During the last weekend

Last weekend was a foggy one. Some people think foggy days are bad for photography, but on the contrary, I think foggy and cloudy days are special because the light is evenly distributed, and you don’t get harsh shadows in your photos. Some may complain about fog adding an extra layer of grain to their portraits, but I do love that layer. 

On foggy mornings, the light is more consistent than on cloudy days, when it can vary depending on the clouds. For someone who uses Auto ISO, like I do, this isn’t a big concern. For photographers who shoot fully manual, however, it means constantly adjusting settings, and that may be the reason why they don’t like these kinds of days.

There are 2 pictures that I love from this last weekend. 

These were somewhat difficult shots because the bird, a Carolina Wren, was perched in a very dense bush, making focusing challenging. The branches in the foreground added an extra 3D feeling to these pictures, which I love.

Pictures from last weekend

Last weekend was a good one from the point of view of birds and photos. I managed to capture a nice picture of a red-winged blackbird. 

From far, this bird looks black, but when you look at their pictures, you can see little brown and red lines. The bird behind the male in the front is a female of the same species. 

The above you can see the details of the female. 

I also took some pictures of swallows flying. I do not have to say that you need a lot of skills and patience to get them sharp. 

Another photo from last weekend

 The Carolina wren is a small bird with an outsized personality. Despite its compact size, it fills forests, gardens, and backyards with a bold, ringing song that often sounds far too powerful for such a tiny body. Its warm reddish-brown plumage, long curved bill, and distinctive white eyebrow give it a lively, alert appearance that matches its energetic behavior.

Common throughout the southeastern United States, the Carolina wren is a year-round resident, even in colder months when many birds migrate. It’s known for its adaptability, often nesting in unusual places, flower pots, mailboxes, old boots, or any cozy nook it can find. Pairs are strongly bonded and frequently seen together, reinforcing their reputation as loyal and resilient birds.

What truly sets the Carolina wren apart is its voice. Its cheerful, rolling song is often one of the first sounds heard at dawn, bringing life to quiet mornings. For many nature lovers and photographers, the Carolina wren represents persistence, warmth, and the simple joy of noticing the small wonders living right alongside us.

 

 

Last weekend pictures

There are a few photos I took last weekend that I truly love. One of them is the image below, showing a pair of Sandhill Cranes in flight. I especially like how the cloudy background closely matches the cranes’ gray coloring, creating a harmonious look. 

Another photo I enjoy is this landscape, where the dry winter vegetation glows with golden tones, unmistakably revealing the time of year when the image was captured.

The below image captures a quiet woodland scene where winter is gently asserting itself. A winding paved path curves through the frame, inviting the viewer to follow it deeper into the forest. Tall trees stand on either side, their trunks dark and textured, while branches overhead are draped with fading leaves in warm shades of gold, amber, and rusty orange. The remaining greenery contrasts softly with the seasonal colors, suggesting the transition between autumn and winter. Fallen leaves carpet the ground, catching the light and adding warmth to the scene. Overall, the photograph conveys a sense of calm and reflection, a peaceful moment where nature slows down and the changing season is clearly written in color and light.

Path to nowhere

My favorite picture from last weekend

 Lately I have been shooting more landscapes than usual even when I still using full time my 100-400 lens with an 1.4x Extender. Probably because I'm rediscovering the good features hidden in Luminar Neo specially designed for Landscape photography, Here is my favorite picture from last weekend. 

My favorite pictures from last weekend

There are two pictures that I like from last weekend. The two of them are landscapes that I edited using Luminar Neo, a software that does a wonderful job, especially with landscapes. 

Luminar Neo is especially good at playing with the light in the whole landscape area, creating a 3-dimensional feeling. 

From last weekend

This last weekend I decided to visit a park that I do not go to often because for some reason I never have too much luck getting good bird pictures there. But the place is beautiful, as you can see from these pictures.

My favorite pictures from last weekend

  One more time, I'm confronted with the task of picking what pictures I like from my weekend shooting. This weekend started with a lot of landscape pictures on Saturday, and that changed on Sunday when some water birds came from the north, maybe pushed by the cold front coming down to us next Tuesday. So let's start with a landscape picture.

From the birds pictures I particularly love these two.

Of course, a good weekend can't end without a squirrel portrait!

Best Picture From Last Weekend

 I ended the weekend with more than 300 pictures. You can imagine how hard it is to select the best one. But to my eyes, this one is a wow type of picture. Do you not think? 

Last weekend

 Last weekend, I had the opportunity to shoot the USA Sport Karate Strike Fest in Bradenton, Florida. And what better way to capture the essence of this event than through this photograph?

 

During last weekend

  Something is going on, and I do not know what it is. There are no birds in my favorite park. So I'm walking around the trails, taking pictures of whatever I see that catches my imagination. Like this black racer. 

Or this beautiful landscape. 

Even here in Florida, colors are shifting to fall hues. You do not need a camera to capture all this beauty. Look at this picture that I took with my iPhone.

With a little bit of post-editing, this picture ends looking as good as the one above that I took using my Canon R6. 

If you want to know my recommended gear, head to this page where I tell you what you can buy without any doubts. All that gear will just work. 

The Best Pictures of Last Weekend

Here I am again, faced with the daunting task of choosing the best photographs I captured during the past weekend. Unfortunately, the bird population was quite low, so I spent some time experimenting with landscape photography, using the technique of stitching multiple images together to create a large mosaic that covers the entire area I wanted to capture. 

Click on the image to open the high resolution version to appreciate the details. 

I managed to capture few frames of a humming bird with a dark background that I like a lot. 

The rest of the pictures mostly featured flowers. While it’s commonly believed that flowers bloom during spring, that’s not entirely accurate. In fact, many flowers can be found blooming during fall. 

All pictures were taken using a Canon R6 Mark I and a Canon EF100-400 L with a 1.4x Extender. 

Last weekend

Over the weekend, I went shooting at my local park. I’m not sure what’s going on, but there seem to be far fewer birds than usual for this time of year.

I did spot a pair of great egrets perched on the pier and had the chance to capture a few shots of them, beautifully backlit by the low sun on the horizon.

I also got some good pictures, at least I like them, of gators. I love taking pictures of them. They are like Dinosaurs. 

The skin of an alligator is like living armor, built of rugged, textured scales that shine with a prehistoric beauty. It tells the story of survival through millions of years. No two alligators share the exact same skin pattern. The dark ridges, speckled spots, and subtle hues of green, gray, and black make their skin as unique as a fingerprint. When sunlight hits their backs, the rough texture almost glimmers, giving a strange elegance to an otherwise fierce predator. Their skin symbolizes resilience — both tough and beautiful, a perfect harmony of nature’s artistry and functionality. Beyond aesthetics, the skin is perfectly adapted to camouflage in Florida’s swamps and marshes, a reminder of how beauty in nature often serves a purpose.

Why Photography Never Died with the Invention of Video

When video arrived, some thought photography might fade away. After all, video adds motion, sound, and a fuller sense of reality. But photography never died — because it offers something unique.

A photo freezes a single moment in time. It allows us to pause, reflect, and feel the power of one frame without distraction. Unlike video, photography invites imagination — what happened before and after that moment? What story is hidden between the pixels?

Photography isn’t just about recording life, it’s about framing meaning. And that timeless ability will always keep it alive. 

Above are two of the best pictures I took this past weekend. 

During the last busy weekend

Oh yes, last weekend was a busy one, and I’m still post-editing pictures. We traveled to Saint Augustine to cover our grandson’s karate competition and also took the opportunity to explore the city—and of course, take thousands of pictures. I’ll be sharing some of them here. Peacocks are something you don’t commonly see in the U.S., but there are a few places in Florida where they can be spotted.

 Peafowl—the correct term encompassing both the flamboyant male peacock and the more modest peahen—are originally native to the Indian subcontinent, including parts of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka 
Everglades Holiday Park. Their vibrant presence in Florida, however, is purely thanks to human introduction.

At St. Augustine’s famous Fountain of Youth Park, the first breeding pair was introduced in the late 1960s. Today, dozens of peafowl—some of them striking white leucitic variants—roam and roost among the oak trees and historic ruins of the park. 

Today, peacocks in Florida have stepped off exotic bird posters and into everyday life. From roadside sightings to community mascots, they represent both nature's unpredictability and the whimsical side of human–wildlife interactions.

Whether you see them as beautiful relics of the past or charming neighbors in feathers, these birds have made Florida their home—and given us quite the story to tell.

 

 

 

 

Another one...

 Another of my favorite pictures from last weekend is this one.

This photo is a panorama composed of pictures taken along the vertical axis. By doing so, I was able to capture the beautiful cloud and its reflection in the lake. 

What was the best photo of the last weekend

 This last weekend started with a rainy Saturday with little photos taken, but Sunday was a nice day at least in the morning hours when I was shooting. 

I took a few pictures of hummingbirds, and of course, one of them won the prize for the best weekend pictures.

Another highlight

 Another highlight coming from last weekend was some of the landscape pictures that I took at Bayport Historic Park. 

 I love the first picture for its simplicity and colors, but the second one is a view I can’t resist photographing every time I’m there. It’s just beautiful.

During last weekend: Heat affects birding

 It has been hot here in Florida and that affects birding. 

• Reduced Activity and Foraging: Birds become less active during the hottest parts of the day, limiting their foraging and breeding activities. 
• They may seek shade and cooler spots to rest and conserve energy.

As a result, I didn’t have many opportunities to capture good pictures.

One bird that didn’t seem to be bothered by the heat were the Laughing Gulls.

 I managed to take a few pictures of these birds in flight.

 The Herring Gull is large and pale gray with a white head, pink legs, and a strong yellow bill marked with a red spot. They are winter visitors to Florida, often seen along beaches, piers, and harbors, scavenging for fish or scraps.

The Laughing Gull, on the other hand, is a year-round resident and one of Florida’s most recognizable gulls. In breeding season, it has a black head, red bill, and a raucous, laughing call that gives the species its name. They thrive in coastal habitats, from sandy beaches to busy boardwalks, and are quick to swoop in on snacks left unattended.

Together, these two gulls capture both the seasonal rhythm and the lively spirit of Florida’s shorelines.

Another bird that I photographed was the boat-tailed grackle.  

Female Boat-tailed Grackle.

The Boat-tailed Grackle is a striking blackbird found along Florida’s coasts and wetlands. Males are glossy black with long, keel-shaped tails (like a boat’s hull), while females are smaller and brown with a slimmer build. They’re noisy, bold, and often gather in large flocks around marshes, parking lots, and boardwalks. Their loud, varied calls and confident presence make them one of the most noticeable birds in Florida’s coastal areas.

During the last weekend

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to take more pictures of hummingbirds—this time with better lighting, which made a big difference in the quality of the images.

 Another thing I did was test a Fujifilm FinePix S8200. This 16-megapixel camera is perfect for young people looking to start in wildlife photography. The autofocus, however, is slow—so it’s not ideal for action shots like birds in flight or sports photography. Shooting indoors can be challenging, but you can still get nice results using the built-in flash. Image sharpness isn’t on par with what you’d get from a DSLR or mirrorless camera, but the zoom is impressive and will satisfy beginners. Best of all, you can find it on eBay for around $60. Here is one of the pictures I took using this camera after editing it in LrC.

 

For sure, instead of paying $60 for a kid’s camera on Amazon or elsewhere, I’d rather spend that money on this camera from the second-hand market.