Beauty of the Wild

Nature photography by Jay Paredes

 

The September Gallery has been updated with new images from Loxahatchee and Crandon Gardens. It's the last week of September and the official start of the 2006/2007 bird migration season in Florida. At Loxahatchee we've recently seen Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Ovenbirds. I'm hoping that the next few weekends will bring many more of these passing visitors in front of my lens.

 

Before we get back fulltime to the migrating birds, I thought that I'd share some of the other pictures that I've taken over the summer.

 

These moths overtook our front garden in early summer. I shot this image using my 150mm Macro lens and a tripod to get close to the subjects.

 

This image was taken at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. Amy and I went there so I could accept the Honorable Mention Award from the Orange Audubon Society. Flash Photography isn't allowed so I had to rely on a very high ISO setting of 3200 and a fast f/1.4 50mm lens.

 

The local colony of Monk Parakeets frequently take over the feeders in our yard.

 

Our daughter loves to feed peanuts to the Blue Jays that now frequent our yard. It took several weeks of feeding for the Jays to get comfortable enough to land where I wanted them to, and pose for the camera.

 

This is the latest addition to our marine aquarium, a Pygmy Angelfish. To get this shot I had to be mindful of the angle of the lens and the flash to minimize any reflections from the aquarium's glass.

 

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach. To properly capture the colors of the sunrise and the details of the fishing pier, I used a method called HDR or High Dynamic Range. This method involves taking at least 3 different exposures of the scene and then blending them together in a program like Photoshop or Photomatrix Pro to get a better range of colors.

 

Another HDR image from Deerfield Beach.

 

Sunrise at the Marsh Trail of Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Again this is an HDR image combining 3 images at +/- 2 EV.

 

Thank you for looking, and I hope to be able to share lots more pictures this coming 2006/2007 migratory season. Until next time.

 

Note: When replying to this e-mail, please take the time to delete the attached images to prevent network congestion.