Melbourne Beach, FL
Enjoy the Beach Moments
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/3s, 14mm, f/14, ISO 200
Wordless Wednesday: Enjoy the Beach Moments
Monthly Archives: December 2015
Before the Sun
Riverside Park, Indiatlantic, FL
Another trip to Riverside Park along the Indian River in Indiatlantic, FL. This trip was the morning of my last day in Florida. It was a challenge as the clouds were rolling in which would eventually bring the rain. On the plus side the clouds did obscure the full moon which allowed for this extremely long exposure of the 192 bridge and the fishing dock from the park.
Before the Sun
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 50s, 12mm, f/11, ISO 200
Poinsettia Gold
Monorail Monday
Epcot, Walt Disney World
It has been almost four years since the kids were in Walt Disney World. Last year when I couldn’t go on vacation with them due to work they did go over to Downtown Disney. This year they were not going to let me get away without taking them over. We planned on two days. The first was definitely going to be Epcot. The kids are fascinated with the Japan Pavilion and I knew there would be plenty of photography for me.
Of course if you have been cursed with reading this blog then you know when I go to Epcot it involves capturing monorails. I think it is the challenge of discovering new views for the monorails that keeps me interested. Oh, who am I kidding… I love the monorails, and obviously photography, so this is a match perfect for me.
This was also a different style trip to Disney for me. It wasn’t about me and pictures. I decided before we even left Grandma’s that I was not bringing the tripod. I was going to do everything hand-held. It would be about capturing the moments not the technically perfect images. My new Olympus OM-D E-M1 would be great for this. Plenty of controls, small, lightweight and portable. No renting a locker, no twenty pound backpack. Just enjoy the parks and grab some pictures.
This approach had me modifying my normal shooting method. As the sun started to set I needed to increase my ISO settings or find places the prop up the camera. Especially with monorails where I have found I need at least a 1/320s shutter speed to freeze the monorail in the image.
Christmas time at Disney is always beautiful and the parks are full of poinsettia plants. I positioned myself just behind one and waited. Monorail Gold came round the park loop and I fired away. At 5:30pm the sun was just above the horizon so my ISO was up to 1600 and the aperture was down to f/6.3 to get the shutter speed I needed. This one will be a little grainy looking if you zoom in but the view is still great.
Poinsettia Gold
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/320mm, 12mm, f/6.3, ISO 1600
Simplicity
Riverside Park, Indiatlantic, FL
On the last morning of my vacation I headed out for one more photo opportunity. The full moon was still high in the sky but the clouds were starting to roll in. I had not scouted very many locations although the few I had used held plenty of opportunities. I decided to return to Riverside Park in Indiatlantic, which is just across the Indian River from Melbourne.
My original goal was to capture some images of the 192 bridge with this great dock in the foreground. If everything worked out I would catch the moon and its reflection as well. I did manage did get the images I wanted but as I was standing on the shore I noticed this great dock/boat lift off to my right. It wasn’t the colorful view I was getting with the bridge and sky but it reminded me of fine art, long exposure black and white images that I admire from a few photographers. This is my attempt at that style…
Simplicity
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 25s, 40mm, f/11, ISO 800
Turkey Creek Sunset
Palm Bay Marina, Turkey Creek
Just down the road from my mother-in-law is the Palm Bay Marina. I drove by numerous times every day wondering if there was an image I could capture. The other night I walked down after dinner and found a walking path that followed the creek out toward the Indian River. Although I managed to grab some individual shots, I setup on the walkway corner to capture what I needed for a panorama.
After getting my pictures by the creek I wished that I could have gone into the marina to capture some images from the docks. The gate was open but the sign indicated only boat owners and guests are allowed after 5pm. I looked for someone to ask but no one was in sight. I almost talked myself into sneaking in but thought my luck would have brought the police. I guess I’m not a very adventurous photographer. 🙂
I used Lightroom’s panorama feature to combine the images and make my normal adjustments. A quick trip into OnOne Photo Suite for few enhancements gave me the view that had been in my head.
Turkey Creek Sunset
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/80s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 200/em>
Full Risen
Indian River, Melbourne, FL
Well, sometimes you have to run with the image that knocks your socks off. I had another image all ready to go today but last night we went over to the water to see the full moon. The first stop was the park at the end of the 192 Causeway on the Melbourne, FL side. Just standing next to the water with the lights from the bridge and the moon I knew I was going to get a great image.
There was just the right amount of clouds in the sky to give the moon a glow and reduce the sharp moonlight. I had to manage the ISO to get a suitable long exposure. I didn’t want to completely glass over the water. I wanted to still have some texture in it. Increasing the ISO to 400 allowed for a 25 second exposure at f/13. I was ready to go back and start working on this image but we continued on over to the beach and that was just as beautiful. More on that image later…
Merry Christmas my friends!
Full Risen
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 25s, 12mm, f/13, ISO 400
Sunrise Shadows
Indian River near Melbourne, FL
I went looking for the sunrise the other morning and it did not disappoint. I was at the small park on the Melbourne side of the 192 Causeway over the Indian River. I was like a kid in a candy store. Running all around the area grabbing pictures. I’ll warn everyone now that there will be more pictures on the way… 🙂
This image is a manual blend of three exposures. I used the normal exposure for the water, blended in the under-exposed image for the sky and the over-exposed image for the rocks. After the blending I worked a little of my normal processing with the Topaz Labs plug-ins (Clarity, Adjust and Detail).
Sunrise Shadows
Olympus OM-D E-EM1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, {0.6, 1/3 & 1/6s bracket}, 12mm, f/16, ISO 200
Leave Your Cares Behind…
near Melbourne, FL
Spending the Christmas Holiday in Florida with the kids. We found a beach along A1A just south of Melbourne Beach. The kids had fun in the waves while I searched for pictures. Of course, the little bit of rain had me heading to the car at least once.
Leave Your Cares Behind…
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/15s, 22mm, f/18, ISO 200
MLCreations Photography 