Miami Metrozoo

Took the family to the Miami Metrozoo on Saturday, and also met up with many of the photography gang. It was an interesting visit, because I haven't been to Metrozoo since my early college days, more then a dozen years ago!

I spent most of my time at the Wings of Asia aviary. Aviaries are tough to shoot in. Finding a natural looking background and dealing with low light conditions under the tree canopy poses many challenges. I used the Canon 100-400mm IS lens and the 550EX flash with a better beamer. The image stabilizer on the lens and the flash helped dramatically with the low shutter speeds. The pictures are now in the October gallery.

The 20D had a great fall

I’ve updated the September gallery and opened up the new October gallery. If you’ve visited this site before, you’ll notice the much improved navigation of the galleries. The old navigation was a bit cryptic, if you didn’t understand the meaning of the icons at the bottom of the view and how to unhide the navigation page, it was easy to get lost. I decided to just get rid of the old navigation theme and go with a much simpler version.

This website is sort of a running diary of the creatures you can see in and around South Florida. That’s the main reason I organize the galleries by month and year. Some of the pictures I take during the month just don’t fit well with the theme of the galleries and so never make it to this website. For those pictures, I created a newsletter that I send out from time to time. If you’d like to be added to the e-mail distribution list for the newsletter, please send me a request through e-mail.

A surprise last month was that Arthur Morris from Birds as Art stopped by this web site and complimented me on my images. He found the site through one of my images in the Images of the Week Gallery on NatureScapes.net. Thanks Artie, it was great to hear from you and I hope to be able to meet you in the field someday.

I’m presently in the process of going through my image library and picking out my favorite photos for an upcoming calendar and photo book. Once I’ve completed the project I will post some information here on how you can order a copy.

My camera is currently on its way back to the Canon Factory Service Center in New Jersey. Last weekend, while disassembling my set up for the trip home, I accidentally dropped my 2 year old Canon 20D on to the Green Cay parking lot. At first the camera seemed ok; but upon closer inspection there was damage to the pop-up flash and a crack down the right side of the front casing. Accidents happen I guess, and I’m now using my old Canon Digital Rebel (300D), until Canon can repair my 20D.

I had been thinking of joining NANPA (North American Nature Photography Association) for sometime now. The incident with my 20D only accelerated my membership so I could get insurance coverage for my equipment. Dropping the 20D is going to be expensive, and I shudder to think about dropping my Canon 300mm f/2.8 IS lens. Of course, there are many other good reasons for joining NANPA.

Some of the local photographers that I have been shooting with recently also have their own websites. You should check out the work of Chuck Hersh (www.hershphoto.com) and Florida Fred (www.floridafred.com).

It’s hard to believe how quickly time seems to be going by. October is here along with the start of the fall migration season. Warblers and hummingbirds have been stopping by at Loxahatchee for brief periods on their way to Central and South America. Arriving soon will be the teals, both the Blue-winged and Green-winged varieties. I can’t wait! Hope to see out there this winter.