An interesting aspect of walking around the town of Fernandina Beach on an island off Jacksonville, FL, is that the train here goes right through town and you can see them very close as they go quite slow. I know many towns have trains in the middle but this is on an island and is right in the midst of all the fine shops and restaurants. Just seems neat. The old station is now a very nice visitor’s center with a small parklike oasis right along the tracks.
Not What It Appears. /
This lump of dirt is covering the structure of a Navajo hogan. On the back country tour of the Monument Valley we stopped at this hogan. A family chooses to live here to keep touch with the old ways. The kids must walk two miles to school and more if they miss the bus that brings them close to their home. Often they will leave two hours before school in order to be on time. The family was warm and welcoming and the hogan light and airy - not what I expected. Quite a treat.
Portrait Project #14 /
This is Mark who is much more at home on the other side of the camera. He is an award winning, accomplished, professional photographer. Mark has done some amazing projects for National Geographic, BBC, PBS, dozens of companies and is also a film maker, producer and musician who writes scores for many of the shows you have seen on television. He was in Florida at the Silver Springs State Park to put up an exhibit of photographs from the park and I happened upon him as I was wandering around the park. We talked a bit about his work, his photographs, and I looked at one of his books that was on display. I asked him if I could take his photograph and why, he agreed. However he was a bit stoic, so I said something like, I was sorry this was such an ordeal for him and that elicited a smile. Then he said, when he realized what I did produced the smile, “This is not your first rodeo.” I took that from him as a compliment. You must visit Mark’s website at https://markemeryfilms.com
Stalking /
You can see these White Egrets many places and often closer than this photo but I liked the context where the bird was stalking fish in the shallows of the Silver River in Florida. The huge trees and deep foliage make this bird seem more diminutive that it really is and somehow more striking as it wades in the water seeking prey.
Sunday Scripture: Photo is from East Knoxville, Tennessee. /
Meet Horace /
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.
Art Installation /
Found this neat art project on a wall in an alley in Florida. I liked the concept, the colors and the whimsy. Made me smile.
Portrait Project #13 /
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 /
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 /
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 /
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.
Sunday Scripture: Photo from Knoxville Botanical Garden /
Men at Work /
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 /
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 /
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/ /
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 /
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) /
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.
Sunday Scripture: Photo from Christmas Eve, Raleigh, NC /
This was the alternative post for Valentine's Day /
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!
