Sunday, September 2, 2012

Fern Forest Nature Center, Coconut Creek, FL

One of my stops while in Florida this past summer was at Fern Forest Nature Center located in Coconut Creek.  The Nature Center starts with a boardwalk that winds and weaves its way through the the green foliage.  There are several different trails you can take.  We stayed on the one that had the boardwalk.

© Corrie M Avila

Now I know that ferns are green, and I know that the name of the center was "Fern Forest," however I was really hoping for some more color.  It is possible that visiting earlier in the Spring may have resulted in some more blooms.  There also was not a whole lot of wildlife around,  but we did locate many spiders and several butterflies along our walk.  The spider below had such a large and intricate web for such a small spider.  I've found when shooting spiders and spiderwebs, to use manual focus.  It is the easiest way to get the web in focus.  When using autofocus, the camera has a difficult time "seeing" what you are trying to photograph.

© Corrie M Avila

The kids had an adventure filled time.  They went on "nature hikes" exploring and directing which way we should go next.  The center also had a very family and kid friendly welcome center with puzzles, games, bathrooms and even a nice sized snake (safely behind glass).

© Corrie M Avila

This was one of the few flowers I did find in bloom.  I added a texture to this photo in photoshop.  For those of you that don't know, you can get free actions and textures from Rita at The Coffeeshop Blog.

© Corrie M Avila

The lighting was magnificent while I was there.  Even though it was the middle of the day, there was such dense foliage that the light filtered through in the most beautiful way.  All the bokeh you see in these photos is completely natural.  The natural backlighting combined with a large aperture (small depth of field) produces the circles of light you see in the background.  This is an airplant, very common in South Florida.

© Corrie M Avila

As we were getting ready to leave, this Orange Ruddy Daggerwing Butterfly landed very close to me.  I set up my camera in hopes it would open it's wings.  After shooting a few photographs I took the gamble of changing my lens.  I wanted to use my macro lens to get closer detail (60mm) that my telephoto lens was not capable of (28-135mm).  I knew that by moving though, the butterfly would probably fly away.

© Corrie M Avila

So I bent down to change lenses and the butterfly in fact fluttered off.  He didn't go far though and ended up sunbathing in the most perfect light.  

© Corrie M Avila

© Corrie M Avila

Had I not hung around, had I not been patient, I would have never gotten these two shots.  I love the first one because of the bokeh in the background and the view from under the wing.  And the second one, well I just love the way the wing is illuminated from the sun.  This is something that no amount of editing can recreate.  

In photography, having patience is just as important as having the right camera equipment.  Be patient, be still, and see what is going on around you.  When you slow down and look around, you will see all of nature's beauty.

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Happy Shooting!

Corrie

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