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Timberon, New Mexico mountain forest rural land real estate drone video

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Timberon, New Mexico mountain forest rural land real estate drone video

Drone Over and Through the Woods

Never been to Timberon? Never heard of Timberon, New Mexico? It is a very small, hidden community down a long, twisting mountain road south of Cloudcroft. If you long for trees and living in a forest, this is the place for you! I was there for a second time recently on a rural land real estate shoot on assignment for Hemingway Land flying my DJI Mavic Pro drone over rural land real estate in challenging conditions. Note how much the trees are blowing in the drone video. Plus, the property was entirely tree covered, and sloping uphill away from me where I was flying from. It does not get much harder than that for flying a drone. How to make the video interesting when it is nothing but trees?? Lots of gimbal movement!

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Joshua Tree National Park Color and Black & White

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Joshua Tree National Park Color and Black & White

Named for trees, spectacular for rocks

For me, the phrase joshua tree has always been associated with the famous U2 album from 1987 and its iconic cover art. There is actually no joshua tree in the photo. I finally got a chance to visit Joshua Tree National Park and soon realized that the eponymous trees are not the stars of the park by a long shot. The real attraction are the rock formations. Some tower, some are piles, they are all sitting there challenging you to climb them. This photo story presents a set of black and white photos of a lone climber on a rock face and a series of color photos one of which is made up of silhouettes of me, Jessica, Kiki and Artie!

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Green in the Desert State of New Mexico

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Green in the Desert State of New Mexico

Green is in the desert state

For those who have explored Colfax County, Rio Arriba County, or San Juan County, they know New Mexico is not just a dusty, desert state, but one, especially in its northern areas, that is very green.  I went to a new area of the state recently, to a town called Angel Fire, that is famous for being a ski resort.  This being the height of summer, there was no snow or white, but lots and lots of green.  I thought I was in Switzerland or perhaps on the set of The Sound of Music with all the rolling hillsides covered in tall green grasses and the larger mountains looming in the distance.

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Photography Tip - look closer

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Sometimes finding an amazing subject is very easy and obvious, like when you are around Mt. Fuji for example.  However, many interesting subjects go totally unseen if one does not make an effort to look closer.  Passing by this tree in South Straub Park I peeked inside a hole on the trunk (as I am apt to do on all trees) to find a small branch (or plant?) growing inside it.  This was a nice surprise.  By looking closer I found a very unexpected subject to photograph.  From the normal photo view of the tree above you can see how easy it would be to just walk right on by without ever seeing it.  This was actually the second time I found such a small plant growing inside a hole in a tree, so I knew from past experience to always peek inside trees for potential hidden wonders.

The final shot I made of this look closer hidden subject going back with a proper macro lens.I actually had to go back a second time to photograph the hidden leaves properly because the first time I only had a wide angle lens with me.  I went back with a proper macro lens and made the above shot.

On your next photo walk be sure and look closer to find surprising photography subjects.  Let me know what you find in the comments below.

Silver Lake Recreation Area Brooksville Florida

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Kiki and I in front of Silver Lake in Brooksville Florida after a 90 minute trek through scenic green woods - self-portraitVenturing far inland, Kiki and I went to Silver Lake Recreation Area in Brooksville, Florida seeking new trails and a deeper forest experience.  There were positives and negatives about this area of the Withlacoochee State Forest, but enough of the former so that I can recommend trekking there along the Low Water and High Water trails.

Silver Lake Brooksville Florida panorama - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/60th 3-shot panoramaUpon arriving at the area and paying the $2 entrance fee, the road funnels you right to Silver Lake.  There were almost no people around.  Dogs are allowed in all the day use areas, leashed of course, and even far out on the trail I kept Kiki leashed as well as sometimes an actual road would appear right in the middle of the forest with cars flying by.  

Amazing cypress tree grown into a natural arch in Withlacoochee State Forest on the Low Water Trail near Silver Lake - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/60thThe best find during our 90-minute 3.55 mile trek was this cypress tree.  It was enormous and its based formed a natural arch.  We stopped at the foot of this towering tree for water and a snack.

The view from the other side of the cypress tree looks other worldly - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/80thThe view from the back of the cypress tree offers an otherwordly look into the forest itself.  I did not dare pass through the arch for fear of coming out into another dimension.  Kiki showed no desire to pass through it either.

Cypress knees floating on greens in Withlacoochee State Forest Brooksville Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/60thSoft green grass grew throughout the forest floor providing an ethereal feel.  The beginning of the High Water trail is too close to I-75 with far too much noise pollution to help one lose thoughts of the human created world, however, once out on the Low Water trail, one could feel the age of the Withlacoochee Forest. 

Kiki is a very good outdoors-dog at home on the trails and in the forests - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/60thFinding out about these trails and how to get to them took some doing.  There is no good website to point you too (this one was a starting point at least), just basically search for Silver Lake Road in Brooksville Florida and Google Maps points you almost exactly at the park entrance.  From I-75 take exit #301, then make for Silver Lake Road.  

Double Headed Date Palm Tree of St. Petersburg Florida

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Hiding in plain sight is this double headed date palm tree in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 3-exposure HDR handheldI must have walked right past this double headed date palm tree dozens of times, but not until I was out teaching a DSLR Photography Lesson last month did I notice this most unusual tree hiding in plain sight.  Believe it or not, this is not the first time I have seen a double headed palm tree before.  Two years ago I found a cabbage palm in Cape Coral with two heads (see here).  Perhaps they are actually not that rare of an occurrence in nature?

This double headed date palm is near the corner of 1st Ave N and 1st Street N in downtown St. Petersburg.  Go and check it out for yourself!


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St. Petersburg Florida Lens Flare Park Sunset

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Lens flare sunset over North Straub Park - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/320th processing in Color Efex Pro & Topaz AdjustMy favorite time of day is the transition from day to night.  In my mind I imagine all the day time creatures shutting it down and getting ready to yield dominion to all the night time creatures.  During the transition period things overlap as the sun approaches and passes the horizon.  This great physical change always produces a large mental change.  I have always wondered why just the lack of being able to see at distance, which really is all the sun setting causes, results in the world feeling entirely different?  In addition to the lack of light it must be that other creatures hold sway over the night, and this causes peculiar feelings among day creatures that overlap too far into the night.

I made this lens flare dominated photograph of the setting sun burning its way visually through a tree in downtown St. Petersburg's North Straub Park as it shows just the start of that transition time.  Some shadows are starting to increase in size and the signal is out for day time creatures to start to head home.  There is just a peak of the human world in the shot, which no longer abides by the timing of the sun.