Miami Skyline in Photos - 2001-2011

After the birth of my son in 1998, I began to get back into photography after a long hiatus.  Back in those days I was shooting film of course and I was experimenting with medium format as well. I used my old Canon Rebel, then my Canon Elan7e, and my last film camera, an EOS 3.  I also played around with an old 40 year old Yashica D TLR Medium format camera that belonged to my dad.  In 2003, I decided to go digital and have shot digital ever since (though occasionally I would bring out my Medium Format Mamiya 7ii for special landscapes).  No matter what I was shooting,  at some point in time, I would photograph the Miami Skyline. You can photograph it from Watson Island or Brickell, from the Bay, the Port, or from the highway or bridges.  It has always yielded some cool images.  What one does not realize is that in only a short span of time, a decade, the skyline has changed with the construction of new buildings.  This slideshow documents how the skyline has changed in the last decade.  The first set of images were taken in 2001-2003 and the last set of images were taken just a few months ago.  In between, I have images I've taken as well during a lot of the construction which is evidenced by cranes and booms.  I also included images from several July 4 firework shows from the skyline which were taken from 2007-2010.  Many of my images were taken from Watson Island under the bridge (which you can no longer do due to tunnel construction. Other images I took from the Bay, from Brickell Key, from Key Biscayne, and from the Highway and Bridges along the Miami River.

The music? Well I selected a piece called, "Miami" by Paquito D'Rivera.  Enjoy the next five minutes, and hopefully in ten more years, I'll be able to create part 2.

All Images © 2001-2011, Michael Pancier Photography

An Hour With the Skimmers

I had one of the most amazing hours photographing some black skimmers yesterday.  It was gray and overcast, and rain was on the horizon. One would think it would otherwise be terrible conditions for photography. I decided to give it a shot.  I rarely see skimmers on the Atlantic coast. I usually have to travel to the west coast, Marco Island, Naples, St. Petersburg, and Indian Rocks, to get the chance to photograph these guys.  So learning that I had a local colony only 30 minutes away, I could not resist. 

After one hour,  the rains came and I packed my lens/camera equipment and bolted back to the car and back home.  The lighting was poor by that time.  Upon getting home, I was pleasantly surprised to find so many keepers in this batch of images. So much so, that I decided the best thing was to put the series into a slideshow.

I will be posting some of these images up on my Flickr account and on my website in the coming weeks if anyone is interested in a print.  Have a great weekend and a great Valentine's Day. As for me, I'll be out in the field.

Great Blue Heron Action at Wakodahatchee

Great Blue Heron - Wakodahatchee Wetlands - Delray Beach, Florida

Taken on Sunday 2/6/11 early in the morning. Activity was good for the herons, ducks, and the regular gang of waterbirds. See you all out in the field as the activity picks up just in time for spring.

Are You Ready for Some Dolphin's Football?

Spent the day yesterday at the 2010 Miami Dolphin Training Camp.  I can't believe another year has gone by already so fast.  This time I took my camera and a telephoto zoom (took a 75-300 in that they did not allow lenses larger than 8" in to the practice).  I almost was not allowed to use it until I showed the guy there that the reason it looked larger was the lens hood. So he told me to take pics without the lens hood so the coaches would not get upset.  I obliged.  In any event,  I got some really cool pictures this time and is probably one of the few times I can get this close to NFL players without a press pass.

I put together this video slideshow of some of my favorite shots I got there yesterday afternoon in the 95+ degree heat in Davie, Florida.

If you'd like to see the pics in more detail you can see them here at my Miami Dolphins Flickr set.

So are you ready for some football? 

When you're done, please visit my website or my new Facebook Fan Page to see my latest stuff.

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!

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.

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.