Pic of the Day

    Harbor Seal – Machias Seal Island; Cutler Maine:  In earlier post I have shown photos of the seabirds taken on Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine. On my last trip to Machias seal the captain took the boat by an adjacent rock where harbor and gray seals haul out.  The light was terrible and the seals were just lounging on the rocks.  They were not very interesting, however, regardless of the light and lack of activity among the seals I shot lots of photos.   As the boat skirted the island I found this harbor seal bobbing in the water just off the island.  As the boat passed, the seal turned its head toward me and looked straight at me.  The simplicity of the image and eye contact made the scene very appealing, providing a image I was happy to capture.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 VRIF, ISO 200, 1/3,200 @ f 4.5, Handheld

Pic of the Day

Herring Smokehouse

Cans of Sardines - The last can of Sardines

 packaged at Seal Cove is displayed.

     Sardine Museum and Herring Hall of Fame:  While driving south to Seal Cove on Grand Manan Island this summer I “saw a sign, “Sardine Museum and Herring Hall of Fame.”  My first thought……Herring Hall of Fame?”  Well, indeed!  At Seal Cove I saw directions to the Sardine Museum and Herring Hall of Fame.  With a name like that I had to stop.  I made the turn, and pulled into a open spot beside a run downed building. 

     I wasn’t really sure if I was at the museum or not, but was soon greeted by a young woman who began to tell me about the museum.  Herring fishing and sardine canning was part of the Seal Cove economy until the early 1990.  At that time the herring fishing came to halt, and thus the end of sardine canning in Seal Cove. 

     In the late 90’s the buildings and were bought by Michael Zimmer from New York City.  Zimmer founded the museum to preserve this part of Grand Manan’s history.  I found the museum to be quite fascinating.  The artifacts used in the sardine canning process that had been arranged by Zimmer made for an interesting photo opportunity.

     By the way, at its height the Seal Cove sardine factory produced a million 10 and 18 pound boxes a year.   Eighty percent of the world's smoked herring was produced at Seal Cove.  To learn more about the museum follow this link:

http://www.redgage.com/blogs/bikermom/a-man-a-can-a-plan.html

Pic of the Day

     Little Blue Heron – Tamiami Trail, Florida:  As the Tamiami Trail turns east and crosses southern Florida on its route to Miami, it traverses a great wilderness that is composed of Fackahatchee Strand State Park, Big Cypress Swamp and the Everglades National.  The trail crosses habitat that include cypress swamps, cypress hammocks and sawgrass prairies.  The varied habitat and canal that parallels the highway provides great opportunities for shooting.  When I travel to southern Florida, I always make it a point to spend a few days along the two-lane highway to photograph its abundant birds.

     When I cross the trail from west to east I typically start around mid to late afternoon.  Traveling east along the trail at that time place the sun to my back, which provides perfect illumination for my subjects. This Little Blue Heron was photographed along the stretch of highway that crosses Big Cypress Swamp.  The day was waning quickly and the sun was low on the horizon.  The scene was overall very dark; only the heron was lit with sunlight.  The lighting made the use of auto metering useless.  To obtain a correct exposure I used my cameras spotmeter to meter the heron feathers.  Once I had an exposure reading I underexposed the feather by 2/3 of a stop, which placed the feather a little darker than a middle tone.   By placing the bird’s feathers at the correct tonality the dark water and foliage was properly exposed.

     With all said, I never really think too much about the technical aspect of photography when I’m shooting.  I have been taking photographs so long that the technical aspects are second nature to me.  What I am constantly thinking of is the aesthetics, always looking for a scene, a group of elements that will make a good image.  When I see it, I usually only have time to set-up the gear and shoot.  If I had to think about the technical, I most likely would miss the shot.  I’m glad I didn’t miss this one. 

Nikon D300, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/125 sec. @ f7.1

Pic of the Day

     Ring-necked Duck (hen) – Ritch Grissom Wetlands, Viera, Florida:  When I am shooting, I always target the male birds of the species.  With few exceptions males are the most colorful, therefore making them an ideal subject.  Females on the other hand are mostly dull and drab.   Dull and drab are necessary traits for individuals that will set on a nest for hours on end.  However, they are beautiful birds in there on right.  The hen ring-necked, with its variations of browns and grays also sports a white facial ring at the base of the bill and the white ring on the tip of the bill as does the male.  The mottled browns and white patches breaks-up the body shape thus providing the perfect camouflage, and a stunning portrait.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 500mm f4 w/1.4 teleconverter, 1/400 @ f10

Pic of the Day

     Dawn on Anhinga Trail – Everglades National Park, Florida:  My favorite time to shoot is the hour before and after sunrise.  This image was taken about thirty minutes before sunrise when the saturation of colors in the sky and reflections were at their peak.  In the predawn light the common egret was stalking prey along the waters edge.  After a short time of shooting the egret jumped into the air and flew across the water to the opposite shoreline.  Though blurry, the egret’s movement provides action that gives the colorful landscape a focal point and interest as well as an overall pleasing aesthetics. 

Nikon F5, Nikkor 24mm, Fuji Film, ISO 100,  Shutter and f-stop unkown

Pic of the Day

     Anhinga – Anhinga Trail: Everglades National Park, Florida:  Strolling along Anhinga Trail in the Florida Everglades I came upon this Anhinga perched on the wooden rail along the trails path.  As you can imagine the red eyes caught my attention immediately.  As I readied my tripod and lens the Anhinga latched onto every move I made, and would not take its eyes off me.  This was just what I wanted, the bird looking directly into the camera lens. 

The red eyes are certainly the center of interest and the gaze into the lens makes them even more poignant.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 500mm f4,  Arca Swiss ball head on Gitzo Tripod, 1/200 sec. @ f8

ISO 200

Pic of the Day

     Warty Comb Jelly – Tennessee Aquarium; Chattanooga, TN:  This was the most interesting jelly I saw at the aquarium.  As the jellies floated around the tank the jelly flashed colors of blues, yellows, greens and reds.   The colors appeared to move up and down the sides of the jellies like the flashing lights of Las Vegas neon sign.

     After being completely hypnotized by the movements and flashing lights, I read the accompanying fact sheet. What I thought was bioluminescence was actually light refraction.  As the jellies swam through the tank its lobed sides rippled back and forth.  Lights illuminating the tank refracted through combs that lined the edge of the lobes giving the appearance of flashing lights.  The flashing lights appeared to move up and down the side of the Sea Walnut’s side.  It was amazing to watch!

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 24-85mm zoom set to 85mm, Hand held, 1/30 sec. @ f5.6

Who's Looking

   I would like to welcome the viewers from Jordan.  Jordan is the 92nd country from which viewers have logged onto Bobby's Photo Blog.  If you enjoyed the blog please log-on again, and send the URL to your friends.  Thanks for looking.  Bobby

Pic of the Day II

Another Spotted Jellyfish from Tennessee Aquarium

Pic of the Day

     Spotted Jellyfish -- Tennessee Aquarium; Chattanooga, Tennessee:  This is another jellyfish I photographed at the Tennessee Aquarium over the weekend.  Spotted Jellies were very popular among the visitors, and there were a ton of visitors.  The Spotted Jellies were in a round (360 degree) tank in the middle of the room, and there was a constant flow of people mesmerized by the little jellyfish.  The Spotted  Jellies were small, some the size of quarter and others a little large than a silver dollar.

     The round tank made shooting difficult, but I found if a jelly was close to the glass, and I shot perpendicular to the glass I could get a sharp image.  As you can probably tell, I loved shooting the jellyfish.

     The next jellyfish I will post is even smaller than the Spotted Jelly, and it flashes lights!

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 24-85 zoom set to 85mm, Handheld, 1/250 sec. @ f5.6, ISO 5000

Pic of the Day

     Sea Nettle Jellyfish – Tennessee Aquarium; Chattanooga, TN:  My son has been living in Chattanooga for at least 5 years now and on every visit one of us would say.  Next time we’re (your) here, we’ll go to the aquarium.  Well, today we did.  The Tennessee Aquarium is excellent, and we had a great time!  I did take a few photos while there, mostly of the jellyfish. 

     All the jellyfish were mesmerizing, and fascinating to watch, especially this Sea Nettle Jellyfish.  To take the image I had to crank-up the ISO to 5000, then set the exposure compensation to –1 1/3 stop to compensate for the dark background.    I took dozens of images but this one had a nice flow with the tentacles and shape of the body.  Of course, the complementary colors of blue and yellow set against each other did not hurt either.  
     Had I used the technique of upping the ISO earlier in the day, I would have had some nice images of fish as well.  I will post some different jellyfish species over the next few days.


Nikon D7000, Nikkor 24-85mm zoom set to 24mm, handheld, ISO 5000, 1/160 sec. @ f 3.5, full frame image with no cropping