Pickerelweed

When I first moved to Florida in 1988, this was one of the first aquatic flowers that I photographed. When I saw this one in John Chestnut Park in Palm Harbor, it reminded me of the time many years ago when I first saw these pretty flowers.

I was standing by the edge of a pond photographing it, when movement at my feet caught my eye. Just as I took the camera away from my face, I saw an Alligator come up slowly right between my legs. It scared the daylights out of me. It was the first Alligator I'd ever seen in the wild. I didn't know it then, but it was a pretty young one, because it was so small. I doubt it was more than a year old.

When I look back on it that incident now, it gives me a chuckle. When I saw him, I wasn't sure what to do so I slowly walked backward and got out of that park as soon as I could. I think I'd still do the same thing today.

Since the subject of this blog is Pickerelweed, I should probably get back to that instead of reminiscing about the past. Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) is an aquatic plant that grows in shallow, still water. It gets its name from the Pickerel fish that shares the same habitat. Pickerelweed blooms from June through November in freshwater marshes, lakes, streams and at the edge of ponds.

I like to finish my blog with a little nature lesson for those who would like to learn as much as I've learned about nature ever since I started taking photos of nature. It has taught me so much.

Doing What a Bee Does Best

While on a meetup at a new place one of the members of my group has discovered, the first thing I saw was this huge Prickly-Pear Cactus at the edge of the parking lot.

These blooms are a Honey Bee magnet. I've never seen these blossoms with no bees busily pollinating these beautiful flowers.

Prickly-Pear Cactus blossoms (Opuntia humifusa) bloom from April through August, and they can be found in sandy pinelands, open dry woods,dunes and pastures. The fruit is edible.

The "Gremlin" of Eagle Lake

About a week ago, someone told my friend and fellow nature photographer that he had seen a "Gremlin" at Eagle Lake Park in Largo, FL.

That was all Jim had to hear to entice him to investigate. The very next morning he saw the "Gremlin" and photographed it with his camera phone.

He asked me to set up a Meetup for our photo club members to go out and find the "Gremlin". Meanwhile, Jim spent some time on Google investigating exactly what he found.

The "Gremlin" turned out to be an Eastern Fox Squirrel. On Monday evening, 4 of us photographers set out to capture this guy on our "real" cameras. This is one of many photos I took of him. He's playing possum in this tree. As you can see, it was nearly impossible to see him until he moved to change position.

The Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger), is the largest squirrel in the U.S. They are about 17 1/2 inches long with a 13 inch tail. They weigh a little over 2 pounds. Their color varies greatly, and this particular one is one of the prettiest color varieties I've seen. The color ranges from rust to black with white noses and sometimes masked. They spend more time on the ground than any other squirrel.

Getting Cozy

Earlier this month, I went on a meetup at Honeymoon Island to shoot the sunset.

There weren't enough clouds in the sky to make an interesting sunset and I didn't want to come away with nothing, so the challenge was to find and create decent shots.

As you can tell by the way these two are covered up with their blanket, the weather wasn't too warm. It doesn't seem to be bothering them at all, though. Maybe it's just what they needed to get nice and cozy together.

It's really good to be coming out of my shell and getting out shooting again. Now if I can only get back into the swing of things and get caught up on my editing...

Inchworm

Sorry I've left you all wondering whatever happened to me. I must apologize for leaving you all in the lurch.

It all started at Thanksgiving time, when I got Pneumonia. It took 3 rounds of antibiotics to get rid of the Pneumonia, but it left me depressed and tired. I went on vacation to NY to see the grandkids and then to CT to see my kids, but it still wasn't enough to shake the depression. While I brought my camera gear with me, I never took it out of the case. The only photos I shot during the whole time was about 10 photos with my camera phone of my grand and great grandchildren. I just didn't feel like taking photos or anything else for that matter.

When I got home from my vacation I found out that I had to move by 2/11. That didn't give me very much time to raise money for the move and to find a place I could afford. I've always been a deadline person, so I got busy and finally found a great place with a wonderful view in downtown St Petersburg. I'm just loving it here.

Finally, I'm over the depression and fully recovered from the Pneumonia and have started to shoot a bit again (I think it was the move that got me out of it).

This one today is of an Inchworm that was inching his way across the mud catcher in front of the doorway of the building I moved to. I didn't have my camera on me, but I had my trusty old camera phone, so I got down on all fours and made a shot of him. Imagine finding something like this in the middle of the city!

The inchworm is the larvae or caterpillar of the Geometrid Moth. There are so many varieties in their coloring and markings that it was hard to identify it correctly. I'm still not 100% sure. Hopefully, one of you will be able to confirm my guess or correct it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers and followers. Without you taking the time to comment and encourage me throughout the year, I would probably lose interest in blogging and forget how much I enjoy it. So, this image is for you.

A Monarch butterfly sipping the nectar of Butterfly Weed at the Veterans' Memorial Garden at the Safety Harbor Marina in Safety Harbor, Florida.

The Monarch is probably the best known butterfly. They are migratory, but it is interesting to note that no one butterfly makes the entire trip from coast to coast. In the Spring, the adult butterflies head back North, breeding along the way. Their offspring finish the trip.

The above information is one of the reasons I have the passion to continue photographing nature. Everytime I capture an image, I research a little tidbit of information to pass along to my readers. It's amazing how much one can learn in small chunks without trying. Photography teaches all of us so much about the world we live in.

Dawn Sunshine Skyway Bridge

I'm always trying to find a different perspective when I'm photographing a familiar site. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Ft Desoto, Tierra Verde, Florida is one of my favorite scenes to photo. Not only because it's the Skyway, but because I love to photograph bridges. I'm always on the lookout for a new one to photograph.

It's strange, I've photographed this bridge, especially at dawn and sunrise, hundreds of times and most of them from the same location on East Beach, and never thought to turn the camera on its side. I was pleasantly pleased with this shot.

Whenever I'm out with my photography students, I tell them to not be a "walk-up-shooter". Spend some time exploring the view; look up, look down, walk all the way around the subject if possible, take shots from near, from far, well you get the idea. I tell them this because it's one of my faults that I'm trying hard to overcome. I'll have to practice what I preach more often.

Immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron

This immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron was taking advantage of the low tide to hunt for his evening meal in Tampa Bay in Safety Harbor, Florida.

As their name implies, they normally hunt at night, but this guy must've been really hungry or wanted to nest early.

Unlike the Black-crowned Night Heron, the Yellow-crowned Night Heron feeds mainly on crabs and crayfish. They can be seen foraging around near dusk when other Herons are well on their way to roost.

Night Herons differ from other Herons because they do not roost in colonies. They prefer to find their own private corner.

Because they're nocturnal, these birds are more skittish than most; but I find that when they're looking around for food they don't really care about anyone. They only concentrate on one thing, and that's finding their next meal. It is during that time that I find I can get pretty close to them, if I stay low and move slowly.

A Study in Lines

I don't know why, but whenever I come across a scene like this I have to photograph it. Maybe it's because as a child my favorite toy was a Kaleidoscope. Whatever the reason, I love converging lines.

I like the pattern, the square at the end, the depth, the shadows, and the way the lens captures it.

This walkway is at HCC (Hillsborough Community College) in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida. The shadows is what first attracted me to it. Then I looked at the detail in the bricks the arches and the lines in the ceiling tiles. They all converge to form a perfect rectangle at the end. It looks to me like a long tunnel for whatever reason.

On this day, the lighting was perfect. I was out with a group of friends when I spotted this and stopped to make this shot. Everyone also shot it with their own unique vision and our photos were so different, it was hard to believe we were all at the same place at the same time.

It has been said that if 100 photographers and/or artists were told to make a picture of what they saw, no two pictures would be the same. At least 6 of us photographed this scene and no one's were even similar. Some of them didn't look like the same place.

I guess it would be safe to say that this was made with my eyes and my vision.

Endangered and Nearly Extinct

Isn't it amazing how far we've come with technology in the last 10-15 years? Pay phones could be found in front of every convenience store, and on nearly every corner in any city in the United States no matter how far you travel. Now, the only place they can be found is on the highways at rest stops.

Only the very well off could afford cell phones or car phones 15 years ago. Now, everyone has a cell phone; even children.

What is the need to be in touch every place we go? No matter where we are, what we're doing, we have these things growing out of our ears. We can't even have a day off. Because we have our cell phones, anyone from our offices or jobs can reach us anytime, and no one thinks any thing wrong with butting in on our own time.

We take them everywhere. It doesn't matter if we're on vacation, shopping, visiting with friends, we have this need to have our cells glued to our ears.

Now cell phones aren't just phones. They're portable computers. First came our planners; remember the Franklin Planner? I remember when my company paid us to take courses to learn how to use our planners to plan out our day. It was a requirement. Next, they gave us Palm Pilots, then portable PCs and finally laptops. Do we need to be always available every minute of our day for our jobs? Is it really a convenience or a pain in the butt? You decide.

Sunrise Over the Skyway

I have been doing this shoot every year since my friend, Linda Weekley, told me about it in 2006.

Once a year, the sun rises between the spans of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tierra Verde. I get this shot from East Beach in Ft Desoto. It happens only for 2 days a year, and it's never the same time.

That means that starting in October, I have to check where the sun rises so I can estimate when it'll be right there between the spans. I go probably 2 or 3 times in October, then once a week, down to every couple days to catch it just right. I got lucky this year; my friend, Jim, was there yesterday and let me know today would be the day. Jim is a member of my photography group, and they're all involved with this as well. As a matter of fact, it's become a tradition with the group. We all go out there for sunrise, then go to work from there if it's on a weekday.

I just made it on time today. I usually go at dawn, but today was the day the time changed (from Daylight Savings Time) and I got confused. I got there just before it rose. These are the photos I got from when I got there until it was just right.

If you go back in my blogs, you can compare this year's with each previous year. It's pretty cool.

It's still as exciting to see it today and it was back in 2006 when I caught it for the first time.

Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn

This shot was made during a walking tour off the beaten path in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida.

The Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn was built in 1895 by the founder of Ybor City, Vicente Martinez-Ybor, as his office for a land development company.

At the turn of the century, it became a clinic treating Ybor City residents. After the clinic closed, it sat empty for 18 years suffering vandalism, fire, neglect and vagrants.

In 1998, Jack Shiver, saw the potential for the old building and began refurbishing it painstakingly restoring it to its original splendor. Two years and two million dollars later the doors were reopened as the Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn. It is located at 1915 Republic de Cuba (Corner of 9th St and 14th Ave) in Tampa, FL. USA.

Ally

It's been a long time since I've posted to my blog. I really need to get better about this.

I had a shoot on Monday for this girl. She just wanted some photos for her Facebook. She brought tons of clothes and her stylist with her. Earlier in the day she had her hair and makeup done. She was really serious about this shoot.

For someone who's not a model, she did a fantastic job. She loves the camera and it loves her. I had a hard time choosing only a few for my site use. I like the lighting in this one.

Most of the photos were taken in Phillippe Park in Safety Harbor, FL. It's a beautiful park and offers many different locations for a shoot. We were all over the park, changing clothes before changing sites. Because of the humidity, her hair didn't last as long as she did, but her stylist made the best of it. In every shot, she had to fix her hair. Her stylist (also her sister) did a great job as well.

I'd love to have the chance to work with her some more. I tried to talk her into posing for my club; but she didn't really seem interested in posing for that many photographers. Maybe at a later date.

Butterfly Weed

Butterfly Weed grows wild in pinelands, sandhills and dry roadsides in Florida and is often planted in gardens to attract butterflies--especially Monarchs. They love any flower in the Milkweed family.

A little known fact about Butterfly Weed is that it used to be called the "Pleurisy Plant" by Native Americans who used to chew it's root to treat Pleurisy and other Pulmonary ailments. Most plants that we rarely consider is that at one time or another they were or are still used in medicine.

When we look at plants and wildflowers all we think about is the smell and beauty of the flowers, never about its contribution to us as medicine. Some of our prettiest flowers are medicine.

Kennebunport Inn

Since I've been getting behind in my editing, I'm posting this one from my vacation to Maine with my son and daughter-in-law last June.

This is the famous Kennebunkport Inn. It has been a landmark since 1899. It was once a tea merchant's mansion and has the distinction of being listed as one of the Travel Channel's "Maine's Best Escapes".

The Kennebunkport Inn is located in Dock Square, Kennebunkport's shopping district and the only hotel/inn there and well worth checking out if you're going to be in the area.

Sun Rays and the American Flag

Just as I was leaving the Safety Harbor Marina last Monday, I spotted this as I was getting into my car.

Sun rays have always fascinated me. This one is no exception. Right after shooting this scene, it started to pour.

Florida's rains are really strange. It was pouring at the Marina, which is only 11 blocks from the Safety Harbor Grille where my friends and I go for dinner every Monday after our Meetup. It wasn't raining a drop at the restaurant, but people were calling to let me know it was pouring rain on the Bayside Bridge which is the opposite direction from the Safety Harbor Marina.

Sometimes it'll be raining across the street while it's not raining a drop on the other side and the sun is shining. Last week, I was driving home near 38th Ave in St Petersburg. The traffic in the opposite direction were slowed down to 15mph because the rain made it impossible to see, while on my side of the street, the sun was shining and it was dry as a bone. It's crazy.

Immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron

After some searching on the internet to find out the difference between an immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron and an immature Black-crowned Night Heron, I've decided that this must be an immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

It seems they look very similar in the wild, and if the two species are not together, then it's very hard to tell them apart. They both have white speckled bodies and faces, their eye color is the same, and their bill and leg colors are the same. So, how did I tell the difference when only one species is present? I guess knowing little details would make it an educated guess. According to all the sources I'd seen on the net and in my books, the only way to tell the difference is by looking at the color of their plumage and the length of their legs and stoutness of their bills.

My most trusted source is the Field Guide to Birds (Eastern Region) by the National Audubon Society. According to their book, young Yellow-crowned Night Herons are grayer, with stouter bills and longer legs than the young Black-crowned Night Herons. Since colors can be deceiving depending on the light cast, and I couldn't compare the legs, all I had to go on was the stoutness of the beak. Lucky for me, the Field Guide to Birds also has photos of both species. I matched up the beak, and made a definitive identification. This is a Yellow-crowned Night Heron!

Moon Jellyfish

This Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) washed ashore at Cocoa Beach. I found it in the early morning light the day after I photographed a wedding in Cocoa Beach. There were many on the beach, but this was the best specimen I could find.

Moon Jellyfish feed by collecting planton, mollusks and medusae with its tentacles, while drifting with the current. Jellyfish don't actually swim. They drift with the current.

Moon Jellyfish do not have lungs, trachea or gills. They breathe through the absorption of oxygen through a membrane. They also do not have circulatory or excretory systems.

Jellyfish have many predators including Ocean Sunfish and Leather Back Turtles. Sea birds also eat jellyfish. Their lifespan in the wild is less than 6 months, but can live in controlled environments such as aquariums for 2 years.

Apple Snail Eggs

These fluffy looking pink worm-like creatures are Apple Snail eggs. I researched and researched and couldn't find a thing about them until finally, a friend told me what they are.

The Apple Snails lay their eggs above water to protect them from fish and underwater creatures eating them.

Apple Snails have both gills and lungs, so they are Amphibians. Their mantle cavity is divided to support both respiratory systems. They also have separate genders unlike some snails, which have both genders. They spend most of their time underwater.

Apple Snails are the primary food of Snail Kites and Limpkins. I once saw a Limpkin nest. Alongside the nest was maybe 25 Apple Snail shells piled up ready for the chicks.

Giant Swallowtail

Giant Swallowtails (Papilio cresphontes), are the one of the 2 largest butterflies in the United States. This one has a wing span of about 5 inches and some have wings spans of 6 inches.

This one was at rest just before dark on one of my bushes so he was an easy shot to make. I checked several times and I was surprised to see that he spent the night right there out in the open.

Their larvae/caterpillars are known in the citrus industry as "orange dogs" and are considered a pest because they feed off the leaves of citrus trees.