wxwax
Dec-30-2004, 08:39 AM
I spent Xmas at my sister's in Palm Coast, Florida. What was once a small community has now burgeoned into what had always been planned - an expanding development that's swallowing up the trees.
Fortunately, there's at least one state park in the area, so some natural coastline and habitat is being preserved, albeit a very small amount.
I wandered out one midday (hence the contrasty light) to get some exercise and photos at the Washington Oaks State Park. (http://www.abfla.com/parks/WashingtonOaks/washingtonoaks.html)
They have a half mile and one mile nature trail loop. The half mile trail ends with a long tunnel of trees that leads back to the parking lot.
http://wxwax.smugmug.com/photos/13426684-L.jpg
As I was driving in a bright red flower caught my eye. When I walked over, I saw something I've noticed before. When looked at with the sun shining directly onto the petal, the red flower is almost dull. But when you backlight the petal, with the sun shining through the red, it looks really saturated. Obviously, that's a tough shot to get right. Here's my attempt, rendered as a 'high key' image.
http://wxwax.smugmug.com/photos/13428166-L.jpg
When I first got to Palm Coast, the weather was quite cold and the sky was overcast. Too cold for golfers, so I broke the rules and wandered around on an empty course. A large duck was huddled on one of the tee boxes. Remembering advice posted here by Larry, I went into my "Larry Crab Walk", patiently stalking the poor bird. I got to within six feet before it untucked its head and started looking agitated. This is with the 70-200 at 200, f2.8, ISO 100. Even with the overcast sky, I was surprised to see that the neck looked overexposed, so I made a darker layer to bring it down a little. I guess this is more evidence of the narrow dynamic range of even the most advanced digital cameras. :dunno
http://wxwax.smugmug.com/photos/13428828-L.jpg
Fortunately, there's at least one state park in the area, so some natural coastline and habitat is being preserved, albeit a very small amount.
I wandered out one midday (hence the contrasty light) to get some exercise and photos at the Washington Oaks State Park. (http://www.abfla.com/parks/WashingtonOaks/washingtonoaks.html)
They have a half mile and one mile nature trail loop. The half mile trail ends with a long tunnel of trees that leads back to the parking lot.
http://wxwax.smugmug.com/photos/13426684-L.jpg
As I was driving in a bright red flower caught my eye. When I walked over, I saw something I've noticed before. When looked at with the sun shining directly onto the petal, the red flower is almost dull. But when you backlight the petal, with the sun shining through the red, it looks really saturated. Obviously, that's a tough shot to get right. Here's my attempt, rendered as a 'high key' image.
http://wxwax.smugmug.com/photos/13428166-L.jpg
When I first got to Palm Coast, the weather was quite cold and the sky was overcast. Too cold for golfers, so I broke the rules and wandered around on an empty course. A large duck was huddled on one of the tee boxes. Remembering advice posted here by Larry, I went into my "Larry Crab Walk", patiently stalking the poor bird. I got to within six feet before it untucked its head and started looking agitated. This is with the 70-200 at 200, f2.8, ISO 100. Even with the overcast sky, I was surprised to see that the neck looked overexposed, so I made a darker layer to bring it down a little. I guess this is more evidence of the narrow dynamic range of even the most advanced digital cameras. :dunno
http://wxwax.smugmug.com/photos/13428828-L.jpg