Photography – 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.

Double

July 2, 2015 by juliav1

Your twin sisters. Your neighbor’s two poodles. Your vision during a dizzy spell. Your doppelgänger.

Double can be interpreted in many ways. Here’s my take on seeing double.

A couple of signs on the famous Duval Street, Key West, FL

No longer connected - a section of the old railway bridge going to Key West, FL — No longer connected – a section of the old railway bridge going to Key West, FL

Double sided flags at Bayside, Downtown Miami

Edge and Alignment

July 1, 2015 by juliav1

Scale and Observation

June 25, 2015 by juliav1

Today it’s time to play with scale and observation – here’s a macro picture I’ve taken of a small one cent coin.

This tiny coin is super-sized using a macro lens. Playing with scale and observation is fun

From this angle it looks extremely large and if you didn’t know how small an actual one cent was in real life, your mind could easily be fooled into believing this coin is much larger than it really is.

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 II

June 21, 2015 by juliav1

Continuing my exploration into the Quality of Light and how its effects can make or break a photo, here are a few more to illustrate the power of light.

Dramatic Clouds make the helicopter look tiny

Light on a trail always makes the road ahead look interesting

Sometimes you have to shelter from the light

Lighthouse Cafe in the early evening light

The day begins to fade and leave behind interesting lighting

If you enjoyed this article why not check out my post on
Quality of Light – Part I

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

The Natural World

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 by juliav1

A good photographer is a constant observer: always watching and studying a scene, from patterns in city traffic to movements in nature. A photographer notices big, sweeping changes — like the sky at dusk — but also the tiniest details.

Exploring the outdoors, with camera in hand, is an opportunity to look for natural lines that lead our eyes to different parts of a frame. Envision the bend of a stream, or the curve of a petal: how can you use these lines in your composition? If you see strong vertical, horizontal, or diagonal lines, can you play with the orientation to create a more dynamic composition?

The Natural World

Triumph

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Double

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Edge and Alignment

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Scale and Observation

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A Pop of Color

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Quality of Light – Part II

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Quality of Light – Part I

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Mystery

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Warmth

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The Natural World

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