Evening Light

Posted by Mike on

Kiwanis Park at Geiger Point, Melbourne, FL

A friend of mine retired at the end of 2016. He and his wife are spending February down in Florida. They are near Melbourne and I had hoped to make a quick trip down to visit him. Work kinda got in the way and I do not believe I will make it down.

It would have been cool to spend some time running around Florida together doing nothing in particular. Of course, it would have given me more opportunities for sunrises and sunsets. I’m sure there will be other times…

Going through my images from December I ran across this view from Geiger Point near the 192 Causeway. I loved that evening as it was the first sunset after we arrived. The drive down had been long but I knew the best way to recharge was to get out with my camera. No jaw-dropping pics were captured but there was great light which is always good.

 

MLCreations Photography: Florida &emdash; Evening Light

Field of White

Posted by Mike on

Pasture, Egypt Road, Boonville

Well, I changed my plans yesterday. I was going back to the zoo for more images of the animals but as the morning progressed the conditions improved to the point I had to go North to use the snowshoes. I had mentioned in a previous post the Black River Environmental Improvement Association (BREIA) and the x-country ski/snowshoe trails they have throughout northern Oneida county. Yesterday turned into the perfect day to go for a walk. I’ll have a post of my adventure later.

On my way up to the trail head I came across this view. I had turned onto Egypt Road and the sun was breaking through the clouds. I stopped the car and jumped out with the camera. Luckily, it is a country road with little traffic. I was able to grab this nice view with the mostly frozen creek running through it.

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Field of White

 

My original image had the sun in the view but I was unable to remove the power lines running through the top portion of the image. Try as I might my Photoshop skills were not up to the task. Once I had the thought the lines needed to go I could not see the image with them in it. I modified the crop to a 16×9 ratio losing the majority of the sky. It did refocus the attention on the creek which is really what I wanted to capture anyway.

Red Panda

Posted by Mike on

Rosamond Gifford Zoo

This is the last weekend for the photo contest at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse. I’m hoping I can make it out again on Sunday. The forecast is for some sun in the morning changing over to snow and clouds in the afternoon. I’m thinking early Sunday morning will be a quiet time at the zoo and I’ll have the place to myself. Until then, here is one of the Red Pandas talking to his companions up in the tree…

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Red Panda

Tamu Tamu

Posted by Mike on

Harambe Village, Africa, Animal Kingdom
Walt Disney World

On my way out of the Animal Kingdom park I found myself at the corner in Harambe Village. Looking back into the park I can go straight toward the Kilamanjaro Safari adventure, turn left toward the Lion King or turn right toward the Asia section of the park. The corner refreshment stand, Tamu Tamu, was begging to be photographed.

As much as I enjoy the parks I think they all take on a special quality at night. The lighting helps create a unique look and feel. I don’t think I am in a theme park, I get lost in the environment and feel like I am in each particular setting. This refreshment stand use to have the best milkshakes! Maybe that is the real reason I was drawn to it that night. They have since stopped selling them but it is still a great place to stop.

 

MLCreations Photography: Animal Kingdom &emdash; Tamu Tamu

 

Due to the intense lighting used I knew I would need to bracket my shots in order to capture this view. The top of Tamu Tamu was so bright that if I exposed for that section the rest of the view was black. I ended up with 4 separate exposures which I blended using the HDR Merge function in Lightroom. I created a flat image (one that captured the range of darks and lights but was not enhanced by changes in tone or saturation). Once I had this merged image I put it through my normal processing to bring out the detail and colors that I wanted. I left the image on the warm side as that is how I remember the scene.