In New England, winters can be long. March in particularly is a transition month of winter into spring. The weather is variable and unpredictable. The ground is still brown, often bare with no signs of spring yet. It is a good month to head down south in search of warmer weather and photo opportunities. This winter my schedule allowed me to pack up the car and head down to the sunshine state to explore the south, Florida and Everglades National Park.
As you head down south in the spring you transition from winter into spring and then summer. As you travel south the deciduous forests of the east start to transition to the subtropical forests in South Carolina. Deciduous trees change to Bald Cypress, saw palmetto palms and oaks covered in Spanish moss.
My Florida photo trip started off just south of Saint Augustine. There are a number of parks and green belts for camping and exploring including Fort Matanzas National Monument, Fort Matanzas State Forest, Marine Land-Land and Sea Preserve, Anastasia State Park and numerous beautiful white sand beaches. With much excitement the photo journey begins.
Florida is a bird photographer's paradise. Birds of all sizes are in abundance everywhere you look making for great images. So many of the birds such as the Brown Pelicans and storks are so different from what we see in the North East.
The next stop on the journey was visiting the beautiful beaches of Palm Beach Shores on Singer Island. The sunrises were amazing allowing me to capture some stunning long exposure seascape photography, Florida style.
The final stop on the journey was Everglades National Park. A place I had always wanted to visit. Everglades National Park did not disappoint. It was an incredible place of sublime beauty. Everglades National Park is sea of grass that goes on for miles and miles. It is very reminiscent of the African Savannah with endless seas of grass interspersed with small islands of trees. The sheer numbers of birds was astonishing. Alligators were in abundance as well. The sunsets and sunrises brought out the pastel colors of the sky and helped the beauty and mystic of the Everglades really stand out. It is a place where time stands still and I hope visit this incredible park again.