Picture-A-Week 2020 - Week 19

[pierces]

Pictures taken between Monday, May 4 and Sunday, May 10.

 

No idea how I forgot to start this one...

 

Better late than never! 

 

Stay well.

 

Rules: See above

That's it. This isn't a contest.

All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising).

Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize.

The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays.

Post one. Post many. Up to you.

Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

[pierces]

Another un-posed, spontaneous snapshot of grandkids with the camera I had in my hand. Yes, it was a phone. Yes the photo would have been sharper and more detailed if I would have used the “real” camera forgotten in the back of the car as we unloaded the Mother’s Day Front Yard Socially Distant Picnic supplies. The failings of digital zoom vs. optical zoom were apparent in the original picture and the noise reduction stole some detail. The digital blur introduced on the background by the portrait algorithm actually did a fair job of mimicking the shallow depth of field inherent to cameras with larger sensors and wider apertures. While not perfect, it proves my point that the picture you take will always be better than the one you didn’t.

 

I Heart Cousins

 

 

 

Dave

[Oviedo32765]

Central Florida began to open up last week, so I grabbed my gear and headed (May 7th) to the Orlando Wetlands.  When I pulled into the parking lot at 6:30AM there was only one other car there.  When I left severals hours later there where 26 cars in the parking lot. Proving people wanted to get out of isolation.  The place is so large and spread out that I passed only six people, and was able to socially-distance myself from them.

 

Here comes the sun:

 

Red-winged Blackbird:

 

Anhinga inflight:

 

Snowy Egret fishing:

 

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks tending to their nests in dead palm trees:

 

500_1090.dng

[Docker123]

On 4/5, I looked at the data and they told me I had not taken a photo since 22/4. So, I took some.

 

This is a banjo ray or fiddler ray. Also called banjo shark or fiddler shark. One of those transition fish, with no sting in its tail. Crappy photo through reflecting, rippling water. A far bit of lightroom to get it visible.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love the pictures.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Our hummingbirds arrived on Tuesday, May 5.

 

But on Friday of last week a couple of birds decided they wanted to drink the food.  I think they may be Baltimore Orioles. Someone who knows their birds can correct me if I am wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

 

[cruises42]

5 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Our hummingbirds arrived on Tuesday, May 5.

 

But on Friday of last week a couple of birds decided they wanted to drink the food.  I think they may be Baltimore Orioles. Someone who knows their birds can correct me if I am wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, Baltimore Oriole (male)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you.

 

We rarely have them stay over more than a day.

[puppycanducruise]

Love those Orioles.

[kenevenpar]

On 5/12/2020 at 12:40 PM, Oviedo32765 said:

Central Florida began to open up last week, so I grabbed my gear and headed (May 7th) to the Orlando Wetlands.  When I pulled into the parking lot at 6:30AM there was only one other car there.  When I left severals hours later there where 26 cars in the parking lot. Proving people wanted to get out of isolation.  The place is so large and spread out that I passed only six people, and was able to socially-distance myself from them.

 

Here comes the sun:

 

_1090.dng 19.94 MB · 1 download

 

Lake Apopka?  Have they reopened the drive to portable bird blinds (cars)?

 

Nice Shot!

[zackiedawg]

Same situation down here - some reopening beginning in Palm Beach county, a little behind the rest of the state, but a bit ahead of Broward and Dade which are both still shut down...unfortunately, my two primary wetlands spots are still not opening - both are county-run, and both have lots of sections with narrow boardwalks that they feel social distancing would be impossible to maintain, so they are staying shut.  Bigger, more wide-open wetlands to my west are open, and very few people go there, mostly because it's too hot, too many bugs, and a much farther drive away.  I decided to go Saturday out to one of the farthest west - about a 45 minute drive...and facing a 6 mile walk in 90+ degree heat...I finished a circuit of the wetlands with about 6 photographs of wildlife, and 14 bee stings on my legs and arm.  Won't be headed back to that park in the summer - it's a winter-only spot!  I ended up hitting my pool when I got home and got as much or more action in the backyard.

 

Oh, and I did start the weekend of photography on Friday, when the Blue Angels did their flyovers of Florida hospitals - I brought my camera to the office to see if they'd be close enough to photograph - there's a hospital about 1 mile from me that was on the fly-by route.  They were close enough to get shots with a 400mm lens, but the haze and heat-shimmer were awful, so it was like shooting a mirage.  Still, don't get many chances to photograph them outside of an air show, so I still took the shot:

 

A baby gator trying to hide in the shallow water and grasses, with the sun reflecting brightly in the water... I had about 3 bee stings at this point, so still willing to stop and take shots:

 

Young basilisk lizard climbed up a cypress knee to grab a dragonfly for lunch...up to 10 bee stings now, and starting to rush my shots to get out of here!:

 

Last shot from the wetlands, after scoring my 14th bee sting and deciding I'd had enough!  A downy woodpecker:

 

I'm sure you can infer I'm not allergic to bee stings, or I could have been dead by now...but even not being allergic to them, they're not pleasant...and I can tell you 14 of them will really test your patience and endurance to itching, throbbing welts of pain.  Soaking in the pool helped a bit, so it was much more relaxing to sit in the waters and photograph this cardinal in my back yard:

 

A blue jay popping down to the deck to give me the eye - he wanted to see if I might have any more food to pass out other than what was in the feeder.  The blue jays are very partial to peanuts, so they will come to see if I have any for the squirrels and try to nab one, and then head to the sunflower seeds at the feeders if they've eliminated the chance at a peanut:

[Oviedo32765]

22 hours ago, kenevenpar said:

 

Lake Apopka?  Have they reopened the drive to portable bird blinds (cars)?

 

Nice Shot!

 

I checked on Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive facebook page and as of yesterday (May 14), it is still closed to traffic. There are areas where it is legal to park and bicycle or hike on the Lake Apopka Loop Trail or most of the roads. Here is a link to the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lakeapopkawildlifedrive/ 
 

Edited May 15, 2020 by Oviedo32765