Friday (28-December-2007) — Florida

Gone to see Florida 2007 Road Trip Day 7: Dawn over Tampa Bay.

I stayed at the Historic Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg. This was my last day in Florida, and I took a series of images of the dawn colors over Tampa Bay from my balcony. The Vinoy Hotel is a great place to stay and I want to return.

Colors at Dawn over Tampa Bay from a Vinoy Hotel Balcony in St. Petersburg, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens.. (David J Mathre)
Colors at Dawn over Tampa Bay from a Vinoy Hotel Balcony in St. Petersburg, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)


Tuesday (25-December-2007) — Florida

Gone to See Florida 2007 Road Trip Day 4: A Busy Christmas Day.

Early morning sunrise and night-time photography at the Vinoy Hotel.  Wildlife photography at the Weedon Island Nature Preserve. Lots of birds, a crab spider, and how often do you see, let alone catch a “flying fish” in midair. Then the extended Mathre family Christmas Day celebration.

Sunrise over Tampa Bay from the Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 14-28 mm f/2.8 len (ISO 100, 20 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunrise over Tampa Bay from the Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 14-28 mm f/2.8 len (ISO 100, 20 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)


Mullet in Flight. Weedon Island Nature Preserve, Pinellas County, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/5, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)
Mullet in Flight. Weedon Island Nature Preserve, Pinellas County, Florida. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/5, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)



Sunday (02-December-2007) — Colorado

Winter in Rocky Mountain National Park

Although the season is officially still Autumn, at the higher elevations of Colorado it is winter. I drove to Rocky Mountain National Park on a sunny Sunday morning. It is only an hour from Boulder, Colorado. The first stop was to get a picture of the “Chapel on the Rock” with Mt. Meeker in the background. Then it was into the park to get more pictures. Winter view of the Big Thompson River in Moraine Park; Winter Trail to Storm Pass along road to Bear Lake; and a Winter Panorama of Longs Peak taken along Colorado Highway 7

Saint Catherine Chapel and Mt. Meeker, Rocky Mountain National Park. (David J Mathre)
Saint Catherine Chapel and Mt. Meeker, Rocky Mountain National Park. (David J Mathre)
Big Thompson River, Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with Nikon D300 an 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 20 mm, f/22, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)
Big Thompson River, Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with Nikon D300 an 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 20 mm, f/22, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)
Winter Trail to Storm Pass, Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with Nikon D300 an 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 17 mm, f/22, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)
Winter Trail to Storm Pass, Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with Nikon D300 an 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 17 mm, f/22, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)
Longs Peak Panorama from Colorado Highway 7 View Area, Rocky Mountain National Park. Composite of 4 horizontal images taken with a Nikon D300 and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/22, 1/60 sec) processed with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Longs Peak Panorama from Colorado Highway 7 View Area, Rocky Mountain National Park. Composite of 4 horizontal images taken with a Nikon D300 and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/22, 1/60 sec) processed with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

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Thursday (22-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 5: Volcano National Park.

Early Thanksgiving morning we went to see the sun rise over the Kilauea volcano crater. There was no activity in the caldera, but the black and orange clouds looked like lava. While returning to the lodge we noticed a Nene. A Hawaiian goose. It looks a lot like Canada geese, but it does not migrate. The Nene almost went extinct, and are now protected. You can see the tags on its legs. Before lunch we spent more time on composition. I worked on the clump of ferns. I then worked on some macro images of a stone with green Peridot Crystals (Pele’s Tears). That afternoon we were treated to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner as well as local specialties.


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Sunday (18-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 1: Kailua Kona.

It is hard to believe that the day before I was taking pictures of wildlife in Colorado. I read a note on the Thom Hogan site a month earlier that he had a late opening for this workshop so signed up as quick as I could. At that time I was working 2 weeks a month in Boulder, so it would be a bit easier to fly to Hawaii. I previously purchased his D200 and D2xs eBooks and wanted to learn more about the cameras and become a better photographer. For the first three nights we stayed at the Kona Seaside Hotel. The group of four students and Thom met in the lobby at 15:00 for our first lecture. We then walked down to the beach to photograph the beach, some tidal pools, and sunset. Part of this first shoot was for Thom to observe our photographic practices and skills so he could customize individual instruction for the rest of the workshop.

Sunset and Sailboat off Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Day 1 of Thom Hogan's 2007 Hawaii Photography Workshop. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset and Sailboat off Kona Beach.  Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset of Kailua Harbor from Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Day 1 of Thom Hogan's 2007 Hawaii Photography Workshop. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 12-24 mm DX lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/9, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset of Kailua Harbor from Kona Beach.  Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 12-24 mm DX lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/9, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset of Kailua Harbor from Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Day 1 of Thom Hogan's 2007 Hawaii Photography Workshop. Image taken with Nikon D2xs and 12-24 mm DX lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/9, HDR 9 images 1/800 to 1/20 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunset of Kailua Harbor from Kona Beach, Big Island Hawaii. Day 1 of Thom Hogan’s 2007 Hawaii Photography Workshop. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 12-24 mm DX lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/9, HDR 9 images 1/800 to 1/20 sec). (David J Mathre)

I used different tools to process the last two images. I think I like the HDR version better because the sun is a disk and not blown out, although the sky/clouds are better in the first version.

Comments and constructive criticism are welcome. Note that comments do need my approval, and I do not publish comments with links to anything I consider spam. Links to related images or other photoblog sites are OK.

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