Season – Page 129 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Bullet Dodge Series 1

First of a looooonnnngggg series

April 30, 2020April 29, 2020 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

One day after my “Sunrise Texture” series as the sun rose on Cocoa Beach I was waiting with the same photographic kit. It was perfect weather for a visit to Walt Disney World, planned for that day: unsettled.

This image couple demonstrates the effect of long / short exposure without using filters. I changed the ISO and F-stop to achieve these effects.

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With a tripod it is simpler to achieve a level horizon….

I turned around to observe the colonies of shore birds…..

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Want to see more? Visit this my “Sunrise Textures” series on Getty IStock.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Cushendun Published

Photography accepted this week by Getty

April 27, 2020April 16, 2020 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

Click me to visit Getty, my recently accepted Cushendun photography.

Correction

Eranthis hyemalis

April 21, 2020April 5, 2020 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

A fellow blogger, Audrey Driscoll’s Blog, provided the correct and exact species name for the post “Wildflowers Late Winter / Early Spring.” The posts are updated. Thank You, Audrey.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Kite Encounter

catching the wind

April 20, 2020April 18, 2020 MichaelStephenWills5 Comments

Awhile after encountering the hydrofoil the same north wind powered a large, eight foot wingspan kite high overhead. Cheri Down Park, my meeting point for lunch with Pam, was in sight as I took a detour to talk with the kite flier.

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Seated in a comfortable beach chair, he turned a one foot diameter reel pulling the kite in. Kite flying was a relaxation for this permanent resident. As the kite descended overhead I caught this short video. In retrospect the beauty is ominous, a metaphor for the approaching novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

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Copyright 2020 All Right Reserved Michael Stephen Wills Photograph

Bright Surf, High Tide

Invasion

April 18, 2020April 18, 2020 MichaelStephenWills15 Comments

Morning walks through January 2020 were solitary events, more so on stormy morning such as this, January 23rd. Even the dog walkers stayed home. The surf surged to the dunes. Click me for my posting, “Rough Surf.”

Today’s photographs are a sequence of the surf’s high point. Click me for yesterday’s post including a video.

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The sun broke through between clouds to rake with light the beach scurf and wind scud. In the distance, a steady west gale blows surf onto itself as a white curtain.

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Copyright 2020 All Right Reserved Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Dawn Rough Surf High Tide

beyond belief

April 17, 2020April 18, 2020 MichaelStephenWills5 Comments

At dawn I walked on the beach from North 1st street to South 8th Street Cocoa Beach. Tide was at peak of high, the surf still high from gale winds. Click me for yesterday’s posting, “Rough Surf.”

In the first video, set the effect of a strong west wind pushing surf spray back onto itself, the ocean brightly lit across dunes. I was standing on a boardwalk access from South 8th Street.

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South 8th Street is my turnaround, walking back the squall clouds broke, releasing sunlight for this video.

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Squalls returned, forcing me to hide the DSLR (digital single-lens reflex camera) under my waterproof shell. Then, the squall broken once again, releasing sunlight for this double rainbow.

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Click this link to visit “Man O War Beach Wal k ” on my blog.

Copyright 2020 All Right Reserved Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Beauty and Infection

Cutting Trees to Fight Disease in Glenariff Forest Park

April 13, 2020April 25, 2021 MichaelStephenWills9 Comments

White Hawthorne tree blooms grace hedgerows of the rural hillside facing Glenariff Forest Park. The other white is grazing sheep. The North Channel of the Irish Sea is visible at the foot of the glen, with the shore of Scotland just visible.

Foreground are the stumps of mature trees cut by the forest service to control the oomycete plant pathogen Phytophthora ramorum. We visited June 2014, the year before, October 2013, the Belfast Telegraph reported “Northern Ireland is close to the point where it will be impossible to eradicate a virulent disease from the forests where it has taken hold.” Glenariff Forest part was one of those forests and the tree stumps are victims of that struggle.

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Here is a link to this photograph on Getty.

Getting My Work Out There

A Blessed Easter to Everyone

April 12, 2020April 11, 2020 MichaelStephenWills8 Comments

Comparing this view with the first of this series, first glance, with the camera held steady on a Manfrotto studio tripod, it is identical but from the play of light and cloud. My model Pam walked a few feet to sit in quiet contemplation of the beautiful surroundings.

To produce stock photography I research the details of the image, to write an informative caption. For example, in the post “Another Glenariff View” my identification of the Rowan was from a two volume atlas, paging through page after page.

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Here is a link to my Glenariff photographs o n Getty.

Glenariff Green

a closer look

April 11, 2020March 26, 2020 MichaelStephenWills9 Comments

Walking around the park trails with a handheld Sony Alpha 700 dslr, a Sony DT 18-200mm variable lens mounted. Sorry to say, I was selective and have only these three photographs to supplement the grand views of the previous two posts. Click me for the first post of this series.

These are from the upper portion of the Red Trail, we did not wander far from the car park. Such a funny term for a parking lot, a park for cars. The cafe offers pick me ups and we indulged.

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Here is a link my Glenariff photograph on Getty.

Another Glenariff View

…with a flowering bush.

April 10, 2020April 7, 2020 MichaelStephenWills1 Comment

After photographing the broad expands of a wide Glenariff valley, moving the tripod on that same eminence, here is a near and far view.

The foreground white flowering bush of pinnate leaves is Rowan (Sorbus in the family Rosaceae subfamily Maloideae). In Irish it is crann caorthainn, a plant considered sacred in ancient times by both Celts and Vikings. The fruit is made into preserves, jellies. The pinnate leaves are similar to Ash, the reason it is also known as Mountain Ash, Rowan is not botanically related to Ash.

The Canon lens EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM was mounted on the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III camera. The graduated neutral density filter was perfect for the setting. Notice, between the hills in the distance, is a patch of the Northern Channel (of the Irish Sea), and just visible the Scottish Coast, a tilted horizon uncorrected.

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