Wildlife Photography across the Water: tampa

Saturday, 17 April 2010

Florida diaries 3

I am in St Petersburg near Tampa, In a hotel that backs onto the beach, The sky is blue and cloudless, Its low 80's and i am surrounded by bikini clad young lovelies and thats the bad part, The good thing is that there are birds-EVERWHERE, Even densely populated beaches have birds, If you see a fisherman he will have an egret or pelican sitting next to him, I have spent the last couple of morning and evening at Fort DeSoto, The mornings being good for shore birds and gulls and the evenings ospreys and diving pelicans, I did have an osprey drop into the ocean one morning right in front of me, Nearly drown itself trying to drag a fish that was too big out of the water, In the end it let go and flew over me-amazing, I have new species on file which is always nice, I said before i came that i wanted laughing gull, Skimmer and Osprey and i have some absolute crackers and thousands of images to select, Today i was talking to some brits whilst shooting some ospreys and they gave me a tip off about an Owls nest so i will be checking that out tonight, I am leaving here tomorrow and making my way to Orlando see see Mickey Mouse but have been told that Gatorland in Orlando is really on fire at the moment with great birds in the rookery so i will be dropping in there for a quick look, So far its been a trip from heaven apart from loosing my $200 Oakley shades yesterday, Here are a few images (not the best either) taken over the last couple of days
All FULL Frame except the last Osprey which is a crop of the one above it

Dave

Thursday, 15 April 2010

Florida diaries 2-Manatees

I phoned the captain of the boat i had booked in Crystal river a week or so ago and got some bad news, The weather had made the manatees leave the clear springs and they had gone into open water-water that was very murky, My heart sank, I knew i was late in the season but had hoped to still get a shot or two, I said to my wife that we would still go and do a recce and then return in the winter, First morning out and 17 manatees spotted and 3 shot, The water wasnt as bad as i had thought and one manatee loved to have his image taken and his tummy rubbed, I swam with it for over 30 mins and my manatee dream that i had had for 20 years had come true, Its an awesome experience, over 1500 pounds and as gentle as a new born, The water was clear but with a green tint to it, The second dive bought the same manatee but along with a pup, I shot both but only managed a couple of shots together and the water was very cloudy as we had other people with us and the silt had been stirred up, We ended the dive in one of the springs where the manatees spend the winter-its an incredible place-sooo clear its unreal, two suprises, firstly a manatee was sleeping in there all but in a restricted zone i still managed to get some shots and there was a gator lurking in the shadows so i can now boast that i have swum with both manatees and gators, An added bonus was a gar-a long fish rarely seen in the waters and a clear image, The captain/videograher thought i had golden do das and had luck where ever i seemed to go, I have arranged to go back for a week in the winter to get the manatees in clear water, Its been an almost life changing experience, firstly to realise a dream and to shoot underwater, The EWA Marine bag worked a treat after using 6LB of lead to help it sink, The images have not been effected by it and they are nice and sharp-well most, two dives and 700 images taken its been amazing and well worth the effort,Anybody who has seen the UKNP or Naturescape forums will have seen one of the images but here are a couple more, I have only my uncalibrated laptop here so will have to process them properly when i get home, i am now at St Petersburg near Tampa and have just my first recce at the famous Fort De Soto, An early start tomorrow will see me there for Laughing Gull,Skimmer and Osprey, More to come next blog-keep tuned

Here is the videographer shooting me shoot her

The 2 dives were videoed for me in HD so i will try to get a clip on the web when i return-its the business

Dave

Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.