St Johns River Festival of the Arts - 1st Place Photography. Richard Auger.

On May 5 and 6, the 2012 St Johns River Festival of the Arts was launched for its inaugural show, and I was honored to be a part of its beginnings this weekend.  You would think the festival had been around for 30+ years.  The layout was spacious and classy, the advertising was everywhere, and the artists were nicely treated to food and drinks.  The bricked roads were a nice change from dirt or hot asphalt from other past shows. Live music was on throughout the weekend, and great food vendors were present.  The festival directors and volunteers were everywhere and easy found.  Way to go St Johns Festival of the Arts!

Late in the afternoon, they came around to announce the awards, and I was delighted to receive 1st in Photography, with a cash prize of $800.  They had a guy with a scroll and 1800′s outfit announcing the awards in front of your booth – a nice touch.

For the first time, several patrons came looking for me because they saw my work featured on TV.  Very cool.  I couldn’t find the TV segment online, but here was one of the advertisements I found from the St Johns website:

The show was located in the historic downtown of Sanford, Florida, which is a short walk from Lake Monroe (part of a large chain of lakes fed by the St Johns River, hence the name).  Like many of the people of Seminole County, many patrons were avid kayakers, fisherman, and nature lovers, and really appreciated the my new Florida 67 Series, a film documentary of ‘Wild florida’.

One more show for the season, and then I’ll be shooting all summer long and getting ready for my Fall 2012 exhibitions.  What a nice ending to the Winter/Spring season, I can’t wait to come back next year!

Melbourne Art Festival 2012 2nd Place Other Media. Richard Auger.

The Melbourne Arts Festival, located in the historic downtown district of Melbourne, Florida, had an enthusiastic crowd and great weather.  After a nice winter and spring, you could feel that summer was coming.  After getting rained on the past several weekends, I was happy to trade in for clear skies.

I was delighted to win 2nd Place in my entered category, ‘Other Media’, with a cash prize of $850, judged by Brenda Gregory, Charon Leubbers, and Bonnie Seeman.  Unusual for an art festival, there was no dedicated photography category; in its place was the Digital category.  Because I shoot almost exclusively film now, I drew the line and entered under other media, as did two other traditional film photographers.

In October 2011, I was awarded ’2nd in Show’ at the Melbourne Mainstreet Art Festival.  I displayed the early works from my Florida 67 Series, and saw and even stronger response from my latest works.

I donated a framed version of ‘Winter Springs Fog‘ to the art charity auction.  The money raised will go to scholarships for high school students that pursue an art degree in college.  So far, they have raised nearly $88,000.

After a short trip home to Orlando, I’m now preparing for the St Johns River Festival and Mayfair by the Lake.

Melbourne Art Festival 2012. Richard Auger.

Award of Merit - Mainsail Art Festival 2012

This past weekend, April 21-22, 2012, I exhibited at the Mainsail Art Festival located in St. Petersburg, Florida, at Venoy Park.  The location was absolutely beautiful, with an unobstructed eastward view of Tampa Bay.  This was my first year here, and I wasn’t expecting perhaps the nicest venue I’ve ever seen.  I was honored to win an Award of Merit, competing against all categories.

Florida Nature: Spreading the Word

I have never encountered so many nature lovers and kayak enthusiasts at an art show.  Throughout the weekend, I debated which river is most scenic or more challenging with patrons, and they shared many stories of fun in the Florida sun, from airboat rides, to hikes, to week long paddling trips.

About 3 weeks ago, I began making tags that explains the location of each photograph, and wrote in the locations on the photographs themselves to help spread awareness about Florida’s different ecosystems.  Many people actually thanked me for taking the time to write in the locations, and gave them an ice breaker to talk about Florida’s endangered habitat.  The questions changed from what technique was used to the location itself.

Bad Weather: No Problem

Thunderstorms poured down and threatened us for most of the weekend.  What blew me away was how the art collectors immediately re-emerged after the rain, heavy wind, and thunder stopped; what an enthusiastic art crowd!  At about 3PM on Saturday, the rain and wind slammed the show and we closed down early.  Sunday had amazing weather, with light sun showers and a clear sky in the afternoon.

All in all, this was one of my most fun and best shows of all time.  I’ll be back next year for sure!

Mainsail Art Festival Crowd

Mainsail Art Festival 2012 Crowd

View on the Beach! Mainsail Art Festival 2012

Richard Auger's Sign at the Mainsail Art Festival 2012My booth space at Mainsail 2012 Art Festival. Getting Ready to Set Up!

This time, though, I was here to walk the trails and see the rest of the park.

Arriving at Lake George

Walking through the riverine swamp and pine flatwoods was a short, splendid journey.  After entering the area along Lake George, I realized at how low the water level had become.  Low water levels, however, make it easy to walk into the lake itself, and capture interesting subjects.  So I kicked off my shoes and carefully walked through the squishy lake bottom.

I photographed this lonely palm tree while walking along the lake shore.  Most of my work focuses on texture on detail, whereas this image involves form and simplicity.  Some photographs are meant to be printed, and this is one of them.  The soft whites have long subtle tones that can only be seen in an enlargement.  Sometimes during a scouting trip, I manage to create an image for exhibition, which always feels great.  If the light is good, the light is good.  The bright, hazy sky created an interesting use of negative space.

Lake George, Ocala National Forest. TMAX 100, TMAX Dev. Mamiya 7ii, 47mm f/4.5. Photo By Richard Auger.

Cypress Knees. Lake George Trail, Ocala National Forest. Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f/4.5, TMAX 100. Photo by Richard Auger.

Lake George Fence. Ocala National Forest. Photo by Richard Auger

Hiking Back

My hike back was pleasant, with cool spring air and a gentle backlighting breaking between the trees.  While my focus has been on shooting water since last December (2011), my original love of landscape photography began with shooting the woodlands and swamps of South Florida.  The Florida wilderness provides unlimited compositions of lines and texture, also with a trail or field to give the viewer a sense of walking into scene.  My favorite tree is the southern live oak, which in this place were surrounded by palm ferns.

Later in April and May, I’ll be returning back to shoot the springs at sunset with slide film, as well as kayaking lake george to get more black and white photographs.  For now, enjoy the remaining photos below.

Lake George Trail, Ocala National Forest. Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f/4.5, TMAX 100. Photo by Richard Auger.

Lake George Trail, Ocala National Forest. Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f/4.5, TMAX 100. Photo by Richard Auger.

Lake George Trail, Ocala National Forest. Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f/4.5, TMAX 100. Photo by Richard Auger.

Lake George Trail, Ocala National Forest. Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f/4.5, TMAX 100. Photo by Richard Auger.

Lake George Trail, Ocala National Forest. Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f/4.5, TMAX 100. Photo by Richard Auger.

The Florida Keys were the first of my adventures.

For nearly 5 days, I drove, hiked, and kayaked the state parks in one of Florida’s most well known tourist destinations – the type of places I usually avoid.  I love shooting beaches without footprints or signs of humans, where I can use an ultra-wideangle and get no manmade objects in the background.  The keys has become so overbuilt, however, that not getting at least a sliver of a bridge in the back from even a remote island is getting harder, so I compromised during this trip and focused more on foreground and mid-ground compositions.

The Photographs: The Florida Keys

I returned several times to Bahia Honda State Park and a small unnamed island at dawn and sunset to get some interesting tones and lighting.  I took these back in January (its now April), and I’ve gotten an overwelming response at the last six art festivals.  They look much better printed, especially large:

Bahia Honda State Park had wonderful beach to walk and kayak along, and was perhaps the most authentic, natural feeling areas in The Keys.  In fact, it has some of the only naturally growing beach palm trees I had seen during the whole trip.  I took this photo with a few second exposure to show movement in the water:

Bahia Honda State Park, Big Pine Key, Florida. Mamiya 7ii, 43mm, f/22, B+W 22 Red-Orange Filter and ND Filter. Ilford PanF+ 50. Photo By Richard Auger.

This one, at Islamorada, was added to my new ‘Silver Series‘, made up of black and white and infrared film panoramics:

Islamorada Silver Series. Mamiya 7ii, 43mm, f/22. Efke IR820, B+W 092 Filter. Photo By Richard Auger.

The Long Drive to Paradise

The last time I traveled to Key West, I lived in South Florida and the drive wasn’t so bad.  From Orlando, it took nearly 8 hours total.  The Keys reminded me of Sanibel Island in Captiva, Florida (blogpost here) –  a paved paradise with lots of fun things to do.  Nearly every square inch of Key West now has a building on top; amazingly, I managed to spot even more construction on some of the last virgin land.  I’ve traveled many miles throughout all of Florida in a short period of time this year, and I’ve noticed a growing theme – either new buildings being constructed, or an environment already bulldozed with malls and homes.

After arriving to Key West, I checked out Ernest Hemingway’s house, and worked my way backwards to reshoot spots I had scouted earlier in the day.

Florida State Parks: The Keys

Thank goodness for all the beautiful parks that the State of Florida has set aside as preserved park lands.  With my yearly park pass in hand, I stopped at nearly every single one in a day to roughly scope them out, such as John Pennekamp, Dagny Johnson Key, Long Key, Curry Hammock, Bahia Honda, and Fort Zachary Taylor State Parks.  They were all beautiful and majestic, and brought memories of my scuba diving day-trips back in middle and high school.

The sun was hot and intense during the day, without a cloud in the sky; so I spend my time scouting, kayaking, and enjoying the days until some clouds moved in.  I camped at the parks, and kayaked along the island to get the coasts.  My goal here was to focus on shooting coastlines and waterways, as part of my ongoing ‘Florida 67′ water project.

The Photographs:  The Unnamed Island

While kayaking along the bridges in the keys, I hopped from island to island and came across this gem.  I returned 4 times for different sunsets and sunrises.  I became obsessed with two majestic lone mangroves on opposite shores.   The island was surrounded by a dead coral reef and rock formations, which gave this location and array and textures and tones.  On my last sunset shoot, I finally nailed the two shots below with my Mamiya 7ii and  Ilford SFX200 infrared film, which toned down the bright, but colorful sky behind the mangroves.  Both mangroves had an interesting lean, and it took a good hour of study to find the right angle and composition.

Unnamed Island 1, Florida Keys. Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f/4.5, f/22. Ilford SFX200, DDX. B+W 092 Infrared Filter. Photo by Richard Auger.

Unnamed Island 2, Florida Keys. Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f/4.5, f/22. Ilford SFX200, DDX. B+W 092 Infrared Filter. Photo by Richard Auger.

Return to Orlando: Lessons Learned

I was tired and very tan after shooting in the Keys for about 5 days, and it was time to return and prepare for the next art festival.  It was getting very late and I was far too tired to continue driving, so I stopped in Palm Beach at a relatives house, and then stopped to photograph Blowing Rock State Preserve, and then drove home to develop 15 rolls of 120 film.

Three months later, these new photos have become some of my most popular among collectors.  For years, I had avoided shooting ‘typical Florida’, but learned that even the touristy spots are part of Florida’s vast and complex ecosystem, and I should still give them attention.

I’ll post more photos from this trip later in the year, when I’ve finished printing them.

I’ve been working on introducing panoramic film images since January 2012, and they’ve been a big hit at the art festivals this year.  Titled Florida Noir: Silver Series, the collection complements my existing Florida 67 series, with more of a focus on concept, structure, shape, and movement.

You can purchase them by clicking the photos below or visit the new Silver Series Webstore.

You can see a few below and view the flash slideshow now.

Loxahatchee Bend, Jupiter, Florida by Richard Auger

Islamorada, Florida Keys. Photo by Richard Auger. Florida Noir: Silver Series.

Big Cypress National Preserve. Ochopee, Florida. Photo by Richard Auger

Alexander Springs Walkway, Florida. Photo by Richard Auger.

Juniper Run Ferns. Ocala National Forest, Florida. Photo by Richard Auger.

While it is true that many of the pristine open areas are gone, the rivers and swamps make you think your traveling through Florida 200 years ago, or maybe a Tarzan movie 60 years ago.  The run was nothing but impressive, and a joy to paddle.

Rock Springs: Walking the River

From Wekiva River State Park, I started out at 8:30AM and paddled up the Wekiva to the fork for Rocks Springs Run, and began my 9 mile paddle upriver. Rock Springs Run, for most of the trip, had very clear, shallow water, with a soft, clean sand at the bottom. Like the Loxahatchee a few months back, I was able to walk the river with the kayak pulled behind me.

Walking a river is the true way to experience Florida. You get the interaction and the observer aspect of experiencing nature. Riding in a Kayak/Canoe does disconnect you slightly from the experience. Walking the river forces the observer to look in all directions, and watch more carefully where you’re going.  Plus, paddling upriver can take more energy than just walking it anyhow.

Running After My Sea Eagle Kayak

Funny story, while shooting this several minute exposure below, I noticed my kayak had floated away about a minute down the river while shooting the photograph below.  I left my $8,000 camera with the shutter open, and swam down the river after my Sea Eagle.  I paddled back up river, and immediately turned off the shutter when I returned.  I got the photograph below, which is about at 2.5 to 3 minute exposure:

Rock Springs Run 1. Photo by Richard Auger.

Rock Springs Run 2. Photo by Richard Auger.

Rocks Springs Run: Shooting the River

Passing canoe paddlers had the same question as always: “what are you taking a picture of, is there an alligator or something?”  I always chuckle inside, but politely explain that I am shooting “the scene.”  Many paddling enthusiasts purchase my work, but have no idea what I’m shooting if they were physically standing next to me; this always makes me smile, and reminds me how far I’ve come as an artist.

Rock Springs Run 4. Photo by Richard Auger.

I stopped many times to shoot interesting compositions of lilly pads and palm trees.  Much of the river is shaded by the trees, and really locks you inside. Since the water was conveniently shallow I stopped and set up the tripod for long exposures. This was a very peaceful shoot, with heavy overcast and a light current.

Toward the last 1/3 of the river, their wasn’t as much to shoot, but I had fun in a challenging twists and turns, with water changing from shallow to very deep, with currents constantly changing. I just enjoyed paddling this part of the river, with more open skies and dense lillie pads.

Rock Springs Run 5. Photo by Richard Auger.

Rock Springs Run 5. Photo by Richard Auger.

Rock Springs Run 6. Photo by Richard Auger.

Rock Springs Run 7. Photo by Richard Auger.

Returning Home

I turned around as it got dark fast.  Returning down the river was a breeze with the current pulling me back toward Wekiva River State Park.

I’ll be back again just for leisure and good exercise.

Me and My Sea Eagle

Below are some pictures of me and my Sea Eagle SE370.  While shooting long exposures, many paddlers stopped and asked me how I like it, how much it cost, how durable, etc.   I have nothing but great things to say!  I keep it locked up in the back of my F-150 for spontaneous overnight adventures, and its nearly indestructible.

Rock Springs Run 8. Photo by Richard Auger.

Rock Springs Run 9. Photo by Richard Auger.

Rock Springs Run Sea Eagle 1. Photo by Richard Auger.

Rock Springs Run Sea Eagle 2. Photo by Richard Auger.

Big Cypress National Preserve by Richard J Auger. August 2011. A thunderstorm looms overhead. TMAX 100, Mamiya 7ii, 43mm. B+W Orange Filter.

Scoping the Tamiami Trail

After visiting Sanibel Island in Captiva and Lover’s Key in Estero, Florida, I drove down the Tamiami trail for a day trip to visit the , as well as making a few spontaneous stops along back-country roads as I drove through the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve and the Big Cypress National Preserve.

My goal here was scope out the area for a kayak trip I’m planning in January, but I did take a few nice photographs during a passing thunderstorm.  The drive itself was beautiful and isolated.  While the best view of the parks are in the swamp walks, the mosquitos made that impossible for this trip.

At Collier Seminole State Park, I stayed for about 15 minutes and left; it was August, and Mosquito season was at its peak, and this was the worst spot of the day.  I could see a cloud of mosquitos floating around me, waiting to bite when the smell of my repellent wore off.  I ran back out of the trail and got the hell out of there.  After taking the time this year to understand all of the Florida ecosystems, I’ve learned that you must know everything about an area to shoot it properly, such as water levels and animal breading seasons.  Without proper knowledge and respect for the ecosystems, you’ll leave with few pictures and alot of bites or injury.

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

Next, I had a more pleasant visit at the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park.  The mosquitos were still aggressive, but far less brutal and in fewer numbers.  I took a stroll down the Royal Palm Hammock trail, and took some nice pictures along the boardwalk.  There were many educational signs along the way.

I’ll be back to Fakahatchee in the winter when I can take photos that do the park more justice.

Big Cypress National Preserve

For the last day of my trip, I came across one of the highlights of my trip, the Big Cypress National Preserve.  Located north of the Everglades National Forest, Big Cypress is a 727,000 acre freshwater estuary in South Florida, and plays an important role in supporting the health of the Everglades.  With waters flowing to the ocean, Big Cypress plays an important role in supporting tropic marine life, as well as a huge diversity of plants, trees, and birds.  At least 9 endangered species thrive in the preserve.

Earlier in the summer of 2011, I saw Dead Lakes State preserve, which had many glorious dead and alive cypress trees in the water.  Many theories exist for the need for the need for the little ‘cypress knees’ around the tree, which may help the tree breathe when swamps are flooded, or could proved support on the unstable swamp floor.  Next winter, I’ll hike through the swamps and photograph the cypress trees.

Several thunderstorms were moving around as I drove down the Tamiami, providing some excellent compositions, moody lighting, and dramatic skies.  I used my Mamiya 7ii and stuck a 6×12 back on my 4×5 camera.  The skies were moving fast, and shot several variations as the sky kept changing.  The storm began swirling around, and I shot the two below:

Big Cypress National Preserve Panoramic by Richard J Auger. Ilford SFX film, 6x12cm format, Schneider 47mm XL, Hoya R72.

Below, I’m waiting for the clouds to move along the roadside of the Tamiami Trail in the Big Cypress National Preserve.

Richard Auger photographing the Big Cypress National Preserve along the Tamiami Trail. August 2011.

Oh the Mosquitos!

This little sign says it all. Fakahatchee Strand Mosquito Sign. I was warned!

Fokahatchee Strand Preserve, Florida. Royal Palm Hammock walkway. The trail was beautiful, but I had to turn around as the mosquitos began their attack. Kodak TMAX 100.

Returning to Fort Myers

I returned to Fort Myers, where I was staying that weekend, and took shot off the few shots of my 120 TMAX film on the beach.  After about 4 days, I came home with alot of new photos, which have had a great reception by art collectors and nature lovers.  I can’t wait to come back in the winter for some awesome hiking and kayaking.

Fort Myers Beach at Night by Richard Auger. I finished off my roll of TMAX 100 before returning home.