Leffis Key Dune

There is nothing higher than a palm tree in central Florida. As a result there aren’t may places you can go to get a perspective of the landscape other than a bridge or lookout tower. Leffis Key however contains a dune covered with vegetation that provides just barely enough elevation to look out onto the inter-coastal waterway. In this image the sun is rising over the fishing village of Cortez. Whenever visitors ask me where to get fresh fish I always recommend Cortez.

Leffis Key Dune
Sunrise from the Leffis Key Dune on Anna Maria Island

This is a single image HDR. That just means I didn’t use multiple exposures to balance the highlights with the darker areas. The sensor in the Sony A7R2 camera captures an very wide range of light so that images like this are possible. That wasn’t the case just a couple years ago unless we combined multiple images using HDR.

anna maria island

There was a breeze blowing so that the grasses swayed from side to side. Using traditional HDR, I would have taken three shots and combined them, however that normally causes problems with ghosting of the grass as it moves between each frame. Those problems are eliminated with a single frame and so it makes possible compositions like this. The technology in cameras is getting better every year and it makes me wonder what we’ll be able to do in another year or two. It’s is an exciting time for photography and geeks like me.

Mangrove Path

This is a path through the mangroves at a place known as Leffis Key in central Florida. It's a little nature preserve where you can watch all kinds of wildlife and about half of the trails are on these boardwalks. I came here early one morning to capture the rising sun peaking through the mangroves and just to walk along this path to take it all in. It was a warm morning and mostly the birds were about their business starting to fish for a meal. In any case, as I write this I'm about a thousand miles from here and it's below freezing outside; I can't wait to get back to the warm climate and walk again through these mangroves.

This is a path through the mangroves at a place known as Leffis Key in central Florida. It’s a little nature preserve where you can watch all kinds of wildlife and about half of the trails are on these boardwalks. I came here early one morning to capture the rising sun peaking through the mangroves and just to walk along this path to take it all in. It was a warm morning and mostly the birds were about their business starting to fish for a meal. In any case, as I write this I’m about a thousand miles from here and it’s below freezing outside; I can’t wait to get back to the warm climate and walk again through these mangroves.

Click on link to enlarge.