Always have a camera

This is something I am learning... I carry a Canon Power shot with me whenever I am on two wheels. A small camera but takes great photos and even has a decent zoom. I really love the art of Photography and recently purchased a Nikon D60 digital SLR camera. Sam & I now both have digital SLRs and we have taken to doing photo safaris whenever possible. Our skills are minimal but we are trying... we just keep taking pictures. The only way to learn is by doing - fortunately, with digital cameras it is fairly easy to tell if a photo might turn out ok.

Couple weeks ago we visited Sam's sister in her place in Alachua, this is a 4 1/2 hour drive but we took the scenic route and took our time. We stopped at several parks to practice using our cameras. The results were mixed -- we took lots of pictures but only a few were worthwhile. Eventually, we will get better and take more useful shots and fewer out-of-focus ones.


We discovered a number of parks we had not heard of... we will return and explore each park more completely.
One park in particular was truly amazing. We entered one of the Big Bend Wildlife management area and headed to the Hickory Mound Impoundment. We drove down this dirt road that seemed to go forever. We began to wonder if the drive off the highway was going to be worth it. Then we turned a bend and discover the impoundment, wow! A huge marsh area that is a birder's paradise! In a short amount of time we saw numerous birds. Totally Awesome! We are looking forward to coming back throughout the year, this area is part of a migration path for many species especially in the winter cycle.