Ma Gator playing with her babies

I was sitting at our porch window photographing the birds that were
accumulating around our pond. The pond is drying up, so the fish are
easy to get at...which means a lot of birds to photograph! All of a sudden
the Ma Gator came up out of the water with a baby gator in her mouth!
I thought she was eating her babies! But then a very strange and unusual
thing happened. She didn't eat them, she played with them! She would
grab hold of one or two babies and bobb her head up and down under
the water giving the babies a fun ride. It was an amazing thing to see,
and wondrous that a mother gator would find some kind of joy in
pleasing her young...who would have ever thought?

If you look closely at Ma Gators jaw you'll see a baby gator trying to
climb up for another ride. It is as though the baby is saying,
"Let's do it again!"

The fun is over and it's time to rest...

Adios to Debby and Norm 'til next year

Adios to Debby and Norm as they leave for the summer and head
north. It was great having them as employees this winter and we
look forward to seeing them again next year.

Have a great summer Debby & Norm!

Rick's Photo Safari

The Photo Safari group with Rick in a discussion about photography

Rick Cruz is an employee in our gallery and also has his
photography in our gallery. For more information about Rick
and his work you can check out his website at:
www.rickcruz.com

We had asked Rick if he would like to give a photo walk around the
property and help folks to enjoy the scenery photographically. He
said he'd love to do it and so we offered a Photo Safari to
our customers...however, the environment dried up early
this year. In fact, this is the driest year on record and so our
yard was nice, but not as beautiful as it is when it has water in it.

Rick was concerned that folks would have a rough time finding
things to photograph, but he need not have worried. Where there
is a photographer there is a photograph to be had!

Rick setting up his view camera so everyone can check it out

Rick sharing the use of his view camera with everyone

Rick pointing out some possible photographic opportunities.

After exploring the front of the property, Rick and the group headed to the
back for a picnic lunch and to photograph the wilderness found there.

They had only been gone for a short while when Rick came bursting into
the gallery to grab his video camera and yelling, "The Pa Gator is
heading down the road!" I grabbed my camera, as did every tourist
who was in the gallery, and we all ran down the road to the
back to have this opportunity to see a
gator walking down the road.

...and there he was making his way down the
road to the front of the property

This is the dry time of the year. The pond by our house
where he lives with his mate is getting too small for both
him, his mate and the baby gators. She is very protective
of her young and since food and water is scarce she probably
kicked him out in order to more easily protect the babies.

The Photo Safari Group getting their share of images

It's a long walk from the back pond to the front. He stopped
along the way many times for a rest.

Making his way down the road toward the front of the property

Those are some nice hefty teeth he's got there!

It was kind of nice that our gate was open so he could easily
travel down the road!

As he heads out into the swamp at the front of the gallery
tourists get their share of photographs too!

It was a long walk and I'm sure once he got into his normal
habitat he felt much safer...even with a smile on his face...

After this event Rick felt like everyone got their money's worth!

The day ended with a visit in the gallery with Clyde.

Visit with David Brookover

David & Clyde

When we were out west photographing for Clyde's exhibit
America the Beautiful we bumped into Steve. He once
worked in Florida and now was working in the Tetons. Steve
gave us all kinds of locations to scout and was a wonderful
friend to us while we were there. Steve told us about a gallery
in town (Jackson Hole) we might enjoy seeing. It was David's gallery.

It is rare to meet a photographer who owns his own
gallery, understands the business of a gallery, yet is still an artist.
It was very refreshing discussing both the reality of business and
the 'other worldly' vision of art. Getting to know David was great
and we were glad to see him again while he visited Florida.

David and Clyde in our gallery

Clyde and David talking 'photo talk' in
David's gallery at Jackson Hole

Clyde & David at his gallery

While visiting with David at the Tetons he told us about one
of his favorite locations in the Tetons and suggested we
try it. The next morning Clyde and I got up at 3:30am
and headed out to the site. It was a great location!

The moon was a full moon, but that first morning was too early to
catch the moon over the mountains because by the time the sun
came up and the moon reached the mountains, the intensity of the sun
would block out the moon. Clyde decided the next morning would
be better. We were so excited about this opportunity to catch a
full moon over the Tetons that we had to share it with Steve, Ducky,
and David. We called them all and agreed to meet the next morning
at the pond for a moon shot.

I took this image on the first morning. As you can see the
moon is very high and there is absolutely no light...thus the
image is flat. It's still a neat image in color, but in b&w
the flatness just won't work. Clyde needed sun light and
he needed the moon closer to the mountains for a good
composition.

Ducky, David and Steve setting up their cameras

The next morning we all got to the location at about the same time.
I thought we were early and was surprised that everyone was
already there!

David said the west had been so dry for so long that this was the
first time in ten years that there was water in this pond.
With the pond as part of the foreground, it gives a wonderful sense
of life to the scene.

It was fun watching all of the photographers. They were all waiting for
that 'Aspen Glow'... that warm early morning light to hit the Tetons,
and then the cameras began to click. They continued photographing until
the light was too harsh and bright for color photography.

The fun thing was that Clyde and I could watch while they fulfilled their
photographic vision because Clyde wasn't ready to photograph until the
light was harsh and bright...and fortunately, the moon was also closer to
the mountains by that time. With the sun fully on the mountains, their
shape, shadows and texture is revealed. It works in black and white, but
in color it doesn't. Interesting...

The following photographs...mine, David's and Clyde's...
are fun to compare. I wish I had Steve and Ducky's images
to put up too. It is so amazing that the three of us stood in
pretty much the same spot and we all came up with
a photograph that is different!

My photograph of the early morning 'Aspen Glow' .

David with his 8x10 camera

David's moon over Tetons
for more of Davids images check out his website:
www.davidbrookover.com

Clyde photographing moon over the Tetons.

Clyde's Moon Over The Tetons
for more of Clyde's images check out his website:
www.clydebutcher.com

Clyde and David Brookover

When a group of photographers get together there is always a LOT of
technical talk and sharing of equipment and ideas for better equipment.
When Clyde talked about his 12x20 view camera everyone wanted to
see it, so he pulled it out and set it up.

The group of early morning photographers around Clyde's 12x20 camera

The experience and sharing attitude of David was one of the highlights
of our trip out to the Tetons, so it was a joy to see him again while
he visited Florida.

David & Clyde relaxing on our porch over looking the pond...

and taking advantage of some easy bird photography from our porch!

It was great seeing David again. Wish we had been able to spend
another day together to go on a photo trip together...maybe next time!

Gator Hook...a little history and Edward Abbey

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Gator Hook with Clyde

It was a beautiful day, but a hot one for a walk with
a 30 pound back pack on Clyde's back. It felt good
to be going back to that wonderful, peaceful place in Gator Hook.
AND...I couldn't wait to share it's beauty with Clyde!

Heading down Gator Hook Trail...

In my images from the trip to Gator Hook with
Katy, Eric and Deedra I took a picture of the
caterpillars eating this plant...well, it's been about
a week and those guys are getting BIG!

The rocky layer of Big Cypress is exposed on this section of
the trail. It is unusual to have a geologic experience in Big Cypress,
but here is what the area is made of...a long ago reef...

Lots of tracks...there is so little water that animals and
birds come from miles around to drink.

Clyde photographing.

If you look closely at the base of the cypress trees
you'll notice that the bottom is darker than the top.
That is the water line. The normal water line in this
cypress forest is about at Clyde's waist level. During
April & May it is the dry season in Florida. This year
we are exceptionally dry.
Clyde and I are usually at least waist deep when we
go out to photograph, so an experience in a cypress
dome without water is unique. The greatest thing about
a dry cypress dome that the bottom of the cypress trees are
exposed and that is where so much of the texture,
shape and form of the tree is exhibited.

While Clyde set up his camera and waited for the right light, I hiked
around exploring. In the above image, Clyde is a tiny figure in the
background.

The cypress trees came in very large sizes. I was glad I was able to
find the giant one that Katy, Eric, Deedra and I found. It was neat
to be able to share it with Clyde. Unfortunately, there wasn't a
composition anywhere around it. So, after studying it for a while, Clyde
decided not to photograph it.

We had a great day of adventure and photography.
The sun was getting low and it was time to head back to the car.

Heading back to the car...

Clyde checking his compass

As we wondered about through the woods and grasslands...not seeing

any thing we recognized...I realized we were lost. I hoped that
Clyde had brought his compass and he had...thank heavens.
That was about the only thing we did right!

Several days after this experience I picked up a book
that everyone should read, no matter whether they
go out into the wilderness for an afternoon picnic or on a
major adventure. It is called
Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales.
The book is both an education and a collection of
great survival tales...and not surviving tales...VERY GOOD!

We knew the parking lot was west and if we headed in that
direction we'd eventually find it. We might have a long walk
without finding the trail, but we WOULD eventually come
across Loop Road. However after reading Deep Survival
and having this small experience of getting lost, I was thankful
we didn't experience a collection of "Perfect Storms" because
we surely weren't prepared for more than a few hours in
the wilderness. It is amazing how often we humans
don't respect the power of nature, and this time we didn't either.

Mistake #1
We knew it was a hot day, but I only took one bottle of water
into the swamp thinking it wouldn't take more than 2-3 hours
to photograph and then return to the car.

Mistake #2
We didn't even look at the compass when we left the trail and
headed out into the wilderness toward the cypress strand.

Mistake #3
When we left the cypress strand we didn't go out from
the same place we entered.

Mistake #4
We didn't check the compass when we left the cypress strand.

Mistake #5
We assumed we knew where we were and that we were walking west.
When we took out the compass we realized we weren't walking west.
We were walking west- southwest. Had we continued in that direction
without looking at the compass it would have been a very LONG walk
before we reached Loop Road and then we would have had
to hike up the road to get to the car.

Mistake #6
Well...there were more...but read the book and think about
your own experiences out in the woods. Mistakes abound!
Doing some simple things can make the difference
between life and death...nature is to be respected.

Anyway...we continued onward...

Unfortunately, there were no clouds. The temperature was
around 91 degrees.The ground was dry and there wasn't
water anywhere.

We didn't have much water left. I didn't bring very much...
which is always a mistake when you are heading out into the
wilderness...sigh...anyway, I refused to drink any more
until I knew if we would need it to survive.

Clyde checks the compass again...

We keep walking west...

We found the trail!

Heading home down the RIGHT path...

Ahhhh...at last the car and WATER to drink!