Meet Horace /  by Dave Hileman

Or at least that is what one kayaker said his name was. Horace is a 30 pound plus snapping turtle that lives under the 2.0 mile dock on the Silver River at Silver Springs State Park. Drop a cracker and it is gone in an instant, dangle a toe, don’t know but not recommended.

Portrait Project #13 /  by Dave Hileman

Meet Lisa, a realtor from Fort Myers area. I met her on the old set of Sea Hunt that is still on the river in Silver Springs. They filmed 130+ shows here. We met because she saw my camera and lens and was frustrated as her camera was not working right. She was upset that she missed several pictures because it would not focus. She then got it out of her bag and asked if I knew what was wrong. I did! Everyone apply their shocked face right now. I noticed that the switch on the side of her long lens for autofocus was off, moved the lever and, presto, fixed. Not that I ever had that issue. She was here to explore the area around Ocala because home sales here were soaring. I saw her two or three more times that morning as we both were out shooting.

Swamp Things /  by Dave Hileman

Rusty Harman and I rode 20 miles on the Van Fleet State Trail in central Florida. It is an old railroad bed and is flat as flat can be and it is straight, one tiny bend in 29 miles. It also goes through the Green Swamp Conservation Area and that is where today’s photo was shot. There were two vehicles about 100 feet off the trail (so, no we did not discover them:). The foreground is a late 30’s early 40’s truck, not sure of the make and the back car is a 56 Chevy. Both long abandoned and rust is quickly melting them into the ground.

Low mileage if you might be interested in a classic

Portrait Project #12 /  by Dave Hileman

Meet Gilles a most interesting man from Quebec. He was in Florida at Fort Clinch State Park when I was there. One evening, I was walking toward the beach and he was cycling back from the beach and both of us stopped about 50 feet apart as we were watching a deer grazing in the tall grass. (see photo from Feb 5). We talked awhile. He is pretty decent communicating in English although he is a native French speaker and me with zero French could not help. But we found much in common. We both like to travel, both have blogs, both like photography and both have RV’s. He however also sported an elegant mustache. A very nice man and his travel blog or blogue is found here: dianegilles.blogspot.com If you speak French, perfect, if not, google translate does a pretty decent job of it. Salutations, Gilles,

Kayak Ad Shoot page two, Just the Model and Boat /  by Dave Hileman

All of these were shot hand held from 60 to 150 yards across the Silver River with the Fuji X-T5 and a 150 to 600 lens. It was late afternoon and so it was a high ISO and the boat and the model were always moving so also a rather high shutter speed but not too fast as it was far away and I did not need extra fast shutter. It was a fun afternoon to shoot something very different than the birds I intended to find along the river.

Men at Work /  by Dave Hileman

These tugs were working to set up a dredging operation off the coast of Fernandina Beach to deepen the mouth of the St. Marys River. The US operates a submarine base off the river in Georgia and they keep the mouth at the Atlantic extra deep,.

Ibis Circle /  by Dave Hileman

I startled a flock of Ibis and they took off noisily into the sky forming an “O” as they left. They roosted in a tree about 100 yards away and then dispersed along the river. This was from the Kayak in the Silver River, Florida.

Kayak Ad Shoot /  by Dave Hileman

I went to the river to try and see some birds and photograph them, but there I found a crew about to shoot an ad for a kayak company located in Wilmington, NC. They had four crew, one kayak and one model who did not know how to paddle so a quick lesson on how to hold the paddle took place before the launch. They were on the opposite side of the river from my position on the dock where I was with an ad person and the director of the crew. I shot across the river with my long lens. Had a good time. Today’s photos are all with the crew in sight, I will do a few more of just the model and the kayak later.

Another Pair of Manatee/ /  by Dave Hileman

And the mother is in the foreground, her 10 day old baby just surfaced behind her. This was the second of the very young manatee I saw over a few days at Silver Springs State Park. I told the couple in the red canoe as they passed on the main river about the baby and they came to see and added a lot to the photo.

A Little Monkey Business in Florida /  by Dave Hileman

At Silver Springs State Park in Florida you may encounter wild monkeys. The park is one of the few places in the US where they have not only escaped but these have thrived. The group I encountered numbered about 35 and were eating the leaves near the top of the trees or just running and playing. The original group was released decades ago when a man operated a tour here called Jungle Cruise and added these animals. When his venture failed the monkeys were just released. The better story that is told is that they escaped when they shot a Tarzan movie here but that common tale is not true.

They are fun to watch and seemed to avoid people staying off the boardwalk and even when close ignored the people watching.

Woodduck (2 photos) /  by Dave Hileman

This is a beautiful bird and I encountered him while kayaking at the Silver Springs State Park in Florida. He was standing on a small bit of log in a quiet cove. I was the first boat in the water that day and did not even see a second boat until an hour later. It was so nice. So I was with the current here and coasted with my camera ready to about 12-15 feet from the bird and took the shot. He showed no sign of distress so I just stayed a couple of minutes and watched as the female also emerged and settled in the water at the other end of the log. Great moment.

This was the alternative post for Valentine's Day /  by Dave Hileman

This female cardinal is poised. She has put on fresh beakstick, applied a bit of rouge and had her stylist add just a touch of color and, those eyes, they don’t miss a thing. She finds a prominent branch in a good neighborhood with a sunny slant to show off her well-feathered figure and then, coyly, glances over a toned wing while she waits.

Meanwhile, in the second photo, the male cardinal wakes up! Now alert to her high above and thinks “he” has a great original idea. Right!

Fort Clinch /  by Dave Hileman

Since I posted the Sally Port, I thought i ought to post more of the fort. It never saw any hostile action but still served as a defense position for the important harbors. One of the larger of the all brick forts only a few of the bricks were made locally, most came by ship from South Carolina. It occupied briefly by the Confederacy but they withdrew and the Union took control early in the war. Today it is part of the Florida State Park system and has a small museum, a lot of the fort to explore and they charge a modest entry fee. On many weekends there are volunteer costumed guides to answer questions and show some of the life required to man such a fort.

Portrait Project # 11 /  by Dave Hileman

I met Kenneth on a dock along the Silver River in Silver Springs State Park, FL. He was paddling a very small, light weight vessel that was mostly canoe with a touch of kayak. Kenneth was most interesting. He said he was just a hippie gypsy. He is from Vermont where he works a bit each year as a painter to support his travels that he does most frugally. And successfully, he has been to 132 countries. Wow. We talked about places he has seen and the wildlife he enjoys so much. And he lives in his minivan or hitchhikes. Who knew people still did that. I used to hitchhike to work while in high school but even then it seemed less simple then what you read about a few years before that when it was more ordinary. I once picked up an Amish man in Lancaster County, PA who was carrying a huge watermelon. It felt virtuous - not the watermelon.

So after a bit, Kenneth bid me goodbye and paddled off to his next adventure.

All Together Now....awwww..... /  by Dave Hileman

The little nose you see poking out of the water belongs to a four day-old manatee at Silver Springs in Florida. That is mom to the left of her baby and in a protective posture keeping the little one shoreside of her. Some male manatee will occasionally attack the mother to get milk and she defends herself to feed the newborn. I also shot a photo of another manatee about 12 days old when I saw him/her and I will post that photo sometime here. This one was taken from a boardwalk the other I took from a kayak. The ranger was the source for the ages of the newly arriving manatee.

Sally Port /  by Dave Hileman

This is the only entrance to Fort Clinch along the St. Marys River east of Jacksonville, FL The fort was built in the early 1800’s to protect the harbors up river - which now include a major submarine base for the USNavy - but I don’t thing they depend on the fort’s armaments. The sally port was from the old meaning of sally as in bursting forth and would be used to attack the attackers of the fort or for going out on a mission (“sally forth”) from the fort. There are still sally ports today in prisons, for example. A fort’s sally port almost always had a cannon located so if the port was breached by attackers, the first thing they met was a burst of grapeshot from the cannon. This fort usually has a cannon by the flag pole but it was out back getting a repair.

Clearly the educational value of Two Lane Touring is staggering. If you pass the test I offer, after 4 years of viewing, I imagine many prestigious universities would be happy to grant you scores of credits.