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.

Facebook Logo'.

Please like my new facebook fanpage, ‘Richard Auger Photography‘

The new fanpage will focus on my efforts Florida nature conservationism, my travels and blogposts, as well as my adventures at art festivals.  As I’ve had great success in my fine-art photography and conservation efforts in 2011, I will be splitting off and scaling back my portrait and wedding photography business during 2012.  This new fanpage will give a clear voice as I move into next year, sectioning off the noise from my corporation, Auger Studios, Inc.

In September 2011, facebook took alot of controls and tools away from the fanpage admins, along with email messaging, so I’m pretty much starting the page over again, earning each new fan, one by one.  Please help out by facebooking your friends, and sharing my fanpage on your own facebook page.

Thanks, and happy Thanksgiving!

Artworks Eau Gallie, located in the historic district in Melbourne, Florida, was my last show of 2011, and quite unique from the other festivals I exhibited at this fall.  I was enthusiastic to receive the Award of Distinction (2nd in 2D Art), with a cash prize of $1,250.

The festival was attached to the Foosaner Art Museum, formally named the Brevard Art Museum.  The museum was very nice, and my photo was on display with the other award winners on Sunday morning.

Only 14 months ago, I took a risk and became a full-time, professional fine-art photographer; and for the past two months, with my brand new series, ‘Florida 67′, I have won a large ribbon at nearly every festival that I have attended.  Last summer, I poured my heart and soul, as well as my time, energy, and money into producing an all new film series, and its been rewarding to see a positive reception by judges and patrons this fall.

Richard Auger's Booth, Artworks Eau Gallie Art Festival 2011. I just switched to white framing!

Artworks Eau Gallie 2011 Award of Distinction 2011

Artworks Eau Gallie Award of Distinction, 2011, Richard Auger. I'm a little sunburn from sitting outside all day with no sunblock!

Artworks Eau Gallie 2011 Crowd 1

Eau Gallie, Richard Auger inside the Foosaner Museum with 'Dead Lakes'. I had goosebumps seeing my work in a major gallery.

Foosaner Art Museum, Artworks Eau Gallie Festival Awards Ceremony 2011sas

An Amazing Staff of Members and Volunteers

Eau Gallie had an amazing set of staff and volunteers, who were actively walking the festival and interviewing patrons.  The award sizes had increased every year, and the staff seemed to be increasing the prestige and quality of the festival every year.  I loved the reception after friday night setup, with champagne and hotdogs, as well as an awesome live band.

Artworks Eau Gallie 2011 Music Friday Night

Artworks Eau Gallie: Education

The core goal of the Artsworks Eau Gallie was educating the public; each artist was required to display their technique and actively create art during the festival.  A film photographer like me couldn’t do much, but the director suggested that I at least create a story board for next year.  I think I’ll bring out some development tanks, reels, and negatives next year, and maybe a small second-hand enlarger and camera to display.  Most fine-art shows do not alow the artist to ‘create art’ during the festival, where as Eau Gallie was the total opposite.  My neighbor was weaving baskets, along with another painting acrylic images of palm trees.

Eau Gallie Artist at Work 1

Eau Gallie Artist at Work 2

Eau Gallie Artist at Work 3

Eau Gallie Artist at Work 4

Eau Gallie Artist at Work 5

Some Familiar Faces

Eau Gallie had only a few familiar faces, who happened to be Melbourne natives; I was refreshed to see new faces and inspiration.  Only one other photographer, Paul Stevens, got an award (he does interesting work with grids of repeating images).  At the Ocala Fine Arts Festival a month earlier, Paul Stevens and myself were the only photographers to receive an award as well.  Only about 6 photographers were at this show total, which was a nice change as well, as most shows have WAY to many photographers, mostly amateurs that hurt the view of photography as a ‘fine-art’ profession.  Eau Gallie takes the art side of art festivals seriously, and it shows.

December 2011

For the remainder of the year, I’ll be traveling Florida shooting new photographs, as well as working on my kickstarter.  Further, I’ll be focusing more on Florida conservationism during 2012, and bringing out a new series.

The weather was beautiful all weekend, and my sales were much higher than last year, with a much thicker crowd.  Lake Mary Heathrow Festival had to switch locations several years back, and patrons are figuring out the new location.

Thank you everyone for coming out again this year and checking out my booth!

2011 Lake Mary Heathrow Festival of the Arts, Richard Auger's Booth

Lake Mary Heathrow Festival of the Arts Crowd 2011

During the summer of 2011, my main focus was on the rivers and waterways of Central Florida. With nearly all of Florida covered in thunderstorms during mid August, I darted out the house for some storm chasing along the beaches of southwest Florida. While rivers require a soft, subtle morning light, black and white beach photos look best during dramatic, ominous thunderstorms. Some old school photographers wait for the perfect shot in one location for days; instead, I choose to follow the perfect light across many locations, tracking weather systems from my mobile devices.  During August 2011, traveling down southwest had perfect timing.

Sanibel and Captiva Islands

After a long tour of the secluded Florida Panhandle a few weeks earlier, much of southwest Florida was quite a contrast, especially Sanibel Island and Captiva (inbetween Tampa and Naples).  While certain portions were declared state preserves in the 1990s, most beaches were built on and not available for public access; the few public beaches had $2/hour parking, if you could find parking at all (I got used to empty parking lots on the panhandle beaches).

There's me! Richard Auger Shooting on the Indigo Trail in Sanibel, Florida

Sanibel Island had inspiring photos of its beaches from the early 1980s that drew me to visit; but that exotic, tranquil, untouched island from thirty years ago was long gone, built over by second homes for the weathly during the housing bubble ten years ago.  I’ve always prided myself on finding Florida’s last hidden treasures, but they just weren’t here anymore.  Welcome to Florida in 2011.

The trip was very educational, however.  Sanibel and the rest of  Southwest Florida were loaded with fun facts on informative signs put up by the National Park Service.  Here are a few.  Sanibel Island is one of the few east-west island in Florida, which apparently allows a huge amount and impressive sized shells to land on the beach; and I noticed them everywhere, and noticed many people with buckets picking them up in the morning.

One nice part of Sanibel was JN Darling National Wildlife Refuge, an undeveloped mangrove ecosystem that is well known by birding enthusiasts for its massive and diverse migratory bird populations.  The groves themselves are interesting, but not quite as large as those I’m used to seeing further south.  I walked the trails and photographed the mangroves, but it was too late in the day to rent a kayak; I’ll come back in the winter and photograph the main water-trail.  Mangroves have become smaller and more endangered in Southwest Florida because of building gone crazy on cheap credit in the earlier 2000′s.

Mangroves along the Indigo Trail at JN Darling Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island Florida. By Richard Auger.

I was somewhat to relieved the crowded island, and prepared to drive to Estero and Bonita the following day.

Onto Estero Island and Bonita Springs

Two gems in the area were Bonita Springs and Estero islands, just south of Fort Myers Beach. Lover’s Key in Estero was by far my favorite. I arrived during a heavy thunderstorm, and walked the entire beach with my camera sealed in a Pelican case. At 9:00AM on Estero, with a heavy rain and foggy mist, the beach was completely deserted, with views of the ocean and nearby islands obscured, along with a few driftwood trees in the water along the northwest corner of the island.

The sand was soft and white beneath an even spreading of red mangrove seeds, which look like large, brown versions pea-pods; they float from JN Darling’s mangrove forests and made their way to the surrounding islands to help spread the growing of mangroves along the coast.  The seeds made the sand appear darker and more interesting.

Many signs gave notice not to swim; not for environmental protection or safety, but liability protection for the park, as the current can be quite strong. During the rainstorm, I jumped in the water to cool off, and stared off to the islands in the distance, waiting for the clouds to clear. When the thunderstorm stalled and began to break apart, I shot a series of photos along the beach for the next hour.

Lovers Key, Estero, Florida. TMAX 100 in Tmax Dev. By Richard J. Auger.

As the sun emerged and the clouds moved on, I could finally see the the island across the way stuffed with condominiums and luxury hotels. The feel of the deserted beaches were gone, although still empty. I had a long walk back to the car, and I began to see jet ski’s and boats at full speed zipping between Sanibel and Estero Islands.  Several shell collectors with large buckets were raiding the beach on my long walk back.  It was still early enough to drive down the rest of the coast down to Collier County and through the Tamiami Trail.

Panoramic Series

As I’ve been exhibiting at many art festivals for the past two years, I’ve noticed that art collectors love super-panoramic artwork (not just photography).  I’ve begun to stick a 6x17cm adapter on my 4×5 Wista and shoot wide format images.  Here are two below:

Lovers Key State Park. The northwest tip of the island has a lightlouse, and is a favorite place for weddings. Photo by Richard Auger. Ilford SFX in DDX, 6x12 adapter on 4x5 field camera.

Driftwood on Lovers Key State Park, Florida. The beach varies as you walk around the island, going from shells and dark sand to light sand with driftwood here. Ilford SFX, DDX Developer, 6x17 adapter on 4x5 camera.

Part 2 Coming Soon!

Award of Distinction: Ocala Arts Festival 2011

For years, I’ve been inspired by the well preserved Old-Florida landscapes of the Ocala area, especially the Ocala National Forest.  I’ve been visiting the springs there for years, which feels like visiting another planet compared to the rest of the overdeveloped regions of Florida.  Ocala has both beautiful water and forest regions with rolling hills, a perfect combination of the deep south and coastal rivers.  Early in 2011, I was so inspired by a canoe trip down the Juniper Run, that I decided to begin my all new water documentary series, titled Florida 67.  This Fall, I was excited to have my schedule open to exhibit at Ocala – a place that has inspired much of my work.

On October 22-23, 2011, I exhibited at the 2011 Ocala Arts Festival, and won the $500 Award of Distinction!  Sales were amazing, and patrons came out from as far as Tampa, Florida to collect additional photographs.  Ocala residents really loved my work, and I barely had time to take a break to eat on Saturday with such an engaging, intense crowd.  The location in downtown Ocala was awesome and nicely shaded.  I’ll be back next year for sure!

Ocala Arts Festival 2011 Crowd

Juniper Run in the Ocala National Forest taken in Summer 2011. Click on photo for purchase information.

My booth was next to Melvin McGee, a proud self-taught painter who drove down from Hartland, Winsconsin (he has quite an interesting life story, from being a soldier in Iraq to becoming a full time artist).  William Kidd, a potter across the way, won best in show; I loved his piece that looked like a meteorite.

Last year, the Winter Springs show the first of my shows as a full-time artist, and was happy to hit another 2nd year milestone in 2011.  With a new body of work and significant experience touring the state festival circuit, this Fall Season has been very successful.  I took big risks starting my portfolio over this year, and the crowd’s reception has been beyond my expectations.

Next week, I’ll be at the Ocala Arts Festival.

Richard Auger at the 2011 Winter Springs Festival of the Arts

Sunset at Winter Springs Festival of the Arts