Posts Tagged ‘florida’
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Last month I ran across a contest that had to do with the BlackBerry Storm. Although it is not really a picture contest, I was able to find a photo in my Storm that I thought was rather unique. I used the unedited picture and posted it as part of my entry. The reaction has been very positive – now we have to see if it wins! (As of this post, I am in 3rd place)
The picture was taken through the windshield of my car as I was sitting in traffic trying to get somewhere. Before I get started, I do NOT condone the activity of texting while driving, taking pictures, posting to twitter, facebook, taking videos or otherwise. With that out of the way, as I was sitting there (not, to barely moving), I noticed a rare opportunity. I grabbed my BlackBerry Storm and held it in what I felt was an “artistic” angle and pressed the shutter release. It was a cool picture. But, what I noticed was a rich blue color in the picture that was not as rich in the sky. The storm clouds were darker, the road signage was slightly blurred… It was a great shot!
When I showed the picture (and my contest entry) to a friend of mine, he asked me what I used to alter the picture – “Was it PhotoShop? Was it LightRoom? What was it, there is no way that came out of your BlackBerry without doctoring it!” I grinned and asked him to think about it. After a few moments, he figured it out and called it a “camera filter of opportunity.” Wow, what a great assessment!
So, how was it done – simple. Some cars – not all – have some sort of sun-screening material on the top edge of the windshield. In this case, I was in my Acura TSX, which has one with a blue tint to it. By holding my camera phone at just the right height and in that “artistic” angle, I was able to produce the shot you see below.
If you think this is a great shot – which I hope you do – I ask you to vote on it. Then, share it with your friends via Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LiveJournal, Xanga, or just share this blog posting with others via email. The only way I can stay in the top end of this contest is to not only get votes, but also get it on as many social networks, blogs, etc. So, if you are going to share it, do so from the links provided after you vote. Thanks in advance friends!
Tags: camera phone, car, cell phone, cell phone photography, filter, florida, miami, mobile photography, Photography, picture, rain, reflection, text messaging, water
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
Monday, April 20th, 2009
First and foremost, a very big thank you goes out to my buddy Ross at www.floridaphoto.com for a great flight on a perfect afternoon yesterday. Can’t wait to do it again!
Last time I went flying with Ross I had a Sony DSC-H1. The pics came out ok, but back then I was a pure point-and-shoot kinda guy. No manual settings, everything was set to automatic. The pictures came out fine, but nothing like the ones from yesterday using manual settings on my 450D!
I started out trying to shoot at ISO 100, then 200, only to find out that my shutter speed was way too slow for what I wanted to capture. Based upon his suggestions, I made some adjustments and all I can say is THANKS – it definitely made a difference in the sharpness of the pics.
Another thing I learned is that next time, I won’t be attempting to use my circular polarizer AND I will wear a dark color shirt to minimize the reflections from the inside of of the window on my side. Of course, one of those nifty holes in the window on the other side will help as well Ross – LOL.
If you are looking for aerial photography around South Florida – take a look at Ross’ site mentioned at the opening of this entry. If he doesn’t already have what you want, you won’t be disappointed with his work!
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Tags: aerial, beach, Flickr, flight, florida, flying, geotag, islands, miami, Miami Beach, Photography, photos, pictures, water
Posted in Downtown, Flickr, Miami Beach, People, Photography, Places | No Comments »
Friday, April 17th, 2009
Talk about timing!
I was recently out with a friend of mine and his wife taking Loop Road out by the Miami-Dade / Collier County line… It was a 25 mile or so drive through the Everglades off of Tamiami Trail which proved to give me one of the best shots yet.
But, I must say, that all of this was absolute perfect timing! I was using the standard 18-55mm lens on my XSi, while my buddy was using his new 200mm lens on his camera. After standing out there for a few minutes, I asked if I could borrow it for a couple of shots and that’s when the magic happened!
The apparently young falcon was simply sitting there enjoying the sunlight when it decided to spread its wings and turn around for us! It was stunning to say the least! Needless to say, I am now in the market for the Tamron 18-270mm lens with the Canon mount for my XSi. With a couple of back-to-back trips coming up in May, I can tell you that I will absolutely have this lens for that next perfect timing moment!
Tags: Everglades, falcon, florida, miami, Photography, photos, pictures, timing, tree, wildlife
Posted in Everglades, Flickr, Photography | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
All I can say about this shot is…. WOW, this turned out great, and people are talking!
As you can see from my last blog posting, I went out to shoot a car in various locations throughout Miami. We went out to Watson Island, drove through Coconut Grove, down through Gables by the Sea, and then found a great road with no traffic to take this shot. I knew the theory behind longer exposures and capturing motions, so I put what I thought was right for this shot into play…
First and foremost as to use my newly purchased tripod. I found an “open box” at Best Buy and saved twenty bucks, paying $30 for this one. Since I saved that money, I also bought a monopod as well. After setting up the car facing away from me, I put the tripod in the middle of the road and yelled at the driver – “GO!” – about a half second before hitting the shutter. Why the delay? You have to give time for human reaction! Figure it takes 3/4 of a second for someone to react to something like this if you try it out.
I set the camera to 400 ISO, 18mm, for a 6-second exposure. It was rather dark already and I wanted to make certain I captured as much as I could with the street lighting and what was left of the sunset off to the west (right side of the picture here).
Find a pedestrian overpass somewhere and start playing with your camera until you figure out what setting is just right for what you are dealing with. I worked on some of this during my recent trip to Las Vegas as shown in the night shot below. If you don’t take the time to play with your camera, the only other way to get a shot like this is pure luck! Here are some more samples of night shots with time exposure – click for larger images:
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Tags: car, corvette, florida, lights, miami, motion, night, palm, red, sky, tree
Posted in Photography | 2 Comments »
Saturday, February 7th, 2009
Sometimes one sets out on a hunt for the perfect location to take pictures of their subject, only to find a surprise location on the way home!
Today I drove down to Watson Island with a friend to get some pictures of his car in front of the Miami skyline. We went there, took the pictures from several angles, and then it started to rain.
We decided it was time to move on and see how the rest of the day would go. Perhaps we would come back if the rain stopped and take a few more pictures before heading in for the day. We ate lunch in Coconut Grove and decided to continue towards home.
As we drove through Coconut Grove, we observed a great photo stop. I jumped out of the car and started shooting… The result – awesome!
If you are taking pictures for fun like me, don’t forget to take a look around while driving to and from your selected location… you may drive by a place that is perfect!
Tags: car, corvette, florida, fountain, location, miami, red, tree, water
Posted in Photography, Places | No Comments »
Sunday, January 11th, 2009
I have been told that I may have an eye for framing pictures. We are not talking about putting a picture inside a border for display, we are talking about looking through the lens and seeing the shot in its entirety as one would want to have it if printed.
When I was walking by this building, I looked up and saw the angles created from the balconies, the curves from the building itself, the reflections of the sky in the windows, the trees, the sky and the clouds above. I could envision all of these aspects in a picture and it was not until that point in my mind that I picked up the camera and framed the shot I wanted to capture through the lens.
I wanted to capture the height, the angles, etc. to ensure that it is more than a flat image. I also wanted to capture the depth of the shot by having the palm trees up front and the clouds over head. This was a simple shot that I really enjoyed. Now, if I could only live here and look over the ocean every morning – that would be awesome!
Tags: building, florida, framing, miami, Miami Beach, palm, photos, reflection, south beach, tree
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
Wondering where you could shoot pictures related to farm work, agriculture, and livestock in great weather at just about any time throughout the year? Look no further than Miami’s agricultural areas!
Southwest Miami-Dade County hosts a thriving agricultural community. During the proper season, you can find fresh strawberries, tomatoes, avocados and many other fruit and vegetables being grown in south Florida. With a little time before heading home, I stopped to take some pictures of things and places that many people don’t get to see or enjoy down here. Most Miami visitors do not know that driving west is not only to get to the Everglades, but it can afford visitors the opportunity to take some incredible pictures.
Horses, birds, plants, and other animals are plentiful in this area. In fact, I am planning on heading back out there soon to find the wild peacocks that I saw. Unfortunately, they were spooked off and I was unable to capture any of them with my camera. Most people probably didn’t think of farm or agriculture pictures when mentioning Miami, but now you can keep this in mind if you are contemplating a certain theme for a photo series. Most areas are accessible via paved and unpaved roadways which provide a great backdrop to frame your shots.
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Tags: agricultural, agriculture, crops, farms, florida, green, linear, miami, plants, ranch, rows, sunset
Posted in Photography, Places | No Comments »
Monday, January 5th, 2009
As I was driving home today, I couldn’t help but notice the light coming off of the lake near the boat ramp I drive by just about daily. With my camera in the seat next to me, I simply stopped, rolled down my window and snapped away.
Since I am still learning what to set for ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and all those fancy controls, I simply sat there and kept changing things on the manual settings until I felt I captured enough to capture the moment the right way.
To get this picture in the right balance (in my eye at least), I ended up selecting the one that looked best on my computer. It was set to 1600 ISO, f/5.0 at 1/25 with a focal length of 46mm. The flash did not fire and after tweaking the exposure slightly in iPhoto, the result is rather surprising.
Another reason that I call this “capturing the moment” is because when I took a look at my Flickr account today, I noticed that there was a picture of mine that had gotten a lot of attention. I captured that moment quite by accident and used everything in automatic mode. Since it got so much attention, I posted it to more Flickr groups and invite you to see it here. Your comments are always welcome here – I would love to hear your thoughts and what you think would make the next shot just that much better! Someone asked via Twitter what camera I was using… It is the Canon Digital Rebel XSi kit for now.
Tags: florida, lake, light, miami, south florida, sunset, water
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
Sunday, January 4th, 2009
Most of the pictures that I have posted to my Flickr account have been geotagged. That is, they have information attached to them which gives the location of where the photo was taken at.
Geotagging can happen without much interaction if you use a GPS enabled phone to take pictures and upload them to a photo sharing service like the one I use. The picture of this cruise ship at sunrise was obviously taken in Miami, but what if you wanted to take a similar picture when you are in this area? By clicking on the picture and then scrolling down to the “Additional Information” on the bottom right of the photo page, you will see a link to the map for that picture.
As long as the photographer has allowed geotagging, or manually adds pictures to the Flickr map, you will get a pretty good idea of where the picture was taken from.
One caution about leaving geotagging “on” at all times… Remember that if you don’t want people to know where you live, work, or frequent, you may want to think twice about using it. Like I mentioned, MOST of my stuff is mapped, but some things just aren’t!
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Tags: cruise ship, Downtown, florida, geotag, miami, water
Posted in Downtown | No Comments »
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
For the first time in a long time, I spent New Years Eve somewhere other than at home. It was nice to get out of the norm, but if you don’t enjoy crowds, fireworks, and having a good time, stay away from South Beach!
I ended up getting to the beach at about 9pm and was surprised to find light traffic (compared to a regular Friday or Saturday night’s traffic). I dropped off most of the carload which was with me and headed to 5th Street to find parking in the public garage for a $15 flat rate.
After walking back to the apartment and meeting up with friends, we enjoyed a few drinks, music, and headed to Ocean Drive for the countdown and fireworks. Didn’t get home until about 3:30am…
Having just purchased a new camera and having plenty of things to take pictures of, this was an experimental shot leaning on a fixed object and leaving the lens open for 10 seconds. The street and sidewalks are actually full of people… For more pictures, visit my Flickr set for New Years Eve 2009.
Tags: florida, miami, Miami Beach, new years, ocean drive, south beach
Posted in Miami Beach | No Comments »
