We took a trip to Blue Springs State Park yesterday. Blue Springs State Park is along the St. Johns River near Orange City here in central Florida. I heard that the springs provide a safe warm water refuge for manatees during the winter time, so it would be a great time to go and check them out. 
This mother and her calf came really close, and we were pretty lucky to get this picture. They were only a foot away from reach, not that I was going to reach out to touch them. 
Most of the manatees kept a distance and stayed on the other side of the spring.
It was an absolutely beautiful and serene place to visit. We wanted to dip our feet in the water, but swimming wasn't permitted at the time because of the manatees.
We really enjoyed our time together and the beautiful weather. We hope to visit again sometime soon and go kayaking.
Most of the manatees kept a distance and stayed on the other side of the spring. It was an absolutely beautiful and serene place to visit. We wanted to dip our feet in the water, but swimming wasn't permitted at the time because of the manatees. We really enjoyed our time together and the beautiful weather. We hope to visit again sometime soon and go kayaking. 
I was playing with some of the photos I took during our trip to Fort Myers last week. I love black & white photos. I think it gives a picture more of a dramatic feel, or the sense of capturing the feeling in that particular moment. I remember falling in love with black & white prints when I took my first photography class years ago. I loved working in the dark rooms, and developing my own film and printing my own pictures. Anyway, here are a few pictures I converted to black& white and sepia.
Steve and Tyler gathered the sand and put it in my beach bag. We had to haul the wet sand over to a shaded area, because the sun was too bright/harsh to get good exposure for the pictures. I would end up with too many shadows if we took our pictures in direct sun light. I don't have fill in flash for all that fancy stuff I used to do.
