April 2019 ADVENTURES IN THE TROPICAL SAVANNA
What is a tropical savanna? It’s one of the designations in the Köppen climate classification system. Tropical savanna climates have monthly mean temperatures above 64 °F in every month of the year and typically a pronounced dry season. These conditions are fairly common in Africa, Asia and South America. In the US, only the southern tip of Florida has this type of climate and the dry season (November - April) creates beautiful conditions for being outdoors for photography. I’ve been lucky to spend a couple of months in Naples, Florida during the dry season for the past decade. This year I explored some new territory at the edges of the everglades along with visits to some favorite spots from years past. Below are some of my favorite shots from this winter:
This is an early morning photo taken in an area that borders the everglades. In my mind, this photo and the next one below epitomize “tropical savanna”.
Another photo from a similar area as the one above, this time at sundown.
One more from the same region. Note the Anhinga in the tree top near the bottom of the frame on the left half. This bird stayed motionless for several minutes, seemingly laser-focused on the moon.
At such close proximity to the Everglades, there are wetlands here too. The next few images are from an area of sawgrass prairie that borders route 41. All of these are shot from the roadside, but unlike the image above, the next few below are shot with a super telephoto lens.
White pelicans descending to feed…
A pair of Great Egrets parting ways….
A Snowy Egret. It was nice to get this shot and the one below of the Tricolor Heron because I seldom photograph either of these species in a grassy setting. Most of my images of these birds have been in mangroves, cypress forests or beaches. It’s easier to appreciate the details of these birds with backgrounds that are less distracting.
Here is the Tricolor Heron.
Once the birds start taunting you, it’s time to leave…
On another day, I set out to actually enter a portion of Everglades National Park. One of the closest options to enter the park from the Naples area is by kayaking down the Turner River. After a quick paddle through a beautiful cypress swamp with several alligator sightings, you enter a tight mangrove tunnel for about 45 minutes. This was a unique experience to say the least. Had my paddle not been a two-piece that could be split in half, I never would have made it through with this relatively long 14 foot kayak. Much of the time, you actually just use your hands to pull yourself from mangrove to mangrove.
Eventually, you do emerge into sawgrass prairie. Honestly, from a photographic standpoint, kayaks sit quite low and the birds tend to spook at the sight of the boat. It’s an interesting excursion, but not really the best opportunity for bird photography.
The name “Adventure Trail” lured me to take a hike in nearby Collier Seminole State Park. The adventure trail is located in the Big Cypress Swamp. The trail is 6.5 miles long, however only 2.5 miles were open when I was there. Only close-ups were taken on this trip since I left the wide angle lens home. This Halloween Pennant Dragonfly was hanging on tight as the wind blew the grasses.
Another first for me, this is a Fox Squirrel giving me a piece of its mind from the trunk of a Slash Pine. It looks comfy to crawl up and down on doesn’t it? This was easily the largest squirrel I have ever seen. I’d estimate it was about 3 feet long from its nose to the tip of its tail.
Speaking of big, this Florida Leaf-footed Bug had a body about an inch long and some long antennae as well. It sported some ominous-looking spines on its upper hind legs. The shape of the lower hind legs is what gives it its “leaf-footed” moniker. When it flew away, it sounded like a small helicopter.
This gator is a regular at the closest nature photography spot that I frequent -- 10,000 Islands National Wildlife Refuge (10KNWR). Note the feather from its last meal stuck near the hinge of its jaw.
There’s just something about the contrast of a Great Egret against the mangroves in early morning light. This is a common scene at 10KNWR, but I never tire of it.
The reflection of the blue sky and the graphical nature of the reeds made another cool background for a Great Egret.
Perhaps my favorite nature experience during this trip to FL was at CREW BIrd Rookery Swamp (CBRS). This location, which offers 12 miles of trails, has consistently been a favorite for me. Unfortunately, it is becoming very popular and the experience is not the same when many other people are on the trail. On this day, several of us were treated to a 5 minute show by a mother otter and her pups. They are certainly challenging to photograph since they are dark, tend to live in relatively dark locations and are in constant motion. The photo above features one of the pups playing peekaboo with us.
Mom was keeping a close watch on us too…
“Wait up!" This shot and the next aren’t great photos, but just give a sense of what it was like to watch these fascinating little creatures.
“Love you, mom”
Of course, CBRS is always a great spot for birds as well. Pileated Woodpeckers are relatively common here, but they’re not very fond of posing. This is only my second decent image of a Pileated Woodpecker.
Lastly, this Yellow Crowned Night Heron was one of many that I saw and photographed one morning at CBRS. This morning was unique because I have never seen so many Yellow Crowns at one time and they were not very shy on this occasion.
Thank you for taking the time to view these photos from Southwest Florida. There were fun experiences behind each of them and I enjoy sharing them with you.
October 2018 DRENCHED IN FALL
For the past several years, I’ve missed peak fall colors here in upstate NY. We’ve made a habit of being in Florida in mid October, but decided to break tradition this year. Unfortunately, fall colors have not been up to par this year, mainly due to higher than normal temperatures and MUCH higher than normal rainfall (12.5” above average from August 1 to October 28 as I write this). Fall color has always been a challenging subject to photograph for me. The kaleidoscope of colors, especially evident when driving, competes for my attention to the point where I should be hiring an Uber for a few weeks. Yet, many subjects that catch the photographer’s eye when driving do not make great still images. Often there are too many distracting elements that compromise still images, but are not evident when passing by quickly. Despite the adverse conditions this year, I am happy to have been present for this year’s fall spectacle. Here are some of my favorites from the past few weeks:
This is the earliest image of the group and was shot in September in our backyard. This tree was about a month ahead of schedule in leaf drop when this was taken.
An overlook at Letchworth Park, “The Grand Canyon of the East”. I was here on a very foggy morning and the colors had not yet peaked. Luckily, I caught this image during a break in the fog.
This scene caught my eye when driving around one morning earlier this month. There was a nice mix of colors and I liked the way the central birch reached out in different directions toward the various colors.
Birch trees really stand out during fall color - the white bark contrasts beautifully with the color. This is a telephoto image of a tree I pass regularly when driving home.
These are grapes at a vineyard in the Finger Lakes wine country As the next few images illustrate, I am far from a purist when it comes to photography. I enjoy using various software programs to process images in unique ways to create a mood that matches what I felt when I was on the scene. There was a very prominent protective net around these vines and I used various post-processing techniques to reduce the visibility of the net and accentuate the grapes.
This shot was taken on the same foggy morning as the Letchworth Park image. The isolation of the tree against the interesting foreground was a car-stopper. A texture layer was added in processing to help bring the tree back to life in the fog.
This image was inspired by a Youtube video on nature photography. The author suggested deliberately moving the camera while taking images for a unique result. The foreground trees had already lost their leaves, but the background hillside still had plenty of color. From this vantage point, there was no way to get a good “normal” photo of the background fall color, but this composition still took advantage of that color indirectly.
This last image is a telephoto shot of an area of contrasting color behind my house. My objective was to accentuate the colors and de-emphasize the surrounding chaos of the branches,
Fall color becomes more sparse, yet more intense as the season wanes. It was a joy to be present for the “late show” this year. Even a sub-par fall is still beautiful!
July 2018 IN "THE PEN"
During our trip to Philadelphia earlier this month, we decided to visit a place I've wanted to photograph for a long time -- Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP). ESP was closed in 1971 and is now a photographic treat due to its uniqueness and state of disrepair. I've often seen pictures of this creepy place. Many of them are of the same 2 jail cells -- one previously occupied by Al Capone and another which features a barber's chair. I purposely avoided those iconic shots and tried to evoke a very dark, eerie mood with the photographs I made. It was quite crowded during our tour, but we found out that ESP offers private reservations to take photos before the general public is allowed in each day. The cost is $200 for the first hour and up to 5 people can enter for that fee. Additional hours are $150 each. Maybe next time... At $40 a head, that would be a real bargain! Private reservation or not, if you're a photographer don't miss this one on your next trip to Philadelphia.
This is my favorite image of the day. I was lucky to have this other person in the right place at the right time.
Many of the cells had this slit roof opening for light, dubbed "The Window of God" by those who designed the prison. The original concept of the prison was that solitary confinement and penitence would result in rehabilitation. This particular cell stood out because of the triangular stone on the back wall and the "sculpture" of bent metal.
This is a typical cell door, taken from one of the hallways in the cell block. This place just oozes texture!
This came in second in my mind for a creepy hallway picture. Once again, I got lucky to have a mysterious presence in the background.
This is one of the two story cell blocks. This one has access to outside. When taking this photo, I envisioned a man sitting on the bench, bent over, holding his head in his hands. ESP is simply a fantastic place to feed your imagination!
July 2018 STREET PHOTOGRAPHY FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
In preparation for another visit to Philadelphia, I decided to investigate the work of a photographer who has been interviewed a few times recently on podcasts I listen to. His name is Olaf Sztaba and some of his imagery is much different than that of other street photographers. He preaches being more in tune with composition, light, lines, and shapes when photographing in the street. This is not to say that there aren't people in his work, but that there are other, more important elements to many of his shots. He often says that he wants his audience to spend more time looking at each photo rather than just swiping to the next one on their device. Consequently, he tries to craft images that get attention, then draw the viewer in for further study. Another unique feature Olaf often employs is using purposeful under- and over-exposure in his photos.
Not only did I find Olaf's style interesting, I was also attracted to the idea that the resulting images often rendered any human subjects quite anonymous. This goes a long way toward mitigating the privacy controversy that often surrounds street photography. Below are some images I made on two early morning walks in Philadelphia earlier this month while trying to create something akin to what Olaf describes. It was a fun challenge!
This is a subway entrance with a sloping glass enclosure on top. It was my favorite street shot this trip.
In this instance, I liked the diagonal reflected light and the way the light rimmed the girl walking.
This is an attempt to make the viewer look deeper into the photo to figure out what is going on.
Ok, so this one wasn't anonymous.
Earth is a mysterious place...
I think these were sculptures representing game board pieces...
Loved the symmetry, the shapes and the contrast here.
Tennis player or hitman?
A morning stroll on a typical street in Philadelphia's Gayborhood section.
I just liked the shapes, tones and perspective on this garage entrance. It makes you wonder what is in the dark space.
Not in keeping with the above, there's just something about photographing bikers in the city...
I find that 1/30th to 1/40th of a second works well for these panning shots of bikers
April 2018 LONG OVERDUE
It's certainly been a long time! A good share of the last 2 years' Florida visits have been dedicated to selling one house and moving/getting settled in another. Nonetheless, I did get out several times during my Florida stay this winter and want to share some images with you.
This shot of the pilings from the old pier in Naples was my sole attempt at a true landscape on this trip. For me, landscape photos in Southwest Florida are mostly beach/water scenes since there are no hills and the increasingly scarce undeveloped land is more or less jungle or marsh. This spot has a lot of photographic potential, but it's difficult to find the right combination of sky, tide and lack of fishermen.
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Most of the shots from this year's Florida trip hail from 10,000 Islands National Wildlife Refuge, specifically the Marsh Trail. This trail is only a little over a mile long and I never got to the end of it, because my time was limited and there were always plenty of photo opportunities without going further. By mid-March, however, the water was drying up and brush fires had hampered the area as well. Here are a couple of shots along the trail itself
An immature Black-crowned Night Heron on his morning walk
On this trail, it's best to just keep walking......
One thing that was unique to this location compared to other sites I've been to in Southwest Florida was the fact that the trees (mainly mangroves) were not that tall, allowing relatively close photos of birds perching on treetops with sky backgrounds.
A Great Blue Heron (GBH). The GBHs and the Anhingas are probably the most human-tolerant birds here.
A Great Egret. I liked this one a lot
I liked it even better in black and white. What do you think? I'd love to know which you prefer!
Another great blue heron
When you are able to observe the mannerisms of herons and egrets hunting while simultaneously walking near alligators, you just can't help but feel like you're among dinosaurs.
This particularly pretty GBH was in more or less the same location every time I came to this trail.
Just like us, birds like to eat. Since there are no fish in the trees....
A green heron poised for breakfast
A limpkin. This was only the second time I've seen one.
Tricolored Heron
Another Tricolored Heron. What a difference posture and lighting can make!
Some favorite moments from this trip were captured with the subject too far away and/or the light too dim for a quality image in the true sense. For several of them, I chose to process them in a more artistic fashion
A Great Blue Heron surveying the mangroves...
An ibis flock in flight...
The lookout....
A Little Blue Heron on the prowl...
The moment before the big swallow...
In the end, it's at least as much about the experience as it is about the resulting photo. These final photos were taken during some special moments:
Taken at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, this is the first time I've seen an Anhinga in mating phase -- and I've seen hundreds of Anhingas.
For comparison, here is a photo taken a couple of years ago of another female Anhinga.
This Bald Eagle is the first I've ever photographed. This bird was present on 3 different days, but never very close to the trail.
This Roseate Spoonbill gave me a full 5 minutes of posing before wading out of sight. While the Bald Eagle was a bit too far away, this spoonbill was actually too close. I had my 300mm lens on with the 1.4 teleconverter when I spotted it. Being careful not to spook the bird, I chose to just take photos without changing lenses. Many times, I could not fit the whole body in the frame. Spoonbills are somewhat shy and not as commonly seen as many of the birds above, so this was a special treat.
Thank you for taking the time to check out my photo blog!
February 2017 NEW YEAR, NEW GEAR - EVEN MORE SWAMP LIFE!
It sure feels fantastic to be back in Naples with great weather nearly every day and an abundance of nature. Since my last post, I've sold off all of my Nikon gear and am shooting exclusively with mirrorless Olympus micro four thirds gear which is smaller and lighter. There's a learning curve, but I'm enjoying it. For any trips with significant hiking, I take only a front pack which holds my camera body with the telephoto lens attached. There's really no need for a tripod since the image stabilization works so well with the new camera and lenses.
This year the water level is low again, so the wading birds are back in full force in the swamps. The past couple of years, the water was too deep for them to forage for food, so there were fewer of them in the typical photographic hot spots.
I'm still getting used to the new gear, but here are a few first attempts:
Peekaboo! This red-shouldered hawk was watching me intently.
Male Anhinga
Black-crowned Night Heron (mature)
Wood Ducks. With Wood Ducks, both the male and female are colorful. I hope to get an even better image of Wood Ducks before leaving this year.
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron (immature)
Limpkin. This was the first time I've had more than just a glimpse of a Limpkin.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
August 2016 GLIMPSES OF PHILLY
We spent the weekend in Philly again visiting Austin. All of the photos below were taken with the OMD EM5 Mark II on my morning walks. In the city, I'm not the only crazy person who's up early on the weekend.
June 2016 24 HOURS IN THE ADIRONDACKS
The Adirondacks certainly are beautiful. Unfortunately, they're just far enough away (three and a half to five and a half hours by car depending on destination) that I rarely get there. Nonetheless, I had an opportunity to visit this weekend and tried to make the most of it. I was not able to hit the trail on day one until mid-morning. It was a very sunny day which made for a pleasant hiking experience, but poor pictures. My first decent photos of the day were taken at night at Limekiln Lake. I was amazed by the number of full campsites at this remote lake. Below are a couple of images taken between 9:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The first shows some lanterns and campfires at the far shore, whereas the second was taken later and shows a portion of the shore that has no campsites. While I was shooting, I was entertained by a trio I had never heard together before - bullfrogs, loons and coyotes were all calling at once.
The next morning, I was up early and planned to get to the top of a nearby mountain that boasted a short hike to the summit with good views (Bald Mountain). While driving to the trail, the colors and clouds in the sky were spectacular and I wished I had set an alarm to get up before sunrise so I could have been at the summit for that view. Luckily, the light was still decent when I got to the top after a 30 minute climb from the parking area. This first shot is a wide angle view about an hour after sunrise.
The image below was taken with a telephoto lens at a slightly different angle about 30 minutes later.
This trip was certainly both short and sweet, but convinced me that I need to get to the Adirondacks more often.
June 2016 FATHER'S DAY AT SALT SPRINGS
My father's day got off to a great start today with a trip to Salt Springs State Park in Montrose, PA. It's only 25 minutes from my house. Even better, I had the place all to myself -- didn't see another soul the whole time. I guess Sunday from about 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. is not hiking time for most (unless you're a landscape photographer). This is my second time taking photos here, but my last visit was several years ago. It's a steep, but short hike to the falls. June is a good time to go if you're taking photos, since the leaves are green and there's enough water for the falls, yet not so much that climbing around to get photos is dangerous. Here are my 3 favorites from the trip:
June 2016 BACK TO THE STREET
Why street photography? I listen to many photographic podcasts and several I've enjoyed lately have touched upon the basis for each individual photographer's passion. For me, photography always involves exploration. Exploration provides an escape -- a way to become totally absorbed in studying a subject that is somewhat foreign and usually inaccessible to me. My photography often involves a type of hunting as well. Although I have no desire to shoot anything with intent to harm or kill, I very much enjoy the thrill of the hunt that precedes "shooting the frame". Lastly, the bulk of my images are shot outside and I love being outside. Of course, photography always involves artistic and technical aspects which I enjoy, but images that also require exploration and hunting bring me the most joy. Not surprisingly, nature photography has always attracted me. I have only recently developed an interest in street photography. These two photographic genres are quite disparate, however they both involve being outside. Since I don't live in an urban environment, street photography always involves exploring an environment I am unfamiliar with and then hunting the subject and/or awaiting the decisive moment that creates the most compelling image. Below are some images I made one morning on the streets of Philadelphia during a recent trip there:
March 2016 THE OTHER THINGS IN THE SWAMP
Most of the time when I'm taking photos in the swamp here in Southwest Florida, I'm after the larger birds. They certainly make great subjects for photography and their size makes it somewhat easier to get a quality image. This year, however, Florida had the wettest January in years. The water level in the swamps is too high for most of the wading birds to successfully forage in the swamp. The swamp is still a great place for photography, but I've had to find other subjects most of the time. Regardless, there is far more "life" to photograph here than in the northeast this time of year.
A Pied-billed Grebe with his catch.
In the swamp, you always have the feeling that you're being watched...
When the big birds are largely absent, you try for the little birds. They're not only smaller, but faster and often more skittish so getting a quality image is a challenge.
I'm no expert, but some online research seems to indicate that the two birds above are both Yellow-rumped Warblers. From what I could find online, it's more a difference in maturity than sex that makes these particular two birds look quite a bit different.
To me, this moss is the perfect example of how vibrant the swamp is.
Marsh Pennywort. It's found throughout the swamp, but this is the first good image I've taken of it with just the right light and just the right arrangement. The stump in the background is a Cypress Knee, a growth associated with the roots of Cypress trees.
Resurrection Ferns on a tree. I took some creative license with this image, but these ferns are shriveled up and more brown than green. They supposedly can live like this for years and then become larger, green and lush once they are rehydrated, hence their name.
Last but not least, I did capture this Woodstork hunting for food among the Pennywort.
February, 2016 MOONSHINE
After a long hiatus from blogging, I'm back at it and have created a new look for the website as well. I was disappointed that the images on the previous website weren't large enough on the screen. Also, the previous site was more difficult technically than this Squarespace site. I've updated this new website with most of my best photos from the last 3 years and a few old favorites. Take a look through them when you get a chance. I hope you enjoy the new site.
I wanted to get a shot of the pier in Naples with a full moon, so I did some research and found out when the moon would be full and in the right location. Luckily I'm an early riser anyway, but these shots were taken between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m. I wasn't the only crazy person in attendance though; there were 2 other photographers and many fishermen. Shooting the pier in relative darkness while getting some detail to show in the full moon is a difficult task, but I enjoyed the challenge. I'd like to try it again with a crescent moon instead. I'd love to hear which of these is your pick for favorite in this moonlit pier series.
Pic 1. This was what things looked like around 4:15 or so. I got lucky with the clouds on this day; there were just enough clouds to make things interesting.
Pic 2. Since I was earlier than I really needed to be, I decided to get a different perspective from the pier itself before the moon got too far to the right.
There are only so many ways to skin a cat, so I decided to shoot this one vertically since the moon was not yet low enough to get the pier and the moon horizontally. I liked this one better in black and white.
Pic 4. By the time the shot I had envisioned was available, there were quite a few fishermen. To Photoshop or not to Photoshop? I chose not.
Pic 5. Here's one way to avoid the fishermen. It was a rare day as I got to actually watch the full moon set over the gulf.