Mile Rock beach hidden inside San Francisco Buy print
Another shot from a little hidden beach in San Francisco. The only way to get here is to hike down a steep trail. The beach is surrounded by cliffs which gives you a sense of remoteness uncharacteristic of a large city. But then San Francisco is no ordinary city. Because of its geography it could be the most beautiful city in the USA. The only other that I can compare it to is Vancouver about a thousand miles to the North. But it seems the beauty of a city is related to the surrounding geography. If you frame buildings, streets and bridges with great landscapes it becomes more appealing than if you just have a city on a flat plane. Nothing against the Midwest mind you. I better stop before I can’t get my metaphorical foot our of my mouth.
South of Montpellier are swamps in which Flamingos have settled by the thousands. The waters are full of shrimp and other foods preferred by these feathered comedians. There is a highway that runs between Carnon and Palavas and through a swamp where these Flamingos are feeding or sleeping on one leg. This was taken just after sunset one evening as the birds were looking for their final meal before calling it a day.
Another beautiful sunrise on Anna Maria Island in Florida Buy print
As compositions go we might say this has no subject, no main actor. Having said that, nothing beats a good sunrise and sometimes we just have to ignore the rules of composition and go with what moves us. In this case, the simplicity of the scene was enough for me. This is an HDR image, I combined four images to balance out the range of light to try and convey what I saw with my eyes. For me, getting up early and standing next to calm water like this is like meditation. It gives me a certain calm that I can carry with me the rest of the day. Calm and simplicity, two things I strive for in some of my images, especially those close to the water. Have a peaceful day my friends.
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Its now autumn in the northern hemisphere but I’ve not yet gotten out for some fall pictures. Nevertheless I took this about a year ago in Gorges State Park North Carolina. This is in the Blue Ridge Mountains and I think it’s one of the best places to go for fall colors. I was hiking up stream along a trail towards a much larger waterfall. The trail was short but strenuous and so I kept leaving the trail to look upstream towards the big waterfalls that would mean I was finally there. It was almost as if I had a voice in my head saying “are we there yet?” over and over again. When I finally did reach the falls it felt like the effort was well worth it.
Myakka River State ParkObtain print
This is one of many boardwalks at Myakka River State Park. Along it you can view mostly birds but maybe the odd alligator as well. Just like everywhere else Florida is experiencing growth and urban sprawl and so places like this state park are protected sanctuaries for local and migratory wildlife. I posted something similar to this recently from the same location. I like how the palms frame the path as it leads out into the swamp. A simple composition of the Florida landscape without the beach.
About a month ago I took a jaunt to the jungles of Myakka River State Park about forty minutes away. It was after heavy rains and I was there to look for some new images. The atmosphere was absolutely AMAZING. Everything other than the roads was flooded. And throughout the whole park there was an eerie silence. Maybe because of the humidity that hung in the air, maybe because I seemed to be the only fool photographer in the park, I’m not sure. But from a photographic perspective it was spell binding. That, combined with the solitude was like a waypoint between two worlds. I took photos at various points and just before leaving I stopped at a trailhead near the park exit.
Overflowing water from the river flattened the grasses across a submerged trail
This image shows the path partially submerged as it led away from the road and reemerged only inches above the overflowing river. The water from the river overflowing the path had flattened the grasses as seen here. A mixture of fascination and curiosity got the best of me and I decided to follow it into the jungle.
It was eerily quiet, I was alone, and my senses became heightened. I could hear a twig snap two hundred yards off. My mind kept running through the risk verses reward argument as I wondered if I was crossing the line. It was perhaps a little risky; if I fell in the water it could be bad.
As the park is in central Florida, it is a sanctuary for alligators. Not just a few, five hundred or more in the lake and surrounding rivers, like the one I was following upstream. My idea was that I wanted to get that low angle perspective of the water in the flooded river and so was looking for a vantage clear of foreground obstacles along the bank of the river. I stopped a few times to still my breath and listen. I warily proceeded, slowly and alert, and then it happened. Out of nowhere I heard a splash in the forest perhaps thirty meters away.
The jungle floor was flooded from the recent heavy rains
The forest floor was covered in about a foot of water and whatever made that splash was substantial, …not a twig. Frozen, heartbeat elevated, I strained with my eyes and ears, peering into the shadowed thick forest for any signs of movement. Nothing. Determined, I continued at a much slower pace, looking for that bend in the river to set up. Then, I heard it, …the sound of a bullfrog. (Lesson break: for those of you not familiar, male alligators make a sound just like a bullfrog.) If you hear that sound, and you are home and not near a body of water, it’s probably a bullfrog, no need to put your drink down. If, on the other hand, you are in a state park that is an alligator sanctuary, and just had heavy rains, and the rivers are flooded then it maybe, just maybe it’s not a bullfrog. The difference between the two sounds is resonance. Bullfrogs are small. Large four hundred pound twelve foot long reptiles produce a deep resonance that cannot be produced by an animal the size of a fist. The sound I was now listening to had a wonderful resonance.
So, here I am, in the jungle, looking for a composition, faced with a decision, do I get my shot or get the hell outta Dodge. At this point I’m thinking that last bend in the river a few meters back might of had some overlooked potential. To continue walking upriver for a better bend might just be the equivalent of pizza delivery for reptiles. Therefore I walked back a few paces to the previous bend in the river and setup my tripod. I figured that as long as I could hear him, I was probably okay. It meant he was stationary (so I reasoned), I really have no clue. I was born and raised in California, I was a boy scout; I backpacked and hiked a lot, I feel at home in the mountains. Put me in the swamps and jungles of Florida and I’m no better than the next Wal-Mart shopper. Strike that, I’m probably worst because I don’t know what I don’t know.
I settled for this bend in the river to capture the water overflowing it’s banks
So anyway, I composed the shot and captured the image above and just about that time my sanity came running along and caught up to me. Basically she asked what it was on Gods green earth did I think I was doing? The fact that I had to think a moment meant I didn’t have a good answer. So with sanity leading the way I made a hasty retreat to the trailhead and into the car. Well, not that hasty. Just before I climbed into the car I snapped this selfie.
https://goo.gl/DHrciB
I think this last bit of documentation was probably a fool’s errand. I half thought that a ranger would later find the phone and the selfie and my disappearance would be satisfactorily explained and the search called off. Fortunate for me that never occurred and despite my questionable decisions I lived to see another day.
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Yesterday I got up early to look for some epic shots of the sunrise. Probably because I had an agenda it didn’t work out. I had a location in mind but the weather didn’t cooperate and no matter where I walked I couldn’t find a good composition. I walked back to the parking lot a little defeated and noticed a flock of White Ibis feeding in the shallow waters of Sarasota Bay in front of the car. So I just sat down on the ground to relax and watch them as they worked the shore. I guess the lesson is to keep an open mind because you never know what you’ll see. I think sometimes with photography its better to let the world come to me rather than marching out to find something in my head. Beside it was a much more enjoyable experience just sitting here watching these cool fellas in the morning.
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Exactly one week ago I was in the middle of the Florida Everglades on a swamp boat. The most remarkable impression, at least for me, was the reflection of the clouds in the swamp. Of course there was much else to see by way of beauty including all manner of wildlife including Egrets and Cranes. But for me the next biggest impression after the reflection was the enormity of the space. Hundreds of square miles of natural swamp. I’m one of those people that has to see something to really get it. I get it now about the Everglades. We really need to preserve this natural ecological wonder.
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This evening I debated whether I should venture out on account of the thunderstorms in the area. Optimism won out and I headed down this way. All the way I thought it would be a waste of a drive but I continued nonetheless. When I got out of the car there was thunder, lightning and light rain. I stuck through it and for about an hour the weather held off. This is a twenty-five second exposure I took about a half hour after sunset. Tonight the cloud colors were best when the sun was well below the horizon. I shot several of these until the rain started up again then drove home through the pouring rain. Chalk one up for optimism.
