Tell me a Story: September 2014

Tell me a Story is live once again.  At then end of my blog, please take time to go and check out the stories from the other bloggers in this group.  Following me is the talented Melinda Sauvageau / Orange Moon Photography / Fargo Children's and Family Photographer.

This month is typically our holiday month. It's still summer but at the same time schools are back and the beaches are empty, and that is how we love it.  We normally head north where there are waves.  This year we decided to spend 2 days at Flagler Beach before going on to St Augustine for another 6 days.  Both Richard and I love the sea, and our first stop could not have been more beautiful.  We have a pop up and we tend to stay at the state parks. This park was called Gamble Rogers State Park.  The beach was just a short walk down the board walk and, since all the kids had gone back to school, this was almost our own private beach. I was in my happy zone.

One thing I do when I go camping, which I never do at home, is get up early to go and watch the sunrise.  We are on the east coast, I really have no choice - either the sunrise or nothing, because the sunset ain't happening for me.  So I drag myself out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and head off to the beach to watch the changing of the sky line as the sun creeps up over the horizon.  

The reds soon turn to gold as the sun climbs into the sky.  Another beautiful morning to breathe and enjoy and be thankful that I have had the opportunity to witness this spectacular event. 

The beach itself is stunning.  Wide open sand, with so much bird life running along the beach. Right now you are looking at my suntanning spot.  I am more than ready to just relax, unwind and enjoy the down time.  

I discovered a little friend while lying on the beach.  Since I love nature I was happy to have it around, so long as it did not get to close too my toes.  This little one was cleaning house. Every so often it would come up with a ball of sand and throw it away. It would take a few minutes to pose for the camera and then head back down.

Of course you can only lie in the sun for so long.  I tend to be longer than the average, but even I know when it is best to get out and go and do something else.  So today I grabbed my new Macro 100mm 2.8 lens and headed out to see if I could get some shots of some of the smaller variety of critters.  

This Gulf Frittilary is one of the most stunning butterflies that I have seen.  Yet when you looked at the top of it's body it was really very plain.  They are known as longwing butterflies because of the shape of their wings.  These butterflies can be found as low as Argentina, all the way through to San Francisco.  It starts out as an orange caterpillar with black spikes, and turns into this beautiful butterfly.  A fact that I recently read is that a butterfly has to have a body temperature of 85 degree F or 30 degree C to fly.  

This little Green Anole played hide and seek with me, slipping in and out of the branches until I caught it peeking out from behind a leaf.   Interesting fact that I read, is that these little Green Anoles can change color and could be anything from bright green to a dull brown. Apparently typically they will eat small insects and spiders.  

Next I found what appeared to be a black Bee of sorts.  Turns out this is apparently a Carpenter Bee. They are called this because they build their nests in bamboo, timber etc.

Further on I found this Bee.  I have to say that I am a little nervous around bees.  I have been stung multiple times in my life and so I tend to stay a little away from them.  Not too easy with a macro lens.  Bees are important their role of pollinating plants.  I discovered while researching bees, that the male Carpenter Bee cannot sting..  I figure that is my kind of bee.  

Love bugs, as they are known here in Florida, are prolific at certain times of the year, and on a car trip up to northern Florida my white car rapidly turns black in front as they splatter on the car.  That said, they seem pretty harmless.  Then again, one of these bugs (singular) somehow flew into my camera body, and twice as I went to take a photo, I could see a bug crawling across my screen. Really weird feeling to have a bug crawling around your camera body with no way out.   

The Air Potato Beetle is an bug typically found in areas such as Nepal, but appear to have been brought in to Florida to eat the invasive Air Potato plant. They look very much like a Ladybug but without the spots.  I was walking along the beach when I found one of these little critters upside down in a pond of water.  Fortunately it was still alive and I was able to rescue it and let it hang out on my hand for a while.  Once it's wings were dry it flew off - probably in search of an air potato plant.

This was an interesting character which I have now identified as potentially an a Skipper Butterfly. They look very different to your typical butterfly and fall under the category of a moth butterfly. They have a quick darting way of flying. Their wings are generally in proportion to their bodies unlike other butterflies.  

The Mangrove Buckeye butterfly is generally found in Florida and throughout the Caribbean. They are very pretty butterflies with eye shaped designs on their upper wings.  They are typically found in swampy type area and the wetlands are really suited for these kinds of butterflies.  The food for the adult butterfly is plant nectar.

A I mentioned, I am wary of Bees, and any stinging variety of insect. It appears that the habit of a male Carpenter Bee is to fly up to people.  In my case it would probably cause me to react hysterically and make for the indoors. However, as I mentioned earlier male Carpenter Bees do not sting. Females, however, can, but apparently rarely do.  They have gone up in my estimation of Bees.  

I love the burst of color in the Indian Blanket flower.  You find them scattered in the grasslands approaching the beach area.  They like sandy soil, that drains fairly easily. They apparently self seed, but their flowering lifespan is fairly short.  

The Honey Bee is one that I know definitely stings, having been stung at least 7 times by these critters.  When I see them I tend to avoid them, but today I really wanted their photograph so I stepped out, sucked it up, and got brave.  :) 

These Bees fascinate me. Just look at the pollen collected in their pollen baskets at the sides of their legs.  That is so cool. Bees are an integral part of the the pollination process.  You would think that Bees would be safe, as they travel about collecting pollen, be even they have to be careful of crab spiders or assassin bugs.  Birds also find them a tasty morsel.  

This little crab was hanging out in the area where I was shooting.  It's hole was on the side of the walkway.  Every time you walked past it, is would scurry back into it's hole.  I have no idea what kind of crab this is, but I enjoyed hanging out and waiting for it to poke it's head out again.  

The birds were in abundance on the beach and the most common was what we know as the Seagull. The correct name for them is Gulls.  They hang out in big groups on the beach. The activity I saw of the gulls was typically flying over the water to fish, and then bringing the food back to their chicks. The water washing in and out left a sheen on the sand which lent to great reflections.

Last but not least was the evening walk along the beach.  We were not the only folk out enjoying the closing of the evening.  

Just to prove that I was actually on vacation, I decided to add this photo, that I asked Richard to take.  I did all the settings, and then got him to push the button.  As you can see, 2 days into the vacation and I am already changing color.  Oh, how I love to be out in the sun on a vacation day.

And this encompasses my day from start to finish for this months Tell me a Story.  It was a harvest moon and I went out for a walk at about 1am to take a photo.  You just have to get one of the moon.  

As I was finishing up this blog, the poem by John Masefield comes to mind, and reminds me why I love the beach.  

Sea Fever ~ John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and sky,

And all I ask is tall ship and star to steer her by;

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, 

And a great mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

It's a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, 

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gyspey life,

To the gull's way and the whale;s way where the wind's like a whetted knife;

Anda ll I ask is a merry yarn from laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and sweet dream when the long trick's over.

I hope that you enjoy my day's event's in Tell me a Story.  Please remember to click on the link at the top of the page to view the blogs by the other photographers in the group.  

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page. 

30 Minutes in the Life: September 2014

In the life of a photographer, whose art is created in tiny fractions of a second, thirty minutes is a sustained thought. ~ Sara Kelly

Last year this time, I was in the same place, but my photos were of an incredible sunrise. This year I went a different route.  Same beach, different time of day.  St Augustine has always been one of my favorite places to vacation.  You have the city, you have the sea and I love both of them.  

An added bonus this year, was that our daughter, Amy, came through to visit. Even better it was her birthday and we got the chance to spend some time with her on her birthday for the first time in a number of years.  Living away at university makes it a little harder to be together on those special days.  

We woke up to a great morning, sun was shining, and we were soon ready to head on down to the beach. But first, Happy Birthday Amy.  She has limited patience.  She had already opened her birthday presents the day before, so we did not have to wait for that.  We just had to wait for her to wake up.  

On a side note I will also tell you that Amy is my dare devil.  She reminds me of me, when I was so much younger.  Over the years I have become more cautious, but I see in her that reflection of me at that age.

I have a confession to make though.  I messed up with these photo's.  I had been using my 100mm macro lens that I had just bought, and on the camera screen the shots looked awesome, and so instead of using my 55-250mm lens I shot all of these with the 100mm.  A learning curve that is for sure - Hindsight is 50/50 but I guess next time I will know better.  

Once she was up we headed down to the beach.  The flags are flying.  Ok, so we are Africans, the water looks good, the waves are up, we are ready to hit the ocean.  Maybe not all of us.  My plan is to stand at the waters edge with the camera.  It was only as I edited the flags that I decide to go an look for the meaning of the flags.  Might have been better if I had known at the time but oh well next time I will. Apparently what we have is high hazard (rough conditions), and Marine Pest (such as jellyfish, stingray and dangerous fish). What can I say - we are Africans - surf's up and it's time to play.  

The waves are pretty neat.  Rough, maybe a little, but awesome anyway.  And no I did not see any pest like creatures.  I did see a dolphin fin though and loved every minute of it.  Back to the story, off my two go, way ahead of me. Once there they decide the waves are big enough and head back to the car.

Richard had spent a couple of weeks looking for a paddle board on line, and he eventually came across a windsurfer without a sail, being sold really cheap.  So he decided that potentially this could be his paddle board.  It worked really well on flat water, but in the waves it was not stable enough. So, instead he used it to surf on.  He has spent the previous two days playing around on it and it worked fairly well.  So Amy decided she wanted to try this.

There were a couple of spectators on the beach, watching the event.  Seems like they had a lot to say about what was happening here.  

Amy is pretty stoked.  She is going to use her Go Pro to video herself surfing. She had taken some photo's in the waves the day before that were pretty neat but she wanted to see what the video would look like once the board started moving.  

After lugging this really heavy board along the boardwalk, down the beach, Amy is now ready to get the board in the water, and ride some waves.  

While she is heading out, dad is giving instructions.  Remember this, don't do that, make sure your balance is right before standing up.

Of course, you get out there and you have to wait for the right wave.  Quite honestly right now I am not seeing any big waves to surf on.

Is this potentially an option?  No, I guess she does not think so.  She just let the wave go.

I loved the close up splash action.  I just wish I had been using my zoom.

Finally, she goes, I am pretty excited.  I have the camera primed, I am taking multiple shots, and I am so happy for her.

For me her smile says it all. "Yay, I am moving on the board".

The stand up was a little wobbly but she did it and before we knew it she was standing up.

Looks pretty easy right now.  She just cruised on in.

"Look Mom, I made it in".  All in one piece, standing on the board.  Way to go Amy.

That was fun, so lets try that again.  The Go Pro is set to record, and she is out in the ocean waiting for the wave. 

Off she goes again, everything looks good.  It is a reasonable size wave.  I am looking forward to some action shots.  Go Amy!!

Oh no.....look at the feet.  She looks too far back on the board, her feet are out wide and there is no sense of balance.

The board nosed dived into the water......

And so did Amy......

All I saw of my girl, was .....nothing, and then suddenly she was up and looking frantic.  The Go Pro had come off her head in the nose dive and flip.  We searched every where, moving north and south along the shoreline to see if perhaps it had caught the tide and been washed up further along the water. During that time a bystander on the beach saw a fin in the water and cried shark, and everyone evacuated the water ....not a shark, but a dolphin.  So back in the water we went.  We probably searched for about 1.5 hours, when Amy decided enough was enough.  She was burning and it was time to go back to the campsite.  We reported the loss of the Go Pro, but I think the Go Pro spent the next couple of hours videoing the fishes in the sea.  

That was a real bummer on her birthday.  The Go Pro was gone and it was not insured.  That I guess is one of the lessons in life we all have to learn, but when you are just out of college the insurance kind of expenses are not high on your priority list.  I have to give her credit, she took the loss better than I did.  I was bummed for her.  

For the next few days, Richard spent his time on his bike riding the beach, looking in all the rock pools, and I walked along the waters edge hoping that something would come up.  No luck.  While searching up and down the beach, Richard had a run in with a topless woman. She was not happy that he was riding his bike past her on a public beach while she was clearly suntanning topless.  Suffice to say it was not pretty all the way around.  

I know I have always hated lessons in life, but sometimes we just have to go on through them.  

I could not leave this blog without sharing the closing of the day.  Amy left around 3pm and I did not feel like going to the shop to buy food, nor did I feel like another barbecue.  We headed off, to a place I found last year, for dinner and to watch the sunset over the edge of the city.  So while this is not part of my 30 minutes, this was definitely a gorgeous close to a day that started out good as we enjoyed celebrating Amy's birthday, and then not so good when we lost the Go Pro.  

You never really know what's coming.  A small wave, or maybe a big one.  All you can really do is hope that when it comes, you can surf over it, instead of drown in its monstrosity"~ Alysha Speer

Don't forget to follow the circle and take a look at what the other photographers have for you this month.  Colleen Putman Photography / NYC Traveling Photographer is the next photographer up and she always has the most incredible and interesting  travel photographs amongst other types of photography.  Please time time to check out what she has to offer.    

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page.