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

Side Trip: Lunch at Cedar Key

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Hurricane Hermine made landfall on the Florida Panhandle September 2 as a category 1 hurricane, the first to make landfall in Florida since 2005. We remained housebound here in central Florida for a day or two due to the prodigious amount of rainfall it deposited over our area, and saw standing water and some flooding local streets, but generally we emerged unscathed.

We watched and read about the storm surge at Cedar Key and other areas north. We stared at news coverage of streets we frequently walked and businesses we often visited completely flooded. We discovered Cedar Key decades ago, fell in love with the island town, and visit and stay frequently. Media coverage dissipates along with a hurricane. After constant and often over-dramatized coverage just before and during the event, we are left to wonder what ever happened to those flooded streets, damaged buildings, and the people who live and work there when the coverage stops. Anytime a hurricane, major ice storm, large blizzard, tornado or other event occurs, rebuilding takes longer than expected and generally occurs out of the public eye.

On a road trip four weeks later we decided to visit Cedar Key for lunch. We do often stop for lunch there when heading north on road trips, so our trip was more than just curiosity. We found it recovering nicely. Most businesses were open, though the crowds we normally expected to see on a beautiful, autumn Florida day tended to be sparse. Scattered around evidence of the damage could be seen: still closed condos in one place, large dumpsters in a few places, the old building near the bridge (empty for some time) pretty much destroyed.

I am sure there is still a lot to be done, but overall, Cedar Key showed itself to be a resilient place. We enjoyed lunch at Steamer’s, bought a few items at a couple of the shops, and then continued on our way. 

Looking Out a Window: At the Dali Museum

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A recent visit to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL gave me a new perspective on the Looking Out a Window photography project I started six months ago. From the third floor atrium the Enigma, a geodesic glass dome, floods the inside with natural light from above and swoops down overlooking the water, carrying the avant-garde theme of the museum into the natural world.

At first I wondered if those windows ‘counted’. Most of my portfolio for the project to date looks out various versions of the standard rectangle in all its permutations, the standard mental picture when we hear the word ‘window’. I stood there for some time, taking various photographs but mostly just observing.

Glass panes separate us from what is beyond them, not only physically but often mentally. Think of looking out a window at a wet, rainy, and dark day. Your position on the other side of that glass keeps you dry, and artificial light brightens your world. You exist physically and mentally in a different place from the raw, dark outside. The Enigma, perhaps by virtue of its lines, separate you on one hand and pull you forward into the view on the other hand.

I started this project to explore the world looking out a window, and realized that the only thing in the way of making this part of my endeavor rested on my own preconceived notions of a window.

Visit the Dali for its art, browse the magnificent shop on the first floor for unique books and items, but spend some time on the third floor just absorbing the light.

Looking up into the sky

The marina a street below

Brooker Creek Preserve September Hike (click for full post)

Karl and I led our first hike of the season on Saturday. We always preface the hikes with the phrase "No guarantees, this is a nature preserve not a theme park!". My earlier pre-hike showed higher water in the creek, and I heard no bird activity.

We set out after a brief classroom session, cut short by an inadvertent double booking of rooms. The truly cooler weather starts around mid-October here in west Central Florida, but we get little tastes of it from mid-September on. We felt the humidity as we started, and once the sun achieved its mid-morning height we felt the heat too.

The "usual suspects", an alligator on the bank and an anhinga perched on a branch over the main channel of the creek never appeared. The branch appears smaller, perhaps a piece broken off in the recent storms, so I wonder if the bird found a new perch. If he did, we did not find him.We hiked and talked of the nature of the preserve, and about photography itself and cameras.

We saw Blue Curls (Trichostema dichotomum) along the edge of the parking lot. Karl showed a macro portrait of a blue curl he had done, and the difference between the portrait and the actual tiny size of the flower itself stood out. Later in the hike we came across a member of the Carphephorus family getting ready to bloom, then some starting to bloom.

As we ended the hike, the light shining through the tea colored creek made interesting patterns. Leading the hike, Karl and I don't get to shoot much. I found a few subjects, but mostly played around with abstractions.

Our next hike is October 29 at Brooker Creek Preserve. We hope to see you there.

Sunlight through the water of the creek

Carphephorus