One of the nice things about doing art shows in Florida is being able to get out early for sunrise and not freeze. I headed to Juno Pier this morning hoping to get some good clouds at sunrise. I wasn’t disappointed. I had hoped to go at 3 a.m. to catch the Milky Way over the pier but it was cloudy when I got up. I went back to sleep for a couple of hours and by then many of the clouds had cleared away.
The crescent moon was shining bright when I got there before any light was in the sky. As the sky filled with color the became less distinguishable and by the time the sun cleared the horizon, the moon was barely visible.
I went to a Ft. Meyers beach for sunrise today that is more populated by wildlife than people. There are lots of better beaches for sunbathers, so the only people that come to Bunches Beach are there to either walk, look at birds or photograph birds. Today there was a large group of bird watchers carrying binoculars and scopes, wearing their bird watching clothes and their boots. Which means they were going to mess up a lot of photos.
I love the name Ding Darling, it is a National Wildlife Refuge on Florida’s Sanibel Island and a great place for people to observe birds. I was named after a cartoonist who was instrumental in wildlife conservation in the early 1900’s and helped initiate the duck stamp program. The park has a four mile long Wildlife Drive where you can walk, bicycle or slowly drive your car and see wildlife in its natural habitat. I’ve been there several times and it always has something going on. The park claims to have 230 bird varieties visit and I think there are that many types of photographers too. The nice thing is it is easy to drive your car and not have to carry a ton of gear long distances.
I was out on a beach tonight in Jupiter, Florida, as the sun went down and color came into the sky. The moon was bright and clouds were blowing past as surf was crashing on the sand.
While doing the art show in Pensacola, FL, I’m getting lots of requests for local photos. Since this is the first time I’ve been in Pensacola, I don’t have anything to show them so I went to the beach after the show tonight to catch sunset and see what was going on around the pier.
Through the years I’ve read about the great wildlife at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island near Fort Meyers, FL. You can drive through the refuge and go past several different habitats, but people say after a hurricane a few years ago, it isn’t the same. I’ve only been there twice in the last three years, but it is still pretty cool. I can only imagine what it must have been like before and I hope it comes back to full strength again soon.
There are these cute little owls called burrowing owls that live in Florida and other warm places. Like many species, development has encroached on their territory and their numbers have dwindled. Cape Coral boasts the largest concentration of the little critters and they are trying to protect them as much as they can, or so the say. The owls dig nests in the sandy soil and tend to return to the same place year after year. They don’t particularly like people or pets to get too close, their little heads start bobbing when they get nervous and they head back down their holes. PVC pipes have been constructed around more of the burrows, warning people to stay away. They can be found in parks, in church yards, around government buildings, in yards of homes and since owls are so smart, many are around the library. If someone wants to build on a lot that has a burrow, they can’t just fill it in, they have to get a permit first and then they can fill it in. Government encourages people to build around the burrows, but if you can’t, that’s OK, just kill them off.
I decided to host a photography workshop in Florida based around photographing birds, not because I get excited seeing birds but because I love the challenge of getting a special shot. A mug shot of a bird bores me. Seeing another photo of a bird sitting on a branch or looking around doesn’t do a thing for me. So I always strive to get something different, something that shows personality, something with composition, something that has more elements than just a bird. And I push that upon all my workshop participants.
I checked out a couple of parks along the Gulf this morning and then headed to the famous rookery in Venice. Unlike yesterday at Gatorland, this is a much smaller rookery that has been preserved by the Audubon Society. It is right off a major highway, smack in the middle of way too many people, but the little park is just what the birds need.
When I arrived, a light rain was ending but there were five other photographers there. You can walk around the entire pond, so the light is always coming from the right direction. Within 30 minutes the others were gone, I didn’t take it personally, but I was happy to be the only one shooting.
When I’m driving in Florida, I have this crazy expectation that the drivers are friendly and relaxed. They aren’t. My first day here and I’m driving around Orlando and Kissimmee and people are frantic. I expect that in New Jersey, but people should be calmer in Florida. Four times I got honked at within the first hour around here.