Nature Themed – Page 91 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Sunrise Series to come

….anatomy of coming light.

February 16, 2020February 10, 2020 MichaelStephenWills16 Comments

Sunrise for Florida, January, is roughly a quarter past 7 am. Most mornings this year I was on the beach for a morning, pre-dawn, walk camera in hand. This day, the 9th, the clouds were promising, no to heavy on the horizon and scattered, cumulus clouds otherwise. For the promise I brought the full frame Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, Canon lens 24 mm f/1.4L II USM fitted with a graduated .6 ND filter sitting on top of a Manfrotto BeFree Carbon fiber tripod.

A graduated neutral density filter has a portion shaded with gray to produce a “2 stop” difference in exposure between the darkest shade and clear glass with, between, a gradual feathered reduction in shade. In this way, the dark foreground and bright sky are balanced.

A carbon fiber tripod folds into a compact shape. At about 2.5 pounds it fits into a suitcase with the least weight possible for a reasonably stable platform. Using it, I am able to take a sequence of frames of the identical scene, changing camera settings as I go along.

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Exposure: 1/6 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125

Sunlight, low in the western sky, was perfect for mirror-like reflections in the retreating surf.

Exposure: 1/250 sec at f / 4.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125

In a few weeks, after the “Slievenaglogh View” series now underway, I will present a week of these images moving from pre-dawn to sunrise.

A slide show of these images. Use is to compare the effect of longer vs shorter exposure time and f-stop.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Icicle Macro

from the moss

February 10, 2020December 3, 2019 MichaelStephenWills22 Comments

The entire wall above the Cliff Stair is a ground water seep caught here by a sudden April frost.

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When the icicles melt, the moss is there relishing the moisture. Here is a link to some fascinating information from an earlier post, “Finger Lakes Water Chemistry.”

Robert H. Treman New York State Park.

Click for macro slideshow.

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Drying Butterfly…..

….on a Sonic Drive-In Order Station.

February 9, 2020February 4, 2020 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

On Tuesday, December 17, 2019 a caterpillar dropped from vegetation to crawl across the parking lot of Sonic Drive-In, 2140 N Courtenay Pkwy, Merritt Island, FL 32953, crawl up an order station, affix its tail to the kelly green semi-gloss enamel, to form a chrysalis.

The afternoon of New Years Eve, 14 days later, we spied the Retro theme of this fast food business, finding it appealing, stopped for a hi-fat lunch of hamburgers, onion rings (“highly recommended, very delicious”) and (ha, ha) diet sodas, choosing this same order station where the emerged Brush-foot butterfly, of the family Nymphalidae, clung, drying in anticipation of flight.

Captured here with the Apple IPhone 8. I cannot identify the exact butterfly species this is. Source: wikipedia article on Nymphalidae.

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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Seep

Visible Groundwater

February 7, 2020November 30, 2019 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

The fascinating walls above the 224 steps of the Cliff Stairs are a constant wonder in all seasons.

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These shots were hand held. I used a Sony Alpha 700 dslr with a variable “zoom” lens, great for framing compositions.

Robert H. Treman New York State Park.

Click for macro slideshow.

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Gathered Light

Each wall is support for the next flight of stairs

February 6, 2020November 30, 2019 MichaelStephenWills11 Comments

I walked the Rim Trail after a sudden April frost.

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These shots were hand held. I used a Sony Alpha 700 dslr with a variable “zoom” lens, great for framing compositions.

Robert H. Treman New York State Park.

Click for macro slideshow.

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Soft on Rough

Dusted with light

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

Snow clings to the rough tree bark surface graced by late afternoon vernal sunshine.

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These shots were hand held. I used a Sony Alpha 700 dslr with a variable “zoom” lens, great for framing compositions.

Robert H. Treman New York State Park.

Click for macro slideshow.

Fern Frond with Early April Snow — Late April Snow dusted with light

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Fronds with Icicle

Fern Generations

January 29, 2020November 28, 2019 MichaelStephenWills10 Comments

Spent and green fern frond with moss and icicles formed during an early April frost.

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Fern generations are here with the spent fronds from earlier years, pale green survivors of this season.

These shots were hand held. I used a Sony Alpha 700 dslr with a variable “zoom” lens, great for framing compositions.

Robert H. Treman New York State Park.

Click for macro slideshow.

Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern. — Fresh Icicle with Fern

Instant Sunrise

The instant of sunrise

January 26, 2020January 19, 2020 MichaelStephenWills21 Comments

The sun disk broaches the Atlantic Ocean horizon on a clear January morning.

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Great results from the IPhone 8

January 19, 2020January 14, 2020 MichaelStephenWills13 Comments

There are limitations, certainly, to photographs from that tiny lens on the IPhone 10 (or IPhone X). It captured the moments in this series. I take mine along even with the professional camera bodies, lenses and tripod, for this reason. These images are the unprocessed files.