Birds of a feather......watch out for aligators!

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

01/23/2006 10:17:20 PM · #1

I'm working on a new portfolio "Natural Florida" and I found an AMAZING place to shoot on saturday. These shots (and a couple hundred others) were all taken within about 5 hours in one large location. I've decided to shoot there as often as I can this year eventhough its almost 2 hours away.

I'm hoping my "Natural Florida" portfolio can evenutally become a book, so I would love your feedback/critique.

btw.... few favs not shown in this group, watch for one of them to show up in "wildlife". :)

Message edited by author 2006-01-23 22:41:28.

newsjunkie93

Canon EOS-10D

01/23/2006 10:20:40 PM · #2

Great shots! The bird is my favorite--where in Florida are you?
:)
Christina

yakatme

Lytro Illum Light Field Digital

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

01/23/2006 10:22:39 PM · #3

Cool shots. Where in Florida did you find such diversity so close together?

Nobody

Pentax K-S2

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO IF for Pentax

01/23/2006 10:24:10 PM · #4

I thought I knew where you were until I got down to the flamingo. Too cold this time of year..

Very nice. Can't wait to see the entry for Wildlife II.

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6G

01/23/2006 10:25:04 PM · #5

:) Thanks guys! I live in north east Florida, near Jax, but drove to central Florida for this place.... Silver Springs I bought an annual pass so I can go back as much as I want this year. Its a LOVELY all natural area with boat rides into the protected forests via the Silver River and King River. Amazing area. :)

bacchus

Nikon D70s

01/24/2006 06:35:17 AM · #6

Hey idnic! I'm in Deland, just a few skips south of you, and pretty much love photographing the Floridian wildlife/environments myself. Great, great stuff. Silver Springs is rather nice, isn't it? The Ocala National Forest is just loaded to the gills...

Have you gone south to Washington Oaks Gardens State Park? It's off of A1A in Flagler county, south of St. Augustine, north of Flagler Beach. Very nice. One of my favorite little gardens to hit in central Florida.

Anyhow, great shots and I'm definitely going to do a crawl through your gallery quite often! You showed me yours, so I'll show you mine:

~ janson

vtruan

Nikon D5100

Tamron AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical for Nikon

01/24/2006 07:13:33 AM · #7

Originally posted by idnic:

Just a couple thoughts for your "Natural Florida" Your shots are nice, I like the dark great blue heron the best.

The Crowned Crane is not native to Florida, its African. Also a wild (non-escape) American Flamingo is extremely rare in the state. There is usually one or two in the Everglades, but that's not every year. Thought ya might want to know. Van

Message edited by author 2006-01-24 07:14:11.

fadedbeauty

Nikon D300

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

01/24/2006 07:19:03 AM · #8

Hmm..Silver Springs...did you shoot any of the monkeys there?

Just north of me over by the Space Center you have Merrit Island Wildlife Refuge. It is full of wildlife. There is a diverse amount of habitats over there everything from marshes to wooded areas. Also they have one of the few stretches of beach in FL not covered with condos.

Another place I like to go is the Orlando Wetlands Park. It is about halfway between Orlando and the east coast in Christmas. It is a huge manmade wetland that all the wastewater for orlando gets dumped into. It is truly unique in the way it looks. Many marshes with dead sun bleached trees jutting out. There is lots of wildlife out there too.

Tamron AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical for Nikon

01/24/2006 09:05:07 AM · #9

Van - yes, I'm aware that the first bird is a crowned crane (african) and the flamingo is NOT wild - sorry I didn't point that out.

fadedbeauty - no, I didn't shoot the wild monkeys, unfortunately I didn't see them this time through. I swear I never knew wild monkeys live in this area! Can't wait to see them, maybe next trip. I have not been to Merrit Island yet, but it is on my list. Hadn't heard of the Orlando wetlands and though it sounds a little disgusting, I'll probably go check it out anyway.

Baccus - Deland IS just a hop down the road! If you wanna team up for some shooting just yell. I look for new locations most every weekend. I like your wild Florida shots, especially the snakes. I would love to pick your brain for more locations in driving distance.

vtruan

Nikon D5100

01/24/2006 09:09:45 AM · #10

Cindi,

There is great wildlife shooting a Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge to the south. There is a boardwalk through a cypress swamp, and walk around some great ponds. Lots of bird species, alligators, deer,dragonflies, and butterflies. Also, wildflowers. It maybe to far south, but an excellent spot. Van

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6G

01/24/2006 09:14:11 AM · #11

Thanks, Van! I'll add that to my list. :)

bacchus

Nikon D70s

01/24/2006 10:50:48 AM · #12

idnic: We will have to coordinate this spring/summer. I'm starting to amp up into snake-photo-mode... They're already pretty active. Spring is apparently already here! viva la spring.

~ janson.

rox_rox

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

01/24/2006 11:09:19 AM · #13

Great work Cindy!
It gets me excited for our FLA GTG over here. I love seeing how different photographers see the same subject matter.

The boats are my favorite.

Roxanne

SJCarter

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

01/24/2006 11:47:42 AM · #14

Some good work! Left comments.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

01/24/2006 12:24:54 PM · #15

Thanks tons for the comments! Since we're listing nice locations, a friend suggested Chehaw Park in southern GA. Anyone been there?

alfresco

Nikon D700

01/24/2006 12:30:11 PM · #16

Whoa cindi!!!!

Great photos!!! I'll check these out in detail when I leave work, initial thoughts: WHOA!!

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

01/24/2006 05:58:57 PM · #17

:) Thanks, JP. Its very photogenic around here.....none of that yucky cold stuff! lol

ArpeggioAngel

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

01/25/2006 08:28:03 PM · #18

I am making a list of all the great places that everyone is mentioning. Really need to start taking some day treks out to the east coast. I try to get out each weekend to somewhere new, and if I can't get somewhere new I return to favorite haunts. For anyone up to a trip to the Gulf Coast we have Myakka State Park near Sarasota, Honeymoon Island State Park up near Dunedin, and Hillsborough River State Park outside Tampa. There is also Homosassa Springs State Park and for smaller venues a couple of good botanical gardens - Bok Tower and Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida Botanical Gardens in Seminole and the USF Botanical Gardens in Tampa.
If anyone is ever out this way and wants to give me a shout I would love to get together. I am also really looking forward to our Florida GTG in April!

Katie

vtruan

Nikon D5100

Tamron AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical for Nikon

01/25/2006 08:44:29 PM · #19

If you are in the Sanibel Island (excellent sea shells)area off Ft. Meyers, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge has a fantastic road tour. Ocean marsh (brackish) on one side of the road and fresh water on the other side. Birds and gators are really tame.

Also, the Cork Screw Swamp (Audubon owns) has a great boardwalk through the swamp near there also.

And if you ever get a change, take the boat from Key West out to the Dry Tortugas (camp if you can, take water) there are 20,000 sooty terns, 10,000 brown noddies, numerous frigatebirds, and other species nest there from mid-March into mid-July (April being best) The fort is also interesting.

Message edited by author 2006-01-25 20:45:15.

yakatme

Lytro Illum Light Field Digital

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

01/25/2006 10:09:27 PM · #20

I just checked this thread and all of this sounds right up my alley. I'm in Miami, so Key West is one direction, Fort Myers is another, and the Sarasota and the Tampa are just past there. All within a four hour drive.

Btw, I've been to the Everglades three times this week and got some great shots also.

TomH1000

Olympus E-3

Olympus 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Zuiko Digital Zoom

01/25/2006 10:32:06 PM · #21

Originally posted by bacchus:

Deland? I have a house in Deltona. I lived there for 25 years and just moved to South Carolina. I still make sure I get back there for all the importaint events like Bikeweek, Daytona 500 and so on. (-:

Rikki

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

01/25/2006 10:35:12 PM · #22

just saw this thread. beautiful images cindi ;) i think i commented on your photo then ;)