Through the Lens: A Planet Beautiful

It will be a rough Spring...

2009-01-21T06:46:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up to temperatures in the twenties, the second day of our third hard freeze this year. We still have two more says of freezing temperatures to go. I have done my best to cover what I can, but I fear that we will loose several of our native plants this year. The weather has been so tumultuous! We'll have a freeze, then temps soar to the 80's, new growth, then another freeze, then tons of rain and a freeze again! Poor plants! They are so confused!

When I looked out my back door this morning I saw this white stuff on the firecracker, a native. I grabbed my camera and went out to see what it was. I am guessing that the stems were full of water from the rain two nights ago and the freezing temperature froze that moisture, it expanded and busted through the stems. It is so bizarre! I am hoping that the roots are safe enough to come back this Spring, but I fear that we will have a lot of garden maintenance to do.

Hooded Mergansers

2008-12-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

*This image copyright the UF News Bureau*

I took this shot yesterday at work while out wandering the campus for stock photography. I found these Hooded Mergansers at the Reitz Union Pond with beautiful fall colors reflecting in the water. These are such unique ducks. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's web site All About Birds, the Hooded Merganser is the second-smallest of the six living species of mergansers and is the only one restricted to North America. They are small fish-eating ducks of wooded ponds. They winter from southeastern Alaska to southern California, and Arizona. Also from southeastern Minnesota, southern Ontario, and central Maine southward to the Gulf Coast and Florida. I love the "hoods."

Family/Friends

2008-11-29T20:15:00.000-08:00

Here are photos I took of my sister and her family at a Thanksgiving gathering at our dad's in Orlando and photos of a high school friend and her family I took last weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida. Being able to take these photos means a lot to me. I dearly love all of the people in these images and it was a joy to capture them on film.

THE BURLEY FAMILY

THE LIPAN FAMILY

Gum Root Swamp

2008-11-11T17:49:00.000-08:00

Sunday, November 9, Kevin and I took a three mile hike at Gum Root Swamp here in Gainesville. It has been pretty dry lately, so the swamp was low. The bugs were thick, but not unbearable. Here are a few photos. We saw deer, bobcat tracks, these red spiders everywhere and slash pine trees with two trunks. I've never seen slash pine grow this way before, we saw about 5 trees like this one. Not sure if It was an environmental thing that caused these trees to grow this way. It was very curious for sure.

Erica and Gabe Sneak Preview!

2008-10-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Erica and Gabe got married on the 18th at the beautiful Historic Thomas Center in Gainesville, Fl. Here are some photos from their event!
Congrats you two, your wedding was a blast!

Natures Pesticide

2008-10-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

We have several bamboo stands throughout our yard and this year the bamboo has had a pretty serious aphid infestation. The bamboo is far too hearty for the aphids to take the bamboo down so we let them be. We noticed recently that a Downy Woodpecker enjoys the bugs and there are plenty of them. I took these photos Monday evening, you can see the white aphid residue on the stalk of bamboo the bird is perched. He ate here for a while and was so into the feast that I was able to inch in for a closer look. What a beautiful bird.

Garden Friend

2008-10-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

Pulling weeds in the garden recently, I came across this beautiful tree frog. He was resting on a Fire Spike leaf.

Luna Moth

2008-09-29T05:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening Kevin and I were hanging out and preparing dinner with my dad and his wife, Rhonda. Rhonda was in the back yard looking at our plants when she called for us to come out there and see this huge moth on the butterfly bush. We rushed outside and found this absolutely stunning and artistically perfect luna moth resting on the underside of a leaf. I grabbed my camera and made a few images. They were difficult to compose the way I wanted because the moth was upside down, I was lying on the ground shooting up into the bright sky. My dad helped me by gently turning the branch so the underside of the leaf flipped over to reveal the top of this beautiful moth in perfect light. But before I was able to make these photos, I startled the moth by tugging on a leaf nearby and it squirted a white substance on me. I figured this was a defense mechanism or some sort of pheromone. I did a little research and did not find much on this substance, but I did find out that this moth had probably recently hatched from its cocoon and was drying its wings. Adult luna moths live for only one week. Their sole purpose is to mate. They do not have mouths and do not eat anything in their one week of life.

This is the underbelly of the moth

The moth from the top

Barack Obama

2008-09-26T05:39:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Kevin and I spontaneously went to see Barack Obama at his rally in Jacksonville, Florida. It was an awesome turnout, very mild and peaceful. Around 20,000 people showed up. I was not allowed to bring my SLR in, the reason was that I may use my $500 lens as a weapon. At least before we left the house I grabbed the polaroid at the last minute and was able to take a shot when we were in the crowd. It is very hard to tell where Barack is, but he is there. I shot a few things in the line before I put my camera back in the car. We arrived at 10:30 a.m. and stood in line until noon. The opened the gates and let us in. I was shocked that we got in because the line was already huge when we got there. There were 8,000 people behind us that got turned away. It was such a diverse crowd and everyone was pumped. Barack didn't come on stage until around 4 p.m. so it made for a long hot day of standing, but it was totally worth it. It was an awesome experience.

Devoted Gator

2008-09-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

I took this image (Copyright the University of Florida) at UF's first football game of the season against Hawaii. I was working on collecting audio and images for my first multimedia project, Face of a Gator, and 15 minutes before the game started it began to pour. I was on the field and had no rain gear so I ran up to a covered area and found Marvin. W. Brice. He had come to the covered area as well to protect his hat from the rain. He has football tickets on this hat for UF football games since 1950 and when I asked if he had missed any, he said only one... for his daughter's wedding. Amazing!

Congrats Josh and Zully!

2008-08-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

Josh and Zully got married Saturday, August 9, at the Baughman Center. It was a beautiful, but HOT, day with a beautiful couple to boot! Sorry I kept mispronouncing your name Zully! :) Happy honeymooning!

Replica

2008-08-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

I took this image in Montgomery Alabama in the Old Town district when I was there in June. It is a replica of a worker's rack in the groundskeeper's quarters. It was interesting being in Montgomery, a city where changes to so many of our country's Civil Right's laws began. We have come a long way, but I feel we still have a way to go.

Flowers

2008-08-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

First, I want to add a photo from Sophia and Amit's wedding. I finished editing their images last week and really fell in love with this one.

Yesterday I took some photos of flowers in my back yard. I have been hesitant to garden because of risks of Toxoplasma gondii,
we have feral cats that wander into our garden daily. But I finally got over that fear, put gloves on and went into the garden again. I am so glad I did. My zinnias are in full bloom and the buds on the princess flower are so perfect. The overcast day provided for excellent flower photography light...

The Gyrocopter...

2008-08-01T13:24:00.001-07:00

This is an old photo, but it was requested that I post an image of the contraption that I flew in over the Santa Fe river. It is just a scary as it looks, but yet an amazing little thing. You feel like you are in a golf cart as you taxi briefly on the runway, then it gently lifts and you laugh to yourself, surely this thing can't be flying. But, the ground shrinks beneath you and sure enough, you're airborne. It's a pretty smooth ride, but looking through the viewfinder of a camera at the ground below does promote a little seasickness...

Congratulations Sophia and Amit!

2008-07-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

The months of June and July flew by, I turned thirty and found out that my husband and I are expecting our first! Completely occupied with these two major events, I neglected the blog.

July Fourth I photographed Sophia and Amit's beautiful, multicultural wedding. It was a blast and Sophia was absolutely gorgeous! Congrats, you two!

A wedding in Queens, Spring in Central Park, The NY skyline from Brooklyn, and Aerials of the Santa Fe River...

2008-05-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

This is a ton of stuff...it's been busy and I am still getting a handle on this blog thing. Hopefully soon I can get it down to just one or two photos per posting with some words to go along. But for now I'm loading it on...

In April some friends of mine got married in NY, where some other friends of mine live. I was hired as the photographer and got to visit some too. I know this was a bit ago, but I wanted to share some of these, and most importantly, say congratulations to Sylvia and Dustin!

Dustin and Sylvia got married on a farm in Queens, NY. It was beautiful. There were chickens, sheep, pigs, the list goes on...and in Queens! They had a perfect day and a beautiful wedding, I was honored to be their photographer.

My high school friend Laurie and her husband live in Brooklyn, so Kevin and I were able to stay with them. We went to NY a day early and spent an afternoon in Central Park. It was in full Spring bloom and was absloutey amazing!

The Cherry Blossoms were stunning, I had to climb one of them. Kev took this next photo...

Below is a photo of part of the New York skyline from the roof of Laurie and Jason's Brooklyn flat. Beautiful in its own sort of way.

This morning, thanks to David Bloomquist and his Gyrocopter, I flew over the Santa Fe River. This is one of Gainesvilles most important and loved rivers. It is fed by a number of large springs boiling up from the delicate Floridan Aquifer and is a river that Kevin and I paddle quite frequently. It is in the eyes of water bottling companies that want to tap into and profit from our local, natural spring water. There are many determined groups working to fight these companies. For now, my contribution is to document the river when I can and in as many was as I can in hopes that these images can help preserve the river from future damage.

Below is Blue Springs

This is Poe Springs

This is Rum Island Spring

Meet the S.H. Crane Family...

2008-05-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

For over a month I have been documenting the growth of two baby Sandhill Cranes we have in Gainesville. These are my favorite birds and I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity. Typically this time of year Sandhill Cranes are rearing their young much farther north. This is a resident family. They are on campus and have found themselves a very safe spot where they are protected from intrusion by a chain link fence. I think the parents are aware that this fence provides them protection so they allow me to get very close to the fence to photograph them. You will see the fence in some of these images. These birds are not in a space where they can't be free, they have just chosen this spot to raise their young until they can fly. Here are some photos from the three times I visited. I'll post more soon...

First visit: 4.17.2008:

This little guy was running to catch up with the rest of the family...

Second visit 4.29.08:

Here is the whole family. The babies have grown quite a bit and their feathers are becoming more defined. I can't tell the male and female parents apart, but they are great parents. One is always looking out for danger. The babies have learned to use their beaks to dig in the dirt for bugs, but they are also quick to accept one that either mom or dad found.

Third visit 5.14.2008:

A good staredown from one of the parents to make sure that I was O.K. was in order, I was pretty close to the fence. I guess this bird sensed that I was not dangerous as he/she continued to graze the field with family after this look. I have been very careful to not alarm the parents. If I feel that they are starting to panic, I leave.

Still sticking by "mom" for tasty treats...

The babies are starting to mimic the parents in all of their activities. This was preening time.

I love the knees...

Spring and the Realities of Nature

2008-05-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

One recent afternoon, while I was driving on the University of Florida campus, I saw a red-tailed hawk stripping a mockingbird nest of its two babies. Luckily, I had my camera with me.

I finally did it, I entered the world of the Blog...

2008-05-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hello All:

Welcome to my blog and my very first posting