O.C. fotoguy
Photo of the Year
Rio Grande SunRise
Who Dos at Bryce Canyon N.P., Utah
Snail Kite, Big Cypress, Everglades N.P., Fl.
Family, High School Senior, Wedding Photos on the Beach and more!
What, the last one? How can that be? Where did summer go? Seacrets beach is closed! Coconuts is closed! Fager’s Deck Parties are over! M.R. Ducks closing party is Oct 30!!! It’s a little chilly, but the autumn colors compliment family photos and I can still do an outstanding photo of you and yours on the beach.
Sooner than I think, it’ll be time for me to be heading south to my less visited places. I got the same plan, “no plan,” that I’ve had for the last twelve years, just get somewhere where it’s warm during January to April. My meanderings used to be just something to pass the time in winter. Now, it’s kinda flipped to being in O.C. is something to do till I get to experience all those adventures again. I wouldn’t miss it for anything! Once I find a place where it works, I stay for a while, limit the risk, keep my expectations reasonable, and always have a plan B. My best days are when I don’t drive at all and I like to camp where I can park my pickup that carries a slide-in camper, my nest, for a week or more without moving it.
I’ll begin in the Keys, where I'll divide my time in January primarily between Islamorada (MM 82), where the kayaking, sunrises, and sunsets are wonderful and Key West, which I found last year is so laid back and has lots of great restaurants & bars, especially if you stay out of the tourist traps on Duval Street. Then I'll be camped in Big Cypress Preserve in southwest Florida for February where I see panthers, bears and more extraordinary wildlife there than any place I go. Big Bend N.P., Tx., is always on the Don't Miss List, too, because of the enchanting kayaking in St. Elena Canyon on the Rio Grande, the sunrises, and its remoteness. I'll stop as I go west on the Cajon Trail in Louisiana, Spring Break in S. Padre Island and feast on local seafood in Port Isabel, Tx,, too. Then I’ll be going to the sand dunes of the Mojave Desert; the buffets of Las Vegas; the north rim of Grand Canyon at Toroweap; Bryce Canyon at 9,000 feet where the air is too thin for me to hike, but the who dos are fascinating; Capitol Reef & the road to Bullfrog and whatever discoveries that holds. I’ll probably pass up southern Arizona (Aravaca, Buenos Aires NWR, Organ Pipes Cactus N.M. and spend that time in southeastern Utah’s nowherelands on the way to Bullfrog.
I'll be back in Ocean City to do family photos on the beach, for the ocean, steamed crabs, and summer in May.
Last year I really wanted to camp deeper in the everglades, but couldn’t get a permit; hopefully I will this year. I wanted to find some alligator meat that I could cook, and immerse myself in southern Utah’s nowherelands. I saw plenty of live alligators, but no place that sold the meat. I’ll look harder this year. It was cold everywhere last winter and that limited what I could do in Utah. 2011’s winter can’t be that cold, so I hope to spend a month there. Plus, I have the solar power procedure figured out and I’ll have a way to charge secondary batteries while I’m driving, so I should have plenty of reddy kilowatts, and I expect that my nest will be the star of the show again. It works and is a place to put my stuff where it can stay for months, is a secure, dry, and warm place to be, enjoy my photos, and sleep.
My plan B will be Cibola NWR on the Ariz./Calif. border that I found last year that's way out of the way with few people and lots of gorgeous scenery, dirt roads to bike, trails to walk, and lots of wildlife. It has lots more to show me.
Best of my Adventure XII: My most Head turning, eye grabbing, and Wow saying photos that have impact, uniqueness and are technically correct are: a Scorpion in south west Arizona that latched onto my walking stick (when I rolled the rock over it was concealed beneath); the Rosy Reflection of the Sun Rise in the Rio Grande, Big Bend N.P, Tx.; a Snail Kite who’s image was awe consuming in Big Cypress N.P., Fl.; and the Who Dos of Bryce Canyon, Ut., on a picture perfect day with the snow contrasting with their pinkness accented by the blue sky. These and a myriad of what nature showed me that most people never see in a life time can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/o.c.fotoguy2009. You can see what I see as I meander, roam and wander there, too.
Hopefully if nature allows, the magnetic poles don’t shift or the creek doesn’t rise, I’ll be writing this prattle again next summer. See ya here in May.
