I had [the Olympus Tough TG-5]…any time that I hopped into the water I took this photo while out for a relaxing vacation with my fiancée, Jill and her parents. We decided to head out into the ocean one evening to enjoy the warm Gulf water of Siesta Key. I was able to take this […]
Running on a frozen lake is a stupid idea! Running on a frozen lake is a stupid idea! For anyone reading this, I would not advise doing it, as there is simply too much risk of falling through the ice. With that being said, this was one of the most exhilarating, peaceful, and breath-taking runs […]
I…tried to smash up the freshly formed ice Eagle Creek Park has always had a special place in my heart. I grew up exploring the woods there with my brother, Nick. We would spend hours upon hours hiking through the trails. In the winter we would go to the park to go sledding and also […]
I love working for SMC, because it’s fulfilling. Although days can be long and unpredictable during manatee season, at the end of the day I feel like I’m making a difference.
Of course every job has ups and downs and involves parts that are more fun than others 🙂
I have worked for SMC since the beginning of 2014, so about 5 1/2 years.
I used to work in television in NYC before that, but I did not find that job fulfilling. After I made my own independent documentary about manatees and met many people around Florida that work with manatees, I stayed in touch with SMC. A year later, they offered me a few months of contract work to help them with their live webcams at Blue Spring, educational videos and public service announcements. After a year of contracting, I joined the staff full-time in 2015. I love that I can use my background in film/media and communication to help this cause, while at the same time getting the opportunity to participate in the research.
(I have to admit, 8 years ago I didn’t even know manatees existed)
My favorite place to see them is probably Blue Spring State Park in the winter time. Not just because I work there, but because it’s a protected warm water winter refuge, where manatees can just be manatees without the interference of people.
The research at Blue Spring is very special to me. We can trace some genealogies back to the early 1970s making this one of the best research spots for manatees in the world. We run a life-history program and have some manatee family trees that go back 7 generations by now.
I also really love our international programs. We partner with manatee facilities and researchers in West Africa, South America and Belize. I had the opportunity twice now to go to Belize and help out at Wildtracks where I got to bottle-feed an orphaned manatee calf.
In addition I love our live webcams at Blue Spring State Park which gives people from around the world the opportunity to see manatees live during the winter time, even if they can’t come to Florida to see them in person.
Last but not least, we have a Save the Manatee 5K race in Michigan every year – yes, Michigan. A local biology teacher started this 16 years ago to raise money for SMC. They also started a virtual run 4 years ago and now we have over 1,200 participants from around the world running, walking, hiking, swimming, kayaking, biking for manatees – all to support the cause.
My favorite part is doing the manatee research at Blue Spring during the winter months when I can accompany Manatee Specialist Wayne Hartley on the morning “roll calls” where we count the manatees and identify them (by the scars that they have). Blue Spring is one of the largest winter aggregation sites for manatees and a protected sanctuary during the winter months. Counting and ID’ing the manatees every year is like family coming home. You get to know them all.
Another part I love about my job is the outreach work and opportunity to make educational videos and talk to people. I strongly believe that if people learn and understand about manatees and the issues they face, they will love them and care about them.
I use my background in Communication to deliver the science to the general public to make them understand and care.
Our volunteers mainly help us with outreach and education work, for example by giving presentations, and helping at festivals and outreach events. We also have opportunities for volunteers to help in our office in Maitland. For those who live close to Blue Spring State Park, we have a Manatee Observer Program there in the summer months where volunteers prevent manatee harassment by swimmers, snorkelers, divers and paddlers.
We are currently also establishing a similar volunteer program on the Gulf coast of Florida near Tampa.
*Volunteer opportunities can be found here: https://www.savethemanatee.org/how-to-help/volunteer/
I…tried to smash up the freshly formed ice Eagle Creek Park has always had a special place in my heart. I grew up exploring the woods there with my brother, Nick. We would spend hours upon hours hiking through the trails. In the winter we would go to the park to go sledding and also […]
There were 8 or 9 goats running about on the edge of the trail I was on my way up to the summit of Mount Evans in the summer of 2014 when I came across a herd of mountain goats. The weather was absolutely perfect for a day in the mountains, and the goats were […]
Hualapai Canyon descends over 2,000′ during the 11 mile journey Nick and I were together for another adventure when I took this photo. We had spent the previous day and a half hiking through Hualapai Canyon to arrive at the famous Havasupai Falls in Arizona. The 22 mile round trip hike was well worth it […]
It’s a little different for me vs. the hundreds of other volunteers. I sent the Executive Director a letter in 2008 suggesting the hours at the Wildflower Center (WFC) were the worst for fine art nature photography (9-5). I suggested they grant me 24/7 access to the center and I would give them rights to use all the photographs I take there. They liked the idea and I’ve been going there on average 2x per week since 2008. I usually arrive before sunrise and shoot for 1-2 hours until the wind picks up or it becomes too sunny. I prefer calm, cloudy days for what I do. I shoot images at the WFC for a few hours then come home and post process them for an hour or two. The WFC uses my images for wall art, web, email, publications and banners around the center. They first used my images to hang in the courtyard restrooms so I usually tell people I got my start with restroom art.
Since 2008. It’s a beautiful place and very quiet and peaceful when I’m there. There are hundreds of volunteers that do hard labor to create a wonderful nature experience. I get to take advantage of that so it is a very symbiotic relationship. I’ve taken over 12,000 pictures at the WFC.
Hummm. There are many but if I had to choose one I would say sitting on my stool in the middle of the arboretum looking up at my favorite oak tree with the sun rising behind it. Quiet, peaceful, colorful, inspiring.
I look for anything that is interesting and I try to capture an image that I would want to look at over and over. It might be a tree or an insect or a wildflower, grass, reptile, mammal or interesting shapes or colors while walking around. I might have a general area of the WFC I plan to visit on a particular morning or I just get out of the car and start walking around. I’ve never gone home without taking some interesting images….even in December and January. In the end, I like to take pictures where you look at it and just go, “wow”.
Nikon D800 and D850. My favorite lens is the 200mm macro. I also carry a wide angle, 24-70mm and a 70-210mm. I use a Uni-loc tripod, cable release and I carry a knee pad. I also have small gentle clamps to hold wildflower stems so the wind won’t move them. I do post processing with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop and I do focus stacking using Zerene Stacker. So, for the type of photography I prefer to do I’m on a tripod 95% of the time and shooting with a cable release, kneeling on a knee pad. Pretty simple.
I enjoy looking closely at nature so I’m drawn to macro photography. I usually shoot in the range 1:1 to 1:4. So macro and close up. I like out of focus backgrounds and tack sharp subjects. That is why I like calm mornings so I can get sharp images and overcast so I get good color saturation and less super high contrast. I don’t shoot people, birds or nudes. Lately, I’m taking more wildflower focus stacks. Shooting at wider apertures and changing the focus plane taking multiple shots of the subject and then combining them in post processing. This technique produces nice soft backgrounds (bokeh) and tack sharp subjects. You control what you want in focus and what you don’t. It helps to eliminate distracting backgrounds so you can highlight the subject better.
When you take a portrait image of a person you like to put them in the best light and try to make them look a little better than they normally do ;). I do the same thing with wildflowers. I try to make them look the best they can. No insect damage, in great light with no distractions in the background. I often try to line them up so there is a similar bloom in the background WAY out of focus behind the bloom I’m focusing on. This puts a similar blurred color behind the bloom making for a more interesting but non-distracting background. You can see that style in many of the images I have taken. Sometimes I bring interesting botanical subjects home and shoot them in a white box at 5x or 10x. Then you really get to see botanical structures you can’t see with your naked eyes. It’s a whole other world when you get really close.
I would say I really don’t have one favorite but my favorite ones are those where I remember the time and place when I took the picture and the picture itself takes me back to that time. I also like the pictures I’ve taken where the view is so close you see things that you normally wouldn’t see with the naked eye or images that tell a story.
I don’t really know. I guess you would call them on the phone and ask how you could get involved. I interact in person with the staff very infrequently as I’m usually leaving when they are arriving. We wave a lot.
*Volunteer opportunities can be found here: https://www.wildflower.org/volunteer/
The beetles were taking full advantage of [the prickly pear flowers] This photo was taken at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. These beetles are feeding on a prickly pear flower. The prickly pear were in full bloom, and the beetles were taking full advantage of one of their main food sources […]
Supai is surely one of the most remote cities in the United States My brother Nick and I, along with my good friend Andrew found ourselves refreshing our computers on February 1st over and over again waiting for the permit process for Havasupai Falls to open up. An hour in, we had secured camping/hiking permits […]