended that there is no need to change aperture to fix the exposure.  The aperture should be set first (when shooting in manual mode) so to set the depth of field, and then the shutter speed should be set as needed to get the desired exposure.  

Lightning Fine Art Photography St. Petersburg Florida Snell Isle Composite

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Lightning over Smacks Bayou, Snell Isle, St. Petersburg Florida fine art photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 17.1 secMy after dinner twilight walk with Kiki was thwarted this evening by rain and lightning.  So after going back inside I mounted my Nikon to my tripod to see if I could get lucky and capture a few bolts.  Of course the lightning was striking much more frequently when I was out with Kiki than when I was actually out with my camera, but with some patience I finally got enough lightning in a shot to fill the frame.  The image above is a slight composite of two images to add just a bit more lightning.  

Brown Pelican on a Post in St. Petersburg Florida Bird Photography

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Is this comfortable? Must be to this brown pelican - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/250thAt the edge of Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg Florida perched seemingly not so precariously on a narrow post I found this brown pelican relaxing.  To human eyes, this does not look like perhaps the greatest and/or safest of resting spots, but pelicans obvioiusly think otherwise.  

Malaysian Borneo Tree Frog at night

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Tree frog photographed in Malaysian Borneo in 2007 on a night trek - Olympus 5060 5 megapixel bridge cameraI went into my photography archives this afternoon and found this image of a tree frog I photographed in Malaysian Borneo way back in the summer of 2007.  This was before I entered the DSLR world, and still was shooting with my Olympus 5060 bridge camera.  At the time I was staying in a primative camp an hour's boat ride down a small river in the middle of the rainforest in Borneo.  This was the most remote place I have ever been.  The Malaysian guide took a small group of us on a night trek through the forest showing us all manner of creatures.  By far this tree frog was the most harmless of the ones he showed us (which included tarantulas and scorpions!).  

Since it was night and the tree frog on an isolated branch, the flash only lit up the subject creating an in camera pitch black background.

Dandelion Florida Fine Art Photography 50mm bokeh

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Dandelion ready to be plucked and blown in the wind - Nikon D300 Nikkor 50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/400thJust a simple dandelion at the end of its flowering life ready for the wind or a young child to come by and send its parachuted seeds in flight.  Do kids still even do such things on warm spring days out in open green spaces?  I hope so.  

Great Egret looking awkwardly straight on St. Petersburg Florida Fine Art Photography

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Great Egret looking straight at the lens in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/1000thBirds are often seen photographed in profile view where their long beaks compliment their vertical necks.  This is especially so for the great egret who has a very long and slender white neck.  However, when photographed from straight on, such birds lose their elegant appearance and take on a more awkward, comical look as seen above.  I had the chance to get very close to this great egret right at the same eye level as well out on The Pier in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.

Eye-to-eye with a great egret at The Pier in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/1000thEven just a little bit less straight on is much more of a flattering look for this great egret!

Black Skimmer bird St. Petersburg Florida North Shore Beach area

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A black skimmer bird in St. Petersburg, Florida nature photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/800thThis black skimmer was enjoying the late afternoon sunshine on a small beach in the North Shore Park area of St. Petersburg, Florida.  I had to get down on the sand to get to the bird's eye level for this composition.  These birds get their name from skimming their beaks over the surface of the water in search of food.  Unfortunately, this bird and all her friends must have already eaten dinner because they were just standing around and I could not get any cool action shots of them skimming.  Such is the nature of nature photography!