rooting for the underdog

Again, this blog is about the facets of this beautiful world that I find interesting,  Even though I go to new places and journey through adventurdom,  I am trying to avoid a specific place as subject matter.  Rather I am trying to assert, by implication, a sense that facinating aspects of the world are all around us.   However, a beautiful place really brings home the visual message.   I will tell you that the following images were taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway on our annual family trip to the mountains.

We all love flowers.  But when flowers are tough enough to scratch out an existence in difficult conditions they deserve multiple layers of respect and facination.  For some reason I am forever rooting for the underdog and respectful of the Jobs of this world. 

Too many images to choose but here is a collection of  thriving underdogs.
Click on the images to enlarge.  enjoy.

My iphone camera = fun

I didn't want to write about my iphone until I felt that I was smarter than my smart phone.  It's a learning process we all go through.  In the end I thought it best to make this entry from a point of knowledge and experience.  I will limit myself to the iphone camera here since I consider this to be a  primarily a photo-blog. 

Apps Apps Apps . . . right now I am getting the most use out of the default camera app that comes with the phone.  The default camera makes really good pictures whle keeping it simple.  Quick and easy lends me better access to my turf within the happy accicdent.

 

General photo Apps I first intended to learn are:  Camera+ and Quick Pics but I have, instead, used the default.  CameraPlus Pro was intended to be the app I used for movies because of the superior features.  It too fell out of use due to the ease and conveneince of the default camera.

 

 Pro HDR, HDR FX:   I am pleased with the bright, rich tones and blue skies delivered by high dynamic range (HDR) photography.  These are the apps I am using for HDR.

 

 

Auto Stitch  I use this one to get wide angle images but I still stitch in photoshop too. 

 

Doublexpro is just for fun but I could be serious about it an put out some cool stuff. 

 

Slow shutter is just what you think it is.  Tripod required and to use the volume control on the earphones doubles as a remote shutter release. 

 

100 Cameras is just a bunch of filters -  but fun.

   before /after

 

 

Sketch Camera  =  fun

 

 

Photo Artista Haiku and Photo Artista Oil = more fun.

 

 

   

 

My camera setup starts with a lifeproof case to protect my phone from the elements of my life.

 

 

  I use the belt clip to clip it to my TrekPod Go tripod.

 

I went to Jazz Fest in New Orleans this year and the iphone was the only camera I brought.  Travelling so light was liberating.  Most of all the lightness and convenience made taking pictures easy and fun .

 

 

Butterflies - delightful

I try to include, in this blog, elements of the natural world which I consider undeniably interesting (and cool.)  Below are a few images of the butterflies from Lake Charles.  This small lake is remote and relatively unknown. No narrative is needed for this blog entry other than to say it was a beuatiful springtime moring.  I'm hoping my readers don't think butterflies and flowers are wimpy or uninteresting.  Click on the images for a larger view.  Enjoy.

The Amazing Osprey

I'm surprised I haven't assembled a blog entry featuring the amazing osprey till now.  I have marvelled at them for as long as I can remember and taken many pictures of them as my journeys are typically near water. (click on the pics to see them larger)

On this particular foray into the wild I went back to the little lake I discovered in the previous blog entry.  But, this time I brought my kayak.  Though it is just a small lake there are several osprey nests.  The birds are on the nest in the springtime so I kept my distance using a 550 mm lens.

Ospreys are masters of the air and sky. They float and hover and dive like the skilled hunter they are. 

Almost effortlessly.

They find a good nest tree and use it every year.  Mating for life ospreys form a tight family unit.  Some trees have been used every year for up to 45 years. 

I waited to watch the male and female switch sitting position on the nest and then I left to give them some space.  It's nesting season so I didn't stay long.

Below is another nest tree on the other side of the lake.  It's a huge and spreading cypress.

the female sits on the nest.  She is the one with the spotted necklace.

While  the  male takes up a perch to hunt and stand watch.  He doesn't have the spotted necklace but he sits on the nest also to give the female a break.

The osprey is such a cool bird, so skilled, so adept, so beautiful.  The osprey can be found in temperate climates around the globe.  I think the reason for the wide range is that they are superior hunters.  Often when I see them they are carrying a fish.   Good luck to these two families with their hatch.  I will go back in a month or so to see the young  starting to fly.

The joy of discovery

I love google earth.  It helps me to find places.  I scan the Ocala Forest to find places  of note.
Yesterday I found it in the woods using my GPS.  I was on my way home from Daytona and I had  daylight so, on an impulse, I turned off at the liquor store in Lynne.
I thought I could find it from memory. . . . .          Imagine my surprise.

(Click on the pics to see them larger.)

Just a little lake in the woods.  But  a jewel it is. 

Funny thing  -  It's right near Bruceville.

It was getting late and the light was fading but I felt so thankful to be here basking in God's creation.
This was just  a quick visit .    I shall return.  I think Jean would like it here.

Juniper Prairie Wilderness

A nice solo hike near home in the Ocala National Forest.  The sign says no hang-gliding.  Huh?

Click in the pictures to see them larger -  hit the back button to get back.

following old forest service roads but looking for opportunities to get off the trail and do some bushwacking.

The area is pocked marked by a complex of small  wet and dry prairies

Percolating rainfall passes quickly through the soil to drive the pressure at nearby Juniper Springs.

Last night this area had over an inch of rainfall and this prairie is already dried up.

a closer look at another dry prairie

evidence of fire, a big fire, dominates the  ecosystem and  visual landscape but allows for larger vistas. 

 I was looking for Scrub Jays because I have seen them about three miles east of here. 

These are burned out skeletons of Florida Rosemary, an uncommon plant but one that has evolved into a fire dependent system

Here is a rosemary bush that has recovered to a height of six feet. 

As the sun fell my time ran out and I pledged to return .  I ventured off the trail several times (using my GPS) and hiked strolling through a wide open  wilderness.  The prairies offed wide and open vistas for taking pictures or just seeing more than you could in a forest.   Really easy hike and surprisingly no ticks.  Let's go!