May Day in Florida

Sunset at Blue Cypress Lake, Florida

Blue Cypress Lake is one of the last vestiges of old Florida that has not been ruined by development. One of the last places where gators and osprey can share their environment with bass and other fish. One of the last places where you can enjoy peace and quiet.  And for my fishing friends,  you can catch some nice largemouth bass there too.

Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @MAP_Photography and go to and Like my Facebook page and you'll see more pics from Blue Cypress Lake as well as some of the other gems we have in the state.

If you'd like to purchase this or any of my other prints, please visit my website at www.michaelpancierphotography.com.

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.

Take a moment to check out my website for some of my latest images.  I sell prints in all sizes including ready to hang gallery wraps. And for my latest pictures or videos of the day, follow me on Twitter and visit my Facebook page and press "Like" if you enjoy my images.

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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You can also visit my website at Michael Pancier Photography to see my portfolio.

Tybee Light Station

One of my must stops whenever I'm driving up I-95 through Georgia is the historic town of Savannah. And when there, besides stopping by Paula Dean's for a hearty meal,  I always head out early in the morning to the Tybee Light Station before all the tourists are there. The lighthouse traces its roots to the colonial days.  It poses a challenge to photograph given the powerlines and houses in the area. But I found that early morning is best.  You can find more information on the light at the Tybee Light Historical Society.  

I have a collection of lighthouse photos from Florida and the Atlantic coast on my website. Please visit www.michaelpancierphotography.com and check it out.

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.