October 3, 2018

Brrrr, it's cold up nort der!!

October 3, 2018

A couple of weeks ago I traveled up north to Wisconsin, to visit family mainly. But of course no trip ANYWHERE can be without my camera. I even went so far as to do a practice run for my Paris trip next year. Seeing if I can do it with just carry-on bags. Ha!! Haahaahahaha, yea, no. That definitely didn’t work. Perhaps if I only had a small camera and one lens, but with my D4 and 2 large and one small (nifty fifty, cause why not?) lens and the laptop, chargers, accessories etc. All of that definitely filled up my camera bag and THAT is the only bag that wont be checked. So I’ve concluded that I will be checking a bag for my Paris trip. And that’s ok.

Oh and I also bought a new travel tripod. Mefoto carbon fiber tripod. Folds up small and is very light. I used it in WI and it was pretty good. I didn’t use it much, but I did like it. So I’m set with that. Now, I think I’ll need one more bag for Paris, a new camera bag. The one I have now is a camera/other stuff bag. I want one just for gear. I’m looking at ThinkTank Airport Advantage or Airport Advantage Plus. We’ll see if Santa brings any good sales…

Any-whoo! So I flew into Chicago instead of Milwaukee. Why? Much cheaper and it’s only an extra hour in traffic. So why not? The only inconvenience is driving in Chicago. But that wasn’t so bad seeing I only drove on Saturdays. Makes for a nice experience not being rushed by rush hour traffic. The flight up was great. No seat-mate and third seat the guy slept the whole time. I was able to sleep some and read a little bit of my E-book by Thomas Heaton. Very good, I highly suggest you picking that up and reading it.

So arriving in Fond du Lac, I went straight to visit my Dad. He was in a rehab facility and Mom was there visiting too. So we sat and watched the Brewers play the last game of regular season baseball to make the playoffs. So exciting!

But as I returned home, it was rainy and cold. And not crisp bright and cold, it was dreary, gray and damp. Chilled to the bone cold. I had decent clothes but it was just miserable. I did get a chance to take a few photos, but not many. I guess my heart really wasn’t into it. And that’s ok too.

But one of the days, I looked outside and saw the clouds actually had some texture. Striated even. So I got the camera out. Made for nice monotone images.

Silos from a farm northeast of where I was staying.

My great grandparents old homestead farm.

I just loved the farms. They would look much better if I were there in the summer. But I had to make lemonade!

Now the shot below, I was sitting editing the ones above and the sun peeked out just a bit and this image kept staring at me. So I grabbed the camera and back out I went.

Then one day we actually made it out of the 50’s all the way to the 80’s! And sunny! Needless to say, I had visits planned. But I made it home in time to capture some timelapses. Phenomenal. I don’t care where you are, there’s always somewhere to photograph. Even in the dreary cold of autumn in Wisconsin.

The last few days were much like the first, cold and dreary. But, one day it was misting. I thought I might be able to take advantage of that and get some vibrant colors out of what was staring me in the face.

This is just a wider shot from the tree above, but I included the clothesline for some interest. I slapped on a CPL and this was what I liked. Mom didn’t like the clothesline much, but I did and you can see the yellow soybean crops in the background. Yep, I liked it indeed.

Then it was time for me to go home. Unfortunately, I could have shot more than I did. I got lazy and just wanted to relax with my family. I also had some old family papers to copy and insert into my ancestry website. Fun fun! Next time I’ll have a better plan. I had places to go, I just didn’t implement them very well. Oh well.

Next time…

Barbara Livieri

August 12, 2018

Ground control to major Tom... Perseids, milky way, polaris, the gang's all here! (Mid Aug. 2018)

Barbara Livieri

August 12, 2018

THURSDAY, AUG. 9TH

This entry is going to encompass a long weekend's worth of shooting. The Perseid meteor shower was coming up. The camera club was going out on Sat. Aug. 11th and it was going to be PERFECT! It was a new moon, no moon, the weather was going to be great, hot but great, and the peak of the meteor shower was that and the next night. I was stoked! I even rented a special lens for the weekend, the Sigma 14mm f1.8. Fast and sweeeeeet!

So I went out the night I got my lens. Thursday the 9th. There was rain and clouds all over south Dade, but, but... not in Flamingo! And the storms seemed to be moving straight south. I took a chance and sped my way as fast as I could to get to Flamingo in time to focus on something with light. (Of course I didn't pre-focus... where' the fun in that? *rolling eyes*) But on my way I saw the most spectacular sun set. It was amazing!

Main Park Road, Everglades National Park

Every turn I made I could see this setting sun. Spectacular. I say to myself, "why don't I come down here after work more often!?" I make a pledge to do just that. I've done it twice so far. Need to go more until the sunset is just not doable with the time it takes to get there.

So I finally make it to Flamingo. The sun has well set and it was near dark. I pulled in all the way to the group camping area. There's one lone camper. Off to the east of the furthest bathrooms. They must have wondered what the hell I was doing out there. LOL Just as I wondered what the hell they were doing out there. It was so miserably hot! And not to mention the mosquitoes. Ufff!

I suppose the lights after Irma were knocked out so I had no light to focus my lens with. Another uffff! But I eventually found I think Jupiter off to the west and I focused on that. Thank God it worked! I turned to the south-southeast and waited for dark dark.

I gotta say, I loved how fast it was, but not the wide angle. It just distorts everything that's not in the center of the lens. And when you're angling your lens up toward the stars, all the foreground elements you were hoping to include looked like it was designed by Picasso himself! I don't know. I guess I'm too much of a novice to fully understand the ultra wide angle lens. But I'll get there. Hopefully by next year's (or maybe even December's) meteor shower, I'll know better what to aim for.

But I did get a few milky way. Sharp and sharp, and did I mention it was sharp?! I mean with I can shoot a 10 second exposure and get great stars, I was impressed. Now, make an 18 or 20mm f1.8 and I'll be HAPPY!

Milky Way, Flamingo, Everglades National Park

So all in all, it wasn't a bad night.

FRIDAY, AUG. 10TH

Back out to the 'glades again. This time Cheryl from the club joined me. She just bought the Nikon 14-24 f2.8 SweeTT! So we went to the Anhinga Trail this time. We both got stuck in some hellacious traffic. It was nasty storming. But, the sun set and gave us a little rainbow!

Storm cloud rainbow. Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park

So I took advantage of the thick fast moving clouds to do some timelapse. They are fun because you can set up and then let it do it's thing for a good 10 minutes to a couple of hours if you like. Then you just chat and check facebook etc. LOL It's fun with a friend.

By about 10ish, the clouds were getting thin so we both turned toward the south. Hoping to get a milky way. You know you hear all the rules of night photography but once in a while you have to ignore them! I learned that my first time out. I had a "kit" lens and 'oh no, gotta have a f2.8 or faster', or you need a this or that and the darkest skies etc. Well, the Anhinga Trail is fairly close to metro Miami and not ideal as far as dark skies are concerned, but hell, we got the milky way anyway!

Milky Way with some wispy clouds. - Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park

So I continued on with a milky way timelapse. Got some pretty neat images too. Even a meteor! Who'd a thunk it?!

Milky way AND a meteor. Sweet! Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park

Here's the video I did with all of the timelapses for the night.

Later on some young people drove up and ruined our shots with their headlights and flashlights so we decided to call it a night. We had another big night coming up!

SATURDAY, AUG. 11TH

The big night, the camera club met at the parking lot of the visitor's center and we all discussed where we were going. Then we all caravanned to the Mahogany Hammock Road. We were deep in the Everglades. Lots of new people were along, I was worried about lights so I pulled way down to the end of the road. Delfin was there so we enjoyed our time.

Unfortunately, too many cooks spoiled the broth as it were. Way too many people and too many who didn't have control of their lights. Flashlights, car lights, red lights. People driving through, it was a mess. And it was sooo humid. Condensation accumulated on my lens, and of course my lens warmer battery was kaput! So I went to m y old standby the hand warmers, and those too were kaput! The best part though was I was with good company and we enjoyed ourselves.

I did manage to get ONE meteor worth showing off. The rest was ho hum.

L to R Mars, Milky Way (incl Saturn) a meteor, and then Jupiter! All we needed was Venus to make this a party.

Around midnight many of the group we heading out. I stayed on and turned north to see if I could get some star trails. I got a lot of headlights and taillights but it was still pretty neat.

Polaris (north star) and ring around the rosey! The long lights are just airplanes.

After the crowds left I decided to get some silhouette shots from the trees way ahead of me. And no, that's not a sunrise, that's the glow of the greater Miami area. That's how bright the light is some 25-30 miles away. Hell, we could even see a minor glow off to the northwest of Naples!

Facing northeast. On Mahogany Hammock Road, Everglades National Park

And one last one showing the roadway. I really liked this one. I may have to dig in and process this a little better.

Mahoganh Hammock Road, Everglades National Park — Mahogany Hammock Road, Everglades National Park

Here's a timelapse video I made from the night. Not as good as the night before, but it tell the story.

So this is basically all for our meteor shower weekend. All in all a great weekend, lots of photos, lots of fun with friends, and I'm glad its over. Definitely in need of sleep.

Till next time! See ya!

Barbara Livieri

July 22, 2018

Sailing Away to Key Largo... Ok, I didn't sail, I drove, and I... (7/21/18)

Barbara Livieri

July 22, 2018

didn't stay at a resort either. I stayed at an 'afterthought' of a Motel. The Key Largo Moose Lodge.

It all started with a wonderful evening planned with a group from the South Florida National Parks Camera Club. A member and his wife, Judy and Merv Waldman, invited the club to their house in Key Largo for hors d'oeuvres and a sunset. I decided to make a night of it and get a room in one of the local hotels. Unfortunately I waited until the last minute to book and found out most rooms were sold out or extremely expensive. Then I remembered the Moose Lodge in Key Largo has rooms. I took a chance and they had ONE room left. I took it. Under $100, I was happy.

Courtesy of the Key Largo Moose Lodge Facebook Page

Now, harmless as this looks, and it was, the room was very spartan, but good enough to sleep in. I don't need a dance hall. When I checked in I was told that my room was in demand. In hindsight, I kind of wished I would have let the other guy have it. The A/C had not cooled off the room yet. I was hoping they had just turned it on and would be cool when I returned. I left to go to the store to get provisions for later in the night and for drinks, and when I returned, it still had NOT cooled off. I then hoped it would be cool by the time I returned from the Waldman's later that evening.

So I ordered my Uber from the app and away I went to the Waldman's house. My big ole camera backpack and tripod, purse, and non-iced cooler. I always bring too much stuff and not enough of what I wanted. I should have brought water, and lots of it. It was HOT! Temp earlier on my drive down was 100°F! I sat and chatted a bit with others. Judy had a spread of food that would rival the kings! But, I wasn't hungry. I had a late lunch because, I'm late for everything, I'll be late for my own funeral. You watch! I left the house later than I wanted, I arrived later than I wanted, I had no time to do what I wanted when I arrived. All because I was late. Story of my life. Anyway...

I found a spot off their back deck and did a few rounds of time-lapse. Lots of billowy clouds rolling by. Jet-skis, speeding boats, people moving about, great for time-lapse.

Then I chatted it up with a few members. So relaxing, and HOT, but still very nice. It was great when a nice breeze would blow through the palms.

Again and again, I scanned the landscape looking for a good composition. I kept eyeing up the jetty to the right and hoped I could scurry off over to that property to photograph the sunset, but alas, it was not in the cards. Besides, all of these properties are fenced off. Very restricting to us photographers used to just roaming wherever we want. Perhaps during the week I'd be able to sneak off over there, but not today!

But, another composition revealed itself to me.

I thought maybe sitting on that little side pier shown in the above photo, but that was down too low. So I scurried on up under the tiki. Took a few test shots. All vertical of course. I could have sworn I took one in landscape orientation, but nope, I did not. Must have been distracted. Could you imagine how distracted I'd have been if I had been drinking? Phew!

This one turned out to be my most favorite of the night. I loved the reflection from the hazy sun on the tile bar. Oh well. I made due with what I had.

The sunset was less than spectacular. A bunch of clouds were accumulated at the horizon and we only viewed a wisp of the orange ball dropping. But what came after was a sight for the magenta lovers in all of us. Eat your heart out Serge Ramelli!

I suspect the best sunsets at this location are right at the summer solstice, the furthest north the sun sets. Tonight's was about a month off. From June 17th to June 23rd is the northern-most sunset at 296.5 degrees. On July 21st it was at 293.0 degrees. Not much of a difference, but enough that it would likely land just a bit further to the right of where it is shown above.

Either or, it was a beautiful night. Good friends, good food, good company and a beautiful sunset.

Back to the room I went. When I arrived it still had not cooled off. I was not happy. But, there wasn't much I could do about it. I just did what my Mom used to tell me when I was a kid and didn't want to take a nap, just lie still. I tried, but seeing the big palmetto bug so big I had to "let it out" the door earlier, didn't help. I kept imagining bugs were crawling all over me. It wasn't a comfortable night. I did see the SpaceX rocket blast off from Canaveral on my Space App. That was around 2am. Around 3am I noticed that it was actually getting cooler, finally. I was still lying above the covers. I finally fell asleep between 3 and 4 and woke before my 5:30 alarm. I know I was sleeping because of all the drool on my pillow. LOL

Well, up is up, I got out of bed and got a jump on getting to my sunrise spot. I packed up and headed out by 6am. When I made it to the Murray Nelson Government Center there was a pretty dark cloud above and it was spewing a lightning bolt or two. I decided against getting out to photograph anything and headed back north. I saw a spectacular sunrise over the big Jewfish Creek bridge (bridge over Lake Surprise), unfortunately, I couldn't pull over to shoot it. Lots of really neat places to photograph on the 18-Mile Stretch, if it wasn't for the fence of course. I'll have to do a little more Google Map investigating, but I found a few neat places to photograph in the future.

Got home around 7am, plopped my stuff in my room and proceeded to download all of my masses of images. With 3 sets of 400 image time-lapse rounds, I had a LOT of photos to download. Thank heavens it was an easy edit and sync. Then the exporting and importing back to Photoshop to make the movie. It was nearly 3pm by the time I finished importing, reviewing, culling, merging, and creating my masterpiece! :) I used the Animoto program to create a neat little video music and thanked our hosts with it. I'll add it later from the original MP3.

And that was my weekend! Hope to do some research and maybe head back down for the evening next Saturday. Just for the evening. We'll see if I can get someone to join me.

Thanks for following along on my adventures!