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I was in St. Petersburg Florida on Friday to grab dinner at one of the sidewalk cafe’s along the water. I noticed the late afternoon light striking the sailboats and so I excused myself from my party while I walked to the waters edge for this shot. Actually, I was spying it from the time we drove up and I was pretty excited. So excited in fact that I forgot to pay the parking meter, I was more worried about grabbing my camera and getting here before the light changed. The rest of the evening we enjoyed a nice meal and wine as we sheltered from the rain under huge sidewalk umbrella. Finally when it was time to go we walked back to the car where I had a twenty-five dollar parking ticket. Oh well, I figure that’s a small price to pay for catching this particular pocket of light.
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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The town of Cortez in Florida is one of the last remaining fishing villages left on the East coast of the United States. We come here to a dockside restaurant call Star Fish Market to have some fish and enjoy scenery and village atmosphere. It’s also a magnet for seabirds that feed off the scraps from the fishing boats. Right now the restaurant is in summer shutdown which lasts a few weeks. Hopefully the fishermen are still working or these birds will have to find another place to get their scraps.
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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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I don’t know why I don’t come down here more often. That didn’t sound right, almost like a clumsy pick up line. What I meant to say, …oh never-mind, you know what I meant. But anyway, this is one of those locations in Sarasota where it’s impossible to take a bad photo. I could pretty much hold the camera up and press the shutter and I’m going to end up with something good. At least that’s what I tell myself, your result may vary. So even if you think this is a nice shot, keep in mind it was easy. Not easy as in a pickup line, but you know what I mean.
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If it’s not obvious, this is a picture of a cloud hanging over the water. I had to say that in case you were looking for some little object of interest like a person or boat. Sometimes I find myself in a situation where the main subject of the scene is simply a cloud. Actually that happens a lot where I live. The heat builds up in the vapor and transforms it into crazy shapes, usually over water. Add the light of dusk and you get a scene like this, if only for a few minutes. This is cloudscape photography. I just made that up. I wonder if that’s a word…? You heard it here first. 😀
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My how time flies, I was last here a little over two years ago. I shot from almost the exact same location at around the same time, but the results are quite different. For one, I used a different lens. For another, I used textures on this. My style and inclinations change over time and so I’m finding that if I go back to some of my favorite locations a shoot again, the results are quite different. Here is a link to the old version.
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It’s been a while since I’ve been to the north jetty so yesterday evening I headed down here. It’s about 35 minutes from home along the gulf coast and every evening people flock here to watch the sunset. The minute I drove up a couple of dolphins swam by as they meandered about. These shells were deposited on the beach from recent storms; you could just scoop up a handful. The jetty connects the gulf to the intercostal waterway where most folks dock their boats. Evenings like this are a reprieve from the August sun as the breeze coming off the water is oh so nice. Somebody wake me up; on second thought, let me dream on.
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A birds-eye view of a little island in the middle of Miami. I took this from a hotel when I was down here recently. At night I sat in a lounge on the 36th floor and was surprised to find that most of these units were dark. I thought that was a little odd because as compared to other cities like New York or Vancouver. But then this is the middle of summer in Florida and I suppose most of these units are second homes or vacation getaways. Perhaps if I come back here in winter these will be all lit up like Christmas trees with escapees from colder climates.
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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.
