Category Archives: Outings

Everglades Workshop was great!

By paul | Published December 7, 2009

I had a great time leading and teaching three awesome students in the Everglades this weekend. Scott Anderson, Gema Saiz, and Barbara Martin allowed me to drag them around and show them the Everglades that I love. We got a little wet and a little muddy at times, but we had a fun doing it and were rewarded with great light. Here is the sunset from Friday night, just as it was starting to get good.

Diamondback Rattler!

By paul | Published December 3, 2009

I was out scouting the Everglades today for my workshop this weekend and came across my first living Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. It was a healthy fat one at maybe 3 1/2 feet. I didn’t get any portfolio shots as he wasn’t too cooperative. I used my 180mm macro and wasn’t too comfortable with the shooting (lack of) distance but I made do to get some documentary shots. Unfortunately all the others I have seen were roadkill so I am glad to finally see a live one, and a beautiful one at that. Enjoy.

Also posted in Everglades, Images | Tagged Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, Everglades | 7 Comments

Great Smoky Mountain National Park

By paul | Published October 14, 2009

A little late on getting this up. I went with a friend through the Smokies the first week of October on our way to see friends in Nashville. The weather was perfect and it was a great time. I hope to go back and shoot more extensively with better conditions. We were a bit early for fall but still found some beautiful scenery. My favorite was probably the Roaring Fork Motor Trail, just outside of Gatlinburg. I also enjoyed the Tremont area a lot. Cade’s Cove was a bit crowded but did offer some great opportunities in the morning with fog and deer. Clingman’s Dome is also a must visit shot for sunset, with the many layers of mountains. It is an awesome view.We also had 14 sightings of black bear, several being yearlings and cubs.

Also posted in Images | Tagged Cade's Cove, Clingman's Dome, Deer, fog, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Long-exposure, Roaring Fork, stream | 8 Comments

Archbold Biological Station/Lake Wales Ridge

By paul | Published September 24, 2009

Last weekend I got to spend time in Archbold Biological Station. It is a private research area on the Lake Wales Ridge. The Lake Wales Ridge is a very unique and interesting ecosystem. It is home to 20 plants and 6 animals that are federally listed protected species. Two of the more well known of these are the Florida Scrub Jay, Florida’s only endemic bird and the gopher tortoise.

The scrub was the habitat I enjoyed the most. Scrub is Florida’s desert. It does have cactus(I only found it once the hard way) and several other spiny plants. It is also full of scrub oak, rosemary and palmetto. There is a grasshopper and moth whose lives revolve solely around rosemary. The scrub does receive up to 50 inches of rain a year but due to the sandy soil, is quite dry. Many plants overcome this with extensive root systems and small or narrow leaves to combat water loss. The scrub is important because the sandy soils allow rainwater to drain and replenish the aquifer.

The habitat is visually overwhelming. There are so many textures squeezed in everywhere, it is hard to find order in it. I focused on a lot of intimate scenes, something a bit new for me. I did my best but definitely want to try more with a return trip.

Also posted in Images | Tagged Archbold Biological Station, gopher tortoise, interior scrub, Lake Wales Ridge, Rosemary Bald, scrub, scrub jay, sunset | 2 Comments

The Amazon of North America

By paul | Published July 20, 2009

I again joined Keith Bradley and Judd Patterson on an excursion, this time into the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. We were also lucky to have Alan Cressler and Manuel Beers along, full of energy. I had been tromping around in the Fakahatchee a little before, but never as far as we had planned. We set out about 7:30 am and got to following the gps coordinates. We had a few places Alan was hoping to avoid, extremely thick growth that would just make it slower going than the average .3 mph we ended the day with. The water was usually somewhere between knee and waist deep, but there was a spot or two that required lifting the camera bags up just in case.

I also had some new shoes to try, instead of the usual barefoot. These bad boys were going to protect my feet from the feisty crayfish. They worked pretty well.

Anyways, we were headed for an area called the “Cathedral”, full of rare orchids, ferns, bromeliads, and other epiphytes. It is really a forest growing on a forest, with so much life all around you. It is a visual overload and truly is “The Amazon of the Everglades”. Enjoy the views.