Chokoloskee Sunrise, Everglades

Chokoloskee Sunrise

'There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew'.... Marshall McLuhan

Everglades, Smooth, Quiet, Sunrise

Quiet Sunrise, Chokoloskee Bay, Everglades National Park

Actually this image is just after sunrise out in the Everglades..The captain brought me out in the dark and dropped me off on an oyster bed just before the sun peeked out...That was truly a defining moment for this lad from New York.. The silence was deafening....I remember him clearly saying, 'you better get out now or you will miss the sunrise'. So I did.....Took a few minutes to get my bearings, particularly after he went out into the bay about 200 years - I wondered who helps when the alligator shows up... After that first 10 minutes it was difficult to get me off the oyster bed...a truly amazing experience...

Everglades - Duck Rock

Duck Rock - Everglades

There are days when the words just do not show up at blog time...today is one of those days. I have been printing for three shows for the past three weeks and most likely need to get out of the house and change up the scenery. A change of scenery is very much necessary after long days in the lightroom....your eyes start to play tricks on you - the smallest artifact gets magnified beyond necessity. I have learned over the years is that trying to evaluate a print immediately is a huge mistake - put it off until the next day. A fresh set of eyes is a good thing....24 prints done - 16 to go...

Whoops - guess I did have something to say today....

Everglades

Moon Setting, Mangroves,  Chokoloskee Bay, Everglades

Funny story on this image. I drove down to the Everglades last year to go swamp walking with a photographer named Clyde Butcher. Went a day or so early and rented a boat with a guide to investigate a few of the 10,000 islands in Chokoloskee Bay.

First morning we get out there before sunrise and upon arrival at this location the guide tells me to get out of the boat and prepare for sunrise - 'the best images are made standing out on the oyster bed' he says. I was planning to shoot from the boat but soon realized he was right about getting out on the oyster bed. Very difficult to get a crisp sharp image on a moving boat in low light - lesson learned.

Needless to say I got over the fear and over the next few days found myself walking in swamps and waist high water in the bay - camera in hand. Never saw one alligator or Anaconda....

Everglades Revisited

Chokoloskee Sunrise, Everglades

Still working on images from the Everglades earlier this year - although it seems like it was several years and twenty thousand images back. I still can't believe I drove over 3,500 miles on that trip. Hoping to repeat this same trip again this year, specifically the part where you go out early and walk around on the oyster beds at sunrise - what a hoot.

The image above is from Blowing Rocks on the east coast of Florida...love the ocean so this location proved inviting and I spent several days shooting and captured over 1500 images. Surely has something to do with my childhood spent by the sea in Atlantic City.

Blowing Rocks, Jupiter, Florida

The one below is from Chokoloskee Bay in the Everglades. Went out early on a boat to walk the oyster beds and capture sunrise images. Very eerie feeling being out there in the water at that location at sunrise...feels like you are in some sort of timeless void and you are the only person left on earth.

On another note my Allusions of Reality show opens tomorrow night at the Renaissance Fine Art and Design Gallery in Carmel, Indiana. There is a link below to view the images from this show. All images are for sale and one can contact Kathleen Stevens at the Renaissance Fine Art and Design Gallery for more information.

Here is the image link:  http://harrysandler.com/Allusions/

All images in this show are inkjet prints using  Epson Ultra Smooth Fine Art Paper. They are printed on an Epson 9900 printer using the latest Ultra Chrome Inkset Technology.