Myakka at Dusk

Sssh!   Let's enjoy the solitude of Myakka River State Park.

Dinner For One

At Lovers Key State Park, near Ft. Myers Beach, a hiking trail runs parallel to Estero Bay. I was walking along that trail over the weekend when the SDP Junior Editor simultaneously gasped, pointed and motioned for me to look up. An osprey was atop a tree devouring dinner!  Serendipitously, the trail forked at that spot.  Quietly, I was able to maneuver around the corner (with the osprey pausing to keep an eye on me) in order to get an incredible close up view of him enjoying his dinner.  Based on his methodical pecking (with the occasional ripping), and the size of the fish, that meal probably went late into the evening.  What a catch!

Memorial Day

Freedom isn't free. On this Memorial Day, I'm remembering all our men and women who sacrificed their lives.  The more I see of the world, the more grateful I am.  I took this photo last night at the Vietnam Memorial in Ft. Myers.  I was really struggling with the intense glare of the backlights.  But, I like how the final product turned out when I used the sepia effect. (Oddly enough, shortly after I took this, one of the lights illuminating the memorial suddenly went out -- which pretty much left me in the dark for my photo opp.) Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Victory Lap

Talk about being caught with your mouth wide open!  I spotted this osprey last night slowly flying into the wind with this substantial catch at the Gulf of Mexico. I don't know what kind of fish it is; but, it seems to have an of air of surprise frozen on its lips, doesn't it?  I captured this shot with my new 18-270mm lens.  It's really cropped, and I'm rather pleased with the clarity.  I haven't had a chance to use the lens very much yet, but so far, so good!  Hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend.

Happy Mother's Day

 

How could I not post this photo for Mother's Day?! I spotted this doe giving her fawn a bath early yesterday morning at Myakka River State Park in Sarasota. What a treat to get a peek into Bambi's typically private bath time.  While I'm quite certain Mom was aware of my presence, she was so focused on her morning cleaning ritual, she didn't pay any attention to me.  In fact, bath time went on long enough I had an opportunity to shoot some video with my DSLR (click HD in the viewer for optimum quality):

 

So precious!  By the way, this is the first time a video has been posted on SDP.  Occasionally, the SDP Editor-in-Chief likes to shake things up.  

Big news here on the still photography front:  the SDP Purchasing Department signed off yesterday on the acquisition of a new lens -- a Tamron 18-270mm. Very exciting  -- I can't wait to take it out for a test run!  Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

SDP is 3!

SDP is 3 years old today!  I'd like to say we're celebrating this achievement by proudly strutting around the SDP Headquarters with our heads held high (sort of like that baby sandhill crane), but the activities here are rather subdued.  We've been on hiatus for the past moth due to computer issues.  Now that we're fairly certain in which direction we're going to move (as far as purchasing a new computer, photo software etc.), I anticipate we will be back up and running by next month.  (The issue currently at hand is that we really don't have a mechanism to archive photos.)  As anyone who maintains a daily photo blog can understand, the past three years with SDP have been a labor of love and a blur.  I'm looking forward to posting once again on a regular basis and seeing everyone in the blogosphere.   Now, about this photo:  I went to a state park early Sunday morning in hopes of capturing some wildlife (with my camera only, of course).  Well, I saw zip, zero, nada.  Only when I was leaving a busy shopping center did I spot some wildlife --- a family of sandhill cranes enjoying Sunday brunch at a condo complex.  When I realized one of the birds was a juvenile, I had to stop.  Look at the size of those legs and feet!  Hope everyone has been doing well.