Tag Archives: Florida

Echoing Curves

May 18, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments
Echoing Curves

The beaches beyond Marineland in St. Augustine have some beautiful rock formations. This image was captured while the colors in the sky still had some magenta while the horizon was turning warm gold. The way the ocean had receded taking sand away from the front of this rock and exposing the bright green moss caught my eye. Even more interesting were the curves in the sand, the shape of the waves and the shape of the face of the rock. Each curve in harmony with and echoing the other.

Captured with the Panasonic Lumix S1R with the 24 – 105 f/4 lens. A Benro filter holder with a 3 stop ND, a polarizer and a 3 stop soft edge grad was used for this image. The lens was at 35mm and the exposure triad: f/8, 8 sec, ISO 100.

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Marineland Beach – A1A St. Augustine

May 17, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments

Sunrise on the Jetty

Sunrise the day before leaving St Augustine was mostly cloudless with just a small band just on the horizon. The few clouds were enough to defuse the light and create a lovely warm glow on the rocks. I set up the Lumix S1R with the 24 – 105 f/4 lens. A Benro filter holder with a 6 stop ND, a polarizer and a 3 stop soft edge grad was used for this image. The lens was at 52mm and the exposure triad: f/10, 15 sec., ISO 50.

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Lumix S1R – The value of great resolution with good pixels

May 16, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments

Last month I spent a few days in St. Augustine at Florida’s Birding and Photo Festival. I took the Lumix S1R along even though I knew I would be shooting predominantly with the Lumix G9 and the Leica 100-400, an ideal bird photography combination. I was also hoping to try out the Sigma MC21 and some of the long glass that Sigma makes – more on that in future posts. For my very first shoot I decided to lave the G9 behind and just use the S1R with the Lumix Pro (Leica certified) 70-200mm f/4. Boy was this a great combination. The following images are an example of what impressed me most.

I am a strong believer on exposing to the right to maximize the ammout of data captured and this root image is an example of this technique.

The image below is of a Roseate Spoonbill that had landed near some alligators to drink water.

Focal length 200mm – Exposure triad f/4, 1/800 sec., ISO 160

Typically I will adjust exposure, white /black points, highlights and shadows to get the image to what it looked like. These adjustments are shown in the screen capture as below.

As the composition was limited by the focal length of the lens I decided on a tight crop while maintaining the reflection as in the image below. The original image is 8368 X 5584 pixels and the cropped image is 1934 X 2528. Though not exact it is close to a 2X crop or the equivalent of a micro four third sensor. This provides a field of view equivalence of 400 mm.

This image has been resized down to 1400 px on the long side for web presentation.

Seeing the detail and the quality of the cropped image, I went a step further and cropped further to 1934 x 1434. This is approximately another 50%.

Once again this image has been resized down just a bit to 1400 px on the long side for web presentation.

In my opinion this is a perfectly good image and useable in and digital competition as most competition require the image to be 1400 X 1050 px.

So why not take it one step further. A severe crop of the neck and head.

This image has not been resized – it is 546 x 817 px

To further test the quality of images from the S1R, I took this small jpg image above and resized it to 1050 px high.

Resized to 1050 px high

Using the same original jpg image a further resize was done to 1920 X 2678 px. This is more than sufficient for any screen/monitor display and any photographic competition.

You should be able to double click this image to see it at 100%

ull disclosure, I am a Lumix Global Ambassador and use Lumix cameras and lenses for my photography. I will say that after using the S1R for a month, in my opinion, it is an exceptional camera and the best digital camera I have used to date.

The LUMIX S1R is Panasonic’s new 47.3-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor camera.

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Barred Owl – Corkscrew Swamp

March 12, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments

The barred owl, also known as northern barred owl or hoot owl, at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Florida this afternoon. The swamp has way too much water and as a result, the number of birds is minimum. This owl remained with its eyes closed for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, when the park staff came by to say we had to leave, I stopped by to get this image.

Panasonic Lumix G9 and the Leica 100-400 mm lens – hand-held.  Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/60 sec, ISO 500.
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MINWR Field Workshop

January 27, 2019 by sverma | 0 Comments

January 25, 2019 – 7:00 AM field trip to Merrit Island National WIldlife Refuge, Black Point Drive yielded some decent images once the clouds dissipated and we got some good light. The day prior was a washout because of the storm that came through the area – high winds, heavy rains and reports of tornados.

Reddish Egret fishing – Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400 mm lens. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/800 sec, ISO 500

This year the number of Glossy Ibis in the reserve is exceptional. I have never seen so many flocks of 20 Ibis or more.

Glossy Ibis stepping into the water – Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400 mm lens. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/1000 sec, ISO 640

On the other hand, the Roseate Spoonbills are not as abundant as in past years.

Roseate Spoonbill with a Great Egret keeping a watchful eye – Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400 mm lens. Exposure triad: f/7.1, 1/1300 sec, ISO 200
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More from SW Florida

March 22, 2018 by sverma | 0 Comments

Great Egret in Flight. Pansonic G9 with the Leica f/2.8 200mm lens and 1.4X teleconverter. Exposure triad: f/5.6, 1/2500 sec, ISO 320

Even though the copy of the Leica f/2.8 200mm lens is a pre-production unit I foun it performing exceptionally well.  It focuses fast and the camera and lens combination have no problems following birds in flight.  

The Learn to Swallow Large Fish. Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400mm. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 200.

This was a very active nest.  The adult had brought 5 or 6 fish and regurgitated them multiple times. 

Green Heron Sky-Pointing – Corkscrew Swamp. Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400mm. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/500 sec, ISO 640.

This was the first time I witnessed a Green Heron Sky-Pointing which is a very common mating behavior with Great Blue Herons and various Egrets.

Three American White Pelican flying after the sun had set. Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400mm. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400.

Ding Darling NWR was a big disappointment.  The birds were sparse with the exception of Pelicans, Willets, Dowitchers and Dunlins.  As the sun set, these Pelicans started departing the sand-bar they were on, probably to roost elsewhere.

 

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Anhingas can look good too

March 18, 2018 by sverma | 1 Comment

Really wanted to see the G9’s performance with dynamic range and the ability to capture good shadow detail.  I was very pleased with the performance as you will see from these images.

Just Checking. Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/1600 sec, ISO 640

 

What’s Next. Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 400

 

Anhinga in Flight. Lumix G9 with the Leica 100-400. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 200

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Space Coast Wildlife & Birding Festival 2018 – last post

February 11, 2018 by sverma | 0 Comments

Roseate Posing – Lumix G9 with the Leica 200 f/2.8 and 2X teleconverter. Exposure triad: f/5.6, 1/2500 sec, ISO 200.

This Roseate was in good light and I liked it as a square crop.  The image of the Pin-tail pair was another digiscope image that has been cropped for composition. 

 

Pintail Pair – Digiscoped with the GH5 and Swarovski spotting scope. Exposure 1/800 sec at ISO 800.

The Luna Moth – albeit not in a natural environment the moth stayed on the gymnasium wall at Eastern Florida State College for hours.  Used the 30mm macro on the G9 handheld and I continue to be impressed with the IBIS.  The 30mm macro is currently discounted and available for under $300.

Luna Moth Actias luna – Lumix G9, Lumix Vario 39mm macro. Exposure triad: f/4.5, 1/500 sec, ISO 200

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Rain is Good

February 9, 2018 by sverma | 0 Comments

Roseate Spoonbills Reflected – Lumix G9 with the Leica 200 f/2.8 and 2X. Exposure Triad f/5.6, 1/2500, ISO 200

It rained all morning and then we had a little break and the light got better, albeit not like the golden hour, the clouds helped diffuse it enough.

The next image of the Black-crowned Night Heron was a daily image.  Always in the same mangrove by the road. In all the days there was no action from this bird. 

 

Black-crowned Night Heron -Lumix G9 with the Leica 200 f/2.8 and 2X. Exposure Triad f/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 4000.

The Glossy Ibis is another digiscoped capture – wish the light had been better for this one.  It would have definitely brought out the iridescence. 

Glossy Ibis – Lumix GH5 with the Swarovski Spotting Scope – Exposure 1/640 sec at ISO 800

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A trip to the Kennedy Space Center

January 28, 2018 by sverma | 2 Comments

Exposure triad: I had turned the aperture ring to f/10 by mistake so ended up with and ISO of 2000 and 1/1600 sec shutter.

Yesterday January 27, 2018 I had the opportunity to go with a group of 18 participants to the Kennedy Space Center to find and photograph the Florida Scrub Jays.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy sitting on Pad 39 awaiting its launch next week or soon thereafter.  The pad is 3.6 miles from the Camera Pad where I captured this image. Image only cropped on either side.  Hand held, exposure triad: f/5.6, 1/1250 sec at ISO 200 – lens at 800mm (35mm equivalent) 

The Florida scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) is one of the species of scrub jay native to North America. It is the only species of bird endemic to the U.S. state of Florida and one of only 15 species endemic to the continental United States. The Florida scrub-jay is the rarest of five species belonging to the genus Aphelocoma, which means ‘smooth-hair’ and refers to the absence of the head crest possessed by some of the more ubiquitous North American jays. The Florida scrub-jay has a co-operative lifestyle. Each Florida scrub-jay pair mates for life and builds a new nest each year between February and March.

G9 with the 200mm f/2.8. Exposure triad: f/5.6, 1/1250 sec at ISO 200 – lens at 800mm (35mm equivalent) 

As there was a fair amount of hiking through the scrub I carried no tripod and hand-held the Panasonic Lumix G9 with the new Leica 200mm f/2.8 lens and the 2X teleconverter.  This is an amazing combination with 6.5 stops of image stabilization the configuration was perfect for this excursion.

A sentinel Scrub Jay making an alarm call. Exposure triad: f/5.6, 1/640 sec at ISO 200 – lens at 800mm (35mm equivalent) 

For this last image I used the pre burst feature to capture RAW files with the camera set to auto focus continuous.  I selected this image for the truly awesome wing position as the jay too flight.

Pre-burst High Speed shooting. Exposure triad:f/5.6, 1/2000 sec at ISO 400 – lens at 800mm (35mm equivalent)

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