Silver Springs State Park

July 5, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Kayaking, Must do list, Silver Springs State Parkblack and white, boat, cabin, cloud, kayak, landscape, panorama, reflection, reviews, turtle, wildlifeEd Rosack

Intro / Description

I spent some time at Silver Springs State Park in late May. This is Florida’s newest park, created in October of last year when the former Silver Springs and Wild Waters commercial attractions were merged with Silver River State Park. Lynn and I used to visit when our kids were younger and the commercial attractions were going strong. But that was a while ago and it’s a different place now.

Silver Springs headwaters – A glass bottom boat returns to the dock before a storm

Florida’s renovating Wild Waters and has already re-opened some of the water rides. The Glass Bottom Boats still run in the Silver Springs area, although the jungle river boat tour and antique car museum that I remember from past years are gone. It’s a little soon to say what the park will look like after the state is finished merging the areas together, but it always was and still is a fine place to visit.

Info for Photographers

Photo hints:

There are hiking and biking trails throughout the park, but I think the real attraction is the water. You can rent canoes and kayaks or bring your own, and there are several places to put in. I used the launch close to the headwaters. It’s a short paddle to the main spring. It’s also very close to the Fort King paddle trail (where the Jungle Cruise used to go) which is open to paddlers now for the first time since the 1800s!

In addition to the put in I used (off the Silver Springs parking lot) there’s also one inside the main park, but it’s about a 1/2 mile carry to the water – too far for me! One other place you can put in is at Ray Wayside Park where you can paddle upstream to the spring. Silver Springs also offers guided kayak tours and a shuttle service to / from Ray Wayside.

A view from my kayak – Along the Fort King paddle trail near the Silver Springs headwaters

Here are a couple of articles from other sites about paddling at Silver Springs. Take a look – they like it as much as I do!

If you can’t go on a paddle, at least ride the glass bottom boat or take an air boat excursion. You’ll get to see more of the scenery and wildlife than you can from the land.

Airboat ride on the Silver river

Tripod/Monopod: I did have mine, but didn’t use it as much as I thought I would. It’s a very wooded area and landscape opportunities aren’t as numerous as they are in some other places.

Lenses: Bring what you can carry. I got the most use out of a normal range zoom (~24-70), but longer and wider would be nice to have in your bag if you need them. If you have any waterproof equipment, bring it for paddling expeditions.

Best time to visit: It’s starts getting very warm in May and doesn’t cool off until September or October, so plan accordingly. If you’re going on the rides at the water park or kayaking, the heat is a bit more tolerable. I went during the week. Weekends will be crowded.

Other:

There’s a variety of wildlife, but not as much as some other locations in Central Florida. For instance eBird lists 112 species at Silver Springs vs 293 in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I spotted Ospreys, Cardinals, Black Vultures, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, a few wading birds, Alligators, Deer, Turtles, Cormorants (on the water and in nests, and one swimming underwater), Barred Owls (calls and one in flight), Hawks and a few other species. There are recent reports of Manatees in the springs. And although I didn’t find any, there’s a troop of feral rhesus macaque monkeys descended from ones let loose in the 1930s.

Typical Turtle – Along the the Fort King paddle trail near the Silver Springs headwaters

The River side of the park is home to the Silver River Museum and Environmental Education Center (open to the public on weekends and holidays). Tours through the pioneer cracker village are offered once a month, except in the summer. You’ll have to call the park for details.

Cracker cabin

Finally, 60 campsites are available along with 10 very nice, two bedroom cabins. I’d recommend staying for one or two nights so you have some time to explore. There are also several other great areas nearby including the Ocala National Forest, Rainbow Springs State Park, Juniper Springs Recreation Area, and Salt Springs Recreation Area.

Summary

Click on any of these photos to go to Flickr where you can see larger versions. My Silver Springs album on Flickr includes these and a few other photos.

Silver Springs State Park is a wonderful place to visit and an especially wonderful place to paddle!

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:	https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/sets/72157644924434114
Website:	https://www.floridastateparks.org/silversprings
Address / Phone:	1425 N.E. 58th Avenue, Ocala, Florida 34470(352) 236-7148
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	A Central Florida Photo Op must do!

P.S. – In the good news department, it looks like those of you that subscribe to the blog via email are getting the updates. If you’re having any issues, please let me know.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, go make some photos!

Photographic Friction

June 29, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWR, VARIOUSblack and white, Butterfly, infrared, landscape, panorama, reflection, sunriseEd Rosack

Friction synonyms: Hostility, frustration, conflict, discord, strife, opposition, contention, dispute, fighting, antipathy, resentment, …

Friction antonyms: Harmony.

For the past week or so, my photographic pursuits seem to be in slow motion. Creating photos is difficult. Friction and frustration are up and harmony and flow are down.

What’s going on? Glad you asked. 1. I’m having problems finding things to photograph. 2. I’m also having problems with the software I use to process photos. 3. And I’m having problems with my blog. Hmm.

1. The Images

I was a little busy this week (with #2 and #3) so it left me less time to photograph. But I did go out on Saturday with Kevin M. He needed a park pass and suggested we drive over to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to pick one up at the Visitor’s Center. Of course, I talked him into leaving early for sunrise and we went by Gator Creek just before dawn. This is a nice enough image, but leaves me wanting better. The sky’s a little bland and I couldn’t find a nicer foreground. And the no-see-ums were fierce!

Another Gator Creek morning – a 4 frame panorama, ISO 100, f/11 at 2 seconds

We also drove around Black Point Wildlife Drive, but honestly, there aren’t many birds or animals there now. We saw very few of the regular birds and a wild pig, but most of the wildlife seems to be somewhere else. Summer slow down indeed. When we swung by the Visitors center there wasn’t much bird activity there either. I carried my infrared camera and experimented with IR insects. I like this one – but it also leaves me wanting.

An infrared butterfly

I guess the moral of this part of the story is that making good photos isn’t easy and some photo ops aren’t as good as others. Don’t let all the good ones you see on the web convince you otherwise. Keep looking and shooting. And don’t go just looking for photos – you should also go for the experience. Enjoy being out and don’t make it all about the image. And in Florida, in the summer, before dawn – bring insect repellent to cut your hostile friction with the bugs.

2. The Software

I’ve had issues for some time using the “Edit in Photoshop” command in Lightroom. Photoshop would open, but sometimes the file itself would never show up. If I tried to open the file directly from inside Photoshop, it worked every time. With the latest updates to both programs the problem got much worse. Every time I tried to open a RAW file in Photoshop from Lightroom, it wouldn’t work.

After several searches on Google, I found others are having this problem too. But there wasn’t any clear-cut solution, so I called Adobe. They told me to uninstall both programs and reinstall, but make sure to reinstall Photoshop first. This is a pain since I have to also reinstall all the plug-ins and presets I use too. I did get through it and it’s now working better, although it’s still happened a few times since. Frustrating friction.

3. The Blog

If you follow this blog via email or Twitter, you probably didn’t see last week’s post – a shame – I thought it was pretty good!

For some reason, the server isn’t sending email or Twitter notifications when a new post goes up. I’ve tweaked some settings and hope it’s corrected now. If not, I’ll have to keep troubleshooting. Curious, conflicting friction.

By the way, if you didn’t see last week’s post, here’s a link: https://edrosack.com/2014/06/18/wild-orchids-and-more-at-fort-christmas/

Photography is a great hobby that’s sometimes frustrating. But I’ve done it long enough to know that harmony will eventually return. When it does, the frictionless flow will be truly enjoyable.

If it doesn’t I’ll have to get a giant can of WD-40 to spray all over everything. That should lower the friction.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, go make some photos!

Wild Orchids and more at Fort Christmas

June 18, 2014Fort Christmas, INSIDE FLORIDA, OrlandoAntiques, black and white, Flowers, Orchid, SunflowersEd Rosack

I follow Florida Hikes and they tweeted about wild orchids blooming at Fort Christmas,

Fort Christmas Historical Park is east of Orlando close to Orlando Wetlands Park. I’ve written about it before:

I hadn’t ever seen Orchids in the wild and I hadn’t been out there since 2012, so this was a big enough motivation to make me want to visit again. I ended up exploring with Tom M. on a morning last week.

Once we knew what to look for, the orchids weren’t hard to find. There were a lot of them higher up in the large live oak trees. The strong back light, wind, and distance made them hard to photograph well, but with a longer lens, a flash, and some careful camera positioning I managed to isolate these blooms against a dark background. I like the colors and background, which remind me of an oriental flower painting.

Wild Orchids – Up in the live oak trees. Two frames, with flash, different focus points, hand merged in Photoshop. I believe these are Florida Butterfly Orchids (Encyclia tampensis).

Sunflowers were also blooming in one of the small gardens on the site.

Sunflower bloom – In the garden. Single frame, ambient light.

We also spent some time looking around inside the buildings. You’re free to enter most of them as long as you’re careful. And since we were there on a mid-week morning, there weren’t many other folks around. Until two busses of summer camp kids showed up around 10:30.

In the bedroom – Single 1/2 second exposure at f/8 for depth of field. I didn’t have a tripod, so I rested the camera on the window sill

Antique fixtures and appliances fill the rooms. These and the wood and fabric textures make for some very photogenic settings – perfect material for a bit of nostalgic, B&W processing.

In the kitchen – I was able to hand hold this one when I opened the aperture to f/2.8. The depth of field is acceptable since there’s nothing too close to the viewpoint.

Here are some photo hints for you:

For the orchids, you’ll probably want a longer zoom lens, a flash, a tripod and remote release.
Some of the flowers and other items would make good macro subjects.
For photos of the building and room interiors, I found a wide-angle lens very useful. A tripod might be handy for this too, but I was able to brace my camera and / or use the pop up flash to eliminate camera shake / blur.

I’ve posted other photos from Fort Christmas in this set on Flickr. It’s a wonderful year round photo-op. And the blooming orchids in the summertime are a nice bonus.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, go make some photos!

Gatorland, 7 June 2014

June 13, 2014Gatorland, INSIDE FLORIDA, OrlandoAlligator, birds, Great Egret, Swallow-tailed KiteEd Rosack

If you’ve meant to go to Gatorland in Orlando, Florida to see the wild birds that nest in the rookery there, you’ve just about missed your chance for this year.

I went by last Saturday with Mahesh S. and Greg N. to see what was going on (and to renew my annual photographer’s pass). There were still one or two Great Egret nests with chicks, but the other young birds have hatched, grown, fledged, and moved out. Nesting activity will start-up again in mid to late February next year. After this weekend, you’ll also have to visit during regular hours since the early entry program ends on June 15th. In the mean time, Gatorland’s still a great place to get close access to a number of Florida bird species.

Great Egret ABOAS*

And of course, it’s always a great place to see Alligators.

Like an iceberg – There’s more under the surface than you can normally see from above.

And there are occasionally some nice avian visitors too.

Soaring Swallow-tailed Kite

I’ve posted a great many photos from Gatorland in this set on Flickr and you can read Central Florida Photo Ops posts about Gatorland at this link. The St. Augustine Alligator Farm posted a very handy bird nesting season reference guide here and you can read Central Florida Photo Ops posts about the St. Augustine Alligator Farm at this link

I’ve also uploaded a short bonus video of bellowing alligators at the park. They were feeling feisty and declaring their gator dominance.

Turn up the volume and make sure you have your sub-woofer on too!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, go make some photos!

*ABOAS = Another bird on a stick 🙂

Merritt Island – May 31, 2014

June 7, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Merritt Island NWRbirds, boat, BPWD, Butterfly, Green Heron, landscape, marina, reflection, Spoonbill, sunrise, wildlifeEd Rosack

I made a quick trip to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge last weekend with Kevin M. and Lutfi S. We stopped first at the Titusville marina for a sunrise photo. The sky was so-so, but the calm wind gave us very nice reflections in the water

Morning at the marina

Next, along Gator Creek Road we found a group of preening Roseate Spoonbills. I liked the contrast between their pink and the blue sky reflected in the water.

Preening Spoonbills

Later at the Visitor Center, we found a great many butterflies. They seem to like these Buttonbrush plants.

Gulf Fritillary

And Green Herons were common too, especially at the rest area on Black Point Wildlife Drive where we saw several nests and juveniles. This one (also at the Visitors Center) drew my eye as it posed against the silver-like water while it waited to strike an unwary fish.

Green Heron in a silver pond

With the hot weather starting to arrive, there’s not as much activity at Merritt Island as there sometimes is. But there’s still a lot to see and photograph.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, go make some photos!

Lake Louisa Follow up – 5 Mile Road

May 30, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Louisa State Parkbirds, Burrowing Owl, landscape, panorama, tree, wildlifeEd Rosack

When I wrote about Lake Louisa State Park a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t know about 5 Mile Road. It’s just across US 27 from the Park. When I did hear about it, I drove back over to take a look.

It’s a dirt road, and although a bit narrow it’s well maintained. I didn’t have any problems with my car. There are some interesting landscape views:

Views from 5 Mile Road #2

And some interesting wildlife views too:

Guarding the burrow

I made these photos on May 21st. One of my Flickr friends told me he visited the Burrowing Owl nest on the 26th and it looked abandoned. That’s sad. I’m not sure what happened. Maybe the chicks fledged and flew off. That’s what I want to believe anyway.

If you visit Lake Louisa, 5 Mile Road is worth checking out too. You can find more photos from there in in this set on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, go make some photos!

Walking 'round the Wetlands, 5-17-2014

May 24, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Viera Wetlandsbirds, black and white, infrared, landscape, Little Blue Heron, Sandhill Crane, wildlifeEd Rosack

Kevin K., Kevin M, and I went to Viera Wetlands last weekend. We’d had heavy rain the week before and the roads were closed to cars, so we walked.

Handsome Blue – Little Blue Heron

You’ll see different things walking versus driving. When you drive, you can cover a larger area and maybe see many more things. But sometimes the faster pace and the isolation inside the vehicle will make you miss something that you might see if you walk. And when you walk, it’s easier to stop and really look at something. Or stop and wait for something to happen. When we first saw the Little Blue Heron, it was in the shade. But we stayed for a few moments and the sun rose enough to put it into some better light. Worth waiting for, and we probably wouldn’t have if we were driving.

We started too late for a sunrise photo, but I did manage to make this infrared image of the moon setting into the marsh.

Marsh Moon – The moon sinks into the clouds over Viera Wetlands. IR, B&W, 3 frame Vertical Panorama

We also stopped for a bit to watch a family of Sandhill Cranes. With all the birders that frequent Viera Wetlands, they’re very used to people and you can get pretty close without disturbing them. They’re interesting birds. Whenever I see two adults foraging, they seem to take turns keeping an eye on things. One will be head down, while the other is up and looking around. When there’s a young one with its parent, it always seems to mimic what the parent is doing.

This one! This one is a good bug to eat! – Sandhill Crane and Colt at Viera Wetlands

Even though the birding action in our area might be slowing down as summer approaches, we still enjoyed ourselves. We spent some quality time out in nature, and made a few photos we like. Another good day for a photo-op in Central Florida.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, go make some photos!

Riding the Rails – Orlando's New SunRail Commuter Train

May 16, 2014Downtown Orlando, INSIDE FLORIDA, Maitland, Must do list, Orlando, Winter Parkblack and white, buildings, panorama, sunrise, trainEd Rosack

There are a lot of posts on here about nature / wildlife / landscape photography in our area. But the blog isn’t only about those subjects – it’s about Central Florida Photo Ops in general. So this week we have something a little different…

Central Florida’s new commuter rail system opened on May 1. The first phase of SunRail is 32 miles long and connects DeBary to Sand Lake Road, with 12 intermediate stations. The fares have been free for the first two weeks while they work the kinks out of the system. And I had some free time – so it was a perfect chance to check it out.

Trains run every 1/2 hour during the morning and evening rush hours and every two hours in the middle of the day. Getting there early gave me more opportunities to get on and off the train and explore nearby locations. And sometimes the light is really pretty in the morning too!

A beautiful morning to catch the train – at the Maitland SunRail platform

The trains are new, clean, modern, air-conditioned, and the morning I rode they were all on time. They’ve been crowded with many folks riding for free to scope out the system. But by the time I boarded last Wednesday the crush had thinned out – I had no problem getting seats all morning.

Northbound

There are plenty of scenic locations within walking distance of the SunRail stations. Exploring them all would take longer than a morning so I only stopped at three: Orlando Health, Winter Park, and Maitland. Finding subjects to point my camera at was easy. Here are two examples:

Seaboard Coast Line – Amtrak Station

Lucy Bleuz and the Jazzy Dog – they look like good places to eat

I didn’t try photographing from inside the train – motion and glare would make it tough. But there are some interesting sights between stops. If you want to try this, the east side of the car in the afternoon might have the best shots and light.

Initially, SunRail isn’t operating on weekends – so you’ll need to get around another way on Saturday / Sunday. But if you have time during the week, it’s an enjoyable experience. And did I mention there are photo ops?

You can see these and a few more photos from this trip in this set on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, go make some photos!

Lake Louisa State Park

May 11, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Louisa State Park, Must do listbirds, black and white, Cypress, Flowers, infrared, landscape, panorama, reflection, sunrise, tree, wildlifeEd Rosack

Update (5/30/14): See this related post on 5 Mile Road.

Intro / Description

Lynn, Mary, and I spent the first weekend in May at Lake Louisa State Park (LLSP). It’s located just southwest of Orlando in Clermont, Florida. LLSP is 4500 acres of rolling hills including six lakes with 105 acres of shoreline. There’s a range of camping options and 20 very nice, two bedroom, furnished cabins that you can stay in. Activities include fishing, canoeing and kayaking, biking, swimming, hiking, and horseback riding.

This is another case of me wondering why it took so long to visit somewhere. My friend Kevin M has mentioned it several times, but I never seemed to get over there – until now. It’s truly scenic and I’ve included more images than normal in this post – I apologize if it loads slowly.

Info for Photographers

There’s a lot to photograph there and the variety of landscapes is greater than many places in the area. Hills are rare around here, but this park has them, some over 100 feet high. I made this photo on the hillside above the road by the cabin where we stayed.

Wildflowers and dewey grass at dawn

May 5-11 is national wildflower week and LLSP was doing its part. Several wildflowers were blooming, including Prickly-pear Cactus, Passion Flowers, Lantana, and others. I think we were lucky to see such a variety in bloom. The Passion Flower blooms are supposed to last for only one day.

All of the lakes in the park are great habitats for Cypress Trees and Spanish Moss – very scenic and a classic Florida landscape look.

Lake Dixie shore – From the fishing dock in the campground on the south side of the lake

The Cypress tree trunks can also be very interesting.

Nature’s sculpture – The older, weathered cypress tree shapes can be very unusual

There’s a variety of wildlife at LLSP, although not as much as some other locations in Central Florida. For instance, eBird lists 112 species at LLSP vs 293 in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. We spotted nesting Ospreys (with chicks / juveniles), Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Black Vultures, Wild Turkeys, Nighthawks, a Swallow-tailed Kite, wading birds, vultures, Gopher Tortoises, Alligators, Deer, Crayfish, grackles and a few other species.

An Osprey returning to her nest to check on her chick

Photo hints:

Most state parks in Florida seem to open at 8am, which makes early morning photography a challenge. Since we were staying there, we could photograph whenever we wanted. This one is on the western shore of Lake Louisa.

Cypress dawn

Cypress dawn – by Lake Louisa.

Tripod/Monopod: Yes – take yours and use it when needed.

Lenses: There are so many photo ops here that you could probably make use of every one of your lenses. Macro for flowers, wide-angle for landscapes, long telephoto for wildlife, etc. You’ll have to decide how much to carry and what to concentrate on.

Best time to visit: Any time, but of course winter months will be cooler. Late April and early May will be better for wildflowers and nesting Ospreys too. We often heard Ospreys calling. It was fun to watch the parents bringing food back to their very demanding offspring!

Other:

There’s a nice beach and picnic area on Lake Louisa. If you swim there be careful though, there’s no life guard and there are alligators.

The park also is a popular place to bicycle, so bring yours if you have room.

The Florida Rambler website has a nice writeup on Lake Louisa and the cabins there.

The kayak launch at Lake Dixie across from the cabins is an easy put in. The one at Lake Louisa requires a long carry, so bring a friend or a kayak trolley if you plan to paddle there. You can also put in at the Crooked River Preserve just to the north of Lake Louisa and paddle down to the lake.

I didn’t get a chance (yet) to hike the many trails in the park. There are 9 main ones ranging from 1/2 to 5.5 miles and some of these lead to smaller lakes which might be very scenic.

The Citrus Tower is close to the park. It was built as a tribute to the citrus industry in the area. There’s a great view from 226 feet up, but a lot fewer orange trees visible now than there were in 1956 when it opened.

Cloudy in Clermont – View from the top of the Citrus Tower, looking south along HW27.

There are also many restaurants within a short drive from the park if you don’t want to cook in your cabin.

Summary

Lake Louisa State Park is a relaxing and scenic destination. It seems a world away from busy downtown Orlando. It’s perfect for a weekend get away. If you haven’t been there yet, you should go. I’m very glad we did.

Be sure to visit my Lake Louisa set on Flickr to see these and more photos.

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:	Lake Louisa set on Flickr.
Website:	http://www.floridastateparks.org/lakelouisa/
Address / Phone:	7305 U.S. Highway 27 Clermont, Florida 34714 (352) 394-3969
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	A CFL Photo Op must do!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now, go make some photos!

Happy Mother's Day!

May 11, 2014INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Louisa State Park, VARIOUSbaby, birds, nest, Osprey, wildlifeEd Rosack

To all Mom’s everywhere, Happy Mother’s Day!

Momma Osprey and baby – found while kayaking along the north shore of Lake Dixie In Lake Louisa State Park. The nest looked empty at first. Then Mom flew in and baby popped up.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go tell your Mom you love her!