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As I walked along the Pa-hay-okee Trail and explored this part of Everglades National Park, I was drawn to the south, where a setting unfolded to my front of a serene freshwater slough with reflections present of the blue skies and clouds above. Interspaced throughout were bald cypress trees and sawgrasses. This landscape stands as a witness to the natural beauty of the Everglades.
During a Backcountry Boat Tour along the Buttonwood Canal in Everglades National Park, I captured this image with two crocodiles basking in the late morning sun. The setting is to the east-northeast, providing a picturesque view of the reptiles amongst the mangroves in this part of the national park. In composing this image, I pulled back on the focal length so that I could include more of the natural vegetation to add to this setting and image captured.
As I walked around and explored the area around the Guy Bradley Visitor Center (at Flamingo) in Everglades National Park, I was captivated by the view of a tree-lined street stretching northwest. Spanish moss seemed to hang down like a cascade from many of the trees, creating a lush green canopy. My intention in capturing this image was to emphasize the crown and upper branches of the nearby trees against the backdrop of the blue skies, creating a striking color contrast.
The Anhinga is a water bird whose range includes much of South America, Central America and southeastern portions of of the U.S. The Anhinga name comes from the Brazilian Tupi language, and means "devil bird,” "snake bird” or “evil spirit of the woods.” The origin of the name is apparent when one sees the bird swim. Only its long neck and head appear above water, so the bird looks like a snake ready to strike.
Looking Close on Friday: "Black in Black & White" theme
HLCoF
A balcony view from the room I was staying at the Flamingo Lodge and Restaurant in Everglades National Park. The setting is looking to the south. The setting includes a portion of the Guy Bradley Trail and the estuary of Florida Bay off in the distance. I angled my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera to raise the horizon higher into the image and bring out more of a sweeping view of this national park setting. If you look carefully across the bay waters, one can see a lone pelican in flight.
While at the national park entrance not far from the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center. This setting is looking to the north-northwest to a nearby thick grove of trees and other plant-life present. My thought on composing this image was to line up the setting to my front and have it stretch across the image from edge to edge, creating the illusion using the “impact of less.”
On a side note, when I came to this location and later the visitor center, I had this thought that much of the Everglades consisted of this type of thick forests. Never having been to the Everglades National Park before, I was not aware of how much of the national park consisted of freshwater slough with sawgrass prairies, only here and there locations of higher ground hammocks.
This Snowy Egret was next to a watering hole on Pay-Hay-Okee Trail in Everglades National Park. The water flows under the road so out come fish sometimes. It's a good place to perch and wait for your next meal.
I have a feeling that this Eastern Meadowlark is a juvenile. We spotted this on Research Road in Everglades National Park. The Meadowlark was balancing on a stem as a breeze gently waved the bird up and down. Their song is a a beautiful melody which some describe as a flute like whistle.
In the area around the Flamingo Marina in Everglades National Park with a view looking to the east in the boat ramp area. “Fred” the crocodile was hanging out getting some sun and was quite still allowing me to compose this image with a long reach NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR on my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera. I got down low and angled my camera for a more frontal view, and then look to the crocodile as well as across the ramp and then waters.
While walking around and exploring the area of the Flamingo Marina in Everglades National Park, I came across this osprey nest with an osprey and chick. The view of the nest extended upward and to the east-northeast to a nearby pole at the dam location of the Buttonwood Canal and Florida Bay. The composition of the image was placing the two birds, more or less in the image center, while using the blue skies as a backdrop to better highlight them. The rest was capturing several images until the birds both happened to look in my general direction.
I captured this image while walking one afternoon along the Pa-hay-okee Trail in Everglades National Park. The setting is to the northeast with the freshwater slough present in the sawgrass prairie to my front. Here and there are dwarf cypress trees, all under blue skies and clouds. I chose to take advantage of the higher ground and angled my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera slightly downward, so that I could bring out more of a sweeping view leading off to the horizon, which was placed a little higher into the image for that effect.
I later did a conversion to black & white using Silver Efex Pro 8 where I made some adjustments to color filters to bring out a much richer tonal contrast for the final image.
The original idea I got for this image conversion to black & white was from another on Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/wyoming_1/54385046301/in/feed-67808...). I liked how the view included that same sawgrass prairie with clouds interspaced across the skies above.
And one last thing: if you look carefully above the horizon, maybe a little right of center, you notice a sole dragonfly. When I zoomed in, it seemed quite distinct and sharp for an image that I wasn't planning on capturing with it :-)
A setting looking to the east-northeast while taking in views across the sawgrass prairie to my front. This was from an overlook along a boarded walkway with the Pinelands Trail in Everglades National Park. In composing this image, I chose to angle my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera slightly downward, so that I could raise the horizon. I felt that would bring out a sweeping view looking across the sawgrass prairie and minimize what I felt was the more negative space of the overcast skies.
"I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
