Secret Life of Deer and Cranes

"Um…Should we be this close?!"

Sometimes seeing what really goes on in nature makes me laugh.  I spotted this deer and sandhill crane at Myakka State Park yesterday and they didn't acknowledge each other at all.  The crane seemed to be looking at his flock to the right…and the deer was sauntering by, trying to meet up with a friend in the distance, without upsetting the crane.  Silly animals!

It's been awhile since we've posted and I'm pleased to report we're back up and running (for the most part).  Hip-hip-hooray!  It took some effort, but the Apple Geniuses recovered my photo and movie files and restored them on my new computer with approximately 90% success.  (Some files are out of order, but they all seem to be there.)  I've figured out the basics of Lightroom 5, so I can import and export with few issues.   And, all my files are backed up (although, I still want to establish another back up system.)  All in all:  SDP seems to be back in business!  Having lived with this photo file fiasco for the past seven months, I can't tell you how good it feels to have control of my photos once again.  I now feel ready to get back out there and start adding to my photo library.  Life is good!   I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone in the blogosphere.  Hope everyone has been doing well.

Pass-a-Grille

Pass-a-Grille remains one of my favorite places in  Florida.  It's a barrier island on a peninsula within a peninsula at the end of Pinellas County less than an hour's drive north of Sarasota.  The first time I saw this view on Pass-a-Grille also happened to be the first time I visited Florida.  And whenever I'm here (which is not nearly often enough), I remember why I fell in love with the Sunshine State: warm spring nights...outdoor dining...blue water...palm trees and tropical wildlife.  It was so much different than my home state of  Michigan, I didn't want to go home (and potentially face a spring snowstorm).  Well, I did go home...and within a few months, I landed  a job in Tampa and moved here.  This past Labor Day marked 15 years living in Florida and I never have regretted the decision. 

By the way, this is another iPhone post.  No word on my computer...but I'm remaining optimistic a very happy ending is right around the corner. 

Uncharted Territory

First, we must announce that SDP is venturing into uncharted territory!  This post was produced solely using an iPhone.  The photo was taken with my phone.  Then, the SDP staff downloaded the Blogger app (free) and used talk-to-text to write the post.  Brilliant!  

Well...there's a reason why I'm relying on my iPhone.  And that leads to an explanation about this photo.  Both my old Mac and my brand new one are in the Apple Store hospital for an overnight stay -- and that's a good thing!  The Apple Genius who helped me seems to have a good understanding of the problem and, more importantly, is optimistic about successfully re-migrating my photo library from the old computer to the new one.  It could take 9+ hours to transfer the files, thus the reason for both computers staying at the Apple Store at least for the night.  Keep your fingers crossed...and feel free to say a little prayer for the SDP photo library!

Hootie Hoo!

As promised, we're digging into the SDP archives!  (Well, the archives that are available.) This handsome guy is a great horned owl who took up residency with his family in a park in Punta Gorda, just south of Sarasota. I snapped this shot last spring, then shortly after, the Great Crash of 2013 occurred.  **sniff** (It's our goal at SDP not to write about our photo library woes on every post; however, please note that's a long term goal...and not something that will be achieved today.)  

Photo library update:  I successfully imported tens of thousands of files from my new hard drive into iPhoto yesterday over an eight hour period.  It was thrilling to see all my photos once again as they zipped across the screen while being imported.  But...they were imported into iPhoto helter skelter -- without album titles, dates, keywords etc.  So, photos of my family from the 1950s are scattered in with scuba diving photos from the 1990s.  Not much of an indexed library.  But...neverthless...my photo files are there!   I have another appointment at the Apple Store this week and I'm confident we're going to figure out how to import the corresponding dates etc.  In the meantime, I'm using a free 30-day trial of Lightroom 5.  So far, I like it and expect I'll purchase that software very soon.  Any Lightroom users out there?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.  And, Mac users...what photo software do you use?

Returning Home

I think I spotted Ozzie and Harriet, the bald eagles, returning home last weekend from wherever they spend their summer vacation. I was driving along U.S. 41 in Ft. Myers and noticed two beautiful bald eagles soaring together and heading in the direction of Ozzie and Harriet's nest. Yes...I think it was them!   (The humidity is starting to taper off and the temperatures are cooler in the morning and evening -- telltale signs that seasonal residents -- feathered and human -- will soon be returning.)  Ozzie and Harriet may very well be inspecting their home right now and doing some renovations before nesting season gets underway. Very exciting! Last year, their two babies were born in January and the webcam documenting their every move became an international hit. This photo was taken just before Ozzie and Harriet left for the summer -- and just before my computer crashed.

By the way, we have good news on the computer front:  this photo was posted using the new SDP computer and Lightroom 5. (Thank goodness the Procurement Department came through.)  There will be a learning curve using Lightroom, but the entire SDP staff is looking forward to it. (We're particularly pleased we were able to figure out how to crop, watermark and export this picture in a rather short period of time.)  My entire photo library is still somewhat MIA.   The files are on my hard drive, but my photo software isn't able to open and display them in albums with dates, names etc.  We're diligently working to have them fully restored soon.   In the meantime, the Editor-in-Chief is hesitant to resume shooting fresh photos without having the SDP library restored.  So, you may see some old pics posted...or you never know...a staff member could be dispatched to pick up a fresh photo.  I hope everyone is doing well!

Theme Day: Pink

Jack at Hartford Daily Photo was kind enough to remind me recently that September's theme day was coming up and the theme would be pink.  Thanks for the reminder, Jack, and your efforts in helping to pull this theme day together for CDP. Although, we're still limping along at SDP, we wanted to participate in this month's theme day. So, when I was shopping at Costco yesterday without my camera and saw this display of pink capped white zinfandel bottles as far as the eye could see, I thought, 'Aha!' and did what any resourceful photographer without a camera would do...I pulled out my iPhone.  And...voila! The entire staff at SDP is working diligently to get back up and running very soon. Acquisitions signed off on a special order Mac laptop and it's about to be picked up.  Hip-hip-hooray!  There's a lot of hard work ahead to get our photo library in order...but, one step at a time.  I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to seeing your theme day submissions.  To see more pink pics from around the world, click here.

Disembodied

Things remain quite busy. I'm just trying to keep my head above water, like this alligator I spotted recently at Myakka River State Park. We've been getting lots of rain lately in Sarasota and many areas of the park are flooded, which is causing the wildlife to modify its behavioral patterns. Since the plants and brush that the deer and wild boar eat are now under water, the animals are moving inland to higher ground.  My favorite hiking trail is submerged and impassable, but I spotted several deer as they galloped through the standing water last night.  Normally, deer are quite stealth. But, these snorted loudly before racing through the water. They seemed displeased with the situation (I wasn't pleased either, as I was battling a healthy, ferocious contingent of mosquitoes.) Anyway, some of the deer are looking thin and I hope they're able to scrounge up enough food while we wait for the flooding to recede.  As I left last night, there was another heavy downpour. I'm starting to think the only ones out there appreciating all the rain are the gators.  By the way, thanks to those who have been so kind to reach out to us at SDP to ensure we're still alive.  We're hoping to return to regular posts by the end of summer.  **fingers crossed**  Hope everyone in the CDP community is doing well!