Miami – TRAVELLING BANANA

Triumph

July 3, 2015 by juliav1

Pelicans fly through the air, dive into the ocean but sometimes they just want to sit and be.

They are very chilled out birds but it was a triumph for me to capture these images without disturbing their rest.

A pelican having a rest by the Miami Beach Marina

Dixon Lanier Merritt (1879–1972) was an American poet and humorist. He was a newspaper editor for the Tennessean, Nashville’s morning paper, and President of the American Press Humorists Association. He penned this well-known limerick in 1910.

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican,
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week
But I’m damned if I see how the helican!

or:

A funny old bird is a pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belican.
Food for a week
He can hold in his beak,
But I don’t know how the helican.

The limerick was inspired by a post card sent to him by a female reader of his newspaper column who was visiting Florida beaches. It is often misattributed to Ogden Nash and is widely misquoted as demonstrated above. It is quoted in a number of scholarly works on ornithology, including “Manual of Ornithology: Avian Structure and Function,” by Noble S. Proctor and Patrick J. Lynch, and several others.

Landscape

June 26, 2015 by juliav1

Today, let’s walk in the footsteps of masters like Ansel Adams and focus on landscape photography.

Landscapes generally focus on wide, vast depictions of nature and all of its elements, from formations to weather. In this genre of photography, you won’t find much of a human presence: nature itself is the subject.

A watery oasis near Oleta State Park, FL

A Magnificent View – Bill Baggs State Park, FL

A Pop of Color

June 22, 2015 by juliav1

The colors in our photographs are evocative and rouse emotions within us. Color can elevate a mundane image into something intriguing and meaningful, and can tell a particular story within the frame.

The blue of the sky really makes the pink flowers pop and stand out from the old rusting car. — The blue of the sky really make the pink flowers pop and stand out from the old rusting car.

Peacocks have amazing colors not only on their feathers but their whole body. This blue is so electric.

Even though the blues of the sky and ocean are very noticeable I think the bright red waverunner breaks up the blue color. — Even though the blues of the sky and ocean are very noticeable I think the bright red waverunner breaks up the blue color and helps draw your eye to that part of the photo.

Quality of Light – Part I

June 21, 2015June 20, 2015 by juliav1

Light makes photographs more interesting and over this weekend, as part of the Photo101 assignments, we’ve been asked to look at the quality of light. How light varies throughout the day.

Depending on what time of day you take your picture will have an impact on the final result.

Dawn — before sunrise — can cast a cool blue light, with no shadows.
Later in the morning, the light tends to be neutral — and to some, ideal.
At midday, the sun reaches its highest point, resulting in dark shadows.
Later in the day, in the “golden hour” before sunset, daylight grows softer and redder, creating a magical atmosphere.

Factors can change these conditions, including weather, location, and the time of year.

Here is a selection of photos I have taken at various times of the day to illustrate what light can do to make even the simplest of photos something more interesting.

I like how the light dapples across the wood

Relaxing under a palm tree and enjoying the shadows

I like how the light illuminates the tennis balls

Key West lobster buoys hang from the small 1950s wood frame building and dance in the afternoon light

This fan art deco style palm looks great in the midday sun

If you would like to see more photos experimenting with light, please check out my post – Quality of Light – Part II

Mystery

June 19, 2015June 19, 2015 by juliav1

Some photos are significant not because of what’s depicted, but because of the mood they create. They communicate an idea that transcends the actual subject of the image.

Here’s a photo that conveys a sense of mystery. Can you tell what it is?

Whist wandering around the Everglades I suddenly felt as if I was being watched! — Whilst wandering around the Everglades I suddenly felt as if I was being watched!

In case you need a clue – it’s an Alligator lurking just below the water – it was extremely large and very close. It’s very well camouflaged against the stones and quiet. He had swam up close without me even realizing.

Let’s move on shall we 🙂

Warmth

June 18, 2015 by juliav1

Photography means “drawing with light,” and when you snap a picture with your camera, you use and record light to create an image.

A front-lit subject faces the light source and is even-lit and flat, primarily without shadows. Front light is the most straightforward to work with, but isn’t as dramatic.

Side light is fun to experiment with, especially for portraiture, fine art, and architecture.

When you light a subject from the side, the mix of light and shadow shows more depth and reveals textures, patterns, and complexities (even flaws) in the shot. It can create unexpected results, and be more dramatic.

Sun Halo

I was extremely lucky to capture this photo of our sun. The phenomenon is called a Sun Halo or 22° Halo.

Among the most well known halos is the 22° halo, often just called “halo”, which appears as a large ring around the Sun or Moon with a radius of about 22° (roughly the width of an outstretched hand at arm’s length).

The ice crystals that cause the 22° halo are oriented semi-randomly in the atmosphere, in contrast to the horizontal orientation required for some other halos such as sun dogs and light pillars. As a result of the optical properties of the ice crystals involved, no light is reflected towards the inside of the ring, leaving the sky noticeably darker than the sky around it, and giving it the impression of a “hole in the sky”. The 22° halo is not to be confused with the corona, which is a different optical phenomenon caused by water droplets rather than ice crystals, and which has the appearance of a multicolored disk rather than a ring.

You can find out more about Sun Halo’s here

Sunset

Big

June 16, 2015 by juliav1

Today, let’s go big. Whether inside or outside, photograph something of massive size. But feel free to interpret big in your own way, and get creative with your shot. Capture all or just part of the subject. Place it in the foreground so it takes up the entire frame. Or shoot it from afar so it appears smaller — yet still prominent.

Well my point of interest to demonstrate BIG is one of the super large cruise ships that sail by every day from the Port of Miami. For something so large they are extremely quiet cutting through the calm waters as if it was butter.

You can be relaxing on the beach or near the bay and suddenly look up and be taken by complete surprise at this massive ship sailing by.

Here are a few shots of these amazing floating hotels.

_MG_2053 — From this perspective you can not really tell how large the ship is

Here are a few more images of cruise ships docked in Key West, FL. In fact these are the ships that will soon be making their way back to Miami.

They are so super big – how do they manage to float?

Experiment with Composition

June 13, 2015 by juliav1

So I’ve made it to the end of the first week of the Photo101 assignments and have covered topics ranging from Home, Wider Views, Water, Bliss and Solitude.

Now it’s a free for all weekend where we can revisit some of these topics and put into practice what we have learned. I’m using today to showcase some of the other photos that fit into the Home, Wider View and Water category.

Home

Palm Tree lined street

A bench with a view

The local park

Dinner Alfresco

Smores

Bottoms Up

Crocodile

Mosquito Sticks

Shells

Wider Views

Beautiful Tree of Flowers

Interesting Shapes formed by nature

A Magnificent View

Lighthouse Sunset

Water

Airboat – Everglades

Manatee Zone

Everglades National Park

A Serene Beach Scene

Stiltsville

Clear Waters

Come back tomorrow to see my gallery of pictures depicting shots of Bliss and Solitude from the Photo101 assignments.

If you enjoyed this article, why not check out the original assignment posts related to each of the above categories.

Home
A Wider View
Water

Solitary Tree

June 12, 2015 by juliav1

Today’s assignment for photo101 is to depict Solitude.

My photo shows a solitary tree reaching up through the undergrowth.

A Lonely Tree — A Lone Tree – Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park

Even though there is a lot of nature in this photo, the fact it is the only tree of its kind hopefully depicts the feeling of being in a solitary state.

Bliss

June 11, 2015 by juliav1

Day 4 of the Photo101 challenge is to show an image that represents Bliss.

What is your idea of bliss? Is it an image of your family, laughing at the dinner table? A state of total relaxation, while lying on the beach? Your latest painting, drying on the canvas?

In this picture I am relaxing under the palm trees looking over the bay after a cycle – bliss.

Triumph

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Landscape

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A Pop of Color

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Quality of Light – Part I

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Mystery

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Warmth

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Big

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Experiment with Composition

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Solitary Tree

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Bliss

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