Follow Me On My Photography Adventures
I was asked to try and take some creative shots of the Boca Chita lighthouse for some marketing materials. I decided to try and take some split level shots with a wide angle lens so that viewers could see both under the water and above the water.
It didn’t quite work out as I had envisioned but they still came out OK and the client was happy with the results.
A rendering of a brilliantly orange sunrise over Stiltsville in Biscayne National Park. This is the Baldwin, Sessions House.
I was recently asked to provide some images for an upcoming event called Baynanza organized and run by Miami-Dade County. The purpose of Baynanza is to promote clean water and organize volunteer groups to pick up trash and debris in and around Biscayne Bay. The organizers needed my images for the calendar of events and other marketing materials. The only problem was that I did not have many images from around Biscayne Bay and the Park. Therefore, I spent much of the past two weeks during the Christmas Holiday out in Biscayne Bay with my camera trying to capture inspiring images that could be used to promote this great cause.
I managed to capture some great sunrises and sunsets thanks to the thin layer of overcast clouds that persisted for a few days and turned a vibrant color of pink and orange. There were other images that I had envisioned but just did not have the right weather conditions or time to capture.
I found Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park surprisingly hard to photograph in a creative way. Everything looks the same and 98% of it is water. I found it very difficult to create a captivating subject or scene that was not just blue water and puffy clouds. It did not help that I have not done much exploring in the Bay as I am sure photography opportunities exist I just need to find them. The other issue I encountered is that it is hard to explore the shorelines without a canoe or kayak due to the very shallow waters and flats.
I love a challenge so even though my responsibilities to the Baynanza Calendar have concluded, I hope to continue trying to capture some captivating photos of the park and bay for my collection.
I took the opportunity this past Wednesday after work to take the boat out to Boca Chita Key. Fellow photographer friend and guide Robert Chaplin accompanied me on my most recent excursion. Boca Chita Key is located about 12 miles from Convoy Point and the Biscayne National Park visitors center.
The primary purpose of the trip was to do some scouting and hopefully capture an image of the Boca Chita Lighthouse to add to my collection. The Boca Chita Lighthouse is an iconic landmark associated with Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park. It was erected by a wealthy property owner of the island who essentially built an elaborate lawn ornament to mark the entrance to his island. Unfortunately, he was never allowed to turn it on by the coast guard as the island is surrounded by shallow grass flats and it could have been a danger to local mariners. After the formation of Biscayne National Park, the island and the historic structures were acquired and are now available for public enjoyment. You can only reach Boca Chita Key by boat, but once there you can camp, swim and enjoy the beautiful views of Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and the distant Downtown Miami Skyline.
On this trip I managed to capture some decent images of the lighthouse with a very vibrant sunset in the background as well as building thunderstorm over Downtown Miami. It turned out to be a great evening to make the trip. There were calm winds and waves and some very dramatic clouds from thunderstorms that had passed through earlier in the day. However, the saltwater mosquitoes were out in force and were as bad if not worse than the swarms I am used to experiencing in Everglades National Park.
Click on the thumbnails to view the full photo.
I don’t spend as much time in Biscayne National Park as I should. This is primarily because most of Biscayne National Park is water and the number of boat access points is limited. Additionally, dealing with the weekend crowds at the boat ramps is just not worth the hassle. However, I am making it a point to spend more time in this beautiful park and try to capture more of its uniqueness in my photographs.
To get the ball rolling I drove out to the Biscayne National Park visitor center after work to capture some incoming storms and what I hoped were some dramatic skies. I captured a few images I liked but nothing spectacular. The mainland portion of the park closes at 5:30 so I had to leave just as the light was starting to reach its peak. I may try to capture an early morning sunrise before work next time.
Here are a few of the images from my 30 minute trip
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.
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.
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.
I was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for the Everglades Association, a not for profit 501(c)(3) corporation and subsidiary of the Florida National Parks Association, Inc. The Everglades Association is the official not for profit arm of the Everglades, Biscayne, Big Cypress and Dry Tortuga’s National Parks Service and was founded in 1951. The purpose of the Everglades Association is to help raise money for educational and conservation programs related to the associated National Parks and Preserves.
Through my photography I have developed a passion for the Everglades, Big Cypress and Biscayne National Parks and want to ensure that the natural beauty is preserved for future generations to photography and enjoy. By becoming a part of the Everglades Association I can directly help work toward this goal to preserve and educate the community about the wonders and beauty found in South Florida’s National Parks and Preserves.