Nature – Page 51 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Ulumay Wildlife Sanctuary

Brevard County Park on Merrit Island

February 22, 2022February 22, 2022 MichaelStephenWills

Ulumay is the name of the Native American settlement of the Ais people decimated by disease after the arrival of Europeans. The park is a natural lagoon and bird rookery linked with canals created for mosquito control and surrounded by a manmade dike. A trail on the dike provides access to the waterways for the fisherman, birdwatchers, and paddlers.

Ulumay Marker just off Sykes Creek Parkway

This informative placard, placed at the entrance. Note the 600 park acres is surrounded by residential properties.

I left Pam at the entrance, seen below at the words “Ulumay Wildlife”; she had a reasonable concern about alligators. It is quite possible to find a large specimen blocking the one and only trail. “What? Me Worry?” When pursued by an alligator, remember to zig-zag.

Path along the dike, thick vegetation on both sides generally limits the view.

“Flora and Fauna”

Waterways, sightings

Second Stand

Third Stand

No sightings of alligators or manatees.

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Venus at dawn

Planet Thoughts

February 21, 2022February 19, 2022 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

Since 1500 B.C. until today…..

The planet we call Venus has ancient associations with fertility goddesses. The link has persisted at least from the 1600 century B.C. inscribed on Sumerian cuneiform tablets. Three thousand years later the Italian artist Botticelli created in tempura paint on canvas the image of Venus rising from the sea, as the planet Venus does today.

“The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli, c Late 15th century, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Venus Rising

Here is Venus rising from the sea at dawn January 2022, at its brightest and most beautiful. Some mistake this new light in the east for airplane lights; the bright disk of Venus is 25 times brighter than Sirius, enough to cast shadows at night. As Venus proceeds in its orbit, the planet alternately sets after the sun and rises before it, seemingly appearing new each time.

This February I caught a newly risen Venus in this IPhone 7 video, reflected in the waves. It seemed to be a flashing headlight on the beach, the Venus reflection came and went with the passing waves. Venus is the upper, the reflection is beneath. Use the lower right control for the full view.

Looking from his window June 1889, Vincent VanGogh included Venus in his “Starry Night” painting, seen to the right of the Cypress tree.

Here is a closer view of Venus last January, the planet disk is apparent, unlike even the closest stars, Venus is seen as a whole object. Click on image for a full view.

Venus and Mars

Venus and Mars shared 2022’s pre-dawn winter sky. Click on the first image for a full-size view. Mars is seen above the palm tree stump, on the right. In this photograph, from early February, Venus and Mar apparently moved closer. The closeness is an illusion, the planets are millions of miles apart, on either side of Earth’s orbit. Click on the photograph for a full-size view, Mars can just be made out to the right and above Venus.

This crop clearly shows the brightness of Venus compared to Mars.

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Launch!

Another day, Cocoa Beach, Florida

February 19, 2022January 29, 2022 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

Click this link for any photograph to visit my Florida Fine Art Photography Gallery.

Pre-dawn sky

Just Before Dawn

Rising Sun

Sunrise Surf

As Pam and I walked the surf this day we encountered a helpful fellow

Motorized Boarder

beachcomber who told us of a rocket launch scheduled for just before sunset. Sure enough, here it is.

Rocket Launch

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Sunrise and More

Another day, Cocoa Beach, Florida

February 18, 2022January 27, 2022 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

Click this link for any photograph to visit my Florida Fine Art Photography Gallery.

Canon dslr photographs

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

First Day

Cocoa Beach, Florida

February 17, 2022January 29, 2022 MichaelStephenWills

Click this link for any photograph to visit my Florida Fine Art Photography Gallery.

IPhone 7 photographs and videos

Sunrise

Sunrise Scan

Morning Surf

Willet Feeding

Kite Boarding

Rippling Surf Wash

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Offering of Black Skimmer Photographs

Looking for the perfect photo for your web site and blog?

February 16, 2022December 26, 2021 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

Looking for the perfect photo for your web site and blog?

Browse my reasonably priced stock photography.

License the photo, download and use it.

Click this link for my recently published Black Skimmers Feeding photographs. This link will open a new page to display my Black Skimmer photographs on Getty IStock.

These are different and higher quality images from my posting of earlier this week.

Click this link to browse all my Getty IStock Photography offerings.

A Far Country XI: Gondwana Part 1

amazing resolution with the Canon 24 mm lens

January 27, 2022December 19, 2021 MichaelStephenWills

(Click any photograph to visit my online gallery)

The resolution of the Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM makes this lens a favorite of mine for landscape work. Let me show you why.

The valley today’s posting lies behind the tree. It is a broad valley shaped by ancient glaciers.

Here is the Google Earth view, from an elevation of 9,400 feet, with the ship position marked. Northwest is a pushpin titled, “Hanging Valley and Waterfall.”

The waterfall marking the hanging valley is visible in the following photograph. All photographs in this posting are from a Canon EOS-1Ds MarkIII, 24 mm lens (see above for complete name), on a Manfrotto travel tripod. ISO 500, f5.6 or f6.3.

With a point of view about 50 feet above the water the valley bottom is hidden behind an 800 foot hill and the water fall is just above the hill. See it? …..I didn’t think so.

There is the island with the tree, to the left. The following image is the same photograph, with the central section enlarged.

The enlargement brings out the play of light, the low clouds, deep in the valley. To provide scale, know those are full sized pines on the hillside, foreground. The waterfall is just about visible. I will enlarge the image one more time.

There it is!! I stepped up contrast, as well.

Here is another version of the original view. That patch of sky had opened up seconds after the first shot and, as a result, the 3,000 door mountain and waterfalls, on right, are better lit. Notice the bare rock face on the mountain slope, marking a landslide.

Click this image for a high resolution version, in your browser.

A different landslide Scar is featured in two previous blogs,

A Far Country V: Landslides!!

A Far Country VI: View of Tempanos Fjord

The Regatta’s course brought us closer for the two following shots.

The lovely sky is still visible…..

….one minute later the clouds gather and relative darkness returns.

(Click any photograph to visit my online gallery)

A Far Country X: Hanging Valley

amazing resolution with the Canon 24 mm lens

January 26, 2022December 19, 2021 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

(Click any photograph to visit my online gallery)

The resolution of the Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM makes this lens a favorite of mine for landscape work. Let me show you why.

The valley today’s posting lies behind the tree. It is a broad valley shaped by ancient glaciers.

Here is the Google Earth view, from an elevation of 9,400 feet, with the ship position marked. Northwest is a pushpin titled, “Hanging Valley and Waterfall.”

With a point of view about 50 feet above the water the valley bottom is hidden behind an 800 foot hill and the water fall is just above the hill. See it? …..I didn’t think so.

There is the island with the tree, to the left. The following image is the same photograph, with the central section enlarged.

There it is!! I stepped up contrast, as well.

Click this image for a high resolution version, in your browser.

The Regatta’s course brought us closer for the two following shots.

The lovely sky is still visible…..

….one minute later the clouds gather and relative darkness returns.

(Click any photograph to visit my online gallery)

A Far Country IX: Bonsai Shape

Compelling Plant Shapes

January 25, 2022December 19, 2021 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

(Click any photograph to visit my online gallery)

Here is a Google Earth view of Tempanos Fjord from 9,400 feet, looking north, northwest over a point on the fjord 6.5 miles from Iceberg Glacier, at 4 pm local time on February 17, 2016. This view is interesting for the insignificant island, .75 mile long, and broad mountain valley to the north fringed with waterfalls.

Marked is the location of a tree, “bonsai”, a feature of the fjord cliffs, “Landslide Scar” and a neighboring Fjord, “Farquhar Fjord.”

This blog features the tree.

The Farquhar Fjord entrance opens onto the entrance of Tempanos Fjord and is the last photograph.

A photograph from our port side stateroom deck includes both the island and broad valley. The misshapen tree, the “bonsai”, is on an islet to the right and in front of the island. It is the small stump backlit by water reflection. The stump is more interesting than can be seen in this image from a handheld camera, at 24 mm. I used the variable lens for a closer look.

From this 133 mm, f8.0, 1/250 sec and ISO 800, still handheld, interesting details come into view. The islet is a rock on which clings a bed of moss. Several ferns, a sapling (on the far side) and a stump, on the right, are surviving. The stump presumably supported a small tree of which a “bonsai-like” twig remains.

Bonsai are fascinating, created through the art and skill of emulating pleasing natural forms. Here the moss encrusted twists and miniature tree crown were formed from a difficult environment. Bonsai of Japan originated from an ancient Chinese tradition of penjing (“tray plant”). The inspiration for this are, at origin and now, must be, in part, from admiration of the tenacity and beauty of these plants.

At the 200 mm maximum my Sony Alpha 770 (1/400, f9, ISO 800) image is a little fuzzy, still with great details.

From my interest in bonsai I am on the lookout for shapes such as this. Travelling the challenging environment of the Chilean Fjords I found examples here and there.

Click any photograph to visit my online gallery)

A Far Country VII: View of Tempanos Fjord

A mountain and waterfall ringed bowl.

January 24, 2022December 19, 2021 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

(Click any photograph to visit my online gallery)

4:00 pm local time the Oceania was approximately 5 miles from the Iceberg Glacier, moving forward at a slow rate of speed, 4.6 knots. Here are more views of the mountain-ringed bowl behind a 1,000 foot cliff.

Both photographs are handheld using my Sony Alpha700, ISO 800, variable lens set to 45mm, 1/250 f13. At the same time I shot from a tripod mounted Cannon, 24 mm wide angle fixed focus lens.

The following capture from Google Earth is the view from 12,200 feet. Regatta’s position is the “5 miles from Iceberg Glacier” pushpin. The formation is almost due north. We were surprised to see a ranger station in this uninhabited area, not yet in view. The white line, lower right, is the border between the Aisen (north) and Magellanic (south) Chilean regions.