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Courtesy of the University of North Florida

and  Jack Woodward

I know it's been quite a while since I posted any new pictures. Actually I did last week from an outing with Dot up to Simpson's Creek on Talbot Island, but I just never got around to sending out the 'alert' email. So if you want to look at those photos, they are on a page link at the bottom of this screen.

For this past weekend we went up to the St. Mary's River, our favorite place to go. The water is still very, very low and the current is really ripping in places. Overall though we walked about one fourth of the distance on the way upstream. Going downstream, with the help of the current, we were able to 'shoot over' most of the low spots that stopped us on the way upstream. 

Oh yeah, more news! I got a new camera. Mostly I got it for the upcoming October trip to north Georgia, but the real truth is exposure to water and the elements had taken it's toll on the old Canon. But since I have taken over 50,000 pictures with my old Canon I feel very strongly that I got my monies worth out of it. My last camera was a Canon Digital Rebel; my new one is the upgraded Canon Digital Rebel XT. And it has been upgraded. My old camera was 5.1 megapixels . . the XT is 8 megapixels. The fastest shutter speed on the old Rebel was 1/2000 of a second . . the XT - 1/4000 of a second. In continuous mode the XT can snap off 10 pictures about as fast as you can say snap 10 times. AND it takes black and white photos either with or without color toning. It has built in sepia, blue, purple and green tints. It also has built in color filters - yellow, orange, red, and green for added black and white effects. And I cannot tell you how many picture opportunities I lost waiting for the old Rebel to power up. The XT - a blazingly fast 0.2 seconds!

Good Job Canon !!

On with the show. I am still learning how to 'set-up' the new camera so some of the pictures could have been better. Like this first photo at our put-in up at S.R. 2 . The 'washed out' hazy effect was due to the way I had the camera computing exposure. Over the past couple days, I've learned to use center weighted exposure averaging. It's a good thing I have 6 weeks before the October trip to get this stuff all figured out to my liking.

Good old sand patterns.

It was a nice day to be on the water. As hot as it was it felt good to get out of the boat and wade through the shallow spots.

And as you can see, it was shallow.

It alternates between deep and shallow a lot.

I can't remember if this picture was before or after Dot's sit in the river. After one of our 'walks' I was busy putting the camera back in the bag and Dot attempted to get back into the boat on her own. I ALWAYS help her get back in since the boat tends to drift away as you're getting in. I told her to wait until I get the camera put away. I glanced over and she was still trying to get into the boat. Once again I told her to wait until I get the camera put away. On my next glance over at her, I watched as she had one leg up on the boat and her 'planted' foot started slipping on the soft sand bottom. She did a really neat slow motion sit down in the river. Needless to say we both had a good laugh over that one. After that when we got back into the boat after a walk, she was like, "OK, what do you want me to do?"

This was a first, inevitable I guess but still a first. These bones were scattered over 50 feet. I think they are deer bones. If someone out there knows for sure, let me know. There were no signs of trauma nor any teeth marks on the bones. I suspect the deer came bounding down the bank and stumbled and fell, breaking its neck. We found all of the major bones: vertebrae, pelvic, legs, shoulder blades and ribs. Even the jaw bones, but no skull top. Odd. We guesstimated the animal was about yearling size.

We took nice little breaks in the shady spots. That's one of the reasons why we like doing the St. Mary's  . .  lots of shade.

It will take me a while to find the 'right' settings for doing black and white. I have always liked black and white.

Ok! That ends our trip on the St. Mary's. We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the day. Dot and I both agree that kayaking has got to be some of the best exercise one can get. Especially the way we do it, i.e., getting out and walking as well as paddling. 

On Sunday, I decided to go to the Jacksonville Zoo for some more test shooting. 

Enjoy !!

P.S. 

If you want me to ADD your name/email address to my emaillist when I add new photos to this website, email me at the address below and I will gladly add your name and address. If your name is already on the list, no problem.

Email to Jack Woodward      mailto:  jackwoodward66@hotmail.com

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