Month: June 2012

Fakahatchee Strand Ghost Orchid and Turner River Road Sunset

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I took a trip back to the Fakahatchee Strand in an attempt to capture a ghost orchid shot I was happy with.  The first trip produced some good photos, the second not any.  I figured the third time would be the charm.  I did get a few ghost orchid shots that I was happy with this trip but do not know if they will make the website.

This particular orchid is up high resulting in having to point the camera upward to photograph it.  Unfortunately, this also results in getting blowouts from the bright sunlight coming through the dense canopy of trees.  The last time I shot it there were so many blowouts behind the orchid it distracted from the orchid and killed the shot.  This time I went later in the afternoon when the sun angle was lower.  There were still blowouts but not as many and in better controllable areas of the shot.

When I first got there the sun was still higher in the sky and was directly in my shot.  I decided to try and create a sunburst in my image with the ghost orchid in the foreground.  I accomplished my goal but not sure I like the final product.  The sunburst is unique but also distracting.

After shooting the orchid I went over to Turner River Road to shoot a sunset with the same lilies I had used as a foreground subject for the lighting storm I shot there last week.  I captured two sunset shots that I was really happy with and will likely make the limited edition everglades gallery on my website.  Both sunset lily photos are HDR’s to account for the dramatic differences in exposures needed to capture both the foreground lily and the bright sun.

 

Big Cypress National Preserve Lightning

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Took a day trip over to Everglades City in hopes of photographing a Royal Poinciana Tree someone had told me about.  I have been trying to capture a Royal Poinciana Tree next to the water for some time but without any luck.  This day would not be any different.  The tree I went to shoot was not yet in full bloom and I needed a boat to get the shot I was envisioning.  I will have to plan another trip in the near future and try again.

Since I was already over on the west coast I decided to spend some time in Fakahatchee Strand and the Big Cypress.  I went back to Fakahatchee to check on my ghost orchids.  One was still in bloom with another still budding but not yet flowering.  I took a few shots before having to walk back out to the truck due to rain and thunder.

After leaving Fakahatchee I went over to Wagon Wheel Road and Turner River Road to try and see if I could get some lightning shots across the vista.  I got a few good strikes from a storm on Birdon Road but did not have a great foreground.  The stroms were fluctuating from producing lighting and just rain for the better part of a few hours.  In between storms I would drive the road looking for wildlife.  I saw numerous deer feeding after the cooling rains.  I took a few shots but none I thought were worth anything.

Another storm started producing lighting and this time I was near a field of blooming lilies.  I set up my shot with as many of the lilies as I could in the foreground and hoped the lighting would cooperate.  The best bolts were out of my frame but I did manage to get a few decent strikes to complement my scene.  I would have preferred more dramatic skies or closer/branched lighting but all in all I am happy with the shots.

On my way home I noticed the sky starting to turn color and pulled over at a boat ramp location I had shot before.  In my prior shot it was winter time and the grasses were brown and trees were losing thier leaves.  This time everything was green and the skies were very colorful and reflecting off the smooth water.

I did not accomplish my original goal but still managed to capture a few unique shots.

Big Cypress National Preserve Rattlesnake and Whitetail Deer

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After my Orchid Adventure I stopped by Wagon Wheel and Turner River Roads on my way back home.  I found a couple of snakes sunning themselves in the late afternoon sun on the gravel road.  I came across two Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes, two Water Moccasins and one Garter Snake.  The largest rattlesnake was around 5 foot or so.

I also saw a few deer grazing in the sawgrass on the blooming string lilies.  I walked out in the sawgrass to capture one that had bedded down among the flowers.  Before I got in camera range the deer heard me and stood up.  Luckily a red winged black bird happened to land on the deer giving me a decent and unique photo.  Unbeknownst to me there was another deer that had bedded down nearby as well and it jumped up and sounded the alarm causing both deer to sprint off in to the distance.  Either way it resulted in a few good shots.

Ghost Orchid Adventure

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This past week I took a trip out to Fakahatchee Strand to see if the elusive Ghost Orchids had started to bloom this year.  To my suprise one of the Ghost Orchids that I know about was already in full bloom and another one had put out a bud.  The rest of the Ghost Orchids had not yet started to bloom or will not bloom this year.

For those not familar with the Ghost Orchid, they are a rare species of orchid that only grow in a few very limited areas.  Fakahatchee Strand is one of these areas.  The orchids grow on trees surrounded by swamp water under a canopy of densely growing trees.  To get to the Ghost Orchids requires walking through sometimes chest deep water full of alligators and snakes and surrounded by a swarm of mosquitoes for the off chance that when you get there the orchid is in bloom.

The Ghost Orchid that I found that was in bloom was about 7 feet off the ground making shooting it a little difficult.  It also was in tricky light and the wind was blowing just enough to make it hard to capture a sharp shot.  The lighting was difficult because the canopy of trees block most of the light requiring longer shutter speeds.  However, there are bright spots that result from small holes in the canopy, causing a spotlight effect and making it difficult to properly expose the photo.  The light wind compounds the longer shutter speeds, sometimes resulting in motion blur of the orchid.

After getting home and processing my shots from the day I was not thrilled with the results.  I would have preferred to get closer to the flower so that the orchid seemed bigger in the scene.  Being that the orchid was higher off the ground made it difficult to achieve the shot I wanted.

I will plan to go back and try again with the other orchid that is getting ready to bloom in a few weeks.