Naturesportal Photography Blog

The Dell UltraSharp U2312HM With LED Flat Panel Monitor Review

2012-01-05T19:24:00.006-05:00

Recently my 19 inch, 6 year old, View Sonic flat panel monitor gave up the ghost, as they say. So, time to check out reviews, and get a new one. This would be my main monitor, also using a 15 inch Samsung for NX2 and Photoshop menus, mail and such. I wanted a larger one, but I thought 30 inches would be too large for my office desk setup. Definitely did not want a glossy display, but for sure wanted one with IPS, which is In Plane Switching. You ask, what in the world is this IPS? It is a technology developed in 1996 by Hitachi, but essentially it ensures color accuracy from any viewing angle. I went to one of my main sources of photography information, Naturescapes, http://www.naturescapes.net . It is a great photography forum with like minded folks that have plenty of knowledge and experience. There were a few higher priced monitors mentioned, mostly by NEC, but the more reasonably priced ones that kept coming up were Dell's UltraSharp models. Dell's UltraSharp monitors start at 22 inches and go up to 30 inches. I decided on the 23 inch one, which through Dell was $299.00. They are all wide screen. I clicked the "check out" button and awaited the little brown truck. I received it 5 days later. My husband put the stand on and said it was VERY easy to setup. It comes with VGA and DVI cables and a USB upstream cable, which enables the USB ports on the monitor, which there are four, two on the back and two on the left side. There is also a DisplayPort connector and a DC power connector for a Dell Soundbar. This monitor swivels and tilts for your best viewing angle and can also be positioned in portrait mode. I plugged it in and turned the computer on. The Windows 7 64- bit OS recognized it right away and installed the drivers without any problems. It went to the proper resolution of 1920 x 1080 without any adjustments by me. The colors seemed pretty good right out of the box, but I calibrate all my monitors with my Huey Pro, by Pantene. I did that, and noticed the Huey Pro adjusted the gamma ever so slightly. The main menus can be accessed by buttons on the bottom right of the display. There are brightness/contrast, Auto Adjust, Input Source, Color Settings- where you input RGB or YPbPr, Gamma- PC or MAC, and Preset Modes- Standard, Multimedia, Movie, Game, Text, Color Temp. or Custom Color, Display Settings, Other settings and the Personalize. Since I had used a hardware calibration, I did not adjust any of these settings. So far I am very happy with how it renders my images all through the steps of post processing. I would definitely recommend it or any of Dell's UltraSharp monitors.

Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge Very Productive In December

2012-01-01T09:34:00.009-05:00

In the past Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge has had good activity during the months of Jan-March, but this year it started early. The ducks started to arrive, then the roseate spoonbills, avocets, reddish egrets and the like. Also, a local favorite gave us some really nice photo ops by staying in the same place, with predictable perches, a male belted kingfisher. Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge was established in 1963 and consists of 140,000 acres of water and marshes adjacent to Cape Canaveral. Today the northern half of the refuge, about 20 miles of the 35 mile long refuge is open to the public. It is well worth a visit for anyone interested in viewing some of Florida's precious wildlife! Most all of the areas are accessible by car. The most popular road is Black Point Drive. For more information about the refuge, and a map, just click on this link http://www.fws.gov/merrittisland/Index.html. Here are just a few of the species that can be found now around the refuge.

Northern Shoveler

Male Hooded Merganser

Roseate Spoonbill

Male Belted Kingfisher

All images copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

A Grey But Productive Day

2011-12-13T15:55:00.008-05:00

This past Saturday myself and a friend went on a road trip to Gainesville, Florida to visit the Butterfly Rainforest, associated with the University of Florida. It was rather an overcast day, with the sun sneaking out on occasion. We looked along the way at different small ponds and the like to see what we could find. Well, we found this rather small pond with numerous pairs of hooded mergansers. We setup with our tripods and camo, and ended up being able to get ourselves some nice images. Of the three kinds of mergansers found in North American, the red-breasted and common the others, the hooded merganser is the smallest. The other three kinds of mergansers are the Chinese, Brazilian and Auckland Islands mergansers. The Hoodie is the only merganser endemic to North America. We were able to get our shoot in before the rains came, and then we were off to the Butterfly Rainforest. Being a bit cool and a tad wet, did not make for great butterfly activity. I learned that until a butterflies body temperature reaches 100 degrees, it just does not do much flying or moving around. But, we made do and I was able to get a few images I liked.

Female Hooded Merganser

Male Hooded Merganser

Isabella's Longwing Butterfly (C)- Native to the tropical and subtropical areas of the New World

An Owl Butterfly (C)- Native to the rainforests of Mexico and Central and South America

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

And The Action Continues!!

2011-12-07T10:37:00.005-05:00

Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge is now full of ducks (northern shovelers,pintails,american wigeons and blue winged teals), roseate spoonbills, kingfishers, and the like. The trick is getting them in the right light. Black Point Drive seemed to have most of the action this past weekend. The early morning or late afternoon light is so much better! The Viera Wetlands still has numerous nesting great blue herons. The crested caracaras and bald eagles are being seen regularly catching their meals on the 100's of coots that have populated the wetlands. The early morning light proved to be wonderful for the great blue herons and feeding bald eagle. A little bit of cloud cover or darkened sky make for nice surrounds, but will force you to use higher iso's, to get enough shutter speed to catch the action. Remember the secret to using higher iso's, without the added noise, is to expose to the right of the histogram. Just dial in a bit of plus exposure compensation, either by the exposure compensation dial, if using aperture priority mode, or if using manual exposure, moving into the plus side of the exposure scale at the bottom of your view finder. Take a few test shots looking at the histogram each time to make sure the exposure is showing at least to the middle of the right side. This type of information is all included in my workshops. For more information please see my website, http://www.naturesportal.net/.

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

The Activity is Heating Up!

2011-11-28T09:06:00.003-05:00

This past weekend I was at the Viera Wetlands, located in Viera, Florida. It is one of my favorites places to photograph. This time of year the activity really gets going and it did not disappoint! The ducks haved started to arrive, as in hooded mergansers, blue winged teals and northern shovelers. The crested caracara's are back setting up their nests as are numerous pairs of great blue herons. It is also a favorite place to see american and least bitterns. There are also a couple bald eagle nests close by, so they make appearances also. Here are just a few images from the weekend.

American Bittern

Crested Caracara

Mating Pair of Great Blue Herons

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

The Deland Fall Festival of the Arts

2011-11-25T20:12:00.005-05:00

The art show that I had my booth the weekend of November 19th was in Deland, Florida. It turned out to be one of the best yet for me!! It also turned out that the National Wildlife Federation Magazine arrived in members mail boxes that weekend, showing my winning image. That turned out to be a BIG draw! Thanks for all who stopped in!! It was great meeting and chatting with everyone!

Halifax Art Festival

2011-11-08T09:43:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was the Halifax Art Festival in Daytona Beach, Florida. A lot of folks came out to view the more than 200 artists that had been juried into the 49th year of this show. I made some great contacts and was able to chat with many very nice people. It was certainly a wonderful way to start the art show season and was the first public viewing of my winning image of a black skimmer with its chick!

A Visit To The Butterfly Rainforest

2011-10-31T09:54:00.003-04:00

The weekend before last a friend of mine and myself made a trip to Gainesville, Florida, to the Butterfly Rainforest that is part of the University of Florida's Museum of Natural History. They have butterflies from all over the world. Once a year, for two weekend mornings, they have a private workshop, put on before the public is admitted. This is the only time they allow tripods and will put butterflies of your chose on any surrounds of your chose. It is a great photographic opportunity! Although I tend not to use a tripod with my setup, being able to have the personnel place the butterflies where I want, is terrific. My setup mostly is the Nikon D300s and Nikon 70-300VR lens with a 20mm extension tube. Also, as a bit of added light I use an on camera SB-700, balanced fill flash settings, reduced to around -1.5 or so. For additional info on the Butterfly Rainforest follow this link, http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/butterflies/. Below are just a few of the images I was able to get that day.

A Clipper, native to southeast Asia

A Mexican Longwing

A Tailed Jay- native to the Indo-Australian regions

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Finally After All The Hours and Early Mornings!

2011-10-15T14:12:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I received some wonderful news!! I placed First in the Baby Animals category, Pro level, of the 2011 National Wildlife Federation Photo Contest, with the image shown. With so many excellent photographers out there, I feel privileged to have been given this award! I am passionate about trying to capture the best in our natural world and hope in so doing showing people how special the natural world is to us all!

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Not A Bird, But They Do Have Wings

2011-10-06T19:57:00.005-04:00

OK, subjects were not in abundance this past weekend at our favorite wetlands, Viera, but we were still able to practice our panning and telephoto lens techniques on the frequently overlooked green darner dragonfly. They are everywhere now, latched together, having sex, or should I say propagating the species. The male must transfer sperm from his sperm-producing genitals (located in segment 9, at the tip of his abdomen) to the accesory genitals located on segments 2 and 3, underneath his abdomen. These include a sperm resrvoir and a penis. He does this on his own. The female, when found, then connects her genitals located at the tip of her abdomen against his abdomen, where he has transferred the sperm. He holds the female behind her head, by three claspers. Then around they fly. When finished, he tows her around and over water so she can deposit the eggs. Now, you probably know more then you ever thought you would want to know about dragonfly copulation. But, you must admit the natural world is a fascinating place. The top image is of two green darners connected with the back one,female, depositing the eggs into the water. the second image is of course caught in flight.

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Labor Day Weekend- Visiting a New Place and the Regulars Return

2011-09-06T09:01:00.000-04:00

I spent this weekend going first to a place I had not been before, Jetty Park, which is in Cape Canaveral, FL. It is along the Atlantic coast, just north of Cocoa Beach. The beach is really nice and we were greeted with a lovely sunrise, the first image shown below. There was a fair bit of bird activity, mostly Caspian, Royal, and Sandwich Terns and their young, juveniles, and there were a few juvenile Black Skimmers. The juvenile Skimmers never did get out and "skim", but I was able to get a few images of them flying along the beach, the second image shown. The second place visited was back to my local, as I like to call it, the Viera Wetlands, in Viera, FL. There again we were greeted by a wonderful sunrise, third image shown. We were very pleased to see a few of the winter regulars returning. The pair of Crested Caracaras and some Blue-wings Teals. The last image shown is of the Crested Caracaras pair, who were quite interactive with each other. I am looking forward to all the new photo opportunities that await me with the new season!!

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Natureportal

Even With The Heat, Nature Provides Beauty

2011-08-23T21:09:00.004-04:00

Well, for us humans the days of summer, especially in Florida, are a bit unbearable. But for some species, it is their time to mate, build nests, and care for their young. One of these species is the black-bellied whistling duck. My favorite wetland area, the Viera Wetlands, in Viera, FL, is home to many nesting black-bellied whistling ducks. The sweet light is very brief here in the summer mornings, but this past Saturday, these ducks were in the right place at the right time, flying from one palm tree to another, giving me some great flight shot opportunities. Both flight shots were taken with my Nikon D300s and Nikon 500 f/4 lens attached to the Quick Action Harness. The last image is of a yearling that greeted us as we drove into the wetlands. What a nice way to start my morning shoot!!

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Maine Trip Images

2011-07-27T12:56:00.002-04:00

I am still going through all my images. As I process them, I will be updating my website. They can be viewed at, Maine- July 2011 gallery. Best to all, and if anyone is heading that way at anytime and have questions, please be in touch and maybe I can assist in making your photographic experience a good one.

Summary Of My Maine Trip

2011-07-22T18:58:00.006-04:00

The day before we left for home was spent just general sightseeing. The sky was thick with haze, which did not make for good photo ops. We made our final visit to what ended up being one of our favorite places to end the day, The Stress Free Moose Pub. The food and drink were very good and the people friendly. In fact, the people at all the places we were in Maine were polite and very friendly. We had used Delta to fly from Orlando to Bangor, with a stop in La Guardia. Even though our flights were somewhat late in both directions, the connections worked out well and the luggage arrived safe and sound both in Bangor and back in Orlando. Delta uses an Embrear 175 for the flight between La Guardia and Bangor. My Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW backpack, which is 14x9x20 fit just fine in the overheads. Our first hotel, to visit Acadia National Park, was the Isleview Motel and Cottages, in Trenton, just across the bridge from Mt Desert Island, which is where Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park is located. Although reasonable in price, the cottages were very small, but clean. As it turned out, because I guess of the economy, we could of arrived in the area with no reservations and had stayed in Bar Harbor at the same price. Most all the hotels on the island had vacancy signs. Our favorite place to eat in Bar Harbor was Getty's Pub. The seafood was terrific!! Our second stop was in Machias, which is not much of a town, so do not expect much. Machias is about 20 minutes away from Cutler, which is where the boat goes out of to see the puffins. Our hotel there was the Machias Motor Lodge. The rooms were clean, had two double beds, microwave and refrig. Helen's which is right next to the hotel is just about the only place to eat in town, but had great food, especially their fish and chips. There was a Dunkin Donuts just down the road on the way to Cutler, to get that cup of coffee and/or eats before your early morning puffin trip. I already mentioned in my Seventh Day blog where we stayed in Greenville. The trip certainly was a photographic success and we would look forward to visiting Maine again, possibly now though during the fall. Best to all!!

Eighth Day- Moosehead Lake Area

2011-07-19T17:58:00.004-04:00

Another morning with Chris Young on one of the lovely lakes that are in this area. Chris takes you out in a canoe. I had never done a shoot from a canoe and boy is it a different perspective. As we got into the canoe and slid so quietly along into the lake we were met by the first image. Absolutely breathtaking!! We saw 6 moose and 4 loons, and at one time we had moose on one side of us and loons on the other. Some images below from today.

All images copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Seventh Day- Moosehead Lake Area

2011-07-18T10:21:00.006-04:00

I know you are saying what happened to day 6, well we will call that an open day. No shooting went on, just driving from Machias to Greenville, which is around 3 hours. Greenville is a VERY small town on the shores of Moosehead Lake which is the largest lake in Maine and the largest mountain lake in the Eastern United States, with an area of 120 square miles. Also, there are 80 islands in the lake. Internet access is VERY spotty, with Verizon being the company of choose in these parts for cell phone reception. Most of the hotels are 2-3 miles from town with a few lodges being further out. We are staying at the Kineo View Motor Lodge, which is around 3 miles from the town. It is clean, reasonably priced and the staff is very friendly. This morning we were up early to meet up with Chris Young, a local guide. His website is http://youngsguideservice.com. He picked us up at the hotel and off we went to one of the local lakes looking for mostly loons, but also anything else we could find. There were just two of us so Chris had us in a canoe that sat the three of us just comfortably. He knows the area extremely well and the behavior of all the wildlife. The light was not great, and the wind picked up pretty early, but we were able to get full on moose as shown below and some loons. Tomorrow we are headed to a different lake, plus the weather is suppose to improve.

All images copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Fifth Day- Machias Seal Island

2011-07-16T22:33:00.009-04:00

We again returned to Machias Seal Island and again the weather and seas were perfect. The one thing we did change was which blind we were in. There are two sets of blinds in different locations on the island. We changed to one that was behind the lighthouse from the picnic tables. The picnic tables are where they take you in the beginning to explain how to behave on the island, etc. Both positions seem to be good. And for the two days I would say I used my Nikon 70-300VR lens 90% of the time and my Nikon 500 f/4 lens the rest, mostly for isolating. The first image below shows you what the blinds look like. The other images are just a few from today of the delightful puffin. Capt Andy with Bold Coast Charters was a wealth of information on the surrounds and the birds and went out of his way to make everyone happy. Tomorrow we are off to Greenville, ME and the Moosehead Lake area. Here we hope to capture the common loon with their chicks and possibly moose.

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Fourth Day- Machias Seal Island

2011-07-15T20:52:00.005-04:00

So today was our first visit to Machias Seal Island, a 10 acre island 9.5 nautical miles off the coast of Cutler, Maine. The weather and seas could not have been better. It has one of the largest colonies of Atlantic puffins, plus numerous other birds, as in common murres and razorbills. They are Auks in the family Alcidae, as are most of the birds on the island. These type birds only come ashore to breed and nest. The rest of the time they are out at sea, in the north Atlantic. Also, as the name suggests many seals. Cutler is about 18 miles north of Machias, which is where we were staying. The island is disputed territory between the Canadians and the US. We went to the island via Bold Coast Charters, www.boldcoast.com, where Capt. Andrew Patterson has a 40 foot boat which takes up to about 15 or 16 people over and around Machias Seal Island. It takes about 50 minutes to get there and if the weather and seas cooperate, you can go ashore. You are tendered from the main boat to the island, because there is no dock or such. Then, Canadian officials take you to an area where they explain about the island, how to act while you are there and how the blinds work. The blinds are wooden structures about 3 feet by 6 feet with windows to look out of and/or shoot from. We had about 90 minutes in the blinds. Once you are in them you cannot come out then go back, and the time can vary depending on how many people are there to take their turn in the blinds and/or if the weather starts turning bad the Captn will call you back to the boat. The puffins are everywhere, as in in your face. You can even hear them landing on top of the blind. The first image below shows you the lighthouse and landing area on the island. The second and third images are of Atlantic puffins, and the fourth is of a razorbill. 80% of the time I used my 70-300VR lens and the rest of the time my 500mm. The blinds are quite small and if you have 3 other people with you it can be VERY tight. Tripods would definitely take up too much space! I just leaned my 500 on the bottom of the window. We have another trip planned there tomorrow morning.

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Third Day- Moving to Machias

2011-07-14T17:57:00.004-04:00

I relaxed this morning, knowing that I would be up early Friday and Saturday mornings for the puffins. We checked out of the hotel around 10:30 and headed for Machias. The boat for the puffin trip goes out of Cutler, which is only about 20 minutes from Machias. We leisurely drove north, opting to divert slightly to view Schoodic Point, which is the only mainland part of Acadia National Park. It was definitely worth the extra time, with lovely vistas. Just one example is posted below. The sun was behind a very thin overcast, and the blue sky had nice puffy clouds, which all was great for shooting throughout the day. Tomorrow the puffins!!

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Second Day- Acadia National Park

2011-07-13T22:19:00.005-04:00

OK, the weather gods cooperated in the morning, but again we were rained out for sunset. We were up a 3:00 AM to leave by 4:00 AM and arrive at Otter Cliffs by 5:00 AM, which here in Maine, in July, is sunrise. The first image is the sunrise seen while standing on the cliffs. The temperature was great, around 63 degrees with a light breeze, but do be prepared for the mosquitoes. We finished there and continued driving along the Park Loop Road. Next stop was Bubbles Pond, which we had stopped at yesterday, but the sky and weather had not made for any kind of nice landscape image. Today was different, as the second image shows. On we went, driving up Cadillac Mountain, then on to Bar Harbor. The third image was taken in Bar Harbor. Great restaurants and shops, with prices that are very reasonable! Then, back to the hotel for a rest. The last image was taken in Somesville, on our way back to Bass Harbor Lighthouse to try for the sunset. A full rainbow, which I was thrilled to get!! The sunset was a wash out, as I said, but I really enjoyed my visit to Acadia National Park, which in a couple days, only covered the highlights. We are off tomorrow to Machias, ME to prepare for our visits to the puffins on the Machias Island.

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

First Full Day in Maine- Acadia National Park

2011-07-12T21:51:00.015-04:00

The weather gods were not with us today. We woke to heavy overcast and rain, which lasted most of the morning, and just before sunset the dark clouds rolled in and the rains reappeared. But, to start things off with Acadia National Park. It includes a bit over 47,000 acres, located mostly on Mount Desert Island, but includes much of the Isle au Haut, parts of Baker Island, and a portion of the Schoodic Peninsula on the mainland. The roads are very good and the points of interest are fairly well sign posted. Each parking area which is usually the points of interest have very clean restrooms. In fact, the Park is kept to a high standard! A good interactive website for Acadia National Park is www.acadiamagic.com . We are up at 3:00AM tomorrow to try to get the sunset at the Otter Cliffs, which eluded us today. The image below is the lighthouse at Bass Harbor, just before the rain. If anyone is interested in where we stayed and details as that, do not hesitate to be in touch. But, I will go over those details when I get home in a separated blog. To be continued.....

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Last Post Before Maine

2011-07-10T16:11:00.003-04:00

As the title says, my next blog entry will be from Maine. Some friends and I visited the Viera Wetlands yesterday to see what was up. My friend Donna discovered this family of black-bellied whislting ducks, named for their whistling calls, just as we were pulling away from the area. The parents were very attentive and the chicks busy, busy discovering their new world. Hopefully there will be many more this season!

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Black Skimmer Colony Visit

2011-07-05T10:18:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday afternoon I headed over, with some friends, to the Indian Shores Black Skimmer colony. The weather was perfect, with the wind from the right direction, and the light golden. These shores birds are the only birds that their lower mandible is longer than their upper. This colony nests at this location each year, and this was my second year to visit it. There were lots and lots of chicks, all different ages. With a longer telephoto lens one can isolate nicely, but even with a 300mm lens a person can get really nice images. To see more of my images visit my website, http://www.naturesportal.net/.

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

The Clicks Ponds This Past Sunday Morning

2011-06-28T16:29:00.005-04:00

So for the folks who do not know the Clicks Ponds, they are right beside, to the north, of the Viera Wetlands, in Viera Florida. Instead of turning left into the water treatment area, one would turn right then right away turn left, then immediately turn right. Up the short road are two VERY big cells of water that once a year they drain, which leaves the shallows for all the birds to get some good feed. Usual they drain them in May or June. This past Sunday morning when we got there the light was just incredible!! Photographers know what I mean by that just perfect light, that does not happen all the time. So as we drove in we saw this family of sandhill cranes, two adults and the juvenile. The very shallow water that was left was clean with that nice color blue, which made the reflections all that much better. I did not have my 70-300VR lens back from Nikon, which I would have preferred, so with a bit of adjustment, I put the Quick Action Harness on and used my Nikon 500 f/4, backing up a bit. I followed the family along the bank and was able to get these images. The adults were so attentive to their chick, even though, as you can see, it is almost, or as big as they are now.

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal

Another Terrific Florida Weekend!!

2011-06-14T12:01:00.003-04:00

Ok it is HOT! Yes, very hot! But, the bird activity is really second to none here in Florida, so I will tolerate the heat for the photo ops. This past weekend I went to the Viera Wetlands first, on Saturday morning, then Sunday went to a least tern colony in Sunnerhaven, FL. The black-bellied whistling ducks did not disappoint again. Their activities and flights in and out of the wetlands make for wonderful images. I was really excited to get the flight pose you see below! Not a pose I have seen with this species. It was taken with the Nikon D300s and Nikon 500 f/4 lens attached to the Quick Action Harness, http://www.quickactionharness.com/. The least terns were a bit more difficult. Their colony is roped off, because they are an endangered species, and so one has to settle themselves down low outside the ropes and let the birds get used to you. You never want to disturb them enough that they will leave the nests and their chicks!! I used my Nikon D300s with the Nikon 500 f/4 and the 1.4TC on a ground level tripod. After about 20 minutes I became part of the scenery and they all went about their business. I was fortunate that several of the adults and chicks wandered very close, which thrilled me to no end. I stayed VERY quiet and still! Some of the results are below. More can be found on my website, http://www.naturesportal.net/.

All images are copyrighted by Nancy Elwood and Naturesportal