Fourth of July Celebration in Downtown Miami

Great fireworks show in Downtown Miami last night, (or a few hours ago to be more accurate).  The storms cleared up and the temps were about 17 degrees cooler (low 80's).  A perfect night to enjoy the fireworks on this Nation's Independence Day.  I was perturbed that the area we've all known for years as the best angle to shoot the skyline and fireworks, under the MacArthur Causeway was fenced off and the entrance roadblocked.  So I had to shoot alongside others from across the Port of Miami.

Not too bad an angle, except you cannot see the entire Bank of America building which was decked out in Red, White, & Blue.  The breeze came in from the East which blew the smoke towards the buildings (and eventually towards the City).  Last year there was no breeze and the smoke simply covered up the skyline.  By the time I left, and it took me an hour to get off of Watson Island and back in Hialeah,  Miami Dade County from Downtown to North Dade to Hialeah was covered in smoke which originated from the various fireworks displays.

Anyways,  hope you all had a good time. At least I didn't have a camera malfunction like I did last year. Got some decent pics and had a swell time.

See you out in the field folks.

Please visit my website at www.michaelpancierphotography.com or
my Facebook Page - Nature and Fine Art Prints by Michael Pancier

Wilderness

Coal Mine Canyon - Tuba City, Az

© 2009 Michael Pancier Photography

"Wilderness. The word itself is music.

 * * *

"Wilderness, wilderness . . . We scarcely know what we mean by the term, though the sound of it draws all whose nerves and emotions have not yet been irreparably stunned, deadened, numbed by the caterwauling of commerce, the sweating scramble for profit and domination.

* * *

"But the love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need--if only we had the eyes to see. Original sin, the true original sin, is the blind destruction for the sake of greed of this natural paradise which lies all around us--if only we were worthy of it."

-- Edward Abbey - Desert Solitaire

Abbey nailed it on the head. There's nothing more invigorating than being in the wilderness, and especially in the desert.  The wilderness will cleanse your soul.  There are so many folks out there without souls or with souls consumed with hate and vengeance.  There are folks that put on a front but truly are driven by dark forces who get gratification from the misery of others and from hurting others. These folks are empty inside.  These folks have never been to the wilderness and would probably show disdain for it because of the lack of human elements.  These people are not living, for they are truly dead in their spirit. Go to the wilderness and be reborn is what I say to them.  Stop dwelling on your misery and hate and petty vicissitudes.  Go to the wilderness and perhaps you will be at peace as I am when I walk in the desert, the Everglades, or the mountains.

Please visit my website at www.michaelpancierphotography.com or
my Facebook Page - Nature and Fine Art Prints by Michael Pancier

Visions of Arizona - The Grand Canyon State

Happy Father's Day. It's day 62 and the oil still gushes. Let's escape to the desert and the beauties of the Arizona landscape.  It took me hours to reduce hours of raw footage and images into this 10 minute presentation.   In this video you will see the Grand Canyon, Sedona, the Painted Desert, Page, the Navajo Nation and other wild places only visible in the different out of this world place called Arizona.

I think one day I'll settle there. There is no finer place.

Lighthouses - Slideshow

On day 60 of the oil spill, with no end in sight, I figure you can take your mind off the mess by enjoying some of my Lighthouse images taken in Florida, Georgia, and New England.  Looking forward to exploring some new lighthouses this summer along the Atlantic Coast. I hope the coast stays oil free. This is ridiculous.

Day 58: Enough Bullcrap....Just Plug the Friggin Well!

Folks, here's a view of one of the top ten beaches in the U.S.A., Cape Florida State Park. I took this image back in 1999.  Looks sweet doesn't it.  It still looks pretty good 11 years later.  But if that swill that has been spewing into the Gulf of Mexico makes its way into the Gulf Stream and ergo onto the east coast of the US,  this beach may end up covered in sludge. What a pity. This is the beach I grew up on. This is the beach of my youth. Of the 1970's.  Rediscovered post Andrew in the 1990's.

I pray to God that it stays pristine.  Enough talk folks. Fix it and clean it up. 58 days is much too long and it's clear that no one has a clue as to how to fix this. Pathetic!

Infrared Images of Maine

The Gulf of Mexico As First Seen by John Muir

How imperishable are all the impressions that ever vibrate one's life! We cannot forget anything. Memories may escape the action of will, may sleep a long time, but when stirred by the right influence, though that influence be light as a shadow, they flash into full stature and life with everything in place. For nineteen years my vision was bounded by forests, but to-day, emerging from a multitude of tropical plants, I beheld the Gulf of Mexico stretching away unbounded, except by the sky. What dreams and speculative matter for thought arose as I stood on the strand, gazing out on the burnished, treeless plain!

-- John Muir, A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf

We so need John Muir today.  The government and the oil companies are killing the Gulf through carelessness and greed.   I pray this scene won't be tarnished with oil. Taken at the Gulf Pier, Fort de Soto, Tierra Verde, Florida.

Yo Somebody, Plug The Damn Hole So Our Florida Beaches Can Stay Clean

Hillsboro Inlet - Pompano Beach Florida

© 2010 Michael Pancier Photography

Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend Folks. Enjoy our Florida Beaches and let's pray that they can stay oil free.

Sunset Doesn't Last All Evening ...

Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse at Dusk

© 2010 Michael Pancier Photography

"a mind can blow those clouds away..." -- George Harrison

A Sunrise Doesn't Last All Morning

All Things Must Pass ...

-- George Harrison

Image taken at Daytona Beach, Florida

© 2010 Michael Pancier Photography

Burrowing Owls of Broward County

This year I've been fortunate to find myself near some nesting grounds of some burrowing owls. Due to habitat destruction, finding burrowing owls in South Florida is a rarity. Typically, one has to go to places like Marco Island or Cape Coral to see these guys. Fortunately, there are many burrowing owl communities in Broward County living peacefully among the hustle and bustle. Here are some of the images of these beautiful little creatures.

Just one more candle and a trip around the Sun

Jupiter Rocks - Sunrise © 2009 Michael Pancier Photography

And so begins my next trip. All aboard .... next stop? Who knows ......

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much."

-- George Harrison

Happy Mother's Day Olga

Didn't get a chance to post yesterday, but I've decided to post now, what the heck. Here's an image of my mom that I located. It has to be from the 1980's or 1990's I would imagine.  My mom loved angels and in this photo, she looked like one.  She has been among them now for almost 2 years.  In her last interview given a few months before she passed, she said the following:

Pero siempre le digo a mi hijo una cosa, cuando tú caminas detrás de ti está Dios, pero detrás de Dios estoy yo, donde quiera que vayas. Ahí estamos las mamitas detrás de los hijos siempre, aunque no estemos presentes.

Her words say it all as far as I'm concerned.  So as I spend my last remaining hours of my most recent trip around the sun,  I know that not far behind, there she'll be watching over me as she did when I began my first trip around the sun.

Will This Florida Spoonbill Have a Pristine Nesting Area Next Month?

© 2010 by Michael A. Pancier

This roseate spoonbill was photographed a few weeks ago by yours truly in the Tampa Bay area. The spoonbill has been my favorite bird for as long as I have been a nature photographer.  These birds nest along the mangrove islands and shorelines all along Florida's Gulf Coast, the 10,000 Islands area, Florida Bay, the Everglades, just to mention a few.

Reports are that it's only a matter of time before the slick reaches the loop current which will then bring the oil through these sensitive areas and even to the touristy areas where humans, as opposed to wildlife, frequent.  These are the same areas where I fish for snook, redfish, trout, mackerel, permit, etc.  Folks don't realize how even the most mundane trash folks throw into the ocean can effect these birds and their habitat.  I saw out by these rookeries mardi gras beads in the mangroves that had washed up from the Gasparilla Pirate Fest many miles away.

These spoons have been making a comeback thanks in large part to the work of volunteers.  But if the coastline is soiled with oil,  those strides will be for naught.

I've volunteered as part of the National Audubon Society's efforts to mobilize people to help with bird rescue and beach cleanup should the oil make landfall in South Florida.  You can help to by clicking here and adding your name to the database. I hope and pray that this coastline can miraculously be spared.  This has been my best year photographing spoonbills. Hopefully, it won't be my last.

A Pristine Florida Beach - A Thing of the Past?

Folks, this is an image of Cape Sable in the Florida Everglades along Florida Bay.  It is one of the most beautiful pristine beaches in our state.  You can't there except by boat. There is no litter there and more importantly, no human elements such as people or development.  Folks that visit here are typically nature photographers, naturalists, outdoorsy folks, and fishermen.  The area is kept pristine and is only affected by nature.

One of the things I am looking to photograph throughout the state are pristine beaches.   There aren't that many of them simply because of human development.  But now,  these beaches may be no more if that Gulf Oil spill makes it's way into the Gulf Stream.  

This spill happened all because of folks cutting corners simply to save money.  Pure and simple.  If the slick reaches the beaches south of Cedar Key on the West Coast of Florida,  the Keys, and possibly the East Coast,  we can kiss the beaches goodbye.  There won't be anymore birds to photograph.  You won't be able to trust anything you catch out there (assuming there is anything left to catch out there) as the fragile reefs will be soiled and killed.  And these pristine beaches will be tarred with tar.  A lovely thought.  

Let's pray our most fragile shoreline, beaches, and reefs can be spared and may the wrath of God befall all of those who are at fault here.   I literally feel ill and will mourn should these beaches, shorebirds, and sea life which is innate to the Florida ecosystem should perish due to the greed and recklessness of others.

Seeing Your Folks In A Different Light

© 2010 by Michael A. Pancier

Since my mother died a little over a year ago,  I've been going through all her belongings including all of the photos that she had.   Many of the images were in albums and faded.  I learned of a company called Scancafe which will scan and restore anything you send them, whether it be negatives, prints, slides, or cardboard.  You simply put the pics or negatives in a zip lock and label them,  put everything n a box and send it to them.  They put them online and you only pay for the scans you want (provided it is at least 50% of the total images scanned).  You can learn more about the service on their website.  In any event, I finally got the proofs today available online, and damn the quality is amazing. Photos of my parents honeymoon from 1961 as vibrant as ever.  But what is even more wild is seeing your parents are young people.  In this image below,  my mom was in her mid 20's and my dad in his mid 30's.  They were young, healthy, thin, in love and enjoying themselves.  Seeing them in these photos makes you realize that in addition to being your mom and dad,  they were also regular people who probably thought and did the same or similar things that you did when you were in your 20's and 30's and without children.  It makes you realize that before your mom was "mom",  she was a young attractive woman and your dad before he was "dad" was a handsome young cool looking dude and not the parents we watched age throughout the years leading up to their eventual deaths. But here in this photograph,  their youth is captured and frozen for all time so I and my kids can enjoy. Once again, it is so important to take pictures of your parents, your family, your kids.  Save the images, scan them, for one day the pictures and the memories will be all you will have.  The above image was taken in Buenos Aires Argentina in March of 1960.

In any event, this service has restored some images that were 2x2 and stuck in the garage for over 10 years into very cool images.  Some of my negatives that I kept from the 1980's have been scanned and are sharp and vibrant as well. My goal is to try and scan everything worthwhile in my possession from the pre-digital days, especially my family pics that are fading fast so I can import them into Lightroom, catalog and tag them,  and create coffee table photo books which are archival and which will last for generations, so perhaps my kids can see what their grandparents and parents  looked like when they were young, wild, and free and in the end, seeing their parents as simply human.

The Gatorland Egrets

The Gatorland Egrets from Michael Pancier on Vimeo.

Starting with the Canon 5d Mark II,  most new DLSR's out today have HD video capability.  So now you can you shoot video with the same high quality lenses you use for still images.  This adds another facet for creativity especially for the nature photographer.  While I am out photographing avian behavior for still images, I can easily, switch my camera to video and shoot a live action video of the same behavior.
While I'm still a novice at the video thing, I am having fun which is what counts.

This video is a love story of two great egrets, Irwin and Candice.  The video includes still images and video of a shoot I did last Friday at the Gatorland Rookery in Orlando, Florida. It's spring, so love is in the air....

Enjoy

Olga Diaz Comes to America

I am really amazed by the Google historic newspaper archive. I was able to find the article published in the old Miami News in June 1958 when my mom, Olga Diaz, came to the United States as a winner in a flag design contest for the Festival of the Americas.  It's interesting reading what was in the news that day.  She ended up staying here (as it was too dangerous to return home) which in turn allowed her to bring everyone out when folks were no longer able to leave Cuba just a few years later.  The byline was the "Cuban Betsy Ross."  I'd love to get an actual copy of her picture here, but as this newspaper has been out of print for years,  I have no idea where to begin. 

If you click on the paper, you can read the articles.  My mom always got a kick seeing herself referred to as the "Latin Beauty" when I showed her a copy of this front page that I made in the 1980's while a college student from the microfilm archives. Remember microfilm?  It would be nice if all these old historic newspapers can be scanned and put online for all of us to see. It's kind of cool having a newspaper article documenting your mother's first trip to the United States.

Those Silly Birds

Short two minute video I made with my digital SLR and long lens while photographing spoonbills and reddish egrets (the red and white morph) on the west coast, plus a guess spot from a burrowing owl from Pembroke Pines, Florida.

Enjoy.

Spoonbill Slideshow