Week 13, Theme 35 – On the River

We camped for three days “On The River”  at Suwannee River State Park in Live Oak, FL.  This park is just another example of why Florida State Parks are rated the best in the United States.  The Suwannee River runs through the park.  In nearby White Springs is the Stephen Foster Folk Culture State Park, a park dedicated to memorializing the works of this great composer.  You can the famous river, camp or hike the many nature trails at both parks.

Stephen Foster wrote the song in 1851 without ever being in Florida or seeing the river.  The song became the Florida state song in 1935 and in 2008 the lyrics were modified to make them politically correct.

Week 12, Theme 43 – Single Tree

Sitting at the picnic table on our campsite here at Three Rivers State Park I was looking down at the lake and noticed this little tree standing all alone at the bank of the lake.  There were some benches and tables down there at the shore so I decided to take a walk down and see if I could get the right composition to use this tree for the “Single Tree”  theme.  I had taken a couple of shots when the egret arrived and I decided to include it in the background.

Week 10, Theme 36 – Out of Focus

This time of year dusk and sunset come early and even more-so when you are camped right on the change in time zones.  Three Rivers State Park is probably no more than 5 miles into the Central Time Zone.  The best time to find wildlife activity is at dawn (not for me, too early) and at dusk (4 – 4:30 PM)  There are plenty of photo ops at this park for wildlife photography.  One of the Rangers told me there are 3 different herds of deer, two of them containing about 75 head each and a smaller herd of about 20 to 25 deer.  Slowly cruising the park road with your camera at the ready will produce many photo ops, however, you must be careful with your camera settings to ensure that your images are not “Out of Focus”.

Don’t forget that clicking on the picture will enlarge the image for better appreciation of details.

Week 9, Theme A3 – Nature

Here we are communing with “Nature”.  Earlier this year we decided to do a “Road Trip” during Thanksgiving, so we made reservations at one of Florida’s beautiful state parks.  Road trip #5 has brought us to Three Rivers State Park in Sneads, northwest of Tallahassee.  We are camped on Lake Seminole, an Army Corps of Engineers water management project built in 1947.  The Jim Woodruff Dam was built at the confluence of the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers creating the lake. Below the dam, the waters become the Apalachicola River and flow to the Gulf of Mexico.  Hence the name of the state park.

 

Week 25, Theme 48 – Sun Flare

This theme has been a problem for me from day one.  I think that I’ve finally been able to come up with a fair example of “Sun Flare”.  I particularly like the first image in the tree, however, the second image with the various colored dots is intriguing.  I believe the dots are caused by a dirty filter and the suns’ reflection off the dust particles on my filter.  Guess I need to clean it.

 

Week 9, Theme 33 – Paths and or Trails

Back in July when we received our list of Challenges for this year and I saw this theme, I said this one is going to be a “piece of cake”.  Whenever we go camping, we try to camp in one of our State Parks.  In the past couple of weeks we scouted out a couple of state park campgrounds and it just so happened that both of these parks had an abundance of “Paths and or Trails.”

For example, at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park we found these trails available:

And the Great Florida Birding Trail goes through the park.

At Oscar Scherer State Park, there are a lot trails for both foot and bicycle traffic, including a paved trail for persons with disabilities.

So if you are a hiker, a bicycler or a wildlife photographer, the Florida State Parks provide plenty of “Paths and or Trails” for you to pursue your recreation choices.

Week 12 – 39. Shallow Depth of Field

Being forever the “class clown” I had been mentally reserving this theme for something of a humorous nature, but last weekend while camped at the Little Manatee River State Park enjoying nature and taking pictures of the beautiful Florida autumn colors I realized that this image was not only an excellent display of autumn colors but also a perfect example of “Shallow Depth of Field”.

Week 7 – 16. History.

While camped at Myakka River State Park near Sarasota this weekend we stopped at the park Visitor Center.  Inside this historical building were displays of wildlife common to the park and historical maps brief histories of the area.  Here are a few photos describing the history.

  

 

Week 4 – 22. In The Trees

Wow, it sure is easy to get behind on your postings, especially if you have been busy.  After a hectic August, we decided to kick back for a few days and head for the woods at Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring.  This would allow us to relax and also check out our new weekend getaway home.  That also relates to maybe finding the opportunity to get some wildlife pictures.  I’m always looking for a photo that will fit one of the themes of the 52 week challenge and as Barb and I strolled the campground I thought this shot of the campground shows all the campers “In The Trees”.