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.
Correction
Eranthis hyemalis
Tag: Nature
Kite Encounter
catching the wind
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
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
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 Walk” on my blog.
Copyright 2020 All Right Reserved Michael Stephen Wills Photography
Happy March Wedding Anniversary
Unexpected Beauty
Coronavirus is raging this March 20th (I schedule posts several weeks ahead now), on this day of our anniversary, easy for me to remember falling close to or on the Spring equinox. Earliest spring flowers were up for a week when I spied this group of crocus blooms on a hill. We do not remember them being there, so I called Pam to enjoy them.
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These are extra special, Pam’s parents planted them years ago. The above images are the same photograph. On the left, white balance is set to “cloudy.” At the time, late afternoon, the sun was behind low clouds, providing back light. Perfect lighting for flowers, which is why I interrupted springtime yard cleanup to run inside for the camera.
My intent was to increase the f-stop to over 20 for the following photograph. Metadata on the photograph shows I was only successful in increasing it from 5 to 5.7. ISO was increased from 100 to 400. There was an intermittent breeze and my intent was to avoid blur.
In retrospect, I neglected to change to Aperture mode so any change to F-stop I made was reset. This is a beginners mistake, so photograph turned out well. The colors are richer in the f/5.7 shot.
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Sunrise Texture Series 7
Final Series, Sunrise Completion
Betelgeuse, AKA “Alpha Orionis”, was the first star disk, other than our Sun, measured. One hundred years ago the apparent size of Betelgeuse was then as now 0.003% of the sun. I bring this up because this “red” star at the end of its life cycle, is in the news, being now 40% of its brightness last year.
Betelgeuse is so far away this dimming is 700 year old news, the time it takes for light span the distance. News of our sun is more recent, sunlight informs us of the Sun’s surface from 8.33 minutes ago. Sunlight bursts from clouds to the camera in an instant of a second. In comparison my reactions to capture it are glacial. Sixteen seconds passed since the images of Series 6, time for three exposures at a slowed pace now the sun breaks free from the clouds.
Twelve minutes, fifty four seconds elapsed from the first images of this series. Seventy nine exposures taken with 16 selected moments, these last without the sand mirror.
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Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 4.5, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 100
A Willet feeds in the new day. This is a species sandpipers, a cousin of the Sanderling of yesterday’s post.
Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5/0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 100
All sixteen Sunrise Texture moments are presented below.. Suggestion, for this series in a larger format, open a separate browser tab for each post. At series end you will then have eight (including the very first post a few weeks ago) landscapes to compare.
Exposure: 1/6 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125 
Exposure: 1/250 sec at f / 4.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125 
Exposure: 1/250 sec at f / 4.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125 
Exposure: 1/10 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125 
Exposure: 1/250 sec at f / 4.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125 
Exposure: 1/320 sec at f / 4.5, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125 
Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250 
Exposure: 1/15 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250 
Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250 
Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250 
Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250 
Exposure: 1/500 sec at f / 5.6, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO250 
A sanderling is a species of sandpiper. Exposure: 1/320 sec at f / 4.5, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 100 
Exposure: 1/8 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 50 Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 4.5, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 100
Want to see more? Visit this series on Getty IStock.
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Sunrise Texture Series 6
Sunburst
Two minutes pass from Series 5, and not because I have stopped snapping. My routine is to insert a (automated) sequential number into each filename. Using this it is possible to calculate the number of exposures in a series. Since Series 5, 16 were snapped before the first I could use in Series 6. Ten exposures between the first and last of Series 6, during which a minute, twenty eight seconds elapsed..
The sun disk is above the horizon, bursting from clouds.
Ten minutes, eighteen seconds elapsed from the first images of this series. Seventy one exposures taken with 14 selected moments of shining sand mirror, a strong curving return flow.
The small bird feeding, of the first image, is a Sanderling, one of the smallest species of Sandpipers.
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Exposure: 1/320 sec at f / 4.5, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 100
In this second image, the mirror is erased as sand absorbs surf. I needed to show the developing sun burst.
Exposure: 1/8 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 50
A slide show of these images. This set compares short exposure with open aperture (f 4.5) to a much longer exposure driven by a narrow aperture (f 22) and the lowest film sensitivity of the camera (ISO 50). Suggestion, for this series in a larger format, open a separate browser tab for each post. At series end you will then have eight (including the very first post a few weeks ago) landscapes to compare.
Exposure: 1/320 sec at f / 4.5, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 100 Exposure: 1/8 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 50
Want to see more? Visit this series on Getty IStock.
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Sunrise Texture Series 5
a paradox
A scant five seconds pass from Series 4, with the sun above the horizon I strive to catch the moment.
The sun disk is above the horizon, shining behind the clouds.
Seven minutes, 34 seconds elapsed from the first images of this series.
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Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250
I selected moments of shining sand mirror, a strong curving return flow with a continuing mark of a southeast wind of seventeen miles per hour, with bursts above twenty. Wind, waves, even the rounded particles of sand all created from the energy of the celestial body I am waiting to appear.
Exposure: 1/500 sec at f / 5.6, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO250
A slide show of these images. Suggestion, for this series in a larger format, open a separate browser tab for each post. At series end you will then have eight (including the very first post a few weeks ago) landscapes to compare.
Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250 Exposure: 1/500 sec at f / 5.6, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO250
Want to see more? Visit this series on Getty IStock.
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Sunrise Texture Series 4
a paradox
Thirty three seconds pass from Series 3, the high clouds shine less bright, the sun disk now blocked by those clouds on the horizon, the rising sun brings darkness yet a first hint of sunburst.
Seemingly, the first image foam-wave swath will erase the mirror.
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Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250
Fifty seconds later, instead of erasure the new water brings clarity.
Six minutes, 39 seconds elapsed from the first images of this series.
A slide show of these images. Suggestion, for this series in a larger format, open a separate browser tab for each post. At series end you will then have eight (including the very first post a few weeks ago) landscapes to compare.
Want to see more? Visit this series on Getty IStock.
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Sunrise Texture Series 3
Gathering Light
You will notice the sky changing, compared to the first set published here , Almost 6 minutes have passed, 4 minutes from the last image from Sunrise Texture Series 2. From behind the horizon, the first rays of sunlight catch the sky undersides. Unseen. the sun disk broaches the horizon.
Working fast, I used the dial to change from aperture-priority to shutter-priority with settings saved from the last use. In this way the duration is only twelve seconds between shots. The sun disk is near to/passed the horizon hidden behind those distant clouds.
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Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250
Breaking of a small wave.
Exposure: 1/15 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250
A slide show of these images. Suggestion, for this series in a larger format, open a separate browser tab for each post. At series end you will then have eight (including the very first post a few weeks ago) landscapes to compare.
Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250 Exposure: 1/15 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250
Want to see more? Visit this series on Getty IStock.
