Jump to content

I got out and used my camera today...


pierces
 Share

Recommended Posts

Wow Justin, those are nice. Thanks for posting the park name and information. We are driving to Ft. Lauderdale next week to catch a cruise on the Emerald Princess. I see that area is not too far off of I95. I think I may have to make a detour.

 

Larry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you've got the time to stop by, and like birds, those two are seriously excellent places for spotting. I know we live right on the Everglades down here, and you'd think THAT would be the place to go - and it is a fantastic and beautiful national park. But it's huge and spread out, and you might see some species here and there every time you go. What makes these two areas special is that they are small (just a mile or two around at most for the largest), free, right in the middle of the suburbs, and you can essentially find almost every species of bird you'd find in the Everglades all condensed into one small area a few blocks long. Moreover, you can stand a few feet away from some of them...no skittish birds here in Florida!

 

A few examples of how close you can get to the birds at these two places:

original.jpg

 

original.jpg

 

original.jpg

 

E4BAF11B892A4E248A9299A58EADE790.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went to the local zoo yesterday to play with my new 70-200mm lens. Felt kinda like shooting fish (or birds, or snakes, or ducks) in a barrel. I also learned how much smaller the depth of field is at f/2.8. Using that well will definitely take some practice.

 

_MG_4634-Edit_edited.jpg

 

_MG_4648-Edit_edited.jpg

 

_MG_4605_edited.jpg

 

_MG_4739-Edit_edited.jpg

Never did get a good shot if this guy with his tongue out!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few more zoo shots:

 

 

 

 

 

_MG_4704_edited.jpg

 

It was almost like the lions were trained to look directly into a camera lens. Either that, or they were really bored. They'd stare directly at me for about 30 seconds so that I could play with several different exposures.

 

Maybe they were thinking, LUNCH!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow Justin, those are nice. Thanks for posting the park name and information. We are driving to Ft. Lauderdale next week to catch a cruise on the Emerald Princess. I see that area is not too far off of I95. I think I may have to make a detour.

 

Larry

 

Take either Boyton Beach or Woobright exits off 95 and go west (right). For Wakodahatchee, turn south (left) at Jog Road; the entrance is perhaps a mile down on your left, next to the wastewater treatment plant (that's where most of the water at Wakodahatchee comes from).

 

For Green Cay, keep going west on Boynton Beach or Woolbright to Hagan Ranch Road, turn south (left). Again, go about a mile down and watch for the entrance and sign on your left. Green Cay has a visitor's center, Wakodahatchee doesn't. Both have extensive elevated boardwalk systems.

 

Another interesting place, not necessarily wildlife-centered, is Morikami Japanese Gardens and Museum, a little further south from Wakodahatchee/Green Cay. Beautiful Japanese gardens, interesting museum, and an excellent Japanese cafe. Take Linton Blvd exit off 95, west to Jog Road, south (about 3/4 mile) to the entrance. If coming from Green Cay/Wakodahatchee, just go south on Jog Road.

We have often hit all 3 in one day.

Bring lots of camera chips.

 

Interestingly, we were at Green Cay last New Year's Day and the parking lot was packed. Visitor Center was closed, but there were hundreds of people there anyway! We may go tomorrow (a tradition is born).

 

Art

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beautiful, beautiful wildlife shots.

Not only are they perfect shots but the co-operation of the amimals are amazing.

 

We have been having such mild above average temps here. Yesterday the fog rolled in quite heavy for a while. Here is a shot off the bridge up the road from my place.

 

ry%3D400

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Happy New Year everyone- What a great bunch of photos posted in the past few days

I can't compete with the picture quality of the pros but thought I'd share these pics of my nephews dog I took yesterday. He was so much fun to watch.

 

Donttakemybone.jpg

 

 

IMG_2342.jpg

 

IMG_2345.jpg

 

droolingdoggy.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Actually...last Saturday. Waiting outside of Richie's Diner, it occurred to me that I hadn't meade use of the HX5V's multi-shot anti-blur mode.

 

Works pretty good!

 

Liked how the lights colored the scene. Straight out of the camera.

p121007316-5.jpg

 

 

Dave

Edited by pierces
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since I'm going to be here again in less than a week, I figured it would be apropos to post a few shots of when I was last there in December. It's my favorite other vacation next to cruising - Disney World! Many people go with their kids and race around hitting rides, never realizing that the parks are very photogenic places and a photographer can really appreciate the place in a different light when taking your time and looking for shots:

 

original.jpg

 

original.jpg

 

original.jpg

 

original.jpg

 

And it's a good place for street photography/people portraits and candids:

original.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As always, Justin, I love your Disney shots. With a couple inches of snow on the ground and more due this weekend, I look enviously at your warm shots (and read cruise critic, dreaming of exotic WARM places! :D)

 

Do you carry a tripod around with you all day? How much gear do you carry? I get exhausted just walking the parks and haven't been back since moving up to DSLRs. (Part of my reason for getting the a55 was to cut back on weight.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you! I'm not a big gear carrier. I bring my big Kata bag with 2 cameras, 8 lenses, flash, tripod, and all accessories with me to Disney - so I go up there with everything. But on any given day in the parks, I rarely have more than 3 lenses on me - one on the camera and two more in a bag. I like to bring 3 bags with me - the big backpack holds all my gear, then I have a smaller shoulder bag that can fit the body, 3 lenses, and various bits and pieces. And I have an even smaller bag that can fit the camera and a single lens mounted, plus one small prime squeezed in.

 

Depending on the day and the mood, I might head to the parks one day with my 10-24mm mounted, 30mm F1.4 in the bag, and 18-250mm in the bag, no tripod. Another day, I may head out with the 18-250 and 10-24mm, plus a tripod for night shooting. One day, I might bring no bag or extra lenses - just the camera body with 18-250 mounted. On Animal Kingdom day, I might go with the 18-250, 300mm F4, and 30mm F1.4...sometimes a tripod. Any random day, I might bring my 50mm F1.7, 90mm F2.8, or some other lens that I'm in the mood for.

 

If I'm in the parks all day, and know I'll want to shoot tripod night shots that night, I'll rent a locker at the park, throw the tripod in the locker with maybe a night lens or jacket...then I can travel the parks light, and come back to the lockers after dark to retrieve the tripod and lens. I go to Disney 6-7 times a year, for 4-6 days each trip - so I'm there frequently enough to have no need to do everything...if I don't get on a ride or miss a show this trip, I'll catch it next time. I don't bother with lines longer than 20 minutes, I chill and do some people watching, have a drink, head to the resorts for some nice sit-down meals with wine...no rushing, no must-dos, no rope-drops or early mornings - it's actually a total relax vacation for me to go to Disney!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...

If you are already a Cruise Critic member, please log in with your existing account information or your email address and password.