Canon 7D, EF-S10-22 @ 10mm, f/4.0, 1/25 sec, ISO 1600
This image of the shuttle’s tail shows the nozzles of the 3 main engines used to get the shuttle into orbit and the smaller thrusters used to maneuver the shuttle.
Canon 7D, EF-S10-22 @ 22mm, f4.5, 1/30 sec, ISO 800
This image is of the shuttle bay and hatch looking toward the tail. Boeing provided the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) that propelled satellites into higher earth orbits from the shuttle bay. Several of my close associates worked directly with NASA on these programs.
I used NIK Silver EFEX Pro’s selective color to preserve the blue and red of our Flag.
Canon 7D, EF-S10-22mm@ 10mm, f/4, 1/200 sec, ISO 800
Chills ran through my body … the theater screen lifted and Atlantis was directly in front of me. I cannot explain the sensation that passed though me as I saw the shuttle only a few feet away. No image can replicate what I saw or felt. Memories of working with NASA as a Boeing technical representative in Washington, DC during the Shuttle Program’s “hey days” ran through my mind. Memories of watching the Challenger launch along with my Boeing associates brought tears to my eyes. As I walked around Atlantis, my whole body was shaking. It was almost impossible to hold my camera up for a steady image. After about a half hour I had settled down enough to take a few images. I will add more images In future posts. Like I mentioned earlier, I will not be able to create the image in my mind or the feeling in my heart when I saw this beautiful Bird.
Canon 7D, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS with 1.4x Extender @ 280mm, f/11, 1/800 sec, ISO 400
The Great White Egret seemed to be the most common bird that we consistently saw at the Florida Bird Festival. They were everywhere. They seem so graceful as they take off and fly. I got more satisfaction just watching them than trying to get that “perfect shot”.
Canon 7D, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS with 1.4x Extender @ 280mm, f/9.0, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400
Sometimes you are just lucky. We were driving around a wetlands reserve and saw this group of photographers and birders watching a nesting heron on top of a palm. Soon the male came up bringing up branches to build a nest. The male made several trips back and forth to bring up more branches for the nest. Soon several other females flew to nests on other palms. At one time there were five herons nesting. We spent at least two hours just watching this beautiful and amazing sight.
Canon 7D, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS with 1.4X Extender @ 260mm, f/7.1, 1/800 sec, ISO 400
The Roseate Spoonbill was one of the most colorful and interesting birds that we saw at the Florida Bird Festival. Most of the time the Spoonbills were quite far away. This one flew right over the top of me. I got so excited that the most of my frames just caught a part of the bird. I was lucky, out of dozen shots I took, one was centered within the frame.
Canon 7D, EF70-200 f/2.8L IS with 1.4x extender @ 250mm, f/9, 1/1000 sec, ISO 800
Over the past several years some of my long time friends have said they wanted to go down to the Florida Bird Festival in Titusville. We have been talking about this for over 5 years. This year was the year! Three of us and our very understanding wives took the trip. My other two photographer friends have done much more wildlife photography than me. This was my first trip and I was ready to learn new techniques. I quickly found out that my methodical engineering approach to working a subject was not working. I had to be quick, anticipate, and have a lot of patience. I took two half-day workshops and over 9000 images during three days of shooting. Out of these 9000 images, I felt that only about 10-12 were good. I also learned that taking so many pictures take an enormous amount of computer time just to sort out the keepers.
Wildlife photography may not be my niche. However learning new things always excites me and gets me out of a rut that I may be in. It also encourages me out to apply new ideas to the work that I most enjoy. I thank Milton Heiberg and Robert Amoruso for their insightful instruction.
Canon 5D MKIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 67mm, f/8.0, 1/50 sec, ISO 200
Here I was just trying to capture the repeating circles of the wheel tires and the post in addition to the repeating lines of the logs. Again I was thinking of B&W when I took this image. The mixture of green grass and brown leaves cluttered the color image and distracted from the wheels.
Canon 5D MKIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 62mm, f/11, 1/15 sec, ISO 400
When I saw this fireplace, my mind went immediately to black and white. The shadows, bright highlights, and shapes captured my attention. As I view simple subjects, I am slowly becoming able to pick out the shapes and tones that make the subject interesting, at least to me.
I was looking for colorful streamers or confetti to wish in a Happy New Year! Alas, all I could find was a pile of old steel bands from old barrels. Add a little Topaz magic and voila, instant streamers.
The following is the original for reference.
