Saturday, February 9, 2013

Sweetwater Strand Everglades

Another in the series from my trip to south Florida for the Orange Bowl...

I usually look for the roads less travelled when away from home.  In the Everglades, there just aren't that many roads, but Loop Road is definitely one of those less travelled.  Loop Road is partially paved, mostly dirt and traverses a loop from the west side of U.S 41 to a point nearly midway between the east and west coast.  Its entrance is wholly unmarked on the west end and marked only with a small street side on the east end.  The east entrance is easiest to find, as it comes into 41 where 41 makes a jog to the north.  Oh, and if you're planning a trip, watch out for the Miccosukee cop who is a permanent fixture at the east entrance to U.S. 41.

Six miles in from the west entrance, lies Sweetwater Strand a thin body of water traversing the Everglades, eventually emptying into the Ten Thousand Islands.


This is the view from the small bridge that cross the strand.  The water is shallow and crystal clear with a hard coral/limestone bottom.  You can peer into the cypress and see all manner of wading birds.  Even with a brisk breeze blowing from a passing cold front, the water here is so protected that it is dead calm.  Perfect for reflection pictures.




While shooting around the strand, I met a nice older fellow who was shooting with this magnificent piece of equipment...


He was retired and had opened a studio which his wife ran.  His "job" now was to run around the Everglades taking pictures for their studio.  Hmmm... I think I'm seeing a retirement plan forming in my head.  This was his "small" camera... an 8x10.  He also had an 11x14, both of which he had restored himself.  Neat guy.  He also looked up and pointed out a Red-Shouldered Hawk who had been sitting on a branch right over might head for the past thirty minutes, and I'd not noticed him once.  He said the hawk was a regular and that he had a neat picture of the hawk with three chicks lined up on that very branch.  I would have liked to have seen that!

One feature of Sweetwater that's conducive to good pics was its orientation to the southwest, which allowed the sun to shine in during the afternoon.  Even with the sun, it still remained a dark cypress swamp which made for excellent contrast for light subjects.


And the highlight for me was this Green Heron fishing.  I rarely see Green Herons in north Florida, so getting to watch this one fish was a treat.   He started out like this...


... and kept leaning forward...


... and further forward until I thought he'd fall off the branch!


Finally, he launched himself like a dart into the water and came up with a fish.  It didn't look like he missed too often.  He leapt back up to the branch to enjoy his dinner.


After dinner came a little preening and ruffling before he flew off into the bowels of the swamp.




If you want to see more, Sweetwater Strand and Loop Road photos are included in several different galleries here:

Egrets
Birds
Green Herons
Everglades Landscapes

See much more at wlpearce.com

It's all about the pics!


2 comments:

  1. You ran into an older guy out in Sweetwater Stand who did large-format photography and who had a gallery in the Everglades?

    I'm pretty sure the "older guy" in question was Clyde Butcher- probably the most famous artist currently active in Florida.

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  2. Well, if it was Clyde, Clyde was a really nice fella. Wish he would have had more time to talk, but he was packing up as I got there. Thanks for looking and for the comment.

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