2017 Challenge: Personal Pet Photography

Sassy (front) and Midnight, giving the 'look' we get if they decide to actually let us photograph them. Karl did this one.

Three years ago we opened our home to two homeless cats, sisters, one pure black and the other pure gray. Sassy and Midnight were strays, and both remain easily frightened and skittish even after more than two years as house cats. Sassy gradually evolved into a lap cat who actually seeks us out for attention. Midnight still does not want held, though she is more than happy to rub against our legs and purr, always when we are in the kitchen and she is hoping for food.

Naturally I saw all kinds of photographic opportunities with two subjects close at hand. I forgot the first rule of cats: What the human wants doesn’t matter. Both dislike cameras, and recognize them even when they are disguised as phones. Obviously they didn’t realize they had chosen to live with two photographers. When we can get a shot, we generally get a very haughty warning look, not those cute, cuddly “awww” looks that everyone posts on social media all the time.

 

To date, most photographs are blurry backsides as they race away until I come to my senses and put the camera down. I have better luck with the small warblers during migration! After a month of attempting a reasonable photograph to use for a Christmas card, we gave up. Either they ran, or the look they gave would cause any recipient to put the card to the back of their Christmas card display.I finally got this one, with only Midnight, giving the "look", too late for a card.

This year is the year of the cat photograph. I plan to frustrate myself by attempting to do a photo essay of our housemates, Sassy and Midnight. By next December, I will have something we can put in the card. Maybe they will even give one of those cute, cuddly looks…

A New Focus and New Look for 2017

Sunrise at Fort Clinch State Park, from the beach near the campground, December 2016

This blog, and its predecessor, underwent either major or minor changes since we started blogging eight years ago. I believe that any good idea should be reviewed and tweaked where needed to reflect new interests, technologies, or directions.

We enjoyed a recent visit from our niece and her family. She has an online business and blog in addition to her day job, so we exchanged ideas. She asked why we didn't expand the subjects about which we blog. I told her I had always focused most of the entries on the areas in which we specialize in photography for our retail business, namely nature and travel. As I thought about what she said, I realized that we had been limiting the blog. The PLUS of this blog should encompass the other areas of photography and writing that we do, in addition to the nature and travel.

So, starting in 2017 Nichter Photography PLUS will feature a lot of the PLUS. I hope you can join us.

No Photography Hike in December

Our Brooker Creek Photography hikes take place on the last Saturday of each month at Brooker Creek Preserve in Tarpon Springs, FL. Because the last Saturday this month is also New Year's Eve, and everyone is likely getting ready for their celebrations to greet 2017, the hike will not take place.

In January we do a photography class rather than a hike, with a short hike at the end weather permitting. That is on, and will take place on January 28. We hope you can join us.

Apalachicola Maritime Museum

Birds on Pier

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In spite of visiting Apalachicola several times while camping nearby, we never visited the Maritime Museum. This time we did, and we will visit again.

This small museum packs a lot of information, so take your time to walk around. The story of Apalachicola, and how it reinvented itself so many times over the centuries as one major industry died out and another took its place, inspires even the most cynical. In so many ways it is a microcosm of our country, always moving forward and finding something new when the existing business died out.

Be sure to take a walk out the back door to the pier. Right next door to a fishing business, the gulls, terns, and pelicans crowd on the pier of that building waiting for scraps. As we watched, a flock of pelicans flew overhead trying to land on the already crowded pier, causing the noisy, restless birds already there to start calling, flying around, and then everyone landed again.

Various boat tours are available, but unfortunately on this visit we were unable to take one. Something to look forward to for our next visit.

October Hike at Brooker Creek Preserve

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The weather cooled and the humidity dropped just in time for our once a month photography hike at Brooker Creek Preserve in Tarpon Springs, FL. The hike starts at 8:30 with a brief presentation introducing us, talking about the time of year and what we might see, then a quick refresher of photography basics. We hike until 10:15 or 10:30, depending on the group, what we see to photograph, and conversation. Frequently during the hike Karl or I will stop the group and talk about photography or the local nature or both.

Recently I found a tree with a lot of lichen, especially British Soldiers (Cladonia cristatella). I had some fun with macro trying to form a “landscape”. 

Lichen Landscape

 The autumn wildflowers come and go this time of year, and we can never tell what wildlife may show up. One recent early morning hike we spotted this hawk on the top of a snag just over the bridge. After several minutes, he condescended to look over his shoulder so I could take a shot of something other than his (very beautiful) back feathers.

 

Hawk

Please join us if you are in the area.

St. George Island State Park

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Karl watching sunrise.

We spent the better part of a beautiful October week camping in our van RV at St. George Island State Park. After passing the ranger station, a four mile drive takes you to the campground which occupies the eastern end of the island. The sand dunes, always impressive, pop visually in the early morning or late evening sun. Ghost crabs scurry along the road, usually not seen until they run out of the way.

Ghost crab in the early morning surf.

Each morning we walked to the beach to watch the sunrise, followed by a leisurely walk down the shore and then back to the van for breakfast. Every morning a small number of other campers walked, drove, or biked to the same destination for the same purpose. Sunrise fascinates humans. Locations boast of their fantastic sunrises to temp tourists, the internet contains any number of articles or blog posts on where to see the best sunrise, 15 best places in the world to watch the sunrise, and an infinite number of permutations on the same topic. Watching one over the Gulf of Mexico in the early morning on a nearly secluded beach does evoke a pleasant peacefulness, and a wonderful start to the day.

We hoped to hike more than we did, but the nice cooler temperatures promised in the long range forecast for the ten days before our trip never arrived. The cold front pushed much warmer weather in front of it. The breeze from the Gulf kept us comfortable as long as we stayed out of the direct sun mid-day, so each late morning we packed up and drove in a different direction to enjoy the museums, aquariums, shops and restaurants of St. George, Apalachicola, and Panacea. We returned to the beach mid-afternoon, waded in the water, and then retreated to the van in the nearby parking lot which stayed very pleasant with the windows open and the side door open and capturing the breeze from the Gulf. A few hours later we returned to our campsite and sat outdoors (some mosquitoes, not too bad until dusk), reading whatever books or magazines we brought, and talking about the day.

We both took a technology break this trip, no email or internet. I’ve read recommendations on taking this type of break, but as a technologist for the last 30 years I never tried it before. It really works! I definitely plan on doing it more often.

 

Wildflowers, and a Festival at Brooker Creek Preserve

Blue Curl - this flower is very small, taken with a macro lens

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Starting in September, although it remains warm and humid and suspiciously like August, we start to see the signs of the wildflowers to come. The recognizable stalks, leaves, and flower heads emerge, and each hike we walk by to see if they finally bloomed. Both Spring and Fall bring a profusion of wildflowers to central Florida, and while some have a favorite most love both seasons and the flowers they bring. That said, the wildflowers of Fall seem to be the most welcome, perhaps because in addition to their beauty they announce the return to the slightly cooler temperatures and much lower humidity that we lost sometime in June.

Each year Brooker Creek Preserve in Tarpon Springs, FL holds a Wildflower Festival. This free event, held October 15 this year, features a wildflower quest along one of the hiking trails to find all the wildflowers in bloom. After completing the quest, explore the various exhibits such as a walk through butterfly tent, and also a bee hive with a beekeeper explaining and answering questions. After that, sit in on talks on wildflower gardening, and wildflower photography (this one done by us), in short sessions repeated through the day. Children can spend some time completing various crafts pertaining to wildflowers.

Karl worked several years on a project photographing wildflowers, in general portraits done with a macro. I contributed a few done with a zoom lens. We will be showing some of those portraits, and sharing how we achieved the result, in our talk on Saturday. We hope to see you there if you are in the area.

Catesby's Lily - endangered species, Fall wildflower found in Preserve in September and October