Gray Sky, Green Earth

Scorched

Another example of the surprises offered up at St. Joseph Peninsula during our visit last spring.  This burned area was within 1/2 mile of our camp spot.  As I mentioned in an earlier post about this state park, my preconceived vision of its scenery was blown way out of the water.  I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that we could go from white sand beaches to a dense pine forest in less than 100-200 yards.

We never did find out any details on the fire that burned here.  Then again, I'm not sure we actually asked any of the park staff.  But, it didn't appear to burn too much vegetation, although there were a few buildings (at least one was someone's house) that came very close to getting damaged.  I was drawn to the intense contrast it offered from the rest of the healthy, green vegetation elsewhere in the area.

Enjoy!

More from St. Joseph Peninsula

I really enjoy photographing birds and, leading up to our trip to Florida, I read that St. Joseph Peninsula is a hot spot for a large variety of birds.  It definitely didn't disappoint as I saw and photographed many birds that were all new to a mid western dweller.  Although I typically like to get the "up-close-and-personal" shots, I really like how this photo turned out.  I used my 70-300 lens, standing probably 75 yards from this tree, which was right on the edge of the water overlooking Eagle Harbor.  The Cormorant looked pretty relaxed, looking one way and then the other.  It sat there for quite a while, even before I decided to frame some shots.

Conversion to black and white was an easy decision and one that went through my mind even as I was framing my shots.  The light wasn't fantastic with very harsh mid-day contrast.  The sky was also giving me fits as it wanted to simply blow out to complete white.  I backed down on my exposure enough to get the sky to not blow out and also leave some good light and detail in the bird and tree.

Enjoy!

The Ocean is Amazing

I had to wait almost 30 years to see the ocean, finally getting my chance on a family trip to Hawaii in 2008.  Definitely not a bad place to see it for the first time.  I was shocked at its enormity!  Even now, thinking about it as I type I'm still in awe and have a hard time picturing just how big it is.  Sadly, I can still count on one hand the times I've relived the experience of walking onto a beach to take in a vista of endless water.  But, I know it's an experience and feeling I'll never forget and I look forward to more opportunities to sink my feet into sand and swim in the surf!

Enjoy!

A Southern Surprise

Had someone tried explaining to me prior to my family's trip to the Florida panhandle that 60% of the route would consist of driving through dense pine forests, I would have told them they were crazy.  My mind had already painted a picture of what I was going to see and that painting did not include pine trees.  But, my first trip through the south was a pleasant surprise regarding the scenery.  I was amazed as we drove through Mississippi and Alabama - pine trees everywhere and the overall scenery was gorgeous.  How could this be?  Was I ignorant or just uninformed?  Probably both.

Even as we crossed into the Florida panhandle I figured there HAD to be some point where we'd leave the pine forests behind and we'd move into flat grassland...or palm trees.  Where were all the palm trees?  I kept picturing breaking free of the pine "tunnels" we'd been driving through to see the ocean waves breaking on the horizon.  But, this vision never materialized and those pine trees followed us right up to the edge of the gulf coast.  Oh, there were palm trees, too, but how did these pines get there?  

This photo was taken on our first morning waking up on the peninsula.  We'd finally arrived at the camp ground after dark, so there was some mystery left as to what things would look like right on the beach.  Once again, I was thinking there would be more palm trees than anything else.  But, walking 20 feet through an opening in the bushes behind our camping spot yielded the beautiful scene here: tall grass, a marshy waterway, and...towering pine trees.

Enjoy!