I just got back from spending a couple days in the Everglades National Park. The trip hadn’t been planned very well, in fact not at all and that’s because it was something I had decided to do on the spur of the moment. I had taken an unplanned vacation this week from my regular job so I wanted to make the best of it! But hey, any vacation, planned or not is still a great vacation!!!
The weather certainly could have been a whole lot better! It was cloudy and overcast with a good amount of wind ranging from about 15 to 20 mph. I had an image in my mind of what I wanted to capture from this trip. I primarily wanted to do some night photography with a few subjects that I had in mind. But with the cloudy overcast skies meant no moon or stars and the persistent wind meant I couldn’t shoot long exposures of foliage. So on this trip, night photography was out.
Since the lighting wasn’t ideal for landscape photography, I thought I would take my camera and walk the short trail in Pineland to see if there was any opportunities there. I did get lucky enough to find two little tree snails hanging on to a tree. They reminded me of the conch shells that we find at the beach, but these fellows are snails, and the forest is their home.
Liguus Tree Snails
Later that evening, I went to Pine Glades Lake to shoot a sunset. I walked around the lake looking for some interesting composition. As the sun was about to set, I thought the best location would be near the parking area. It was Christmas Day, and there wasn’t a soul any where around. I had the whole lake all to myself. I set up and photographed this sunset. There really wasn’t much color except for the little strip above the lake. I was very disappointed and if I were using film, I would have left the camera in it’s backpack. But since I was using the digital I decided to shoot it anyway. The shot from that evening is below.
Sunset on December 25, 2018
When I got there, I spent time exploring the area for possible future shoots. The weather still wasn’t good but it did show some signs of improvement. By the end of the second day, the clouds were starting part and the setting sun was peaking out from beneath the cloudy sky. I have been trying to get a really good shot from here for a while now. After the numerous attempts over trying for that outstanding image, this one is probably one the best that I have taken. Just like the evening before, I had the whole lake all to myself!!! No tourist, no photographers, and no fishermen. What a quiet and peaceful evening this was!
Sunset on December 26, 2018
“Twilight in the Everglades”
Pine Glades Lake
Everglades National Park
Now you can see me in action in a short 2 minute video on YouTube!
Watch it here -> https://youtu.be/9BR10fYlm6I
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