Black & White Wednesday

My boat is waiting patiently...

I usually carry the boat down to the water first and then return for the rest of my gear. This day was no exception. I can carry everything down in one trip but two is much easier. When the water is this dark you get the nice reflections. The tannins in the water made it the darkest I have seen water in a while. I saw my share of dark water when I used to clean boat bottoms. I would dive somedays and would have zero visibility. Some days I could hold my dive light out at arms reach and not be able to see it shining at my face. Days like that are great for reflections but bad for working under water. 

Black and White Wednesday, Juniper Creek

These are more pictures of Juniper Creek. These have been converted to Black and White. They have the feel of old time Florida. If you can overlook the kevlar canoe and imagine an old wood and canvas canoe. The scene would look the same.

We actually had to paddle under that log. Laura is approaching the log and getting ready to duck under. It was pretty close for her. I can't imagine what I looked like going through in my canoe.
We passed by this old tree. I was thinking this would be a perfect place for an Osprey or a hawk to hang out and watch for fish and stuff passing by. Then the bird could swoop down out of the tree and catch lunch.

I hope you have enjoyed todays pictures.

My Ride is waiting

Black and White Wednesday

My canoe is patiently waiting for me to carry the rest of my gear down to the dock and get in the boat. The water was very dark. I could not see below the surface at all. There was a ton of run off coming from the woods. The current is running from the left to the right in the picture. 

This is a view looking up stream. I usually go either upstream or upwind first. That way if there are any problems you can drift back towards where you started from. Also the second half of your trip is easier. The only hard thing is timing your trip. Paddling upstream takes a lot longer then paddling and drifting back. 
As I stated earlier I can't wait to try this creek again. I will wait till the weather is cooler. I think it will be a nice day trip. 

Stay tuned....

Black & White Wednesday

These pictures are from my recent trip to the Wacissa River. These were all converted from color to Black and White in Photoshop. I came across this Moorhen standing in these cattails. He was standing still like he was hiding, Maybe if he stood still enough I would not see him.

This Great Blue Heron was hanging out on the river taking in the sights. He had a nice perch on this log. 
This Snowy Egret was running around on the weeds looking for lunch. He looks so skinny in this picture. These birds are so light they can walk around on the weeds looking for their meals.
Enjoy, 

Peace
  

Black & White Wednesday

Monday Morning on the Wacissa River. It was just a little foggy when I got there. The sun was coming up from the left side of the picture so it seems a little foggier then it really was. The water was absolutly flat when I started paddling. The breeze did pick up to about 5 kts. Just enough to keep it comfortable. The rain fell later and made things steamy. Check out the last picture of this post.

There were lots of these Green Herons out fishing. They stand on these limbs over the water which is usually covered in this duckweed. How they are able to determine there are fish under there is a mystery to me. I have done some scuba diving in water with duck weed and it doesn't let any light through. I watched this bird for a while and he finally had to move to another branch closer to the water. 
This bird (Snowy Egret) was posing nicely. Neck outstrechted , side profile and a nice background. 
This was after a fairly short rain shower. It was one of those showers that just seems to make it hot and sticky. There was enough moisture in the air to leave this fog across the river and into the woods. There is a sit on top kayak on the left side of the picture.
Another nice day out on the water. I had the river almost to myself. And did I mention no Airboats.  I have lots more pictures so stay tuned. I was able to spend 2 days on the Wacissa this trip.

Black & White Wednesday Lake photos

Top of the Morning

This first picture was actually taken in color. The Anhinga and the sky provide the blacks and grays. So I am calling this a black and white photo. This bird had landed on the tree and then climbed up to the top. A few minutes later he was joined by another bird and the battle for king of the hill ensued. This fellow finally won, having the high ground gives you a big advantage.

Needle in a hay stack

Find the birds hidden in the photo. There are 6 of them. The first 5 are pretty easy to find and the 6th bird is a little harder. There are 3 different species.
2 Younglings

These 2 younglings were hanging out pretty much on their own. While all the other birds were up in the trees these 2 were standing down closer to the water. This did tend to get them away from most of the hubbub going on up in the trees.

Black and White Wednesday, Exchange Island pt.3

I have been to Exchange Island 3 times in a row now. I have been there for a few reasons. Gas prices are high, I can drive there and paddle and still be home for lunch and despite the trash I like the island. It is located in the middle of the city and yet it feel like you are miles away. As long as you don't hear the traffic from the bridge.

There was an Egret and a Great Blue Heron in this tree. 

This is what years of neglect and people who don't care looks like. This was just a small area of a much larger one covered with glass and trash. I had already picked up the cans and bottles. I am not to sure what to do about the broken glass.
Here is the Snowy Egret sitting on a stick overlooking the water. 
As always Take it with you when you leave.

Black and White Wednesday, Exchange Island

Usually B&W pictures look good but for this subject it doesn't matter. This is just somebody's mess plain and simple. There is just no good reason for people to leave a mess like this. If they ever want to go back to this spot it is covered in trash. I would hate to plan an outing and be greeted by this. The sad thing is to get to Exchange Island you have to go by boat. So stuff like this can't be blamed on any one except the people that are actually using this island. 

PLEASE TAKE YOUR TRASH WITH YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE!!!

Here are some nicer looking pictures. These flowers are nice they have great colors (see the Post below) They also look good in B&W because of the contrast.
This Egret was taking off as I came around a bend. Look at that wingspan. These birds are great flyers and are really good at fishing. 
I spent most of my time picking up trash on this trip so I didn't take too many pictures. I did go home with 2 bags of trash, a milk crate and a boat fender. Which I gave to one of the power boaters that was launching at the ramp when I got back. 

Black and White Wednesday, Exchange Island pt.2

I was unable to get out on the water last weekend due to weather, Mother's Day and teaching Woodturning. However I had some pictures that weren't posted last week that I did like so here a few more. I was drifting along Exchange Island. The breeze was pushing me along nicely. The Matthews Bridge is just ahead. If I kept going about 15 more mile I would end up in the Atlantic Ocean. I may have to make that trip another day. The currents move about 3 kts. through here all the way to the ocean.

This is another picture of the lagoon on the island. The water was perfectly still here. The clouds are reflected on the surface along with the trees.

"The wind was my friend today"

The wind was helping me today. I drifted along the Island and managed to stay out of the current the length of the island. When I reentered the current which was going against me the wind was pushing me so they just about canceled each other out. The current is moving from right to left in the picture with the wind going the opposite direction. This forms waves which made it a little interesting. I was defiantly keeping my eye on the conditions.

Black and White Wednesday, Exchange Island

My canoe awaits me.

I landed in the lagoon and pulled my boat ashore. The water is very dark here and the lagoon is very protected. In fact it was blowing about 5 kts. out on the river. And being as protected as it was the bugs were very bad. 

This is the view standing where the canoe in waiting. We are looking towards the opening of the lagoon. The water has an almost perfect reflection. 
The next 2 pictures are of the Matthews Bridge. This bridge is tall enough for large ships to go under.
This is after I went through it and turned around to take some pictures of the bridge. 
I hope you have enjoyed these Black and White pictures. I have 2 more posts coming up on this trip so stay tuned.

Black & White Wednesday Suwannee River

This is the view looking out the front of the boat. This river has sand bars on one side and limestone cliffs on the other. The current washes the sand away to reveal the limestone cliffs and overhangs. 

On the right side of this picture is sandy shores and the left is ricky shores. The water is very dark. It reflects everything.
This Cyprus tree was down by the water by itself. It makes me wonder how long it has before the river claims it and the tree begins its journey down stream.

"The Wind is my friend"

It was quite windy on the river both days. One thing I have learned from all my years boating is the wind will almost always be on the nose(Blowing straight from the direction you want to go) Of course being in a canoe from the side is almost worse. The ripples on the water is a puff of wind coming from about a 45 degree angle. The other thing of note is when the body of water isn't very wide and you see good size ripples you know the puff is pretty strong.
I saw this Turkey buzzard eating on something. The current was sweeping me directly towards him. I took a few pictures and was trying to avoid getting caught up in the debris. As I paddled away I saw he was working on a dead alligator and then I saw the rest of his buddies sitting further up in the tree. Once I got clear of the stuff in the water I had a bad angle for any more photos.

Black & White Wednesday Santa Fe River

Early morning on the river. I got up and saw this fog on the river. So naturally I put the boat in the water and paddled around a bit. I took some B&W pictures cause this scene just begged for it. These Cyprus Trees were standing there waiting. I also like the reflections on the water.  Notice the waterlines on the trees as well.

This is my boat tied up on the bank waiting to be loaded for the days trip.
My view from camp. I was camped right on the banks of the river. I will talk about the trip tomorrow.

Another view of the river from my camp. You can see the boat waiting. The river is calm now but that would change later.

Black and White Wednesday revisit

I wasn't able to get on the water this past weekend. The weather was bad, We got a new dog and my wife was out of town. So I went through some of my older pictures and found some that I liked. These were taken at Faver Dykes State Park. We went there in November and rented canoes, before I purchased my canoe. I wanted to see if the kids liked it. We had a nice few hours on the water and then a picnic lunch. This is a picture of my wife and kids. She is talking on her blackberry to her mother. The background is nice. We paddled on the river before this picture was taken and then had lunch in this part of the park. The kids were being silly.

My son said take a picture of my shoes. Since it was digital I obliged. This is one of photoshop elements, photo effects. It is remove color. I like how it kept the shoes green and the background fades to black and white. This was all about having a fun day at the park.
 
I hope you have enjoyed some of these pictures. I am sorry I didn't take any out on the water but I didn't want to take my camera. Until I got a dry bag.

Wacissa River Black and White Wednesday

These are some pictures that I took in black and white last weekend on the Wacissa River. This Great Egret was hanging out. I like the breeding plumage.

These two turtles were sitting on a rock enjoying the sun. I like the little Cyprus Tree that is growing there. This was in the middle of the river. I can image in a few decades this will be a small island. 
These moorhens were making a racket and chasing each other around. This was good for me since they came right by. I like the frozen water droplets.
I got a little close to this Great Egret and off he flew.
This is a sepia tone. I sometimes like to change things up a bit. This color conversion was done in photoshop. 

 

Black & White Wednesday

When I first started out in photography I shot mostly black and white film. My Dad converted a shed in the back yard into a darkroom for me. I was able to develop my own photos. Now with the advent of digital I can with the press of a button switch from B&W to color. After being inspired by Peggy's B&W(scroll down on her pictures in February) photos I had to take some of my own. The pictures below were taken on Pellicer Creek.  I went back into the marsh a ways since it was high tide. I was in about a foot of water here. This is looking back out into the creek.

This pictures was taken up another little offshoot. The water was a little deeper but the creek wasn't very wide. I paddled a little further up and then had to back the boat back a couple hundred yards till I was able to turn it around. 
I spotted this house up in the trees. It looks like they have a very nice view of the creek. It is very wide at this point. My only concern would be in a hurricane this house wouldn't have much protection from rising water, and boing under that big oak tree.
 This is one of those falling down docks you see everywhere. The metal roof has seen its share of wind. Sometimes I wonder how these docks are still standing.

I like the texture of the reeds along the marsh. These reeds were growing higher then I was able to see over even sitting in my canoe. I paddled along side of these for a few miles before deciding to take some pictures of this particular bunch. 

I hope you have enjoyed this bunch of pictures. I will keep posting my adventures and I think I will stick with my Black & White Wednesday pictures.