Follow Me On My Photography Adventures
Ketchikan was my favorite photo port. We took a boat ride into the wilderness to a salmon fishery to hopefully capture wild bears catching salmon in the stream. Along the way we saw some sealions and seals and countless bald eagles. The salmon hatchery did not disappoint and we got to see bears catching salmon up close and in the wild. The lighting was tough with low overcast skies and occasional rain showers. However, I still got some good images that I will probably hang on my wall.
In Skagway we took a helicopter ride to go hiking on a remote glacier. This was one of the most memorable experiences of the whole trip. The glacier water was a unique blue that contrasted with the frozen ice. There were also caverns, holes and flowing streams of water on its surface. The whole glacier was surrounded by mountains which helped to frame the glacier from both above and at the surface.
The second day of our cruise took us into the majestic waters of glacier bay. The shooting conditions were tough with low hanging overcast clouds, but it also made the resulting shots more moody and captivating than if there had been blue skies. We saw hundreds of otters, a few eagles and seals and a ton of floating ice that had broken off from the Margerie glacier.
My family and I checked off a bucket list adventure this summer by taking an Alaskan Cruise from Seattle to Sitka, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, Icy Strait and Ketchikan. Alaska contains some of the most beautiful countryside America has to offer. In addition to towering snow-covered mountains glaciers and forests we saw bears, otters, sea lions, seals, whales, orcas and eagles. I captured some great photos of our adventure despite some challenging weather conditions.
In Sitka we walked the town, went to see jumping Salmon, visited the national park, walked out into the bay at low tide and visited a bear rescue habitat. Alaska has tidal swings of 20 feet which exposes vast areas of shoreline at low tide.
For summer vacation this year we went to Amelia Island and spent a week relaxing, going to the nearby fort and doing a day trip to Savannah. I did not use my camera much this trip as most of the activities were water related. Also, my son brought his camera with him and I spent most of the time helping teach him photo composition tips and camera settings. I had also just been here a few months prior and got some decent shots of Amelia Island on that trip. I did get one shot of the fort I liked at Sunset.
Here are some of the shots my son captured:
I had to travel to Amelia Island for a work related conference recently. I of course brought my camera in case I had some time to do some exploring. One area I wanted to try and capture was a place called boneyard beach. It is part of a state park and consists of a stretch of shoreline that is littered with large, old, dead trees. This shoreline is only accessible during low tides. At high tide the water covers most of the trees and you can access the beach. The conditions weren’t great while I was there but I still managed to capture some fun shots. I found the conditions were more suited to black and white images vs. color.
Another fun place I spent an hour or so at the Fort Clinch State Park. It is an old civil war era fort made from bricks and sitting right on the water way separating Georgia from Florida. I tried to capture some unique images while also learning a little history.
Lastly, visited downtown Amelia Island after my meetings had concluded one evening and played around a little with some moving light photography.
Despite some health issues, my son and I went to this years rodeo with our cameras. It was his first time trying to shoot action sequences, and although it took a little bit of trial and error, he eventually figured it out and captured some great images. He even submitted them to the local paper and had them published as part of the papers follow week coverage of the rodeo. He was so excited and took the paper to school to show his friends.
I was in Tallahassee for business for a few weeks and decided to spend one of my free nights at the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge and Lighthouse with my camera. The St. Marks Wildlife Refuge is a beautiful refuge with many different habitats and wildlife. While there I saw deer, turkeys, snakes, turtles, alligators, many varieties of birds and a variety of fish. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
My main photographic focus was the historic St. Marks Lighthouse. I wanted to capture a sunset over or behind the lighthouse. I originally envisioned lots of colorful clouds but when I was there a late cold front had passed through eliminating every cloud from the sky. I also struggled to find a good perspective that was interesting and still allowed me to capture the sunset it he background. The lighthouse is surrounded by a ring of tall trees that makes it difficult to capture it from up close. Instead a distant perspective must be used to keep the trees from stealing the spotlight from the lighthouse.
I settled on a view from the coast and used the water and grass along the shoreline to help compliment the scene. I also came across a recently deceased horseshoe crab that I volunteered to help give me an interesting foreground subject. I also experimented with a nearby rock which wasn’t as interesting as the horseshoe crab but worked well also.
All in all I was happy with the resulting images and given the tough conditions to work with think they came out good.
During a conversation I had with with someone they mentioned the existence of a large iconic oak tree in a park near downtown Tallahassee. This got my attention as I would be visiting Tallahassee for a few weeks and would have my camera with me. I started researching and found the tree they were talking about was the Lichgate on High Road Oak Tree.
This oak tree is located in a small oasis in the middle of apartments, homes and retail shopping centers. It is a popular place for people to come and enjoy the solitude and ambiance of the small park. I wanted to try and capture this oak in a creative manner that would show its size but also make the photo interesting. I decided to try and use a low sun coming through the trees to create a sunburst to give the image some additional interest. All in all I liked the final results and feel the image invites people to go see the tree in person.
I had a business trip that took me Jacksonville for an event on Saturday and additional activities on Monday and Tuesday the next week. Rather than sit around the hotel on Sunday I decided to take a spontaneous trip up to Savannah for a day trip. I had been to Savannah a few years prior and really enjoyed me time there. This time I was going back with my camera to see if I could capture some of the history and feel on my memory card.
I started my trip by stopping at the Wormsloe Historic Site. This location is well known for its roadway covered by a large canopy of oak trees. It was a beautiful setting but the lighting as pretty harsh as I was there in the middle of the day. I still managed to capture a few nice images including one with a fox running across the road.
Next was downtown Savannah and their many neighborhood parks and historic buildings. I did not get any great photos on this trip but I had a good time and it was better than sitting in the hotel and watching TV.
