Spring Flowers

"Flowers are the sweetest thing God ever made, and forgot

to put a soul into."

Henry Beecher, 'Life Thoughts' 1858

  

  I have had the opportunity to visit two beautiful estates and gardens in Central Florida this week. Leu Gardens near Orlando and Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales which is a bit of a drive from Orlando or Tampa but is well worth it.  Spring is in full bloom here and both places are breathtakingly beautiful. It was pretty breezy at Bok Tower which makes taking close up flower photos pretty difficult though! Bok Tower is surrounded by groves of orange trees which are all blossoming right now-the scent was positively intoxicating! I am going to have to find some candles that smell like orange blossoms, just heaven! I did manage to get a few photos I like of course.

  Growing up, one of my favorite books was The Secret Garden, and I feel like I have stumbled upon my own secret garden when I visit these kinds of places. Especially at Bok Tower, there are 'secret' paths, and a stone semi circle with a small pond in the center where cut little frogs live. It is truly a magical place.

  I am also very fond of plants with lacy little leaves like this. So delicate and beautiful!

  This is a beautiful blossom that had already fallen to the ground. Flowers truly fascinate me, the variety, the colors, and the scents. I wish that the blooming trees would blossom year round but then again maybe we would not appreciate them as much.

  Love the colors and design of this flower!  

  Once again I have saved my favorite photos for last. I spotted this straw flower at Leu Gardens and spent a good deal of time experimenting with settings and compositions-I decided putting it in the bottom of the frame was a little unusual and loved the green/blue background which is a natural gradient-I just pumped up the vibrancy on it. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Stephanie

  

Myakka River Park/Venice Beach

  Back as promised with a few more photos from my mini trip this week. Friday I went to Sarasota's Myakka River Park. It is a huge park and is quite nice but I was disappointed in the lack of wildlife I encountered. Still I was able get at least capture a few nice landscape shots from the parks 'bird walk' which featured very few birds when I was there :( I dont get the chance to take these kinds of shots too often and the sky was beautiful so I am really happy with these!

  Beautiful isn't it?

  Now the above photo is not beautiful, nor is it of the best quality but it is interesting and bizarre. I saw this bird up in a tree eating something. I was kind of afraid to see what it might be when I zoomed in on it-expecting a bloody mouse-instead I saw that he had a fish head! Don't think he got much to eat off of that!

  The only other animals I was able to get close to were some buzzards hanging out on the side of the road. They sure are ugly! At this point I decided to drive to the nearby town of Venice, Florida. The main street there features a nice array of shops and restaurants and right down the road is Florida's version of Venice Beach-check out the view:

  Felt pretty nice to be standing here on an 80 degree day when it is 12 degrees up north :)  Fortunately there were some cute and funny birds hanging out here.

  These guys seem to do this looking down thing a lot. I like them they are cute.

  He looks a lot happier here!

Big mouth small tongue lol!

  Finally we have this little guy. I had never seen birds like this before moving here. At first I had to hunt for where their eyes were! They are called Black Skimmers-I was hoping they would have a more interesting name than that they remind me of clowns.  This is the only photo I could get of one by itself as they were tightly grouped together. They are more shy than the the other birds who didn't seem to mind me getting too close.  I tried and failed to get the kind of quality photo I want of a sandpiper-those little dudes really can run! They must sleep very well at night :)

Sanibel Island

  This week I rented a high end Canon 70-300L lens and drove to Sanibel Island, FL to try it out and to go in search of giant White Pelicans. These pelicans migrate to Florida in the winter. I have seen some at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary where injured birds are taken, but never in the wild. I read that they cold be found at the 

J.N. Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.  This was my first trip there. It didn't take as long to get there as I thought-2 hours to nearby Fort Myers and an additional 30 minutes to the island.

  Well the good news is I found my pelicans, the bad news though was that I could not get nearly as close to them as I wanted to!  There is a 5 mile wild life drive at the refuge, you can pretty much pull over wherever you want to look around. Flocks of these pelicans were located in two locations on sand bars like this.  Sanibel Island is a beautiful place! I drove all the way up and down it and parked at a few of the beaches.

Here are some other photos I took on my trip.

  I really love using this 70-300mm L lens-I think it is the sharpest one I have ever used. Even though it is a bit heavier than the non 'L' lens I own of the same length and is fatter I find it easier to hold still hand held. Most of the these photos were shot at f5.6 and look at the beautiful blur or 'bokah' behind this flower!

  I thought this photo looked best in Black and White-the sun was bright on the water but the reflection of the bird and lines on the water just looked really nice.

  As it grew later in the afternoon the light turned golden and beautiful. I love the way it makes these shore birds on the beach practically glow!

  Just before sunset I headed to Lighthouse Beach which features the Light House seen on the first photo on this post.  Here I found some of the 'regular' pelicans I regularly see in St. Petersburg.  This lens does a fantastic job of capturing them in flight!

  This little pump was a part of the fishing pier there. I loved the way it looked with the setting sun shining upon it!

  After spending the day at Sanibel I drove about an hour north to stay the night in a hotel in a town called

Punta Gorda. The next day I drove to Myakka River State Park near Sarasota before driving home. Sanibel is a wonderful place and I would love to spend a weekend there soon. The Thomas Edison/Henry Ford estates are in nearby Fort Myers and there are a lot of intriguing shops and restaurants I did not have the chance to check out. Tomorrow I will share some photos I took at Myakka river.

  

  

Disney's Animal Kingdom Part 1

  Yesterday I drove to Disney's Animal Kingdom Park in Orlando.  I love it there yet I do not think I have visited since I moved here 2 years ago.  This park puts any zoo I have been to to shame being Disney. I do not feel that photos can really express what they accomplished in building this park.  Even though there are always a lot of people there, it really has a peaceful feel to it. There is always a bench tucked away in the shade that feels private where you can simply sit and soak in nature. I only had a few hours on this day as it was cold in the morning believe it or not and is now getting dark so early. Time does go so quickly when you are having fun and it is so easy to just stop and watch the animals, or the people for that matter without realizing how long you have done so.  I have been to Disney many times, the first trip when I was in kindergarten I believe. It is still hard to believe that I now live 60 instead of 900 miles away. I have never been there at Christmas though and am especially looking forward to going back the week of Christmas to see the Magic Kingdom as well as the decorations at some of the resorts
   As you can see one is currently greeted by a large Christmas tree when arriving at the Animal Kingdom. It is covered with ornaments of Animals and stars. All of the shops are covered with wreaths and garland as well making a beautiful place even more so.

  Most of my photos however look as though they could have been taken anywhere. I am of course not looking for the kinds of images taken thousands of times daily. I came out with a odd variety of photos as a result.  I love looking at sleeping flamingos like this.  Peaceful and beautiful.

  This flower was actually laying sideways and I turned it right side up.  I really like the crinkly edges of this

one. So delicate and so beautiful.

  I took quite a few images of these parrots, this one is my favorite as they almost look they were posing for me. Ha they were not I just got lucky at capturing the right moment. They were pretty much constantly moving.

  This is something that just kind of 'happened'. I was sitting on a bench and spotted this interesting looking-seed pod?-not sure what to call it as it isn't really a pod but anyway for some reason it really captured my attention.  I looked around for a place to photograph it and there on the stone/brick boarder of some plants I found the answer. Just looks right.

  I really wonder what these creatures think of all us humans watching them. This guy doesn't look to happy.

I really liked all the different triangle shapes here.

  I loved watching this animal, who's name I have forgotten!  They are so delicate and really look like they should be living in a fairy world surrounded by elks and unicorns. Cute!

  I have more photos to share from my trip to the Animal Kingdom, got a few really fun images of gorillas especially. I will close this entry with an obligatory shot of the parks centerpiece. To be honest it is my least favorite thing there because the leaves are SO fake looking! It is enormous and many animals are carved into the trunk. That part I like. It just doesn't go with the rest of the park to me which is filled with so much natural beauty. The animals are presented in a way that is not 'zoo' like at all.  The Animal Kingdom is a fantastic place to escape from the real world for a day. More to come.

Stephanie

Bok Tower Gardens Revisted

 Today I returned to Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida-about 1.5 hours from Tampa. I went for the first time last April. It is a truly beautiful and magical place. 50+ acres of gardens and nature paths, the signature tower which looks down upon orange orchards and beautiful 1930s mansion you can tour. The house was closed this visit as they are decorating it for Christmas. I have not toured it yet but may return to see the results. If I lived closer I would become a 'member' and go there to simply absorb the beauty and energy of this wonderful place. There is also a gift shop and a nice little cafe on the property.

  As pretty as the Tower appears here there is much more to it than there first appear. There are animals carved into it that you do not notice unless you look closer. Also the 'support' piece for the sundial is shaped like a snake. The tower contains a library and bells which ring out throughout the day.  Behind the tower is a small lake featuring these amazing lily pads.

  I'm afraid this photo does not adequately depict how amazing these looked. Green with hot pink sides. From far away I was not ever sure if they were natural!  The lighting was not ideal for me to capture them the way I wanted to.

  Here in black and white you can see the detail on the sides of them. Really amazing. There are also 2 swans that live here but I didnt get a great shot of them this time. They are a lot of fun to watch.

  I really love this shot of a piece of iron work next to the tower. Its one of those photos I can just look at for a long time. It is always a goal with my photography to capture images that hold the viewers attention for more than just a glance.  The rest of this post features a variety of Sunflower photos I took while there. 

  One of the best pieces advice I can give to those interested in photography is take lots and lots of photos and have patience. There is often so much more there then meets the eye. Be willing to take the time when approaching flowers like this to try different angles and compositions. Many of these were taken on my tripod.  Often the slightest change in angle or height makes a big difference.

  This is one of my favorites and I took it with my 100mm Macro lens of the back of the flower. I would not have thought to do this a few years ago. I love the green part that most people never look at.

  This particular flower captured my attention because it seems to be slightly heart shaped. I love that it has not fully opened yet. Again it is a photo I could explore with my eyes for quite some time.

How amazing does the inside of this flower look? The detail stuns me. I am equally as in awe of the texture of the petals.  I love flowers!

  I was hesitant to do a black and white/sephia but I really like this one. The detail in the petals is especially striking here.  Simple is good.

  Finally this is my 'sun' shot. It reminds me of the sun with rays shooting out from it.  So beautiful!  I have some more photos from my day at the gardens I will feature in my next post.  I took some really cool photos of some cool little frogs that were hanging out near a magical pond near the mansion.  I will be adding a few of these sunflower photos to my new shop on Etsy.com where you can purchase some of my very best nature/art photos!  My shop is here http://www.etsy.com/shop/Stephaniellen.  I list most items as either 11x14" prints or 16x20" ready to hang 'stand outs' but other sizes are of course available as well. This is a great site make up of home made craft and art items by other small business people all over the world! There is also a similar site called foodzie.com, similar concept but with food items.

   I highly encourage a visit to Bok Tower Gardens, an extremely beautiful and peaceful place!