I've wanted to photograph lily pads for years, but never found an arrangement that 'worked'.  This sorta does, but not so much for the plants themselves.  I liked the design they presented in front of the wooden walkway that rimmed the little park on the St. John's River beside a small marina.

I've been starved for settings that would inspire photographs, and yesterday I found one not far from home.  It's the Dutton Island Preserve and it's a gem.  Despite the ubiquity of salt marshes here, they're not easy to access.  Most are curtained from view by private homes, and the rampant shrubbery that borders most roads.  So, finding this little oasis was a real treat.  And, because salt marshes are tidal, the view can be infinitely varied depending on when one visits.  (Film)

The loblolly bay is a tree I'd never encountered in the northeast.  It has a chalky white textured bark and sports a white blossom in this season.  The trouble is that, rather than have the blooms all emerge at once, the tree doles them out one or two at a time.  There is one here, but it's much harder to see in this photograph than it was in 'reality'.  At least there was a subtle difference in value between the leaves and the other foliage which I exaggerated as much as I could making this print.  (Film)

I try very hard to find 'diamonds in my own backyard'.  It isn't easy here.  I had the idea for this photograph a while ago, and then saw someone else do something similar (hey....it's all been done at one time or another by somebody!), so I decided to claim my version in my own backyard.  For those who know something about cameras, a light leak is a bad, bad thing.  It means a seal is compromised in some way, and light hits the film or sensor that isn't supposed to.  I thought titling this "Light Leak" was appropriate.  That fence just ain't gettin it done.!  ;-)   (Film)

The word 'clabbered' is new to me.  It means mottled, and in this case it refers to a buttermilk sky.  I wasn't even exactly sure what a buttermilk sky was until I saw this and figured it must be one.  As I've noted, the sky here can offer an endless display of interesting cloud forms except on the all too often boringly bright, clear, blue, cloudless days. Florida is not called the sunshine state without reason.  I prefer clouds!  (Film)

I got to the beach earlier this morning than I did a few days ago.  The sky brightened gradually until sun-up and then at a faster pace.  When watching it rise close to the horizon, its surprising how quickly it moves away from the 'edge' of the ocean.  That people thought the earth was flat is easy to understand, but when, instead, one realizes that that speed is the planet's rotation, it's quite astonishing.  (Film)

Photographing directly into the sun is a dicey proposition.  It's likely that there will be flare, glare, and lens artifacts.  Exposure, too, is problematic as there is no light source that's brighter.  To get other parts of a scene to render their normal values is beyond the reach of 10 zones.  So, it seemed a good idea to not even attempt a photograph with a large tonal range, but instead to try something more limited and dramatic.  This was photographed at about 6:45 AM on Jacksonville beach.  (Film)

Other than the Atlantic ocean and its shore, the natural environment of Florida is utterly alien to what I lived with until two years ago.  In the Hudson Valley, you could swing a cat once and find 360 likely images.  Here...not at all, except for a very angry cat.  The forests, if you can call them that, are really jungles cluttered with an ocean of palmettos and a sea of impenetrable low lying plants.   So, I have to look elsewhere.  That search has expanded my appreciation for subjects I might not have stopped for in the past.  (Film)

I rarely if ever include people in my pictures.  While photographing this view, the fisherman walked by and I asked him to stop.  I was surprised that he did, and didn't waste his time.  I took this picture immediately and thanked him.  I had more luck than he did, I think!  I may do more of this sort of thing!  lol   (Film)

At some of the ocean front parks here, there are rather long walks through the dunes and sea oats to get to the water.  The paths are clearly marked and there are sections with boardwalks and railings.  As in all the parks, walking on the dunes is either prohibited or discouraged.  Thus, they retain the plantings that hold the sand in place, and provide seclusion for nesting birds and wildlife.  This photograph was taken from a boardwalk on Little Talbot Island at the very southern end near the mouth of the St. John's River.  (Film)

This is our beloved standard poodle, Bailey, a couple of whiles ago.  We shared our lives with him for nearly twelve years.  Yesterday, he left us for the rainbow bridge with hugs, caresses, kisses and many, many tears.  He was gravely ill and a peaceful passing surrounded by his loving humans was truly a blessing.  Before that final moment, he was given all the M&Ms he could possibly have wanted, and no doubt wondered why they had been withheld until just then.  We miss him terribly.  "Go play!!", Bailey, wherever you are.  If souls exist, they live in animals too. Perhaps the better word is 'spirit'.  Conservation of energy dictates that our spirit, as some form of energy, lives on.

What you see on the beach in this picture is coquina, which is "a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically-sorted fragments of  shells..."  (Wikipedia)  It's often carved into interesting forms by the action of the surf and sea. Any other rock found on the shore in this part of Florida, at least, has been imported from elsewhere to build jetties or to reinforce some other kind of marine structure.   The sky, of course, was really the point!  (Film)

Looking at some of the negatives I hadn't gotten around to yesterday from my morning at Little Talbot Island SP,  I decided I liked this one too.  The day began with a brooding sky that gradually cleared and gave way to blue with big white puffs pictured first in yesterday's post.  But, things started out like this which pleased me a lot.  (Film)

Probably my favorite state parks around here are Big Talbot Island and Little Talbot Island.  The former features a beach so densely littered with fallen, dead trees that, even at low tide, it's not easy to walk very far.  The beach on the latter is wide open and utterly uncluttered with beautiful dunes that you walk through to get there.  These two photographs were made yesterday (April 30), on Little Talbot.  As swimming is prohibited, there are usually fewer people there than at other beaches, and at the beginning of the day it's all but deserted.  Having read a forecast of partly cloudy in the morning, I was there by about 8:30 AM.   I was not disappointed!   (Inclusion of the little triangle 'pointer' was quite deliberate!)   (Film)

I've found very few places in north Florida where a sense of grandeur can include the land as well as the sky.  I'm using 'grandeur' in the majestic sense since some would consider a vast salt marsh to be 'grand' as well just because it's so enormous.  But, my life in the northeast has prejudiced me to regard 'flat' as the antithesis of anything that thrills and inspires.  But, once again, Huguenot SP came through with its marvelous dunes which, on the day I made this photograph, were graced by enough of a dramatic sky to warrant attention.   (Film)

One of the nicest things about the Jacksonville area is that the beaches are easy to access, free of user fees or parking permits, and public.  In fact the free parking lots have porta-potties making their use even more convenient.  This photograph was made in the area I come to most often, and always is interesting.  I usually see fishing poles rooted in the sand with their lines extending into the water as far as the fishermen can cast them.  But, I've never seen a fish reeled in though I guess they must be getting caught as the fishermen return again and again.  (Film)

The beach at Big Talbot Island SP is littered with trees and tree limbs that are not washed ashore driftwood, but are native to the place.  The wind, surf, storms, and tide take their toll on the trees too near the water, and little by little they succumb and topple onto the sand.  It would be fascinating to come back a century from now to see what's left of the parts I am familiar with...but, hehe..that ain't gonna happen.  However, photographs will inform those who do visit a hundred years hence of how much has been claimed by the sea.  Of course, there may not be much left of Florida altogether as the earth warms, the ice caps and glaciers melt, and the ocean rises.

I did not make this heart, but thought it deserved a picture before the incoming tide made it a memory.   (Film)

Again, from Huguenot State Park,  I explored the west side of the dunes on foot this time.  The dunes are quite spectacular and off limits to those who would disturb their nesting grounds.  But, even from the 'road' around them, there is much to see and photograph.  I wanted to be there in the afternoon because it was low tide and easy to traverse, and because the sun was to my back and the polarizing filter at its most effective.   (Film)

This is a photograph I wish I had taken, but my grandson's mom is the guilty party.  The happy little cutie is sitting beside his dad.  He is watching a video of me playing Happy Birthday with some flashy embellishments on my cello for him.  I'm told he watched it several times, and, as this is one of the latter ones, I'm really pleased that he continued to find it entertaining.  Now, if he'll just ask his father to get him cello lessons.  After all, he is now two years old and will soon be about the right age to start on a viola with an end pin!! 

There are several interesting parks that front on the ocean in this northeast corner of  Florida.   I've posted several images from Big Talbot Island State Park before, but none from Huguenot Memorial Park which is where the two photographs below were made. The park is essentially a huge array of dunes that are roped off and patrolled by rangers to protect the nesting grounds of a variety of sea birds.  But, between the dunes and the sea is a vast beach that permits vehicle access and is quite popular with visitors who sun  themselves, picnic, and bathe in the ocean never very far away from their cars.  (Film)