My buddy George picked me, the Native Floridian and Avid Florida Bird Photographer, up at O Dark Thirty for a little Photography Adventure.  We were heading to one of our local haunts in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see how the birds were doing in this hot Florida summer sun.

Before we ran across our first bird we spotted some Everglades Morning Glory flowers along the road.  It’s quite obvious how Florida received it’s name as there were many other wildflowers along the way.

The first bird of the day was eventually spotted but not after this area near “The Mosquito Lagoon” lived up to it’s reputation.  The mosquitoes were chewing through the bug spray I had on but they didn’t seem to bother the Black-crowned Night-Heron that was fishing on a water control gate.

A little further down the road a Great Blue Heron gate me a couple of attempts to capture him in flight.  The first attempt I was caught with the wrong camera settings but the second try proved to be a winner with drops of water coming off his feet and his yellow eye tack sharp.

Some Dragonflies perched atop a stick helped to pass the time before spotting a pair of Florida Mottled Ducks.  Note the male duck following the female with the bright orange bill.

A lone Mangrove tree caught my eye as the mirror like surface of the water kept me wondering where the water ends and the sky begins.

A sun went behind a cloud and we rounded the next corner a Tri-colored Heron stepped out from behind a mangrove to put on a fishing clinic.

As our trip was winding down and the sun was losing it’s morning glow, a naked pine tree presented us with a present.  Perched atop the dead pine was a beautiful Osprey chilling out.  The convenient dirt road led us to the sunny side of our subject.  With a little patience we waited out the osprey and he spread it’s wings and put on a show.

And last but not least, George doing what he does best.

Technorati Tags: Bird Photography, Florida Photography, The Native Floridian

It was a beautiful afternoon just right for taking pictures and going for a little airboat ride down the Econlockhatchee River.  Bald Eagles can make for some great Florida Photography. You never know sometimes you just get lucky and this turned out to be one of those times.  I have spent over 12 years riding on the St. John’s River and it’s tributaries.  To date I have only captured a few poor quality Bald Eagle pictures.  This time my wife and I were going for a little airboat ride down the Econ heading for some dinner at the Jolly Gator.  We stopped along the way to cast a plastic worm or two just to see if the bass were biting.  They were not.  So we fired the airboat back up and continued our ride.  As we rounded this bend there was a tall, leafless tree with Spanish Moss hanging off of it.  Almost to the top, silhouetted by the blue sky, perched a spetacular Bald Eagle!   He was beautifully lit from the golden glow of the setting sun.  Just the site of this eagle on his perch would have been worth the trip because we drove right by him and he did not fly giving us an incredible view!  So, going for broke, I turned the boat back around in hopes that he would not fly.  As luck would have it he did not fly and just sat there as I drove past again!   What luck I was having.  So I pulled off to the side of the flowing river and took my camera gear out of it’s protective case, a Rubbermaid container.  I usually don’t have my camera around my neck when I am driving because most of the pictures from a moving airboat, while driving and using a large lense, Canon 100-400 4.5-56 to be exact, do not make for great pictures. 

So I fired the airboat up once again for the money shot.  I idled right up to the bird, steadied the camera the best I could and took a couple of pictures.  Then I decided I would shut the boat off and get a couple more.  As soon as I killed the engine the Bald Eagle flew!  I few more shots and that was it!  Some of the in-camera pictures looked pretty good but the true test would come after the upload to the computer.

These are the pictures I came away with and they are my best Bald Eagle pictures.  A little bit of luck, a camera, and boat ride can go a long way sometimes.  My Florida Photography and bird photography has now been elevated to a whole new level.

It was a cool 49 degree morning which was a little unseasonal for mid April but great for an airboating adventure down the Econ River and out into the St. Johns River.  The water was as smooth as glass and with all of the rain and warmer temperatures everything was green and blooming.  Perfect for some Florida Photography. 

The first surprise that came up around the first bend, nestled in a tight corner with lots of overhanging trees making it nearly impossible to maneuver the airboat for a picture, were some yellow wildflowers (never got close enough to identify them) growing out of the top of a dead cabbage palm that was mostly submerged in the dark water.  I will be going back this weekend and take a beautiful reflective picture with bright green foliage in the background.

Around every corner was something new.  There were small alligators, large alligators and even one over 10’!  Of course we picked that spot to stop the boat and take a few cast for some bass.  It seemed like there were bald eagles everywhere including some immature birds gliding along the treetops.

Painted turtles were splashing into to water off of their log perch.  Lots of soft shell turtles with their long necks and flat shell were sunning themselves in many locations.

The twists and turns of the Econ finally gave way to the cabbage palm island marking the end of the Econ and the beginning of the St. Johns River just south State Road 46.  I started heading south when something caught my eye.  It was a couple of beautiful Black-necked Stilts.  With my trusty Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera and 100-400 4.5-5.6 L Zoom lens, I stepped into the mud and water with my flops to put the Florida Cracker sneak on them.  Well, there was no sneak because we arrived via airboat, and there was not flops as I left one in each mud hole as I took my first two steps.

I was able to get a couple of good pictures of the stilts and even managed to photograph some surprise birds as I was knee deep in the mud.  A flock of Short-billed dowitchers, a Lesser Yellowlegs, and some Caspian Terns paid me a visit.  All great pictures and if it was not for the camera I would have had trouble identifying them.

All in all a gorgeous day topped off with a fly-by from an Amelia above heifer mound as the Seminole County Airboat Club assembled for a poker run.  I will be back next weekend capturing that Florida Photography.  Remember to bring the camera so you can “Preserve Your Adventure”.

When will it end?  The Citrus Freeze of 2010 has been brutal on my trees.  Central Florida is not supposed to get this cold this many times.  About a month ago most of the fruit froze completely and has fallen to the ground along with the leaves.  Florida Photography has many challenges, the least of which we anticipate to be cold weather.  Frozen Fingers, running noses, and those dreaded poor performing cold batteries!   Nothing renders a camera useless more quickly than the extreme cold.  I’m not sure if this qualifies as extreme but in Florida it is extreme for this much cold for this long.  This is the second day with overnight temperatures being in the twenty’s.  We just had a little warm up, a little rain and some new fresh green growth on my fruit trees!!!  Yea! They are not dead.  Well at least not yet.  If this keeps up, the Winter Warlock will be as bad at pruning the fruit trees fresh green growth as those hungry little deer.  Hopefully that was the last of the arctic blast from the frozen north and the fresh citrus buds will soon be followed by blossoms and their aromatic smell.  Until then this Native Florida Photographer will try to keep warm and always have an extra battery or two in my pocket because a cold dead battery never did a camera any good. 

Technorati Tags: Citrus Freese, Florida Photography

Being into Florida Photography you never know what I am going to have to do to get that picture. This time we had to catch the fish, throw an energy drink in the picture, take a drink, yuk! And then catch another fish. These were some huge mutton snappers too! Lots of fun making the video!  I did cheat a little because the boat belonged to my dad and the other person in the picture was my brother.  We have been fishing the reefs off Palm Beach County since we were born there.  We even had a picture of the family and our old Robalo boat on the front page of a fishing magazine!  It’s kind of ironic that it is I who is behind the camera taking the pictures of the people in the magazines now.  I have several of my fishing pictures published with Sport Fishing Magazine.  So if you have a fishing adventure that you are about to embark upon and you want to “Preserve Your Adventure” then give me a call.  The Native Floridian himself, Florida Photography at it’s best!

Technorati Tags: fishing photography, fishing pictures, fishing video, Florida Photography, mutton snapper, native floridian