Sunday, January 22, 2012

Florida Part Two OR A Day at the Beach

Well, Here is my next post of pictures from Florida. This time the subject is.... the beach! It was more of a challenge than I thought to take photos of the ocean. I took lots of photos, but I am not sure... I guess that may be because the ocean is such a panoramic subject, without one thing to focus on. When we were at the ocean we saw dolphins. They were way out in the distance, but we could see them jumping and the sun reflecting off them! It was amazingly awesome! Unfortunately I was not able to get any photos. They were so fast and far away, and it was unpredictable when they would pop up. I hope you enjoy the photos I was able to take!
This was the first photo I took of the ocean. We weren't even on the boardwalk yet, I was so excited!!

It was soo blue! A photo couldn't capture it.


There were TONS of shells!!

There was also a cute little tide pool! It is hard to tell in the photo but it was almost knee deep!

The water was so clear! It is hard to tell how deep it is.

This is possibly my favorite one I took.


I LOVE the ocean :)

The picture says it all :)

There was no one else on the beach this direction for most of the day. All the silly Florida people thought it was too cold. :) There were some folks fishing though.

This is my aunt and my grandma :) looks like a postcard!

Here is my cousin fishing!





Well I hope these photos maybe made you smile! :) I love the beauty of God's creation! There will be one more post in my Florida series so stay tuned!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Florida Part One OR Manatees!

Hello everyone! My sister Daisy and I are home from our sunny vacation at our aunt's house in Florida! There were so many fun things to do and try there. Examples-
Animals I saw in their natural habitats: Manatees, armadillos, blue herons and other various birds, fish I do not know the name of, dolphins, and an alligator!!!
I got to eat alligator as well! (I have had it before and I LOVE it!)
We went back and forth between Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios theme parks with our cousin! We rode all sorts of roller coasters!!! The Harry Potter section was my favorite, they did such a good job of making it look realistic!
We went bowling. (not my best sport... don't ask..)
We played Kinect, and Farkle, and I got to draw and paint.
We enjoyed seeing Floridians all bundled up in winter gear in the "cold"' 50 degree weather.
We went to an interesting concert. It was the Beatles. Except not the Beatles. 

Going to Blue Spring was one of the major highlights! Basically it is a natural spring, and manatees go there in the winter because the water is warmer than the ocean and they cannot survive in the cold. Since the water is warm, and it is a natural habitat there were many fish and birds as well. Also an alligator!


I learned exactly how hard it is to take pictures of a subject underwater, especially in the sunny areas. I did my best. I think I need to invest in a Polarized lens filter (is that the correct name?) I am not sure even how expensive they are... oh well! hope you enjoy! 
Don't forget! If you click on the photos you can view them larger!

These birds were just begging to have their pictures taken. I loved their poses!

The birds would swim in the water to fish. then they would dry their wings like this!

it is hard to see, but all those blobs underwater are manatees!





It was a "cold" morning- probably lower 60's (this is at 8 o'clock), the water is 72 degrees from the spring, so steam would rise off the water.

It was gorgeous!



A mama and baby :)



There was a trail- I am not sure how long it was. Probably about a mile long. the whole thing was on this boardwalk raised up from the ground. The trail took you all the way up to the different viewing points and eventually to the spring itself. It was wonderful!

Had to take a picture of the picture sign :)

How beautiful is God's creation!

It is so sad to see all the scars on the manatees body's. They are caused by propellers on boats, because they swim slow and close to the surface.

They are such gentle creatures!

It was so funny to see them breathe!

Apparently the water goes a ways under the bank. This is a manatee underneath what appeared to the the edge of the land.

More breathing!


This looks so nasty!

Look at the bristles on it's nose!


How can people think that this wonderful place was created by an accident? God is a master creator!

It is hard to tell but that dark area in the water toward the bottom of the photo is the spring. It is 110 ft deep. In the summer when there is not danger of frightening the manatees away, you are allowed to dive down to the bottom!

Here are those birds again. All day they sit on the floating boundary things!

There was a cool airplane!!

I am quite sure this is a Great Blue Heron- correct me if I am wrong!

The water was soo still!


Here is the alligator!!!


I decided I had to many Florida Pictures to put in one post. The next post I will hopefully get done this next week, and then I have one more after that! Hope you enjoyed Part One! God bless!!