Tag: Stephen Shelley Photography

An Old Favorite: Pine Glades Lake

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I decided to take a trip into Everglades National Park and visit an old favorite photography location of mine, Pine Glades Lake. This lake is where I honed my landscape skills and spent many sunset playing with camera settings and watching lightning storms in the distance. I even shot a few starry nights and lunar eclipses here. Therefore, it felt fitting to end my photography drought by visiting this once frequented location. I noticed that some of the trees in the distance had died off either from disease or from damage sustained years earlier by Hurricane Irma. These missing trees changed the feel of the lake and possible compositions. These trees always provided an interesting distant subject matter and silhouette against colorful skies. Without these trees I decided to see what else I could use to create a captivating and interesting photo. Ultimately, I ended up using some foreground trees and a short path that fisherman used when fishing the shoreline of the lake. Also, thankfully, the skies lit up in captivating colors that were reflected off the lakes calm surface. Overall, I captured a nice image and enjoyed the serene surroundings and the feel of camera in my hands again.

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

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I had to travel to West Palm Beach this week for work and decided to drive up early and go to the Wakodahatchee Wetlands at sunrise. I haven’t visited the Wakodahatchee Wetlands in over 6 years. It is probably one of my favorite places to go and photograph birds in flight or birds in general. When bird nesting season is in full swing I don’t know that there is any place in South Florida that is better for consistent all day action. My most recent trip was not different as every clump of trees held numerous colonies of nesting birds, from Great Blue Herons, Anhinga’s, Wood Storks, tri-color herons, cormorants, Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets to name a few. I also saw green herons, roseate spoonbills, ospreys, limpkins, various ducks, purple gallinule and other species. Unfortunately, I did not get to spend much time shooting as I had to be at my first appointment at 8:30, however, I still got a few decent shots.

The best part of Wakodahatchee is that the birds are constantly flying from their nests to the nearby trees to gather more nesting materials or going to get food and returning to feed the chicks. This provides great opportunities to get some bird in flight shots as they come and go. Many times the anhinga’s and the cormorants are also fishing under or near the raised boardwalk providing an opportunity to capture some fish eating shots as well.

One of the things I noticed this time was the large number of iguanas that were present on the levees and even in the trees. I don’t remember seeing them during my last visit but they were plentiful this visit.

Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway

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It seems the only time I pick up my camera anymore is to help the local South Dade News Leader cover the NASCAR races at Homestead Miami Speedway. This years race experience was still overshadowed by the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic resulting in lower crowds, less pre race pomp and circumstance and an overall subdued feeling. Despite this, it was still an enjoyable experience and I was able to capture some good images for the paper.

Everglades With My Son

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Since my son was born 6.5 years ago I have not had much time to engage in photography as my free time was consumed by other responsibilities. As a result, my photography has primarily been focused on family time and milestone moments instead of landscapes and wildlife. Now that my son is starting to get older, I am starting to introduce him to many of my hobbies and interests which includes photography.

Over the last couple of weeks we have taken some trips into the everglades to see the wildlife, hike the trails and take pictures. He started taking one of my old point and shoot cameras with him each trip and taking pictures of birds, alligators and unique trees. He also did his first swamp walk and really loved it, except when he found a deep mud hold and sunk to his waist. But he soon got over it and wanted to go explore other new areas. As a result of his interest in nature and photography it has allowed me to pick my camera back up and start capturing some new images with him tagging along. Hopefully, he continues to show interest in hanging out with dad and spending time in nature.

On the most recent trip with him we found a solution hole that had been uncovered during the parks restorations efforts to remove all of the holly bushes from the hole in the donut area. With the holly bushes now gone, numerous solution holes that were previously hidden were now visible, including the large one that I tried to photograph. It was so large that it made framing it difficult while still capturing the sun set over the horizon. It was a very cloudy day which I was concerned would make for a bland sunset. Luckily, the undersides lit up enough to give them some color and create a dynamic scene. This was my first landscape attempt in over a year and a half so it just felt good to compose a shot.

Sunset at St. Marks Wildlife Refuge and Lighthouse

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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.

Lichgate on High Road Oak Tree

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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.

NASCAR Championship 2018 Homestead-Miami Speedway

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I made some time to help out the local newspaper and worked the Sunday NASCAR Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway again this year. I always like getting into the pits and watching the crews tinker with the cars and the fun and excitement that always accompanies the championship race day. This year was another great race full of excitement in front of a sold out crowd. I was able to capture some good shots of the four (4) race car drivers vying for the Championship and made the front page of the newspaper.

Geminid Meteor Shower 2017

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I don’t get to use my camera as much as I used to anymore but I still wanted to go out and see the Geminid Meteor Shower this year. It was forecast to be a good show.

I met up with some of the South Florida National Park Camera Club members and fellow photographer Robert Chaplin out in Everglades National Park. We started at Mahoganny Hammock and I spent most of the time just watching the show and left my camera in the car. I also did not see any compositions I liked so instead enjoyed the company for a little while before heading out on my own. While driving around I came across a lone Cypress Tree near the main park road that I liked and decided to set up my camera and see if I could capture a few meteors in the background. I got lucky and captured 3 meteors in one 30 second exposure using the cypress tree as my foreground anchor. Once I got home and looked at the images on the big screen I really liked the shot and will likely find a place for it in my personal collection.

This years meteor shower was one of the best I have seen in years. Meteors were streaking across the sky every few seconds with numerous fireballs and very bright meteors mixed in. The weather is also always great for us South Floridians as it is cool and keeps the mosquitoes at bay at night.

NASCAR Championship 2017

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I missed last years NASCAR Championship race at Homestead Miami Speedway due to being out of town and spending time with family. This year however, the local newspaper asked if I would be willing to help them out again and capture some images of the race. I of course agreed and dusted off my camera for a fun filled weekend.

I got some great images this year, especially of retiring driver Matt Kenseth during a pit stop with the sun setting through the grandstands. I forgot how much fun shooting a racing event can be. I had gotten so used to going that I took the experience for granted until I took a year off from the event. I will likely go again next year if life allows me time.

Boca Chita Lighthouse and Biscayne Bay

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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.