Snell Isle Series - 04 - Silk Floss Tree in full bloom

Silk Floss Tree on Cordova Blvd Snell Isle - Nikon D300 5-bracket HDRThe Snell Isle Series continues with a very special tree that can be seen on Cordova Blvd.  I have been fascinated by this tree since I first saw it almost two years ago.  It is a Silk Floss Tree (Ceiba speciosa) and stands out because of its thorny, green trunk which gives it a distinct fairy tale look.  When it blooms, it looks like a giant cotton candy on a stick with its dense, pink flowers.  

Bees were swarming this Silk Floss Tree - Nikon D300 using pop-up flashThe tree has an eastern exposure, meaning sunset time is not good for photographing it.  So I woke up early and brought my HDR gear setup (Nikon D300, tripod, cable release) to catch the early morning light that just starts to pop up over the houses lining the street at 7:30am.  As I parked my car and was getting the tripod setup, I could hear an audible buzz.  There were power lines directly above, but I thought they cannot be under such a heavy load to buzz like that.  Well, the mystery was immediately cleared up when I walked up to the Silk Floss Tree.  Bees were all over the entire tree.  Every bee in a 5-mile radius must have been there, as it was 3+ bees to a flower (see above) and I was getting my tower buzzed as I stood there too, but I tried not to flinch.  An old woman passing by said she was on the other side of the street just to avoid the bees, but I felt no threat, they were in a nectar feeding frenzy, and I moved only cautiously and purposefully.

The Silk Floss Tree on Cordova has a great canopy - Nikon D300 5-bracket HDRThe property overall has immaculate and detailed landscaping.  The owner is a kindly elderly man who I have never spoken directly to, but waved at countless time as I drove by as he is always sitting out in the driveway, though sometimes napping!  He has been gone for awhile, and I wonder if he will return.  His absence makes the neighborhood feel significantly less warm to me.

Hug this! Nikon D300 5-bracket HDRThe Silk Floss Tree of Cordova really is the grand landmark of the area, way more so than the two-story multi-million dollar homes that are adjacent to it.  Every time I pass by, it gives me at least a second of wonder and fancy in my day.  I just hope its owner returns as well.

• More of the Snell Isle Series

De Soto National Memorial Florida Park

View from De Soto National Memorial hill - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 400 1/320th

I am always searching the west-central Florida Google map for new parks, preserves and forests to visit and explore.  De Soto National Memorial, on the map, is a very humble tip of land jutting out into Tampa Bay.  DogFriendly.com gave its beaches a dog friendly rating.  The park exceeded all my expectations and is a true hidden gem in the Anna Maria Island and Bradenton area.  

Water not over Kiki's head - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/125th f/8After a bit of disappointment at the underwhelming and dog unfriendly Lake Manatee State Park, we still had a thirst for adventure in Manatee County that day, but an approaching rain storm caused us to hesitate.  I decided to press on anyways and as you can see above the storm was already well past once we arrived.  My philosophy:  It is better to regret doing something than to regret not doing something.  The beach was very natural, really just small coves among a coastline of mangrove trees.  The water was shallow and calm, allowing Kiki for the first time to be able to stand and walk around in any body of water.  She really loved being able to do that and I imagine any other water loving dog would as well.  These calm conditions also allowed me to without fear take my Nikon D300 out in the water!  I was knee deep for this shot.  One warning though, there are some random sharp shells around even in the water.  I cut my left big toe!  

 settler ruins/haikyo -- Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 400 1/125thBesides a beautiful, natural, dog-friendly waterfront, the memorial had a lot of great history that we did not have time to study much this visit.  There were some scary photo realistic placards of Native Americans and Spanish Conquistadors hidden along the trail that startled me (and Kiki too).  It is always nice to find a haikyo/ruins site, like the one above, as well.

Beware the Devil Dog! -- Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5 ISO 400 1/800thDe Soto National Memorial is a highly recommended park for an afternoon trip that offers history, trail walking, hilltop views and dog-friendly private beaches.  We will definitely be back soon.  If you visit, just keep you eyes open for the Devil Dog!

View Larger Map

• De Soto National Memorial official website

Snell Isle Series - 03 - Bird of Paradise Flowers of Snell Isle Florida

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR micro f/2.8G @ f/4 ISO 200 1/160th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/16th power with diffuser cap on tripod backlighting flower triggered by Yongnuo radio remotes

I had been wanting to photograph these Bird of Paradise (strelitzia) flowers in my neighborhood for at least six weeks.  Day after day I would be walking Kiki past the flowers thinking, "maybe this evening I will come photograph them."  Then there would be no good ones in bloom.  By that I mean already dying petals on the flower or they were too low to the ground and therefore I could not photograph the flower with a clean (no distractions) background.  Finally, after a heavy rainstorm, everything came together two evenings ago and I was able to accomplish a photography goal and continue the Snell Isle Series.  

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR micro f/2.8G @ f/22 ISO 200 1s Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/16th power with diffuser cap on tripod backlighting flower triggered by Yongnuo radio remotesBird of Paradise flowers secrete a nectar that ants love to eat.  Even just a short time after a very heavy rain, the ants were already back out to the nectar trough.  I did not even think to sample the nectar myself until just now!  Maybe next time I pass by.

I cannot help but think if one of these is really angry that the other totally invaded its space . . .The type of Bird of Paradise flower that grows in my neighborhood are part of medium-sized long-leafed plants that make for very attractive landscaping even without any blooms.  I will still keep my eye out for a particularly good bloom for future photographs, especially one with a lot of ants feeding on the nectar.

• More from the Snell Isle Series

Lake Manatee State Park

Kayaking opportunity on Lake Manatee - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-bracket HDR tripod mounted with Nikon MC-30 cable releaseI was excited to spot Lake Manatee State Park on Google Maps.  It seemed like it was an exciting find as I especially like to visit state parks with lakes or rivers.  In fact, it is a very modest state park with one small, but nice access point to the lake, which is itself somewhat nondescript.  In other words, the place was basically a desert.  The campground was booked solid with it being Labor Day, but the park still felt rather empty.  This is normally ok with me, but it seems there was a reason for it being so.  Kiki was with us so we could not swim in the lake (against its alligator attracting rules), a prudent precaution by the park, but with a number of people swimming, including children, it would seem quite safe enough and any alligator would be avoiding the human contact of the area.  Still, we could have rented a canoe and brought Kiki on the lake that way, and since you can only rent a canoe at the entrance, we thought we should have just rented one then and saved the return trip.  However, we ended up being glad we did not fork out the $10 for a 2-hour rental ahead of time as the lake offered no cover and we would have only boiled on its surface with minimal sightseeing opportunities.

Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-bracket HDR tripod mounted with Nikon MC-30 cable releaseDespite all that we enjoyed window shopping as we walked through the campground wondering what all the trailers and RVs looked like inside and had a nice picnic lunch on one of the numerous covered table areas.  We even made use of the playground for a bit.  

Visit this park in cooler weather and I do not recommend bringing a pet/dog since the park's best feature, the lake, is basically off limits to them. 

• official Florida State Parks website for Lake Manatee State Park 

A pelican hiding inside of a pelican

brown pelican (female) - Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/4 ISO 800 1/400thPelicans are very malleable birds.  Though they may not be very beautiful or majestic, I think if I had to live life as a bird I might choose to be a pelican just for how many different ways they can fly, swim and rest in.  One of my long term photography goals is to photograph a pelican at near eye level as it just skims over the surface of the water.  In the meantime, I still find pelicans in new positions I have not seen before.  

The above female brown pelican had her neck turned 180 degrees with her beak resting between her wings in a homemade feather pillow.  Using my Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ 200mm I did not disturb her at all to make this photograph, but I cannot tell for sure if she was sleeping with one eye open or not.  

I wondered what she was dreaming about.

Florida Bird Collection Series - 001 Great Blue Heron, Brown Pelican, Pigeon & Seagull

Great Blue Heron - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/1600 -0.67 ev

There are birds all over Florida.  Great Blue Herons like the one above are often seen on beaches, and even on back patios!  This series is meant to be a modest and/or amusing collection of random bird photographs.  When I first looked at that great blue heron, I thought it looked like it was in prison.  So since I could not get a clean shot of the bird, I chose to make use of the obstruction.  I just made sure to use a single focus point and put it right on the GBR's eye.

Seagull (with bokeh) - Nikkon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/8 ISO 200 1/800thThere is no more common bird than a seagull (assuming one lives by the sea).  Why I chose this photograph was for its ultra creamy bokeh produced by the fantastic Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens, a great bargain alternative to the much more expensive Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm VR f/2.8G lens (not even to mention the crazy expensive VR II version).  I first bought my 80-200mm lens (a used one) just under two years ago, and was amazed by its bokeh the first time I shot with it, and remain so to this very day.  

(rainbow?) pigeon - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/4 ISO 200 1/1250thMaybe the pigeon is more common than the seagull in Florida?  Still, I chose to include this photo because of the repeat of color on the pigeon's neck matching the color of the bokeh.  With bird photography, bokeh can really enhance a shot from just being a snapshot of a common bird to a photograph of a common scene shown in a way that cannot be seen by just standing there.  The quality of bokeh actually varies greatly between lenses.  Before the 80-200mm lens, I had the Nikkor AF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G lens.  At first I thought the latter's bokeh was good.  However, upon first seeing the bokeh produced by the 80-200mm, I was stunned at how much creamier it was.  Selling the 18-200mm lens was the first thing I did out of learned photographic knowledge.

diving brown pelican - Nikon D300 Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR micro f/2.8G lens ISO 400 f/4 1/5000thThis female brown pelican was a millimeter away from breaking the water's surface in search of her dinner.  I made sure to use a very fast shutter speed in order to be able to freeze her plunging dive.  Thankfully, she made dive after dive so had several chances to capture her.  However, like all of these shots, I was not out to purposefully photograph birds at the time.  Three of the shots I made while teaching a DSLR photography lesson and the other was made during a portrait session.  Nowadays I do not have much chance to to photograph Florida's many birds, hence the start of this collection series!

Dragonhunter Dragonfly & Garden Spider macro

Dragonhunter Dragonfly on green leaf - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1/60th SB-600 hotshoe mountedPicking organic blueberries was only really a facade for actually doing macro photography.  Just before I moved back to Florida after living in Asia for nine years, I thought that insects would be crawling and flying all around just outside my door in Florida, wouldn't it be great to have a macro lens?  As I tend to do with such things I became obsessed with finding an affordable priced used Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR micro f/2.8G lens, Nikon's flagship macro lens.  Just a few days before I left Tokyo, I did.

black & yellow garden spider Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1/60th SB-600 hotshoe mountedHowever, there was no parade of fascinating insects marching past my front door in Florida.  Then I remembered it is much easier to hear an insect, than to see it.  I would soon learn that macro insect photography requires much, much more than just having a great macro lens.  

Anyway, the blueberry bushes were quite popular with black and yellow garden spiders, who make a web much interesting looking than their common name would make you think.  It reminded me of either a polygraph test readout or the graphical representation of speech.  

Dragonhunter Dragonfly Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1/80th SB-600 hotshoe mountedThe dragonhunter dragonflies mostly hung out on wires strung between the rows of blueberry bushes.  They have faces that are very easy to anthropomorphize.  It really looks like they are smiling at you.  I would have to say that dragonflies are perhaps my favorite insect.  They leave humans alone and they eat mosquitoes.  Cannot ask for more than that from an insect!  Plus, one day looong ago, I had no car at that time.  I got every where on my trusty Trek mountain bike.  This meant rain or shine I rode.  Florida in the summer produces torrential rain storms of various lengths.  That day one of those storms was raging while I had to go to work.  I put everything into a plastic bag inside my backpack and rode shirtless to MOSI (museum of science & industry).  Riding in that kind of rain obviously is pretty hardcore.  I looked down at my handlebars and clenched to the brake cable was a dragonfly.  We looked at each other, neither showed aggression, and I rode on.  The whole 20 minute ride he was locked onto my bike and I felt a camaraderie with him.  He was gone when I returned to my Trek to ride home.  These are things that have meaning to me, even some 15 years later.  

black & yellow garden spider Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1/60th SB-600 hotshoe mounted

I have struggled with macro insect photography in the past year, but I feel I am refining and improving my technique.  All these shots were at f/22, the first time to shoot with such a small aperture using the 105mm VR micro lens.  I look forward to my next macro chance . . .