Blue Cypress Lake...Round Two

Friday 10:00am - Cabin on the Lake...booked. Boat for 3 days of cruisn' the Lake...fueled up and packed up. Two cameras and a tripod...charged up and ready. Jeep...in shop for oil change, tire rotation and new lug stud. Looking forward to a 1:30pm departure to catch the evening shoot.

Friday 12:00am - pick up the jeep and hear grinding and clanking a mile down the road...back to the shop

Friday 4:30pm - plan B...pack up the car and leave the boat behind. Thanks Arrigo for breaking my Jeep

Had to leave a few things behind to fit everything in the car, but we have the most important cargo...

Well, we made it to Middleton's fish camp by 8:30pm, missed the evening shoot but we are all settled in the cabin and ready for a big day tomorrow.

Sunrise...Luckily Joe and Jeane Middleton had a pontoon boat that we were able to rent for the day. While the girls slept in, Ryan and I buzzed out to the lake.  It was a pretty uneventful blank sky sunrise so it turned out to be more of a scouting trip.

It was going to be another cold weekend. Its going to be tough to convince myself to get into the water again.

The morning sun made some nice reflections on the water

With a non-dramatic sunrise sky, I decided to use the water reflections to help compose the pictures

I love the dramatic colors that the early morning sun casts on the landscape!

With a couple good shots under my belt, Ryan and I decided to head back to the cabin and get breakfast and the rest of the crew.

For the late morning we decided to take a cruse down towards the south end of the lake to scope out some potential shots for later.

Found some more crazy cypress trees

We got to park the pontoon at dock out front of our cabin. It was a great place to hang out, catch some sun, chow down some lunch...

and a great place for a nap!

OK, nap time is over...

This afternoon will be my last chance to get some shots, I am going to have to make it count.

Here we go

I think it was wind chill in the 50's so I was not ready to get wet yet, I had to last 2 more hours.

...OK shot, but I need to step it up.

Looks like I have some great skies to work with this afternoon. These were two trees that I found a month ago on the last trip and wanted to rephotograph

The sky worked great with these shots, but I am still not happy with them.  They are missing something and I think I figured it out. I am going to have to get a multiplier filter so I can take long exposure shots here and soften the water.  A calmer day would also create some great reflections.

At least Lyla is having a blast on the pontoon!

Enjoy the boat...I'm headn' into where most other photographers are too scared to venture...

No alligators in sight...here we go

Don't worry about me Lyla...be back in a few

This cypress roots look like sculptures, carved though time

It may look sunny and warm from these images, but by this point I am numb and ready to get out of the water. Besides, we have to get the boat back by 5 o'clock. Bummer because it is going to be an awesome sunset.

Well, back on the boat and looks like Lyla is still having a blast...

I'm going to have to get her one of these!

Well, despite the hassle that Arrigo service center caused us, it turned out to be a great trip. I got some great images and we had a great time with friends.

And Lyla's best friend Ava helped Lyla practice walking.

I'm glad we decided to rent the cabin.  The 40 degree nights would have been too cold for the girls

Thanks again for the great adventure Middletons! We will be back...My mission is not yet complete here.

See you on our next adventure!

Blue Cypress Lake

Since this was my only weekend off from art shows in January I figured it was a good time to explore some new Florida landscapes. I have heard great things about Blue Cypress Lake with its ancient cypress trees lining the shoreline. It is another one of those hidden secrets in Florida..Less than 2 hours from West Palm Beach, Blue Cypress Lake makes the perfect adventure for a day trip. We planned for a two day camping trip, but with forecasts near freezing temperatures we didn't think it would be very fun for Lyla's first camping experience.

So we packed up the jeep, loaded up the boat and headed north. All bundled up for the chilly weather, one quick bottle and Lyla is ready for a two-hour nap.

And off we go

There is basically only one road leading to lake access where there is a small community of houses on a canal and a fishing camp with a boat ramp.

Through a quick tunnel and we were there...

We were greeted by Jeanne Middleton who has owned the Middleton's fish camp with her husband for 40+ years. She offered us free use of their boat ramp and free camping if we were up for it.

With only a few hours to explore we headed for the water

Lyla made sure that mommy kept her on her eating schedule.

Picnic on the boat...while I grabbed the camera

Everywhere I looked was a tree more interesting than the last

There were so many crazy cypress trees surrounding the entire perimeter of the lake. The trees are like no other I have seen anywhere else in Florida.

Each tree has its own unique growth form

Only one problem...

Without sunlight I wasn't able to capture the images that I was looking for.

According to the forecast the clouds were supposed to clear out after the morning. Well, it is 3:00pm and not too much time left in the day.

I had my trees picked out to photograph, now I just have to wait for the sunlight. It would be a bummer if it stays cloudy all day.

Captain Lyla brought us back to the dock to get out of the wind and walk around a little bit

Lyla settled for a quick catnap in the backpack

While Nicky explored for a geocache...

Lyla and I found a little treasure for keepsake

And it looks like the photography Gods were on my side. At 4:00pm the clouds began to break and I was going to get an hour of sunlight to work with!!

Dang...Lyla is hungry again! OK, boat picnic number 2!!

Lyla, enjoy your food, I'm headn' in.

I couldn't even tell you if the water was cold, I was in a photography trance

This was the first tree that caught my eye earlier in the day, so it was my first stop

It was perfect conditions for both color and black and white photography. late afternoon sunlight on the white tree trunks added some great contrast to the darker broken-cloud sky.

Moving on...Nicky and Lyla stayed on the boat and Lyla danced to the songs of the nearby Osprey. Cutest thing I ever saw!

While I jumped back in the water...

The clouds were perfect, but they were disappearing so fast, might be able to keep them around for one more shot.

We have enough sunlight for one more stop.

No clouds in the sky, but we still have some great sunlight

I think Lyla was anxious to join me in the water...

 If it was a little warmer I would have brought her in for the shoot

But she is content on the boat with mommy

One last shot

That's about it for the sunlight, plus I just realized I have been soaking wet for the last hour and the temperature has dropped to the low 50's.

Time to head back to the boat...

Snap a family photo...

And hurry up with that bottle!

I'll take one of those please...These were the only structures that I saw on the Lake. The Lake was otherwise undeveloped...and I hope it stays that way!

Back to the ramp and packed up before dark!

What a day. One of my best hours of photography ever! We can't wait to go back in February and stay an entire weekend. We only touched the surface of what Blue Cypress Lake has to offer.

Thanks to the Middleton's for letting us use your boat ramp and grounds. I highly recommend checking out Blue Cypress Lake. If you don't have a boat you can rent one at the fishing camp or take a private guided tour. Check out their webpage...http://middletonsfishcamp.blogspot.com/

Man, I have to stop doing this...one of these days I am not going to make it to a gas station in time!

Never stop exploring...