Waiting to Open

Africa, Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World

Waiting to Open
Olympus E-M1 MK III, M. Zuiko 12-100mm f/4, 1/200s, 12mm, f/11, ISO 200

Harambe in the Morning

Africa, Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World

Harambe in the Morning
Olympus E-M1 MK III, M. Zuiko 12-100mm f/4, 1/160s, 16mm, f/11, ISO 200

Colors of the Harbor

Bellamy Harbor Park, Rome, NY

Thursday evening was good time to explore Bellamy Harbor Park. Well, I suppose explore isn’t the correct term considering how many times I go to the park with the camera. I know all the good spots for images. It depends on the lighting conditions and what I’m in the mood to capture. Maybe I should say explore the light at the park.

Anyway, enough of that short ramble…

There were clouds approaching from the East and I was anticipating a little drama in the sky for the sunset. When you include the orange glow from the sun conditions were ripe for a few good images. The wonderful result of the clouds is varying colors depending on looking West or East…

Bridge Alight
Nikon Z6 II, NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1/100s, 31mm, f/8, ISO 100

Orange Glow
Nikon Z6 II, NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1/80s, 34mm, f/11, ISO 100

Tower Light
Nikon Z6 II, NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1/8s, 53mm, f/11, ISO 100

Pier Into The Storm

Riverside Park Pier, Indialantic, FL

Pier Into The Storm
Olympus E-M1 MK III, M. Zuiko 12-100mm f/4, 1/160s, 14mm, f/11, ISO 200

Chasing the Buck Moon

Delta Lake State Park

After the weather this past weekend I wasn’t thinking I would get a chance to see the Buck Moon this month. I generally have better luck for the right conditions if I capture the full moon as it sets in the morning. I like to have the moon set between thirty and sixty minutes after the sunrise. This allows enough light into the sky to allow the moon to not be a bright white blob in the sky.

The moon was playing hide-n-seek with the remaining clouds but I went to Delta Lake on the chance it would peek out before crossing the horizon. I only live five minutes from the park but when I got in the car the moon was still behind the clouds. As I pulled through the entrance, the moon was visible but heading toward another patch of clouds. I immediately stopped and grabbed this image of the moon over the pond at the front of the park.

Bench and the Moon
Nikon Z6 II, NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 2s, 48mm, f/11, ISO 100

The sun was still far below the horizon and with the moon racing to hide from me I was only able to get this one image. As you can see due to the longer exposure the moon is an over exposed white ball. I still had time… time to get to the beach area.

I was needed to be patient. The clouds were moving as much as the moon was marching toward the horizon. I spent the time looking for an interesting foreground. Sadly, not a lot of options so I settled on the life guard chair.

Guarding the Moon
Nikon Z6 II, NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1/8s, 70mm, f/11, ISO 100

One more. Can I find another image?

Sunrise! Look at the colors flooding the clouds.

I got it! I do love me a good reflection.

I walk out to the point on the right side of the beach area. I like the orange on the buoy. Bingo!

Warning Moon
Nikon Z6 II, NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1/15s, 70mm, f/11, ISO 100

I’ll end this one with the same info from June..

July’s full moon is the Buck moon. A couple years ago I had a great time trying to capture as many of the full moons as possible and learned quite a bit about them in the process. In case you missed the first Strawberry moon post, you can view it here: Buck Moon. You can also see more posts related to the moon using this link: Full Moon posts.

Floating

Delta Lake State Park

The rain paused late in the afternoon allowing me to get out with the camera for the sunset. The haze from the wildfires is still apparent in the photos but not of the degree to obscure the view. Of course, there were still plenty of clouds in the sky. The sun decided to jump behind those clouds as I arrived at Delta Lake. It was OK, I had a good time exploring. I really liked colors reflected in the clouds and water…

Floating
Nikon Z6 II, NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1/10s, 70mm, f/11, ISO 100

Early Light

Crescent Lake, Epcot Area, Walt Disney World

On my second day at Disney I was heading to Epcot. The plan was to spend a good portion of the day stalking the monorail, finding the topiaries and exploring the festival food options. The night would be spent at Hollywood Studios for the After Hours event. The bus situation at the resort didn’t necessarily change the plan but I modified it due to having a very low virtual queue number for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

I stood in line for the bus to Epcot and watched a minimum of six buses arrive for Hollywood Studios. Listening to the other guests complain and one group at the head of the line state they had been waiting for an hour, I decided to grab the next bus for the Studios. It arrived less than five minutes after my decision.

I planned to ride the Skyliner to Epcot but when I arrived at the Studios I noticed the line toward Epcot was not moving. Not a problem, I have walked the path between Epcot and Hollywood Studios numerous times over the years, and I knew in the early morning light the path would mostly be in the shade (it was!).

The bonus for me would be a chance to walk through the Crescent Lake area (Yacht and Beach Clubs, Boardwalk and a view of the Swan and Dolphin resorts). When I’m not staying in this area I tend to walk over whenever I’m in Epcot because I do miss the views and photographic opportunities. The Yacht Club lighthouse did not disappoint…

Early Light
Olympus E-M1 MK III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/250s, 20mm, f/11, ISO 200