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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please follow me on Twitter at @Map_Photography

and follow me on Facebook and click "Like"

and please visit my website at www.michaelpancierphotography.com

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.

Please visit my Facebook fan page and press "Like" to receive regular updates

Please follow me on Twitter at @MAP_Photography

or visit my website at www.michaelpancierphotography.com

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.

Super Moon of 2011

Pompano Beach, Florida

Today is the first day of Spring, the Vernal Equinox, which coincides with the Super Moon of 2011, a perigee moon.  This was taken about 7 hours ago at the beach in Pompano Beach, Florida.

"If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's ok. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot." - Confucius

Visit my website at www.michaelpancierphotography.com
Follow me on Twitter at: @MAP_Photography

Visit my Facebook Fan Page at http://www.facebook.com/MichaelPancierPhotography

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

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.

Winter of 2011 Getting you Down?

© Michael Pancier Photography

Journey to the Wave

It's been nearly two years since I made the journey to the Wave in the Paria Canyon  / Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area in Arizona. This journey fulfilling one of my bucket list places.  Finally, I've gotten around to putting together the photo essay of the entire hike which wasn't as grueling as the hike itself.  Also featured in the video is photographer Mike Jones of Mike Jones Photo from Mesa Arizona and Charly Moore, the guide from Overland Canyon Tours, in Page, Arizona,  an artist in his own right.  The hike was exhausting as you could see from our faces (except Charly's).  A hike worse than Delicate Arch. But worth it.

If you have seven minutes, then lay back and enjoy the scenic journey.

A Beautiful Sunrise in My Beloved Everglades

Woodstork - Nine Mile Pond - Everglades National Park

Photographing a landscape is like playing the lottery, although with better odds.  You never know if the elements will cooperate with you or not.  On Sunday morning,  I felt like shooting the sunrise at Nine Mile Pond in Everglades National Park.  This location is amazing if you have the right elements, clouds or fog. Otherwise, it's pretty lame. Fortunately, despite the weather forecasts for cloudless skies,  I decided to go shooting anyway. The elements came together. No fog, but I had a cooperative woodstork to anchor my image.   See you out in the field.

Opening in Theaters Today 1.1.11

A New Year at Fort DeSoto

As I have done now for the second year in a row, I decided to spend New Years Eve and New Years Day in one of my favorite places,  Tierra Verde aka Fort DeSoto in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida.  The birds are not there yet in number, but I cannot help but love this place. I've seen so many sunrises and sunsets there I never get tired of them. It's a new show every day.  Thing is, I really love the Gulf of Mexico.  I've done my best photography there. I've done my best fishing there.  I love the beaches there. The Gulf has so many bird and wildlife opportunities that I just don't find on the Atlantic side of the state. The water there is warmer, clearer, and calmer.  Last year we really had a scare with the oil spill.  We have seen the enemy of the Gulf and it is us. It must remain pristine.  Here are some of the images of the Gulf and from Tampa Bay taken on New Years weekend 2010-2011 at Fort DeSoto Park.

Last Sunset of 2010 - North Beach Fort DeSoto

Egmont Key Lighthouse - Taken from Fort DeSoto North Beach

Sunshine Skyway Bridge - Tampa Bay Sunrise - From East Beach

Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Freighter - Tampa Bay - From East Beach

Black Skimmers at North Beach

Please visit my website at www.michaelpancierphotography.com and my Facebook Fan Page for the latest news and images of where I'm shooting. See you out in the field folks.

Remembering 2010 in Photos

2010 - A Year in Review from Michael Pancier on Vimeo.

Hope everyone had a great New Year.   All I can say is that 2010 was quite a year and here's to a better 2011.  Here's my updated video which shows over 1000 of my images from 2010 in a three minute time span.   You'll be surprised as to how much your mind can actually process all these images given their average .04 second speed.  I had prepared an earlier version of this video, but it did not include photos from December 2010, which this one does.

Happy New Year and thanks for your support.

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.