>>Gallery (10 images)

>>Gallery (14 images)

On Saturday night, Times photographer Jim Damaske made this striking image of the "super full moon" rising over the water in Safety Harbor.  This event, known as a super perigee moon, is the biggest in almost 20 years.  According to Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC, the last full moon this big and this close to earth occurred in March, 1993.

Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other (apogee): Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the Moon's orbit.
 
Read more about the Super Full Moon on NASA's website. Dr. James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, answers questions about the 'supermoon' phenomenon. Did you photograph the moon?  Share your pictures on our community photo gallery.
The moon rises over Tampa Bay behind the Safety Harbor Pier where over a hundred people gathered to watch the event.  [Jim Damaske, Times]

 
Harold Hood, bottom photo, with the city of Dunedin, attaches a new Web camera Tuesday morning to a nesting platform in Dunedin. The osprey camera mounted on a nesting platform by a driving range off Alt. U.S. 19 in Dunedin was supposed to be back on line sometime Thursday, said Barbara Walker with the Clearwater Audubon Society.
 
The dunedinospreycam.org camera went down a while back and Walker was able to use money from a Progress Energy grant to buy a new camera. A city work crew replaced it Tuesday morning as male ospreys chased each other.  Below, after the workers left, a female osprey settled onto the nest and was joined by a male. Above, a pair of ospreys battle over a nesting platform where the Dunedin osprey camera keeps an eye on nesting activity.
 
Walker said that birders around the world have watched the Dunedin osprey camera. It’s a popular website for birders in winter climates who have no activity going on to watch at home. Walker said she’s observed nesting season for ospreys has started later than normal this year.  (Times photos by Jim Damaske)
 
Visit the osprey camera online at dunedinospreycam.org   ... Read more

St. Petersburg Times photographer Jim Damaske shares these tips for creating the proper exposure when photographing a snowy, sandy, foggy, or other white scene.
 
Remember when photographing snow you'll want to overexpose a little bit for the white subject matter to be white in your photo.  Your camera's meter wants to average a scene out, so if your scene is all white, the meter will give you an exposure that will make it grey.  I usually overexpose about one stop so I still have a little detail (also known as information in the digital age) in the light areas.  Same goes for other mostly light scenes like sand and fog, since we don't have snow here in sunny warm Florida, brrrrr.
  ... Read more

>>Gallery (16 images)

Panama the dolphin swims past windows in a newly refurbished tank at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Tuesday. Winter the tail-less dolphin and her tankmate Panama have been introduced into their new tank. The new exhibit is 40 feet around and 18 feet deep, compared to the previous one that was 25 x 18 and 14 feet deep. The larger size will allow Winter more room to work with her prosthetic tail. In addition, for the first time, guests will be able to regularly watch Winter and surrogate mom Panama swim through underwater windows. The tank also will serve as a stranding tank should the aquarium get an injured dolphin, in which case Winter and Panama would be moved back to their old tank. [JIM DAMASKE, Times] ... Read more

Audubon Center for Birds of Prey released their 380th rehabilitated Bald Eagle back into the Florida skies Wednesday afternoon at the Ahhochee Hill Audubon Sanctuary near Brooksville, FL. David Bruzek, Lead Environmental Specialist for Progress Energy Florida, had the honor to release the bird. This is the same eagle that was booted out of her nest in the East Lake area and was beaten up by another female. Her ex-mate has since produced chicks with the usurper. READ THE STORY [JIM DAMASKE, Times] ... Read more