St. Mark's - Shooting Wildlife

It's Labor Day weekend and I didn't have to work, so I went to St. Mark's yesterday. There have been Roseate Spoonbills there for the past few days so I was hoping to see them, but sadly I missed them (they were sighted about an hour before I got there, but disappeared).

The day was hot, humid, and hazy, and the yellow flies near the Lighthouse were awful. I still grabbed a few shots but overall it wasn't the best day. Oh well, that's life.

Here's a few shots, all taken with my Nikon F5 and 300mm f/2.8 or 500mm f/5.6 (a Pentax 67 lens adapted to the Nikon):

 

 

I also had my GoPro attached to the hot-shoe of the F5. I shot some video while shooting which was kind of cool, with the lens jutting out in front:

St. Marks Summer 2014, and July 4th

I actually took these a few weeks ago but forgot to upload them.

Meagan and I spent the afternoon at St. Marks and saw the sunset. Here's a few images from before the sun started to set:

 

Later on I pulled out some slide film and we enjoyed the sunset:

 

 Finally, just a few photos from July 4th, visiting Waycross and enjoying grilling and fireworks:

 

All of these were taken with my Pentax 67 and either 55mm, 105mm, or 165mm lenses. Films were T-Max 100, Portra 160, Ektar 100, Astia 100F, and Velvia 100F.

St. Marks NWR Part 4

Yes, I went back yet again. St. Marks is proving to be a fertile ground for photography.

I focused again on 4x5 images. They were shot with the Schneider 47mm f/5.6 XL, Nikkor 90mm f/8, Schneider Symmar-S 210mm f/5.6, or Nikkor-M 300mm f/9:

 

St. Marks NWR Part 3

I actually went to St. Marks again last Sunday with a couple of friends. I only shot a few sheets of 4x5, but it was fun nevertheless. Here's the results (the first shot is with the Nikkor 300mm f/9, the rest with the 90mm f/8):

 

 

This last one was my first-ever T-Max 400 negative. I developed it in Pyrocat HD 1:1:100 for 9 minutes. This is a classic combination recommended often, and it didn't disappoint. The grain is about as fine as T-Max in Rodinal despite being a 400-speed film. I definitely will be using it again - I honestly don't know why it took me so long to try TMY.

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge - Part 2

And now for part two. These are the 4x5 images I took at St. Marks. Most were done with the Nikkor 90mm f/8. For the wildlife images I used my Nikkor 720mm f/16 telephoto (my first time using it successfully!). I also used my Nikkor 450mm f/9 and Schnieder 210mm f/5.6 for a couple:

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge - Part 1

Last weekend Meagan and I drove out to St. Marks NWR. This coastal Florida refuge is a beautiful place, with thousands of acres of pristine marshland and coastline.

I've been busy developing all of the images I took that day. This first batch is from two rolls of film I shot in my 2x3 Century camera (with the 80mm Xenotar lens). The color film was Provia 100F and the b&w film was T-Max 100. I'm almost through with the 4x5 images but that will be for another day.

Here are the images from St. Marks:

 

 

We also stopped at a small, rural cemetery on the way back that I found. I love old cemeteries - I think it's fascinating to see the historical record of people who lived in the area decades ago. Anyway, here are a couple photos:

More images from St. Marks coming soon!