Remembering Olga Diaz - 2 Years Later

Rene Touzet and Olga Diaz

She left us two years ago today to be among the angels. If you listen hard enough, you can hear her laugh and sing and playing the piano for us all along with the other Cuban artists that have left us.

Here is a photo of the great Cuban composer and bandleader, Rene Touet, and my mother, Olga Diaz, from what I believe is the late 1960's or early 1970's.

It does not matter how much time passes,  you still miss them once they are gone.

Noche Buena in Miami - 2010

Miami Skyline - December 2010

Our city is lit up in beautiful Christmas colors today. Have a wonderful Noche Buena and a Merry Christmas. Cheers!

Dancing with the Cranes

Great Blues Building their Nests for 2011

Great Blue Herons - Venice Rookery

It's that time of year again; time for the great blue herons to start building their nests for the upcoming winter and spring of 2011.  I observed seven active nests at the Venice Rookery last week for what should be a great season for birding and avian photography.  Hope to see everyone out in the field.

A Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by the President

Lincoln Memorial - Washington, D.C.

By the President of the United States of America.


A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln


William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

Happy Birthday Olga

Olga Diaz - circa 1962

Today, November 18, 2010,  my mom, Olga Diaz, would have been 74.  It's almost been two years since she left us.  Well at least there's photos of her and recordings of her and her music to keep her memory alive.  The above image is a photo of her from the 1960's which I found and had restored which was taken by my dad on his old medium format camera.  Below, is a you tube video where you can hear her describing a piece by Cuban Composer, Rene Touzet, which she also plays towards the latter part of the video.  So with this, we can all remember her on her birthday ...

An Autumn Sunset Across the Shenandoah Valley

Shenandoah National Park - Skyland, Virginia

“I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks”

-- Daniel Boone

Equal Justice Under Law

The Supreme Court of the United States

On my recent trip to the US Capital, I was fortunate enough to be there at the same time they were having oral argument at the US Supreme Court. Being a member of the Supreme Court Bar, I was able to get in and see some of the arguments in person.  There was a lot of hustle and bustle there early in the morning. Folks lining up in the public lines stretching down to the sidewalk to get a chance at a seat in the Court, attorneys getting ready for oral argument; I even saw Justice Breyer dash in through the main entrance to get to the elevators.  The Court Clerk and assistants there were making sure that the lawyers had their scripts ready when they moved to have new lawyers admitted to the Bar. and that everything ran smoothly there that day.  There were random lawyers from across the country that were there simply to hear argument on cases they were interested in who were discussing esoteric jurisdictional questions that were going to be argued there that day. Once seated in the packed courtroom on a case involving civil procedure, the minute the Court was in session, silence fell over the Court as the nine Justices walked in and took their places.  Everyone there, Judge, lawyer, guests, the employees, tourists, all showed the respect this Honorable Court deserved. The Chief Justice opened the session by admitting new attorneys and called the first case, and the arguments began. The argument that morning was right up my alley as I enjoy Civil Procedure. I've read argument transcripts before, but it was more interesting seeing it live with the Justices prodding the lawyers and each other. After the allotted hour,  I headed back out towards the US Capital and Mall,  hoping that one day, I may get the chance to stand before that Court as an advocate rather than as a spectator. 

In contrast to that busy morning at the Supreme Court,   I stopped by the Courthouse in the middle of the night to take the photograph pictured above,  all was quiet.  There were no lawyers, tourists, judges at that time. Just that majestic old building which is Constitutionally empowered to uphold the law of the land; the Constitution.

An Autumn Day in Shenandoah National Park

Autumn Afternoon - Shenandoah National Park

While the folks were partying and getting woozy at the Jon Stewart Rally last Saturday,  I got away from the City and headed to the Mountains in Shenandoah National Park in northern Virginia. With visions like these, you can have your cities and rallies. I''d plain just hang out in the mountains and stare at the Autumn skies. 

“I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.” -- John Muir

Please visit my site at www.michaelpancierphotography.com

The Mountains Call Me Once Again ...

Autumn in Shenandoah National Park - Sperryville, Virginia

So I must go ....

Spoonbill Reflections

Roseate Spoonbills - Ding Darling National Wildlife Preserve

I am honored that my spoonbill image which I took earlier this year at Ding Darling NWR was one of the winning entries selected in the 2010 Ding Darling NWR Photo Contest.  It will hang along with the other winning entries at the Education Center at the park.  The spoonbill was my nemesis bird for so many years, but it is no more. Let's hope the upcoming year will be just as productive in avian photography for me especially here in Florida.

A Day on the Miami River

I've lived my entire life in Miami and have crossed the Miami River more times than I can imagine. However, it was only a few weeks ago at the invitation of fellow photographer Jim Winters of Nikon Miami that I had the opportunity to do what I've been dying to do for many years,  float upstream on the Miami River.  We started at Bayside Marketplace marina and entered the river at its mouth in Downtown Miami between Brickell Key and Bayfront Park and floated all the way to the fork where it divides between Miami Springs/Hialeah and the lakes by Miami International Airport.  I definately want to do this again one day and continue all the way into Hialeah next time.  In any event, I've compiled a nine minute montage of images and video from the Miami River from that morning boat ride as well with some images I've taken at sunrise and sunset from the Second Avenue Bridge and the South Miami Bridges.  The river has some really interesting drawbridges and overpasses which cannot be appreciated unless you see them from the river.  So without further adieu,  let it roll on the Miami River.

My Newest Photo Processing Tool - Nik HDR Efx Pro

Sunrise on the Miami River from South Miami Avenue Bridge

Miami River & Metrorail Overpass

Just downloaded the newest Nik Photoshop Plug in to add to my collection, Nik HDR Efx Pro. From what I've seen so far, this program makes a nice addition to the Nik collection which I use extensively in my photo processing: Nik Color Efx Pro, Nik Viveza II, and Nik Silver Efx Pro. I've been using HDR in my work for several years now, relying exclusively on Photomatix Pro.   

My early observations are that this is a great addition to your photo processing tools; especially for landscape photographers. It has the same features and control panel as Color Effects Pro and Viveza II, using the upoint technology which makes editing and tweaking your images a breeze.  I also found that its HDR engine is much faster than Photomatix Pro especially when  working in 64bit on my Mac Pro.

Like the newest version of Photomatix Pro,  Nik HDR Efx Pro, has the ability to save your own presets and comes with a lot of presets to work with.  I have noticed that while the preloaded presets are good as a starting point, I found myself having to do a lot of tweaking to the settings to get the look I was looking for.  I did find that I had to really work the settings to avoid the haloing that one tends to get in HDR work. I hate it personally, but the Nik software's structure settings on the control points or on the whole image make getting rid of the haloing pretty easy.  I also found that the Nik program tends to make cleaner HDR's as well when compared to Photomatix pro.

The two images posted here were both done with the Nik software.  The top image is a 3 image HDR which I exported into Nik HDR Efx Pro out of Lightroom using the cityscape setting as a base and then making adjustments in the control panel.  The second image is not a true HDR,  but a single image faux HDR again exported from the raw file out of Lightroom using the artistic base setting and some tweaking.  On both images, I did add a pass of vibrance/warmth in Nik Color Efx Pro to kick it up a notch, so to say, and a pass of noise reduction.

As I said, it will take me a while to get the feel for this program. I'm quite adept at working with Photomatix Pro and will still use it depending on the look I'm going for. But now that my Nik collection is complete and now able to work in 64 bit on my Mac,  I may find myself finally moving permanently to PS CS 5 from CS4 which I still have been using since most of my Nik plug ins were still only working in 32 bit until the most recent updates. See you out in the field, infidels.

Miami's 10/10/10 Sunrise

South Miami Avenue Bridge

Today is 10/10/10.  What a better way to celebrate this once in a lifetime occurrence than to get up at crack of dawn to see and photograph the sunrise in downtown Miami along the Miami River.  Here's the view from the South Miami Avenue Bridge.

"There's beauty in the silver singing river, There's beauty in the sunrise in the sky, But none of these and nothing else can match the beauty, That I remember in my true love's eyes."  -- Bob Dylan

A Day on the River

12th Avenue Bridge - Miami, Florida

Coming soon, my photo essay from my day riding up the Miami River from the mouth of the river up to the airport.  Something I've wanted to do for years but never done even though I've lived in Miami all my life.  Here's a taste of what I saw. This is the 12th Avenue Bridge which crosses the Miami River. Most folks drive over it every day while getting to and from the Justice Building.  It's a different view from below, however.  The Miami River has an interesting history and much ignored by folks, except of course for those who live and work on the river. 

"In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time." — Leonardo da Vinci

First Day of October 2010

Shohola Falls Pennsylvania

"This existence of ours is as transient as Autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is a flash of lightning in the sky. Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain. "

-- Buddha

Sunset Before the Storm

Miami River and I-95 Overpass
9/27/10

"Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” 

  - Mark Twain

You Cannot Have Freedom Without Wilderness

The Priest & The Nuns - Moab, Utah

"We can have wilderness without freedom; we can have wilderness without human life at all, but we cannot have freedom without wilderness, we cannot have freedom without leagues of open space beyond the cities, where boys and girls, men and women, can live at least part of their lives under no control but their own desires and abilities, free from any and all direct administration by their fellow men." -- Edward Abbey

Island in the Sky

Grand View Overlook - Canyonlands National Park, Utah

This is a panoramic view from Canyonlands National Park. I don't think any photograph can adequately capture the vastness of this area of the park.  So I leave you this image to end your week.

See you out in the field.

9/11 - A Time to Remember

View of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge