Alligators!

I found some alligator photos I took a year or so ago. This alligator was quite active, so I was able to get some interesting shots.

These were taken with a 400mm lens. I was not that close!

October Photography Hike at Brooker Creek

Close-up of Spores on a Fern with zoom lens

This Saturday, October 28, we lead our monthly hike at Brooker Creek Preserve, Tarpon Springs, FL. Our hike coincides with the 2nd Annual Owl-O-Ween Festival at the Preserve, so photo opportunities may include some of the festivities.

The winter residents returned over the past month, and plenty of Gray Catbirds can be seen and heard. The cooler and less humid weather makes hiking far more comfortable, and the wildflowers still bloom.

If you are in the area, please join us. As Interpretive Naturalists in addition to professional photographers, each hike takes on a different theme and direction depending upon the season, the weather, and of course the hikers.

Cropping for a New Image

“Making” a photograph rather than “taking” a photograph started coming into vogue as a photography trend more than a year ago. As with most trends, it repackages something photographers do all the time and did from the time photography started. Before digital photography, photographers developing their film cropped, dodged and burned, and ‘made’ the finished print from a photograph negative they took. Digital photography gives everyone the ability to emulate those processes in their software.

A recent botany hike inspired me to start cropping closer on some of my flower photography. Botanically, that which we see as a flower may in fact be many smaller flowers crowded on one head.

Autumn wildflower season seemed the perfect time to start. I plan to start shooting some flowers specifically with cropping for a new image in mind, but to start I looked at what I took last week and chose one for experimentation.

I liked how my original shot of a flower head turned into a field of flowers upon close crop.

Animals We See Everyday

How many times do we skip taking a shot of a squirrel, or rabbit, or other subject familiar to us? After all, they don’t fall into the ‘special, look at this!’ category.

Getting a special shot of something common or known to us can be as rewarding as the shots of things we regard as special. 

Pygmy Rattlesnake

This is not a great, or maybe even good, photograph. The background is cluttered, and you can barely see the subject. In the middle of the photography, just to center right, the grayish snake with black splotches can be seen. The snake blends in well with the fallen branches and browned leaves.

That is the point of the photograph.

When hiking we always give a warning that in a natural area here in west central Florida, venomous snakes make their home. We have in the past come upon these snakes on trails, not moving but watching us. Humans don’t concern them as much as they concern other types of snakes, who usually move away fast when they sense us.

I almost didn’t take this shot, which with a Canon 85mm prime (no zoom) and the distance of the snake I knew would make a cluttered shot. Then I switched from photographer to naturalist mode and realized this illustrates a good example of a pygmy rattlesnake for those who never saw one, and also shows just how difficult they can be to find in their native surroundings.

Sandhill Cranes in the Road

Sandhill Cranes in the road, not moving for people or cars

We had a strange experience with some Sandhill Cranes last week. I started on my morning run about 6 a.m. as usual, before the sun makes it too hot and the traffic makes it too dangerous. The darkness on the road is punctuated regularly by new LED street lights, making the road very well lit. As I came around the circle I looked up and as I ran realized something was in the road just out of the light. I slowed down to a walk and cautiously approached. Our much suburbanized neighborhood borders the Gulf of Mexico and Trouble Creek, with a park and small preserve on the other side of the creek. I often see raccoons, opossum, armadillos, and once a beautiful coyote.  Of course, my fellow early morning exercisers cross my path regularly too.

As my eyes adjusted, I realized four Sandhill Cranes stood in the middle of the road. I continued to approach, and saw all were on one leg in a roosting type position. Oddly, they saw me coming and never moved. I came quite close and they just watched, never moving at all. We often hear Sandhill Cranes and see them flying overhead, but this is the first time I saw any landed in our area. I had just passed our street so went back, found Karl, and showed him the birds. I left to get my camera, and he also approached them closely finding they would not move.

As I took a few shots, a car sped up the street, and stopped suddenly just feet from the four who still had not moved. The car sat there for a minute, then went around as the birds finally started showing some animation and milled about, but still in the same of the road. I used a very high ISO with no flash to avoid spooking or startling the cranes, though if they didn't move for the headlights of a fast approaching car, it probably made no difference.

Karl heard the trash truck coming, and managed to get the birds off the road. As the truck passed, the noise finally stirred them and they took off with the loud squawk for which they are known.

We debated on what caused them to simply stand and not move for people, cars, or anything else. We wondered if a predator lurked in one of the lawns, though the houses are close together the lawns not large. Whatever it was, it certainly surprised us. We were happy they flew off to safety, and have not seen them since.

Hike at Brooker Creek Preserve

Beautyberries after a rain

Our hike went ahead at Brooker Creek Preserve on Saturday, September 30. The trees blocking the main boardwalk from Hurricane Irma had been cleared.

Autumn, which started a week before, brings changes to central Florida. For our hike those changes unfortunately did not include reduced temperatures and humidity. Beautyberries, in their bright purple clusters, dot nearly every bush along the boardwalk and trails. We came upon wildflowers in various stages of growth and bloom, some our autumn flowers and some normally Spring flowers, fooled by the length of day and the amount of rain.

Spiders built nests everywhere. The first person walking the trail generally found the web, either by sight or by walking through. In addition to the Golden Silk Orbweaver, seen frequently here, we saw Spotted Orbweavers, one of the Autumn spiders, and several we couldn’t see close enough to identify. That did not stop us from photographing the beautiful webs.

 

Spotted Orbweaver in web from the boardwalk

The birds, for the most part, remained in the canopy. We could hear but not see. A few warblers flitted through long enough for identification by binoculars, but not long enough for a photograph. Near the end of the hike a pair of Northern cardinals kindly posed in a bush, and sat for a minute or two eating some berries. Several of the hikers got a shot.

All the rain from our recent hurricane means that the water levels are high. We usually see some wading birds, an Anhinga, and an alligator or two from the bridge, but not on this hike. We did encounter, and endure firsthand experience, with mosquitoes, which we  had been told to expect.

We hope to see those of you who came to this hike, and others, on the next hike, October 28. Our hike themes vary depending upon the time of year, likely photo opportunities, and the interests of the people who join us. Thank you!