Squared – SQ85
Yellow Sea
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro, 1/1600s, f/5.6, ISO 400
Yellow Sea
Monthly Archives: March 2016
Castaway Point Park
Castaway Point Park, Palm Bay, Florida
Sunday morning I decided to check out Castaway Point Park in Palm Bay. It is at the inlet for Turkey Creek and I had spotted at least one pier out into the Indian River. I didn’t think about it being Easter morning so when I pulled into the park I thought there were a lot of fisherman here! I arrived at the end of a sunrise service. I hope I didn’t interrupt.
The park was a lot nicer than I had anticipated. Plenty of locations to get to the shore and grab images right at the water. There ended up being two piers I could use in my images and plenty of opportunities for something unique. I have more images I will be posting from this new location to visit when I am in Palm Bay.
Just as the sun was rising above the horizon I grabbed this first image of some people enjoying the show from the pier. I always tell everyone that I do not photograph people. I guess I should modify that statement to be I do not capture portraits. I have found I do like to include people in my landscape images. I think it adds a sense of scale to the landscape and also brings a ‘lived in’ feel. This changes the image from a picture of a place to a picture of park enjoyed by visitors. If that makes sense?
Easter Sunrise
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/10s, 14mm, f/16, ISO 200
The second image I grabbed from the end of the pier. The sun was creating some beautiful colors in the clouds as it was rising. I turned the camera on its side to capture the scene in portrait orientation. I also zoomed in to try and include the buildings along the horizon from Indiatlantic. This is the little town across the Indian River from Melbourne. This image is all about the colors.
Sunrise Over Indiatlantic
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/30s, 27mm, f/16, ISO 200
Lime Land
Monorail Monday
Lime Land
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R, 1/800s, 62mm, f/11, ISO 400
Sebastian Inlet
Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida
On Saturday I went to Sebastian Inlet State Park for the sunrise. I had looked online for places close to Melbourne that would have a pier or dock out into the water. What a good choice for the sunrise. I was not alone in the pre-dawn hours. The pier was packed with fishermen and I did spot a few other photographers.
The bridge over the inlet had a nice walkway underneath that allowed me to get an interesting view of the inlet with both piers sticking out into the Atlantic. I played with a few images with a very high ISO setting when it was still basically dark out. As the sun approached the horizon from below I managed to grab this image from the walkway.
Sebastian Inlet
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 13s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 400
I walked out along the pier to grab a few images of the bridge over the inlet. The moon was still high in the sky but I was able to achieve a nice view of the lights contrasting with the deep blue of the sky and water. It was out here that I realized I was being eaten alive by these little gnats. Luckily the bait shop opened up so I could buy some insect repellent.
Moon Over
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 8s, 15mm, f/16, ISO 400
It is always amazing to me to watch the colors on the sky change as the sun starts to rise. All these images were captured within an hour of each other. The blues of the pre-dawn time are replaced with the orange and yellows as the sun crosses the horizon. The time was right for the sunrise but the low clouds near the horizon kept it hidden but created a nice display in the sky.
Fishing Spot
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 0.4s, 26mm, f/16, ISO 200
I was talking with a fellow photographer Laura Macky earlier this week about an image I had posted. We both tend to favor the grand landscape views with our wide-angle lenses and we always want to capture different views telling a better story. The story elements are generally best captured when you focus on specific items.
With that conversation running through my head as I was capturing images with my go-to lens (12-40mm f/2.8), I switched to the 40-150mm f/4-5.6 to grab a few of those story elements. It didn’t hurt that the sun was starting to break through the clouds and the silhouette of the pier was very dramatic.
Sunrise Fishing
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R, 1/80s, 62mm, f/16, ISO 200
Morning Catch
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R, 1/100s, 105mm, f/16, ISO 200
Melbourne Beach Pier Sunset
Melbourne Beach, Florida
Yesterday was my Florida travel day. I had breakfast with my Mom and Grandpa before heading over to the East coast (Palm Bay) to spend a few days with my Mother-in-law. She has the good (bad?) fortune of living on the coast which allows me to go exploring for sunrise/sunset images of the ocean. I had spent the week before leaving on this trip scoping out locations using The Photographer’s Ephemeris app on my phone/tablet. I have a lot of exploring to do!
Last night my location was the pier into the Indian River in Melbourne Beach. I wasn’t sure what type of sunset I was going to get as a storm rolled through the area about an hour before I was going to go to the pier. I went anyway! I was so happy I didn’t give up on the sunset.
There were still quite a few clouds in the sky and the sun was heading into a large group as I arrived at the pier. It was a little crowded as the fisherman and other sunset viewers were not scared off by the recent downpour either. I managed to get quite a few images before the sun was obscured by the clouds. I didn’t call it a night just yet.
There was still some great light and another storm appeared to be moving through to the South of Melbourne. It was a good thing I decided to stay. There was a small break in the clouds just as the sun hit the horizon. I started running around the pier area grabbing as many different views as I could. The last 15 minutes of the day were the best!
Melbourne Beach Pier Sunset
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1.3s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 200
Drums at the Ready
Japan Pavilion, World Showcase, Epcot, Walt Disney World
Any trip I make to Epcot it is a certainty that I will be stopping in the Japan Pavilion for some pictures. It is a toss up between this pavilion and the China pavilion as to which is my favorite to photograph. There is such beautiful architecture and landscaping in both of these pavilions.
On the Goju-no-to Pagoda the Matsuriza Taiko Drummers perform a show numerous times a day. This is a must see show if you are in Epcot (you can hear the drumming most of the way around World Showcase). I end up watching this show during every visit. When I visited on Wednesday I spied the drums all lined up on the pagoda waiting for the next show. I had the 60mm macro lens on the camera as I was going for the Bonsai Tree displays but thought this lens would give an interesting view of the drums.
Sssshhh! I had to stand on the walkway railing for just a second in order to get this image…
Drums at the Ready
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro, 1/60s, f/16, ISO 400
Sunset on World Showcase Lagoon
World Showcase Lagoon, Epcot, Walt Disney World
I have been trying to capture this view at sunset for the past few trips to Epcot. Either the sun wasn’t cooperating or Disney had something blocking my access. Yesterday was my day! It had been a beautiful day at Epcot and it was going to be a gorgeous sunset. I made sure I worked my way over to the African Outpost section of World Showcase right at sunset.
I’ll warn everyone now that I have a lot of pictures from my one day visit to Epcot… 🙂
Sunset on World Showcase Lagoon
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/50s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 200
Sunset Dock
Lake Haines, FL
After finishing a nice dinner that my Mom cooked I headed down to the dock again for the sunset. It was a beautiful evening with a slight breeze blowing in off the lake. I don’t want to jinx myself but there were no bugs and for a while I just sat on the dock enjoying the end of the day.
Sunset Dock
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/50s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 200
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