So I discovered a cool little park in the middle of Miami (7 low-res pics)

[RagingInMiami]

It was like an oasis in the midst of a chaotic city. A mini-civilization where raccoons, squirrels, ducks and who knows what else co-exist.I wouldn't be surprised if alligators live in the park's canal.
Ducks and squirrels are common in Miami, but it's rare to spot raccoons in the middle of the city.

The park would be pretty tranquil if it weren't for the train that sped through it. You also have to tune out the sirens and car horns in the background.





Bridge




A young couple had fed this squirrel some bread


Duck drinking from puddle - as he watches some stranger take a photo of him


Raccoon peering from behind a tree (unfortunately, a little out of focus)


Noisy train

[ConsAreLiars]

1. Very nice!

I've tried a little critter photography with almost zero success. One trick I've read about is to use the flash, set at 1/4 power or so, to get the highlight in the eyes like you have in squirrel#1 when it would not be there otherwise. The background and the bug in the first photo balance nicely.

[RagingInMiami]

2. Here's a critter I forgot to add

Critters are hard to capture cause they run away when you approach them, but the critters in this park only ran away once they realized I wasn't approaching with food. Very streetwise they are.

[RagingInMiami]

3. I'm glad you like the dragonfly photo

I pulled into the park to see if I could take a flower shot for the contest (What I love about photography is that it enables me to discover things I normally would ignore).

Anyway, the park didn't have much of a choice in flowers, except for a small patch of colorful flowers. So I was taking photos of the flowers when I saw this dragonfly buzzing around.

So I started thinking that if I could get a picture of that dragonfly on a flower, then I have a decent contest entry.

So I hung out for a while watching this dragonfly land on everything except a flower. Apparently dragonflies don't like flowers that have bloomed.

Anyway, here are a couple of flowers sans dragonfly. I'm not satisfied with any of them as far as a contest entry goes because I know the competition will be very stiff. And I know what you say about the contest being an opportunity to share work -- which I agree with -- I just have a competitive spirit.

Edit: Forgot to add the photos.

[superconnected]

4. ah even the flowers are beautiful.

Thanks for sharing all of these pics!

[F.Gordon]

5. I'm so glad that dragonfly didn't land on a flower

:evilgrin:

Something tells me you're holding back something "special". ;-) I agree, this is going to be a tough contest. Everything that I've seen being shared by everyone has been very good.

Were all these taken with that EF Macro/100 lens that you are so fond of? Jus' askin'.

[RagingInMiami]

6. I don't have anything special yet

But if I did, I would definitely be holding it back. I've been realizing that although Miami has plenty of green, flowers are not easy to find unless I trespass into someone's backyard.

That one photo of the dragonfly was taken with the macro lens, but some of the others were taken with a 70-200 f/4 I just purchased.

[F.Gordon]

7. I was just giving you a hard time

Knowing your competitive spirit and all. :) I hear ya' on the finding flowers thing, but I have. Just did what you did with all the great photographs you just shared. Finding little parks and such. Problem here is that not much is blooming in the public areas, and I have found virtually no wildflowers blooming in mountains.

But it still have been fun. This snapshot was taken at a park I've driven by in Boulder County (north of where I live) a 100 times and never even knew it existed until I started looking for these kind of places. I did find a small county maintained garden in this park, and got one potential contest entry, but as you can see it was a little too sunny for shooting flowers that day....



The one thing I like about this theme is that it has seemed to push people away from their computers into the outdoors in search of the great contest entry.

A 70-200? That converts to roughly 100-300? Who says size doesn't matter? ;)

[fluffernutter]

8. omg, those are all excellent.

you are so talented! i really love the first one, but they are all very, very good.

i wish i had your talent and your camera ;)