outdoor photography

Black-and-white Warbler It was a pretty good morning at Mead Gardens.  The biggest highlight of the morning was seeing a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, but it spent most of its time hidden, and photos were pretty much impossible. We had 11 species of warbler, though: Ovenbird, Worm-eating Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, and Prairie Warbler.  Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers were all but gone (I saw two Palms and no Yellow-rumped, but we found at least 10 Prairie Warblers. I'm not very happy with the next two photos, but at least they show a couple of the more interesting birds that we saw this morning. Black-throated Blue Warbler I know it's a little soft, due to noise and shutter speed (I don't use flash), but I thought it might be good to show an ID photo of the bird Cape May Warbler I know it's a little soft and the bird did not gi...

Yellow-throated Warbler I went to Lake Lotus this morning.  It was a pretty slow morning for birds.  I did find four warbler species, though: a Yellow-throated Warbler, a Louisiana Waterthrush, a Northern Parula, and several American Redstarts.  I also found an Eastern Kingbird, which is the first I've seen in Seminole County.  Since birding was somewhat slow, I turned my attention to butterflies, spiders, bugs and flowers.  Zebra Longwings are my favorite butterflies, and Monarchs are always nice to find.  Golden Silk Orbweavers are plentiful there--they are fun to see if their webs are not spread over your path.  I also found one Katydid, and I think it's very young--it's wings are extremely small, and one of its legs appears not to be fully formed yet. Eastern Kingbird Monarch Butterfly Monarch Butterfly Zebra Longwing Scarlet Hibiscus Golden Silk Orbweaver Katydid

Canon EOS 40D Today I would like to pay tribute to a wonderful camera--my Canon EOS 40D.  It's been good to me for 4 years, and I've taken in the neighborhood of 200,000 photographs with this camera.  It's been my trusted companion, whether photographing nature, birds, wildlife, or my kids' birthday parties. But sadly, on June 21, 2012, the mirror mechanism failed, so it no longer moves to expose the shutter when I take a picture. There was a green screen set up in the studio of my office this morning, so I decided to take a studio portrait. Perhaps one day I'll have some fun and put interesting photographs behind the camera in this shot. Here are a couple photographs from the last day I took pictures with this camera. Zebra Longwing Silver Spotted Skipper I thought it may also be good to take this moment to share a little bit about how a camera "ages." We're familiar with how cars age more by miles than by years. Cameras age more by ...

Zebra Longwing The Zebra Longwing is the Florida state butterfly, and for good reason; it's a very beautiful butterfly.  I've seen them several times over the last couple months, but I've never been able to photograph them.  I've always found them in places that were infested with mosquitoes poorly lit.  But last week I was able to find one at Lake Lotus Park in Altamonte Springs, FL.  This one cooperated with me pretty well.  I didn't have much light for photography, so I used my tripod and took lots of pictures to makes sure I captured him when he was still. Zebra Longwing Zebra Longwing Zebra Longwing Zebra Longwing