A Walk along Myakkahatchee Creek
April 21, 2019
This collection of photographs begins, in a way, where the last post left off: with trees of life. The plants growing on these trees seem a little different from the ones shown in the last post—perhaps because they immediately border the water. Two photographs separate the trees of life from reflections in the creek: one I think of as essence of tiger—a small stream on its way to the creek—and an arrangement of dead leaves.
Romancing Reality 
There are some amazing shots here, Linda. I especially like the final two shots. Both the color and pattern are really nice in these shots. Also, the lead shot really grabbed my attention. Nice work!
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April 21, 2019 at 10:45 PM
Thank you, Ken. The final two are my favorites. I’m glad the lead shot grabbed your attention. This was a bit of a smorgasbord, but I want to finish up the Florida photos so I can get on with Ohio. (But not in the next post.)
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April 27, 2019 at 4:38 PM
Fine series!
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April 22, 2019 at 2:50 AM
Thanks, Harrie. That creek is so beautiful in the morning sun.
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April 27, 2019 at 4:38 PM
Yes, beautiful pictures, Linda, especially the reflections. The 8th photo down especially gets to me. A 🙂
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April 22, 2019 at 6:03 AM
Thanks, Adrian. I took many photographs of the trees reflected in the creek this way, but this is the only one that really turned out.
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April 27, 2019 at 4:39 PM
If this is the only reflection picture that really turned out, the question is, the thing to really chew on is: to your eyes (and to mine I think), what makes this shot different from the others? In your eyes, why has it succeeded? A 🙂
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April 28, 2019 at 1:20 AM
This one succeeded where the others (which I didn’t post) failed because the reflection shows clearly what is being reflected and because the tree that is being reflected is discreet rather than obscured by other trees and plants. It’s a much simpler photograph than the others, made even more simple by cropping it to a square, eliminating other foliage and reflections. You’ve just made me confess that I often take really bad photographs, Adrian. I’m saved only by recognizing at least some of them to be that bad and unpostworthy.
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April 28, 2019 at 10:20 AM
We ALL often take bad photos, Linda, no one’s immune!!! So don’t worry about it!!! But DO learn the lesson of why that shot works – that’s the key. And, also, think a bit Minimal >>> simple is often beautiful, less is often more. A 🙂
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April 28, 2019 at 10:24 AM
Hello Linda, another fine set, like Adrian i like the water-light reflections most !Kind regards, Jürgen
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April 22, 2019 at 9:45 AM
Thank you, Jürgen. I like reflections of all kinds, but maybe especially those in water.
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April 27, 2019 at 4:39 PM
splendiferous, vibrant colors
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April 22, 2019 at 3:34 PM
I think you are the first person (if you are a person), Anonymous, to call my photographs splendiferous. Thank you.
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April 27, 2019 at 4:40 PM
Oh, I do love the tiny growing things! Then the colors and swirls and shapes that follow are fabulous…
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April 22, 2019 at 11:50 PM
Thanks, Gunta. I want to go back to this place next winter. There’s so much to photograph there.
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April 27, 2019 at 4:40 PM
Don’t know about you, but I find that I see so much more of the world around me when there’s a camera at hand. 😀 I suspect you’re much the same.
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April 27, 2019 at 11:15 PM
You’re right, Gunta: I am much the same.
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May 1, 2019 at 11:09 AM
Hi Linda, A wonderful set of nature images. I love the study of the brown palm frond and the terrific shapes and patterns in the water reflections. Great color, too.
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April 23, 2019 at 4:20 PM
Thank you, Jane. Thanks, especially, for telling me that you like the “study of the brown palm frond.” The next post will have many brown palm-frond photographs. I hope you’ll come back for them and let me know what you think.
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April 27, 2019 at 4:41 PM
Linda, you do AMAZING work! What lens did you use for these shots? And what is your camera? I use a Nikon D5300.
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April 25, 2019 at 3:36 PM
Thanks, Hannah. I use a Nikon D600 with its kit lens, which zooms from 24 to 85mm.
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April 27, 2019 at 4:42 PM
Thank you!
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April 27, 2019 at 6:35 PM
I missed this! Better late than never. It’s a beautiful selection! I’m wondering what the stringy-leaved plant growing on the palms in #2 & #3 is. #1 hits every “goal” perfectly – composition, light, color….#4 has that brilliant light going for it, something I think is hard to handle, but you pulled off so well here. Maybe all the detail across the frame helps. It’s gorgeous. The colors in #5 & #6 are so very attractive, and it’s interesting to see how #5 flows into #6. I think #7 has an extra something – more narrative behind it. Composition, colors, etc. are all excellent, but the floating dead palm leaf makes one think, and wonder. It prompts the mind to move. The next one – wow, what a reflection that was! The color in all the reflection is astounding! My favorite of those is the next to last, for the beauty and strangeness, the way the reflections dissolve into the the image of what’s beneath the water. Am I reading that correctly? It’s very cool!
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May 13, 2019 at 3:58 PM
The stringy-leafed plant in #2 and #3 is a shoestring fern, Vittaria lineata. See http://www.wildsouthflorida.com/shoestring.fern.html#.XNnU1tNKhMA. That #4 took many trial exposures and more than a bit of working over in Lightroom, I have to say. Relieved that you like it. I confess that in #7 I was only reacting to my affinity for dead palm leaves and trying to get a nice composition out of this one. I think the photograph would have been better without the orange color, but I wanted to show the whole stem of the leaf. Maybe this was an opportunity to render the scene in black and white, but I didn’t think of that. Did you read my reply to Adrian concerning #8? The next to the last photo was my very favorite of this batch, too. Here’s what is going on in that photo. The water is moving left to right, over a drop-off about three-quarters of the way across the frame. The water is deepest where the blue is. That’s the reflection of the sky. All the rest is quite a bit shallower. Does it look like that?
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May 14, 2019 at 9:57 AM
We seem to have similar sensibilities; I can imagine myself taking many of these abstract pictures.
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May 15, 2019 at 7:36 PM
And I can imagine myself taking many of your photographs, too, so, yes, similar sensibilities.
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May 21, 2019 at 1:20 PM