The Experience

This week was spent doing landscape work at the beginning and a little bit of everything over the weekend. Early in the week we had two days of rain bringing about two inches of much needed rain to the area which is quickly drying down. I spent the beginning of the week shooting and scouting for landscape images. Friday through Sunday was spent in the western part of the system throughout the Big Cypress Swamp. One afternoon was spent wading through Fakahatchee State Preserve. This was my first taste of this swamp and I am now very excited about photographing in the there as well as finding and photographing orchids. Loop Road provided some excellent bird opportunities as well as a wonderful sunrise Sunday morning. All in all, it was a very productive and exciting week.

I am sorry to say that this week’s newsletter is going to be a little short on info but heavy on photos. I am currently getting ready to head down to the keys this week for a week of diving. I will have my camera with me but won’t be able to take it down underwater. My weblog will probably not be updated at all unless I come up with something really fascinating. I will still do a newsletter next weekend but it may also be a short one. We will just have to see how it goes.

The Photos

This male Snail Kite was hunting for Apple Snails in a sawgrass prairie. Here he is coming in to rest on a small cypress tree close to where I was standing. I love the open wings and detail in the underside of the near wing.

This female Snail Kite has an Apple Snail in her talons as she is heading towards a large tuft of grass where she will sit and eat the snail.

These small bromeliads caught my eye on a mossy cypress trunk. The vine really added to the composition and made things come together for me.

This was a gorgeous prairie that was backlit wonderfully by the rising sun. It may be difficult to see on this small image but the beautiful sky and detailed foreground really make this image for me.

While relaxing at mid-day there were a number of sparrows hopping around the campsite. After sitting on the ground for a while I was able to photograph a number of them. Here the bird is smaller in the frame but I love the inclusion of the flowers.

I saw this shot and immediately loved it. The Snowy Egret was fishing from a log that had three alligators lying on it as well. The juxtaposition of the alligator and the bird really made this image for me. I was careful to blur the alligator enough so he wasn’t distracting but at the same time it is definitely recognizable.

For my last image I have a kind of weird one. What you are seeing here is a reflection of a Great Egret on a log that I have then rotated so the bird is upright. I sort of like the watercolor feel to the image. What do you think?