Tag Archives: Florida

Photographing Birds of Prey

Travel Journal/Blog, , , , , , , , , , ,
Birds of Prey Owl-6x4
Barred Owl

I flew the coop early, leaving at 5:45 AM to arrive at what is now The Center for Marine Science at Whitney Lab by 6:45 AM. Many may recall the site as the original Marineland, the world’s first oceanarium in St Augustine.

I was registered for the Birds of Prey Workshop at the 2009 Florida Birding & FotoFest The early morning photography session featured four feathered friends: a Bald Eagle, Crested Caracara, American kestrel and Barred owl.  Audubon Society members were available to handle and answer questions about each bird.

Nature photographer, Greg Downing, personally showed me valuable pointers about reading the histogram and using the Aperture Value control. Once I set the f-stop, the Av setting allowed my camera to select the correct shutter speed.

Headshot of Eagle
Headshot of a Bald Eagle--a bird of prey
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle--National Bird

Between tripod mount, sitting on the ground, squatting, kneeling and fiddling with camera controls, I managed to snap these shots.  For me, they rate as a soaring success.

For anyone interested in wildlife photography, this annual East coast event presents a flurry of lectures and field classes.  Well-known experts like Rick Sammon and Rob Sheppard teach beginner to advanced levels over the four-day FotoFest.

Crested Caracara
Crested Caracara

Following the photo shoot, I was off to the airport and Baltimore. This weekend, the globe-trotting grand was attending grand-daughter Claire’s christening.

All images copyright of Debi Lander.

A New Grandson brings Mimi Back to the Future

Travel Journal/Blog, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Little_Jonah-25
Little Jonah

I  wasn’t traveling the full 1.21 jigga-watt speed required to jettison me Back to the Future, but fast enough to lose a season.

Florida was warm and sunny, in full-foliage springtime bloom when I left.  I landed in Boston ‘s cold, bleak and leafless-tree winter. However, I grasped the future in my arms, picking up my newborn grandson, his script yet to be written.

I focused on my grown daughter Abby, a new Mom, beaming with love at her first baby. Thirty years replayed in my mind; the entire generation gone at mach speed.

In the movie, Back to the Future, Michael J. Fox ‘s character arrives in the past, surrounded by people wearing vintage clothing; retro hair styles, eating 50’s food and speaking outdated slang.

Mimi finds herself befuddled by new and improved objects-at least those for baby care: musical vibrating bassinets, diaper genies, crib video monitors and car seats that cleverly snap into strollers .  There must be twenty styles of binkies and bottles.

Luckily, infants remain unchanged. They still need midnight and three A.M. feedings, stacks of diapers, doll-sized outfits and baby shampoo, the kind that smells powdery sweet. But, oh my, nothing beats the bliss of cuddling a new babe.

Forget sending me back to the future, blast me forward.  I’d like to stick around (in good health) to see my grandchildren grow.

Little Jonah, welcome to your world.  May you wander through life under sunny, non-turbulent skies, at whatever travel speed you desire.

The River Run Weekend: Flying High to Lying Low

Travel Journal/Blog, , , , , , , ,
River Run medal
Gate River Run Medal

Mimi didn’t plan to enter the Jacksonville Gate River Run–a 15K race that winds across 2 bridges, the downtown business district, Sports complex and residential neighborhoods.

I thought I was done competing and certainly wasn’t training. Currently my exercise consists of walking and attending yoga class.

But Judy, my former marathon buddy, was in town and asked me to join her.  Seems her training ran amuck; so we agreed to take our time and simply finish the event.

Race morning surfaced foggy and overcast, perfect conditions to prevent overheating, something I struggled with in the past. Judy and I jogged across the starting line (to look good on the live broadcast) but then walked as fast as possible.

We astounded ourselves, keeping under a 15-minute-mile pace the entire 9.3 mile course.  We talked our way through the route, amongst a crowd of 13,000 participants and honestly had fun.  We still finished with a decent time.  And we gloated.

The next morning, I groaned.  I was struck down, not so much from sore muscles, but with the flu bug, the one that’s hitting everyone.  I spent the day in bed, which other than feeling crummy, wasn’t too bad.