Panama City Beach vacation (lots of large pics!)

A few of the several hundred pics I took this past week at PCB. We had a great deal on a 3BR/3BA condo on the 16th floor at Sterling Beach, thanks to my nephew who works there. The view was fantastic, as you can see from these beach photos. All except the bottom three Gulf World photos were taken from the balcony off our master bedroom (we had two balconies). The 200mm lens was great, but at times like this I wish I had an even bigger one. Maybe I'll get a 70-300 before the next vacation. )

http//morrisonline.us/pics/pcb063008/DSC_1275.JPG[" alt=""/img2092df3dfa]

[img="2092df3dfa]http//morrisonline.us/pics/pcb063008/DSC_1276.JPG[" alt=""/img2092df3dfa]

[b2092df3dfa]The tour boat that runs up & down the beach. The guy on the jetski is towing a banana boat that's out of the frame.[/b2092df3dfa]
[img="2092df3dfa]http//morrisonline.us/pics/pcb063008/DSC_1286.JPG[" alt=""/img2092df3dfa]

[b2092df3dfa]A tour helicopter that kept buzzing the beach. Nice freeze frame shot, I thought.[/b2092df3dfa]
[img="2092df3dfa]http//morrisonline.us/pics/pcb063008/DSC_1301.JPG[" alt=""/img2092df3dfa]

[b2092df3dfa]A pelican that kept buzzing our balcony.[/b2092df3dfa]
[img="2092df3dfa]http//morrisonline.us/pics/pcb063008/DSC_1329.JPG[" alt=""/img2092df3dfa]

[b2092df3dfa]The wife and daughter parasailing.[/b2092df3dfa]
[img="2092df3dfa]http//morrisonline.us/pics/pcb063008/DSC_1364.JPG[" alt=""/img2092df3dfa]

[b2092df3dfa]The wife and daughter riding back to the beach on a banana boat from the parasailing boat.[/b2092df3dfa]
[img="2092df3dfa]http//morrisonline.us/pics/pcb063008/DSC_1431.JPG[" alt=""/img2092df3dfa]

[b2092df3dfa]The wife swimming with a dolphin at Gulf World. This was the highlight of her trip (the daughter did it too).[/b2092df3dfa]
[img="2092df3dfa]http//morrisonline.us/pics/pcb063008/DSC_1248.JPG[" alt=""/img2092df3dfa]

[b2092df3dfa]Some birds I snapped at Gulf World while waiting for the wife & daughter's Dolphin Experience to start. Didn't really want to go with the flash here, but it was pretty dark. The no flash ISO1600 shots are much brighter but the noise is significant, so I think these look better.[/b2092df3dfa]
[img="2092df3dfa]http//morrisonline.us/pics/pcb063008/DSC_1106.JPG[" alt=""/img2092df3dfa]

[img="2092df3dfa]http//morrisonline.us/pics/pcb063008/DSC_1108.JPG[" alt=""/img2092df3dfa]

Quite like the first pic (all the blue is nice, the water and the brollies) and the parasailing pic is great, very crisp. The first macaw pic really shows the colours well, it's almost irridescent.

Crap I just noticed the lens smudges on the helicopter and pelican pics. Thought they were smudges on my monitor, LOL.

That's what happens when you leave the lens cap off for extended periods, I guess. I'll have to take care of that in Gimp I guess...

Where were you when you were taking the parasailing pictures? I didn't know dmo could hack the air. shock

[quote079a2cbdf5="J4320"]Where were you when you were taking the parasailing pictures? I didn't know dmo could hack the air. shock[/quote079a2cbdf5]

[quote079a2cbdf5="dmorris68"]A few of the several hundred pics I took this past week at PCB. We had a great deal on a 3BR/3BA condo on the 16th floor at Sterling Beach, thanks to my nephew who works there. The view was fantastic, as you can see from these beach photos. [b079a2cbdf5]All except the bottom three Gulf World photos were taken from the balcony off our master bedroom (we had two balconies).[/b079a2cbdf5] The 200mm lens was great, but at times like this I wish I had an even bigger one. Maybe I'll get a 70-300 before the next vacation. )[/quote079a2cbdf5]

You can't blame me for not reading in a picture thread like this... oops

Nice pics!

The colours are really vivid and sharp. In the first pic, is that haze in the distance?

What's the EXIF Data on the outdoor shots?

[quotebd5de20e10="theysayjump"]Nice pics!

The colours are really vivid and sharp. In the first pic, is that haze in the distance?

What's the EXIF Data on the outdoor shots?[/quotebd5de20e10]
Thanks.

Yeah, that's a haze. This was the first real clear weather day we had, the prior 2-3 days it had been storming a lot (hence all the seaweed/algae on the beach), and I think that contributed to the haze. I had the UV filter on but it wasn't enough to cut through it. The polarizing filter would have probably helped there, but I didn't put it on. I knew I'd be shooting a lot of shots and didn't want to have to keep adjusting the filter.

Don't have the EXIF data handy as I'm at work. These images I posted were exported resized from Picassa, so the EXIF might have been retained, but if not then I can post it tonight. Most shots were shot in aperture priority although I did set Auto for awhile too since I was shooting rapidly at many different (closeup and distant, still and moving, etc.) subjects.