Broward's Burrowing Owls Are Doing the Mambo in 2012

Among the many types of birds we get here in Florida,   we have our share of burrowing owls. Folks come from around the world to see them, especially those who nest at the Cape Coral Library and to a lesser extent, Marco Island.   But for South Floridians,  we have a large colony of owls literally in our own backyard in Western Broward County.

I am fortunate to have my office right around the block from the burrowing owl colony and thus I've had the opportunity to visit them every Spring.  If you've followed my images,  you can see pics of these cute little guys.   It's still too early for the babies,  but to get the season started, I prepared a short 2 minute video of the antics of these cute owls and it served as a perfect excuse to test out the new Canon EOS 5d Mark III.  All I can say is that I'm very impressed with both the imaging and video qualities of this new camera especially at high ISO's.  See for yourselves.  Also,  because our owls in South Florida have been immersed in Latin culture for many years, I've prepared the perfect theme music for them from Perez Prado.

So folks, enjoy the Mambo Owls of Broward County.

And while you're at it,  follow me on Twitter @MAP_Photography and Facebook at www.facebook.com/MichaelPancierPhotography.

A Day at Fort DeSoto

Featuring the birds of Fort DeSoto.

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The Florida Scrub Jay - Nemesis Bird No More

It's got to be close to 8 years since I got hooked on photographing birds.  For many years I had what I called my three nemesis birds: bald eagles, roseate spoonbills, and scrub jays.  I photographed my first scrub jays this year after trying to find them for nearly six years.  It seems that everytime I went to the scrubs, they weren't there.  Well they finally cooperated.  I now have my fill of images of these friendly and rare bird endemic to our state.

I wish they would change the Florida state bird from the Northern Mockingbird to the Scrub Jay. The mockers are all over the place, but this guy is truly a native Floridian, found only in a few scrub areas in Florida such as Brevard County, where I found this guy and his buddies.

So do I have any new nemesis birds to photograph? Hell yeah!  Need to find me some wild screech owls, or any other owls (other than Burrowing Owls, Horned Owls, and Barred Owls) .... but I'll likely have to leave the state for some of them ...

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Revisiting The Big Crater

Meteor Crater in Winslow Arizona is kind of a tourist stop off of I-40,  but it is worth a visit as it is one of the few pristine impact craters one can see here in the USA.  It's difficult to photograph as it is so damn wide.  A pano is usually suggested in my opinion.  The photo I took there a few years ago was taken with my 15mm Fisheye on a full frame camera and you can see how you barely capture the entire scene. But just so you can get an idea of how large this crater is,  take a look below at the image from space (yes it can be seen from space).....

As the space image shows,  probably the best way to get a cool image of meteor crater would be by taking an aerial image.  I think I'm adding that to my bucket list.  Now time to charge my batteries and head out to the field.

Please take a moment to visit my website at www.michaelpancierphotography.com where I have new images posted from time to time and for daily images, please visit and "like" my Facebook Fanpage for up to date images and photography news. And finally, if you're into Twitter, you can follow me there too at @MAP_Photography

Tribute to MLK

A little photo and video montage I made from images I took at the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

A New Year in the Smokies

One of the New Year Celebrants in the Smoky Mountains I encountered last week in the Cades Cove section of the park.  A smiling white tailed deer.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy new year and are ready for a fantastic 2012.

Feliz Navidad, Carajo!

Happy Christmas to All from Michael Pancier Photography and may Santa bring you new camera gear during this Holiday season.

Fowey Rocks Lighthouse

An image I took a few months ago while flying with local pilot Robert Buschel.  You usually never see this lighthouse unless you have a boat as the Fowey Rocks Light is located seven miles southeast of Cape Florida on Key Biscayne, Florida. It's an old structure having been completed in 1878.  The light has withstood a plethora of hurricanes and storms throughout the years, but it still stands and is in operation today.  The light is 110 feet above the water.

Fowey Rocks are named for the Royal Navy frigate HMS Fowey which was wrecked on a different reef to the south in 1748.  The deadly Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 washed away the first deck of the lighthouse, 15 feet above the water, but the tower survived. The lighthouse is currently inside the boundaries of Biscayne National Park.

I'm On the Pier to Nowhere

Sunrise, 8/7/11, Sunny Isles, Florida

Cool Off With Some Pacific Northwest Waterfalls from Oregon

Oregon is a waterfall wonderland. I was only able to scratch the surface while there.  Hopefully this video and photo montage will give you a taste of what is known as the Waterfall Wonderland. During the dog days of summer,  the falls will definitely cool you off. 

The Beach Boys & John Stamos Live at Sun Life Stadium

Beach Boys Live in Miami - A Photo Essay from Michael Pancier on Vimeo.

After the Marlin's game Saturday night 5/21/11,  I got to see the Beach Boys, one of my all time favorite bands. Here is my slideshow of the event.

All Images © 2011 by Michael Pancier Photography

Mayday - 5/1/11

I don't just photograph wildlife and nature.  I like to photograph people, models, and live bands.  Here's a musical slideshow of some of my live band images from last Friday.

See you out in the field or in the bar, or some studio somewheres.

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Easter 2011

Scenes from Easter Morning 2011 from the Commercial Boulevard Pier in Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida.

Hope everyone had a good holiday. Big month up ahead.

Please follow me on Twitter at @MAP_Photography for the latest in my photo adventures.

My Tribute to the Cafecito

I love to photograph coffee cups and shots of coffee and coffee itself. It is the essence of my everyday existence. So I decided to gather up these images and a little iPhone video I took of the brewing process and made this little video tribute. Enjoy it with a nice cup of java of course.

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Flight of the Osprey - Blue Cypress Lake

Last month I went to Blue Cypress Lake in Indian River County, Florida with my friend Carlos Molina to experience osprey heaven. Several of my fellow nature photographers like Al and Fabiola Forns have been raving about this place and their pictures have been amazing.  So I left Hialeah at 3:30 am to drive up to Middleton's Fish Camp just east of the Yehaw Junction exit off the Florida Turnpike. Met up with Carlos and made it to the Camp by 6:50am, which was about 25 minutes before sunrise. We went out on the Pontoon boat driven by Joe and in two hours, I got some of my best osprey photographs ever. So many keepers and from such a great perspective.  Being on the pontoon boat and sometimes being at eye level with the osprey really brings you into their world.  I had two cameras with me, one with a 400 5.6L and the other with the 500 4.0L.  I sometimes had too much lens and think a 100-400 zoom would be best.  But let me tell you, the place is beautiful.  The cypress trees with Spanish Moss which dot the shoreline are perfect settings for photographing these beautiful birds.  Even my friend Carlos, who's a landscape guy by nature, was having a field day there.  I've photographed osprey all throughout the State of Florida, and this is by far the most concentrated number of osprey in a pristine environment that I have ever seen.  Blue Cypress Lake is old Florida.  No development out there.  No nothing.  It's an oasis from the urban and suburban nightmare that Florida has become. 

Since I had so many keepers,  I made a 4 minute video slideshow which will hopefully give you a taste of this amazing place.

See you out in the field folks.

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April Come She Will

Model: Jackie Sanabia

When streams are ripe and swelled with rain...

March 2011 was a very productive month for photography.  I had the opportunity to photograph hundreds of osprey at Blue Cypress Lake and the Super Moon, and lots of birds at my local rookeries. I ended off the month photographing the human form which is always fun and as much a challenge. In particular,  I photographed some of the lovely models at the Rock Angel Benefit Fashion Show in Fort Lauderdale last week to benefit women's cancer research.  The pictures are too numerous to post here. So if you'd like to see them,  head on over to my link here.  And while you're at it,  head on over to my Facebook Fan Page and press "LIKE" to show your support.  Planning some more exciting photography in the next few months. Hope to see y'all out in the field.

The Birds of Wakodahatchee Wetlands - 2011 Edition

My latest photo essay from my recent visits at Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Palm Beach County, Florida.  I've been lucky to see 10 generations of blue herons there in the last decade, and they're still going strong.  Hope you enjoy the images, especially those of the baby blue herons.

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.

Night View of the Miami Financial District

© 2011 Michael Pancier Photography

 

Got some great colors of the skyline of the Miami Financial District the other evening. While I'm a nature guy by nature,  I still enjoy skylines, and Miami has quite a diverse one to photograph.  This view is from the area West of the Brickell Avenue skyline.

For copies of any of my Miami skyline prints, drop me a message at www.michaelpancierphotography.com

See you 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.