Category: Uncategorized

City of Homestead Gateway to Everglades and Biscayne National Parks Designation

admin

The City of Homestead recently passed a resolution designating and branding itself as the “Gateway to Everglades and Biscayne National Parks.”  I collaborated with the National Parks Service and the National Parks Conservation Association to present this concept to my fellow colleagues on the City of Homestead Council.  I am excited that my colleagues unanimously passed this resolution and support the concept of linking the City of Homestead to its two neighboring National Parks, Everglades and Biscayne.

The purpose of branding the City of Homestead as the Gateway to Everglades and Biscayne National Parks is twofold.  The first is to capitalize on the ecotourism generated by these parks annually.  Each year more than 1.5 million visitors visit both Everglades and Biscayne National Park each year.  Presently many of these visitors are bypassing the City of Homestead on their way to our neighboring national parks.  By branding the City of Homestead as the Gateway to Everglades and Biscayne National parks, as well as creating National Parks themed attractions, it is hoped that these visitors will begin to associate the City of Homestead with Everglades and Biscayne National Parks and plan their vacation and stay in the City of Homestead.

There are many other gateway cities that also border National Parks nationwide.  Many of these gateway cities build their entire economies around the tourists that flock to these national parks annually.  A great example is Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  Gatlinburg is the gateway to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park and every summer is packed with visitors and tourists who are entering or leaving the Smokey Mountains.  As a direct result of the tourists, Gatlinburg is filled with attractions, hotels and restaurants.  The City of Homestead is unique as it is a gateway city bordered by two national parks instead of just one, and therefore has the potential to attract and capitalize on an even more diverse group of travelers.

The second purpose is that by becoming a gateway city the City of Homestead also takes on the ability to help advocate for our neighboring National Parks.  This can be in the form of bringing attention or awareness to conservation or preservation issues or advocating for additional federal funds to help with management of the natural resources.  Working as a team, the national parks and the gateway cities are more powerful and have a stronger voice than they would merely by acting alone.

Designating the City of Homestead as a Gateway community is only the first step in a more comprehensive plan.  My goal is to advocate to enact other programming under this Gateway umbrella that will help to further build a partnership with the National Parks and attract tourism dollars to the City of Homestead.  One of the first such initiatives is the launching of the City of Homestead’s National Park Trolley service.

The National Park Trolley is a concept that I have been working on for more than two years and is a collaborative effort between the City of Homestead, the National Park Service and the National Parks Conservation Association.  The National Park Trolley will leave from Historic Downtown Homestead and travel to Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park and Homestead-Bayfront Park every weekend from November through April of each year.

Riders of the National Park Trolley will not have to pay admission fees to enter any of the parks.  Also, there is a tour guide on board each trolley that will give a presentation about the history of Homestead and the National Parks as well as the surrounding agricultural lands while traveling between each destination.

The National Parks Trolley stops at the Ernest Coe Visitor Center in Everglades National Park as well as the Anhinga Trail.  In Biscayne National Park the Trolley stops at the Dante Fascell Visitors Center and also at Homestead-Bayfront Park.

For more information on the Homestead National Park Trolley or to plan your trip to any of the parks you can visit www.cityofhomestead.com/gateway.

Another concept that is being discussed and studied is an iconic attraction that will be built downtown only blocks away from the National Park Trolley stop.  The iconic attraction is presently slated to contain an Everglades themed IMAX theatre like entertainment ride as well as a satellite Everglades National Park and/or Biscayne National Park Visitors Center.  If constructed, this iconic attraction will help to increase the likelihood that the City of Homestead will be the central hub for visitors planning trips to either national park and hopefully lead to other attractions, restaurants and hotels to service the increase in visitors and tourists to the area.

I am very excited about these projects and very thankful for the many people who have worked so hard on these projects and this concept with me.  I hope that this is the beginning of a new direction and identity for the City of Homestead and look forward to working on more new projects in the future.

Now that these projects are completed and underway I hope to have a little more free time to get back out and enjoy these parks myself before I get bogged down with a new project.

City of Homestead Gateway to Everglades and Biscayne National Park

City of Homestead National Parks Trolley

admin

Today I am excited to announce that the City of Homestead launched its free National Park Trolley Service.  The National Park Trolley will provide free transportation from Downtown Historic Homestead to both Everglades and Biscayne National Parks.  The trolley will also make stops at Homestead-Bayfront Park.  I have been working on this project for the past two (2) years and I am excited that this concept has now been implemented.  This project is a collaboration between the City of Homestead, the National Parks Service and the National Parks Conservation Association.

Riders of the National Park Trolley will not have to pay admission fees to enter any of the parks.  Also, there is a tour guide on board each trolley that will give a presentation about the history of Homestead and the National Parks as well as the surrounding agricultural lands while traveling between each destination.

The National Parks Trolley stops at the Ernest Coe Visitor Center in Everglades National Park as well as the Anhinga Trail.  In Biscayne National Park the Trolley stops at the Dante Fascell Visitors Center and also at Homestead-Bayfront Park.  The National Park Trolley operates every weekend from January through April this spring.  In the fall, the National Park Trolley will begin running in November and run through April of 2015.

For more information on the Homestead National Park Trolley or to plan your trip to any of the parks you can visit www.cityofhomestead.com/gateway.  I personally am thrilled about utilizing the trolley for photography excursions into both national parks this spring.

TrolleyFlyer

Everglades National Park Bobcat

admin

I had planned on going out this past Thursday night/Friday morning to shoot the Quadrantids Meteor shower but a cold front came through making seeing the stars impossible.  I therefore, settled for trying to shoot a sunrise and then doing a little exploring before heading back to the office for some work.  The sunrise was only mediocre, again due to the cloud cover from the cold front.  I also tried shooting a wort grass prairie but again did not capture anything good.

The highlight of the trip came from spotting a bobcat on Bear Lake Road while looking for some orchids.  The bobcat stayed on the road for quite some time giving me the opportunity to change lenses and get off a few shots before he disappeared into the woods.  I captured one image that was ok but required alot of cropping to make it usable.  It works for a documentary shot if nothing else.

Here are a few images from the trip.  Click on Thumbnail for full image.

Giminids Meteor Shower 2013

admin

Woke up at 2:00 AM this morning to run out to Everglades National Park to try and photograph the Giminids Meteor Shower.  The moon did not set until around 3:30 but I wanted to get out there early to figure out the best spot to shoot from.  I did not shoot the setting moon but it was a vibrant yellow and even a little orange as it sank below the horizon.

The Geminids Meteor shower started its peak this morning but is not supposed to reach its full potential until tomorrow morning.  However the moon set earlier today and I decided to give it a try when I had more time before the sunrise.  The meteors were very active and I observed hundreds over the course of 2 plus hours.  However, many were faint with only a handful of really bright fireballs.  Unfortunately, I was not able to capture many of them with my camera due to the random nature of were they would appear.  I only managed to capture one small meteor as it streaked across the sky.

I also shot a few long exposures while I was out there as well as using my flashlight to do some painting with the stars as my backdrop.  Either way I had a great time observing natures fireworks.

Click on Thumbnail for full size image.

Biscayne National Park Workshop

admin

This past Sunday I rode along with the Kendall Camera Club to Biscayne National Park for a photography workshop led by park volunteer and professional photographer Arend Thibodeau.  I had a great time learning about Biscayne National Park and seeing what photo opportunities exist near the visitor center.

Biscayne National Park is 95% water.  The non-water portion primarily consists of small islands stretching throughout Biscayne Bay.  For this workshop, we stayed on the mainland and focused on the enviroment surrounding The Dante Fascell Visitor Center.

The water in Biscayne Bay is clear blue and teaming with aquatic wildlife.  We started our workshop by walking a mangrove surrounded boardwalk and walking trail that takes you along the shores of Biscayne Bay.  Depending on the tide, there are great landscape opportunities in the late afternoon if you have a low sun angle and billowing clouds.  The shoreline is covered in mangrove roots and rocks making for some interesting foreground subjects for any landscape shot.  I also used some of the park benches as a foreground object and liked the effect.

There were a fair number of terns, gulls, egrets and cormorants if birds are what you are looking for.  However, there are much better photography locations for birds such as Everglades National Park.  There are also very large land crabs that are present in the park but they are very elusive and non-cooperative.  Lastly, for those photographers who like people, the boardwalk and walking path also had a good number of fisherman or others just enjoying the park making candid people shots another option while here.

On the other side of the Dante Fascell Visitor center is a concrete walking path around the parking lot that is surrounded by various palm trees and other natural plants that make for some easy access flora and fauna shots.

I had a good time discovering Biscayne National Park and hope to go back again when I have better light and more interesting clouds.  We were there around mid-day with very little cloud cover resulting in very contrasty landscapes with harsh light and dark shadows.  Below are some of the shots I captured while walking around.

Click on the Thumbnails for full size images.

 

Everglades National Park Astrophotography Trip

admin

I have not been on a dedicated astrophotography trip in almost 2 years.  The last time I went was during the summer.  I wanted to see if the crisp cool air made the visibility and resulting photography any better than the heavy humidity laden summer air.  I also wanted to see if the Milky Way was visible during the winter time here in South Florida.

The answer to both questions is that yes the cool crisp air makes for better visibility however the Milky Way is not visible in the winter night sky in the northern hemisphere.  The Milky Way moved below the horizon right around the time of sunset.  It will not be visible again at night until the late spring early summer.  Therefore, although shooting during the winter time is more enjoyable due to cooler temperatures and better visibility, the subject matter is less captivating without the Milky Way visible in the night sky.

I took a few shots but primarily spent my time scouting for future trips when the Milky Way reappears.

Click on Thumbnail for full size images.

Thanksgiving Cruise 2013

admin

This year for Thanksgiving I went on a cruise with my wife to the Southern Caribbean.  We sailed on the Carnival Breeze to the ports of Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao and Aruba.  I spent more time relaxing than I did taking photos but did manage to capture a few good images to bring back home with me.  This was also the first time using my new Canon 5d Mark III full frame camera.  My prior camera was a crop sensor Canon t2i.  I am very happy with my choice and upgrade.

Click on Thumbnail for full size images.

Canon 5d Mark iii

admin

After 4 years of owning an entry level Canon t2i I decided it was time to upgrade my equipment.  I had been holding out for the new Canon 7d Mark ii but ultimately got tired of waiting.  I also began shooting subjects that require lower light and ultimately higher ISO’s to capture the shot.  I do not believe a crop sensor will be capable of delivering the same quality high ISO performance as a full frame sensor.  Therefore, I purchased a new Canon 5d Mark iii.  I may still look into picking up the new 7d when it arrives for use as a backup camera and for sports and wildlife.  In the meantime, I get to play with my new camera while waiting for the elusive 7d to make its first appearance.

I have only had a few opportunities to test out the new camera but so far have been very impressed with its features and the quality of the images it produces.  Also, the ISO is phenomenal compared to my prior camera.  I even find that in a pinch ISO levels of 12,800 work just fine with a little noise reduction in Photoshop.  Also, the amount of additional detail that is captured by a full frame sensor is pretty noticeable when compared to my prior crop sensor camera.

I was able to produce some great images with my t2i despite its shortcomings.  I can’t wait to see what I can do with the new 5d.

NASCAR Drivers at Homestead-Miami Speedway Ford 400

admin

A few shots I got of the drivers at the Ford 400 Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  While I was shooting the practice on Friday I was able to get a few shots of the drivers getting into or out of there cars.

Click on thumbnail for larger image.

NASCAR Championship 2013 at Homestead-Miami Speedway

admin

Finally got a chance to pick up my camera and do some photography after an almost 6 month hiatus.  Took the opportunity to head out to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the NASCAR Championship races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I got a few good shots of the Friday night truck race and one or two of the Nationwide series race.  Unfortunately, I had other commitments on Sunday and although I was able to watch the race could not sneak away to capture any images.  This was also my first time shooting a night race.

For the night time shots I used an ISO of 1600.  My goal was to keep my shutter speed around 1/125 to 1/160 of a second in order to show the movement of the cars around the track.  I used the 70-200 IS II with a 1.4x iii teleconverter.

Click on the Thumbnail for the full size image.