A Rainy Sunday

It was bound to happen sooner or later. The weather around the bay area for the past several weeks has been unbelievable with warm temperatures, blue skies and zero rain. Sunday however brought some rain, it is as dreary like a midwestern winter day. This however gave me a good excuse to use my built-in model, Lucky Paws and some creative use of light.

A few days ago I also had an opportunity to photograph a cute and talkative green parrot named Yoda where I mixed natural side light and combined it with bouncing flash for some fill off the ceiling to isolate Yoda from his background and to give him some studio-style portraits. I did some of the same techniques on Lucky by combining available artificial light and bounced flash. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

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Little Quackers

So far, the long weekend has been great. After doing nothing on Thanksgiving, we headed out early to meet up with some friends, Steve and Lois at Honeymoon Island to take a morning stroll on Osprey Trail. We were not disappointed, as we spotted both the adult Great Horned Owls, a Bald Eagle and several Ospreys along our walk.

After our walk, we had some lunch of some homemade burritos that were amazing. After lunch we took a short drive to see something new for us, several Black Swans, and as luck would have it, they had six cygnets that were the cutest things. We spent an hour watching and photographing these little ones as they floated on the pond and were one comical group and a joy to watch.

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Click Here To Watch A Video Of Black Swans & Six Cygnets
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With the evening coming, we went back to Honeymoon Island to see if we could spot the resident owls. When we got there, we certainly found them, but they were way up in the Slash Pines sleeping. We walked all the way in the back to where the Bald Eagle nest is, however we never saw them, but did run across a little armadillo as he was walking down the path.

We made our way back to the owls, and we were in for a special treat. Just as we saw them last year at this time, well after the sun had set, the two adults came together and started to really hoot at one another. It was loud, real loud. It wasn't long before the baby owl also joined them, and we watched as all three were together!

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Click Here To Watch A Video Of The Great Horned Owls Mating
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The two adults took off to another pine, and the calls started to sound different. After a few minutes, we witnessed a rare moment that few if any ever get to witness. The male flew down to the female, and again we saw them mate. What a special moment to share, for we have seen them do this two years now. It is the start of a new owl season!

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Speaking Louder Than Before

My brother-in-law, Todd Bemak, passed along his latest project, a music video he just finished and released for Jeremy Camp's latest single "Speaking Louder Than Before". Jeremy Camp is a popular Christian artist whose released multiple CDs that have gone Gold and the video was directed by Andy Reale.

This video, which was shot in Nashville, Tennessee, was a challenge on multiple fronts including budget. It was shot in a Super 16mm Film format which is expensive to purchase, develop and process. The backdrop of the music video is an old paint manufacturing facility that was established in 1890 so they had lots of antique equipment scattered around. The interior shots were on the 2nd floor and the floors are so old that is had huge holes that you could see down to the first floor which made for some interesting lighting.

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Watch Jeremy Camp's "Speaking Louder Than Before" Music Video
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The video came out great, and the editing, post-production and entire music video is as always with Todd super top notch. Way to go Todd!

An Opportunity Of A Lifetime

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to do a once in a lifetime photo opportunity. Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo is the proud parents of two cute and adorable White Tiger cubs, and they are not only thrilled beyond belief, but they were in need of some good photos of them. Now, I don't have to tell you what my response was when they asked me to photograph them, for there was no way I was going to miss this.

I met the zoo's marketing director outside the gate before the zoo opened, and we discussed what I was to expect, since I was not only going to get to photograph them, but I was also going to be in their habitat, only inches away from one of the most beautiful big cats in the world. Since the morning was a bit cool, the caretakers decided to wait until a little later in the morning to bring them out.

Around 10am, we met up at the White Tiger exhibit, and then was given a brief rundown on being with wild tiger cubs. My heart was racing, and it was the most exciting moment I have had in a long time, and couldn't wait to see them. We only had 15 minutes to be in with them, for they are only a few weeks old, and need to be with their mother as much as possible.

Since this was most likely the last day that any human will have contact with these cute and adorable cubs, it really put the pressure on me to get the shots, since I most likely won't have an opportunity to do it over. The cubs were put out in the habitat first, and when the caretakers gave us the signal, we went in with them.

As I walked in, I glanced down, and there they were. Two, tiny white cubs just sitting there. I stopped dead in my tracks, almost as if I had to catch my breath. I was expecting the worst, as my thoughts that they might reject us being in there with all this camera equipment. We were foreigners in their world, and the comfort of their mommy was nowhere in sight. After all, we weren't outside their domain, we were in it.

The cubs, one male and one female, was frozen at first as they watched us. I immediately got down to their level, which meant I had to lay on the ground. After a minute or two, they got real curious, especially the female. She was a cutie, and really wanted to see what I was all about, and at one point came over to me and licked my camera, and then later wanted to wrestle with me.

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Click Here To Watch A Video Of Me Photographing The White Tiger Cubs
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Even though these little ones are very young, I was a little nervous when they wanted to play with me, for they have very sharp claws, and their teeth are also razor sharp. However, I didn't panic, and actually thought it was cool that they were so comfortable with me that they wanted to play. What an experience to say the least.

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Click Here To Read The Official Press Release (PDF)

Watch A Video Of The White Tiger Cubs With Their Mommy (BayNews9)

Watch A Video Of The White Tiger Cubs With Their Mommy (FoxNews)
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It really felt longer then 15 minutes of our time together, but I got several nice photos of them even though it was hard to get them to pose together. Words are really hard to describe the feeling of being so close to these rare and endangered beautiful animals. This was an experience that was hard to say goodbye when our time was up, but it was an opportunity of a lifetime that I will never forget.

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UPDATE: The White Tiger Cubs photographs I took really got around! They were all over the local news media, including the St. Petersburg Times, Tampa Tribune, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Miami Herald, Miami Examiner, Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Gainesville Sun, NY Daily News and Associated Press.

They were also shown on numerous television newscasts, including Newschannel 8 (NBC), Tampa Bay's 10 (CBS), MyFox Tampa Bay 13 (FOX), ActionNews 28 (ABC) and BayNews 9 (IND). They were also featured on several zoo & aquarium web sites, including ZooBorns, Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, World Zoo Today and CNN. That is a list!

A Pleasant Surprise

We headed back to Honeymoon Island late in the day on Sunday, and we had hoped to photograph the pair of resident Great Horned Owls. Just at the start of the trail, we found the mommy owl sleeping away high up in the Slash Pines. While we were photographing her, we ran into Tommy who works at Lake Shore Camera who told us that he had found another one of the owls on the other trail.

We all went over to the other side of the island, and sure enough, we found the other owl. Something was wrong however, as the familiar markings of the pair of adults didn't quite match up, and this one looked smaller then the adults. Could it be last year's juvenile? "Nah" we said, however Dawn was almost certain it was. We got some incredible shot of the owl, and then we started to hear them hoot. Not one, not two, but three! Turns out, it was the baby, as we also found daddy owl and what a find it was. The juvenile is still communicating with them using the "begging for food" type of screams that he did when he was in he nest and would wait for his parents to bring back food.

Since the Bald Eagles have established themselves now at Honeymoon Island by starting a huge nest, this means that more raptors are sharing the same home. They will all be hunting, sleeping and raising their young in the same area. We are wondering if the juvenile Great Horned Owl is still allowed to stay with it's parents so they can establish some type of family bond or group on the island. Barred Owls are known to do this and have done this by us in the Brooker's Creek Nature Preserve. That way they are more of a threat to other raptors in the area and more intimidating as a larger group. Setting up a family bond and area will stop any raptors from setting up home directly by them.

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Click Here To Watch A Video Of The Great Horned Owls
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Today, however, the male Great Horned Owl looked like he was picking out a possible nest location. He has his eyes set on a tall healthy looking pine tree with an ocean view. He was standing by this previously used Osprey nest and wanting to take it over as his own. He was looking in the nest and jumping up and down trying to get the attention of the female Great Horned Owl. He was also hooting back and forth to her while he was standing next to the nest. They also start mating around this time, so we wonder if once they pick the nest and lay their eggs if the juvenile owl will still be living by them on the island. We are not sure if the aggressive male Great Horned Owl will chase his offspring off the island really soon or if they will establish a family area so they are more of a threat and intimidating to the other raptors on Honeymoon Island. Things really just got much more interesting...

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Interesting Times Ahead

With Florida's mating season about to begin, a lot of changes are happening back on the trails of Honeymoon Island. The resident Great Horned Owls will begin their mating season, and it was about this time last year when we recorded them on video mating, which is one of the rarest moment ever caught on tape.

The big news this year is the arrival of a pair of Southern Bald Eagles, which have taken up residence on the northern tip of the island, and have actually begun building a nest. Throw in the fact that there are also numerous Ospreys that also nest on the island, this could make for a very interesting nesting season.

We are not so sure how this is going to play out, with so many raptors now in the same vicinity, and so close to one another. The Great Horned Owls have made Honeymoon Island their home for many years, and are the kings of the island for resources. Now, with the Bald Eagles, things might be a bit murky on who will become the dominate species.

A WARNING TO ANY PHOTOGRAPHERS OR BIRD WATCHERS WANTING TO SEE THESE BALD EAGLES UP CLOSE: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has closed down the end of the Osprey Trail, and it is now become a federally protected nesting site. It is illegal to enter this area which is clearly fenced off, and anyone caught in this area can and will be fined, and that fine is fairly hefty.

Always Something Fun At The Zoo

It's been a while since we have been out to the zoo, for going there in the summer heat can be unbearable. The animals are much harder to photograph when it is hot, since they seek shade and really don't move around a lot. However, with the cooler weather, they really are easier to photograph, not too mention easier on the photographers.

There is a lot of new and exciting changes at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, including what looks to be my new favorite exhibit, a free-flight aviary of some very cool looking and exotic African birds. Everything from Flamingoes, Pelicans, Ducks to Storks, this looks to be "the" place to get some cool looking images of these beautiful birds, all of which you are right in there with them.

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Click Here To Watch A Video Of Lowry Park Zoo
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Of course I had to stop by my two other favorite exhibits, the Southern Bald Eagles and to see Lucy, the Florida Panther. However, I am saving the best for last, and you will want to check back on Monday for a special announcement that I know you will not want to miss!

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Lemon Fizz

I had planned for a weekend off after our extended vacation last weekend, however I got a call late in the week from my friend Bryan Peterson who was flying down to Tampa to purchase a car. Since Bryan was coming in on an early flight, we had several hours to kill so we took advantage of that time to shoot some instructional videos for the Perfect Picture School of Photography on shooting macro.

Before we could even get out of the parking garage, we noticed a very inviting row of signs that was begging to be exploited, and exploit we did. We must of shot almost every conceivable angle of those signs, and was a great exercise in working a subject.

From there, we took a ride to St. Petersburg and worked on several videos on macro, using the outdoor available light. Since Florida is famous for unlimited amounts of sunshine, it was perfect to illustrate several techniques in macro which we are producing for downloadable videos at the school.

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View A Panorama Of The Tampa Skyline   (JPG - 428KB)
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We ended the day in downtown Tampa, and Bryan headed home in his new ride he picked up while he was here. I gotta now go into the studio and produce the short instructional videos, including lemon fizz, feathers, raindrops, letters and many other interesting and unique video tips. It was whirl-wind day around the bay area to say the least!

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Work Is Getting Around

It's nice when your hard work gets recognized, especially my photography. I work really hard to capture the beauty of my city of Tampa, and to get kudos from my favorite client really makes my day.

Visit Tampa Bay, which is "the" tourism agency in Tampa just published a post on their excellent blog about me, which I was thrilled to read.

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Click Here To Read The Visit Tampa Bay Blog Post
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They really are not only great to work for, but they really have the best looking presence and designed materials I have ever seen, which I can appreciate since I am also a graphic designer. They really make the bay area beautiful!

Into The Valley Of Water

When we left the resort in West Palm Beach, we decided to take the long way home, and I do mean long way. We headed south to the Tamiami Trail to go across the Everglades and stop in Shark Valley.

When we arrived, we were confused as to why the road leading into the park was under water. As we paid our entrance fee, we asked the park ranger who said the water is from Hurricane Fay that came through Florida months ago, and is still making it's way down into the glades.

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Click Here To See A Video Of Shark Valley
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Since the water levels are very high, very few animals were in the park, except for a few herons and a couple of alligators as they laid on the road to warm themselves in the afternoon sun.

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