Juniper Springs Canoe Run
Saturday July 19th, 2008.

A couple of weekends ago I took a spectacular canoe trip through the Ocala National Forest with my friends Jason and Erika. The trip originates from Juniper Springs, and then meanders approximately seven miles through pristine Florida wilderness dominated by both hardwood and sub-tropical forest.



Above, the brief walk from the Juniper Springs to the canoe launch.



There are the two other members of newly formed "Team JET (I'll explain later)," Jason and Erika, standing at the canoe launch. I think those life vests stayed on for about ten minutes...before they became seat cushions for the remainder of the trip.



Like a ride at an amusement park, there's a retiree present to get everybody in their boats. From the very start you can see how beautiful and shallow the water is. Remarkably, there was no part along the entire journey where our canoe bottomed out on the sand.




Jay really wanted to walk ahead of the boat in the ankle deep water here. I realized only minutes after setting off, that there were going to be plenty of low obstacles and high chance of being rolled, so this is where my Canon 5D camera and 16-35mm lens got put into a kayak dry bag, only to be taken out two other times, where we stopped to take a break. Had I rolled with that setup, I could have lost about $3500 worth of camera and my entire wedding photography business. I'll do this trip again, but not with a camera.




There are stretches of this run, where if you didn't know any better, you'd swear you were deep into a Central American wilderness. This was during one of those stretches, where we had stopped to have a snack and to stretch our legs.





These three photos were taken much later in the run, about an hour or so from the take out point. Toward the end, the tunnel like canopy of trees and thick entanglements of mangroves and brush opens up into large, shallow, grassy savannahs such as this one, where we stopped to take a swim break.




These last two photos are looking downstream into the savannah and towards the take out point.

The Juniper Springs run is a relatively unknown gem in a state that's a treasure chest of natural wilderness. While the few photos on this blog entry will make this canoe run seem like a larger version of some water park's lazy river, it's far from it. Much of the paddle is quick and arduous to put mildly, with very low trees and mangroves that must be ducked and avoided. A lot of paddlers can't avoid the low hazards and are consequently dumped...repeatedly. The mangroves that you often get wedged into are full of wasps (Erika got stung bad) and snakes. We even came within touching distance of a small rattle snake perched on a low branch, without even seeing it until we were by it. And then there are the gators. We came around one small bend to find a large one lying on the bank in the mud. While not nearly as much of a threat as they are perceived to be, it's still unsettling to know that you risk being frequently dumped into their waters. This trip in my mind offers the best Florida wilderness adventure that one can find. There are only a few others on the river and the scenery and wildlife just can't be topped. By the way, Team Jet is the acronym that Erika came up with for the three of us, since we have been on so many similar adventures together. The next big one is going to be a dousy. Hong Kong, Macau, and Thailand from December 25th to January 7th. While in Macau, Jay and I hope to do the world's highest bungy jump (Macau Bungy) from the Macau Tower, and in Thailand we hope to do some deep water soloing off of Railay Beach (Deep Water Solo). It's shaping up to be the mother of all JET adventures. Stay tuned for the blog on that one.

Shannon and Sean's Wedding
Saturday May 17th, 2008.

May was an incredibly busy month for me with two weddings to photograph in two weeks! The first of those weddings took place on Saturday May 17th, in Gainesville at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. With the photos from that event nearing completion, the following is a brief pictorial rundown of the event through some of the better photos.



I began the day by meeting up with Shannon and her bridesmaids at the Hilton Homewood Suites, where they were getting ready. Hanging dress shots are standard in an album, and although I took a variety of good shots of just the dress hanging by itself, I liked this one the best, feeling that it best captures the frantic activity associated with a bride's preparation, while still allowing the dress to become the main subject.



While my preference is for almost all of the prep shots to be in black and white, not everything is better that way. This shot works in black and white, but it was a friend of mine that really liked the purple hair curlers and thought that the color added to the photo.



Here are the girls taking a final toast just before Shannon put on her dress.



Another shot of the dress that I really like, this time laid out on the hotel bed.




Just as dress shots are standard album fodder, so to are shots of the shoes, in fact it's usually my shoe shots for some reason that people respond to most. For Shannon's shoes, I placed them on the room's glass coffee table, lit by only the window light for one shot, and then placed on the couch for something a little more colorful. Again, the black and white shot of this second photo works really well also, and it's a bitch to determine which one works better, color or black and white?



Those are Shannon's Mom's hands lacing up the back of her dress in the above photo.



I love this photo, as it's just one of those moments during the preparation of the wedding where in a single photo I've captured a quality true to virtually any wedding, the non-stop and often chaotic nature of the day. As Shannon's mother laces up her dress, she's on the phone sending text messages, still trying to get everything completely in order with time quickly running out.



Another toss up for black and white or color, but I chose color here because I want the eye to be drawn to the bridesmaids who are the particular focus here, as they admire and photograph Shannon in her dress. Their colored dresses in this case draw the eye to them in a way that they would not had the photo been displayed in black and white.



One more very similar to the last two, but it's the admiring maid of honor in the background that makes this photo stand out I think.



Shannon's hands clasped in front of her as her dress is tied in the back.



Finally all laced up, Shannon has a moment to admire the dress and laugh with her bridesmaids.




Another album staple, putting on the shoes.



That's Shannon as she removes one of the necklaces that she gave to all her bridesmaids from it's case.



The groomsmen were also getting ready at the Hilton Homewood Suites, and while my friend and fellow photographer Todd Osborne photographed their preparation, I met them downstairs for the first in a series of their "Goodfellas," formals. Photographing them from across the Hotel pool was Todd's idea and I think I like it better than the way my similar idea came out, which you'll see below.



I wanted something a little bit closer, but the only way to do it was to put them around the corner of the pool, and while I like the shot, I think that the first variation from across the pool is a little more stylish. Props to Todd for having the eye to see that one.




That's Sean coming out of the Summer House at the Kanapaha Gardens, seeing Shannon in her dress for the very first time and then giving her a kiss. If you work with a couple who does not mind taking a few minutes to see each other prior to the ceremony, then you can get some great heartfelt emotional shots of the two of them appreciating each other at this time.






Right after Shannon and Sean were given a few minutes to see each other it was formals time. We took them through the expansive gardens along with the rest of the wedding party and shot a number of formals in various locations. All of the above shots are only a handful of them.





My favorite formals of the day ended up being these couple of the guys in yet another "Goodfellas," shot below some towering palms in the garden.



Though it's turned out to be one of my favorite images of the day, the above shot was completely unintentional. I was shooting a series of wide shots of the groom and groomsmen walking over to the wedding ceremony and this was the result. If it looks familiar that's because it's an unintentional recreation of the famous Beatles Abbey Road album cover. I wasn't looking for it at the time and had Sean's stride in front been any different, or if the men had been staggered out in a different manner, then this just would not have worked. It's amazing the shots that you can stumble into at times.



That's Shannon walking to the staging area just prior to the ceremony, accompanied by her father and bridesmaids. With the sun offering near perfect rim lighting, I couldn't have asked for better shooting conditions, especially for the next shot.



That's Shannon just about to walk to the ceremonial wedding oak, accompanied by her father. I meant to get this shot, but the flare from the sun was unintentional, as I couldn't see it in the viewfinder at the time. I'm glad I hadn't though, as it has added tremendously to the shot in hindsight.



The wedding ceremony took place outside beneath a large oak tree next to Kanapaha Lake. The was just one of the pretty decorations attached to the chairs that flanked either side of the makeshift aisle.



There was three piece string band present to provide musical ambiance, and this was a nice shot of the violinist.



A wide angle shot of the ceremony taking place beneath the expansive wedding oak.



That's Shannon and Sean in the midst of the ceremony with the groomsmen looking on. I loved the blowing veil as well as the sun highlights on the groomsmen's faces.



Another shot of just the groomsmen watching the ceremony.



Shannon and Sean exiting the ceremony.



Immediately after the ceremony, one of Shannon's bridesmaids adjusts her veil before taking a few last formals with the immediate family members.




Of the post ceremony family formals that we took, the above two were my favorite. The first is of Sean (front and center) with his groomsmen and the second one is with Sean and Shannon's bridesmaids.



After the family formals were finished, everyone hiked back to the Summer House to attend the reception, but Shannon and Sean stayed behind for a few minutes in order to take a breather from the chaos. After a few minutes they too headed over to the reception, and this was when I took this shot of them crossing one of the garden's lawns.



A night shot of the Summer House where the reception was taking place. This photo is made from a single RAW exposure, but processed in two different manners, and then combined using a layer mask. The initial shot was exposed for the building and it's lights, and then that file was processed again with the bushed and sky detail pulled out. Using a layer mask, I then brought out only the bush and sky from the second RAW process. There is noise in the bush and sky by doing it this way, but it's perfectly acceptable I think.



Here's a nice cake shot that would make a nice thank you card from the couple if they chose to do so.



This shot is from Shannon and Sean's first dance together.





All of these three shots are of the best man's toast to the bride and groom.



Two images from the father daughter dance.



The rest of the evening was filled with guests dancing and having a great time. I normally don't utilize very many special effects with my photos as I think that "overcooked" and over photoshopped images are all too common in wedding photography, but occasionally I'll find an image where such an effect is suitable. For this image I used a layer mask to create a false zoom blur effect, further isolating the image's focus which had been the distant dancing girl. This way the distorted and out of focus people become less of a distraction while still retaining the original photo's sense of motion, very appropriate for a reception dance.



There was at least one great dancer at the party, and here he is with the maid of honor.



Another candid dance photo that I really liked. I must give this older man some props, as he tore up the dance floor with virtually every woman there.



No wedding is complete without the bouquet toss, and here's Shannon just after she tossed it, with outstretched arms competing for the catch.



Shannon and Sean sharing a kiss in one of the final dances of the evening. I have a perfectly clear version of this image, but this another one that I liked better with the faux zoom blur effect that I used on the previous dancing image.