Wind Back - Florida 2015
It is almost hard for me to believe that my trip to Florida (the only time I have been to the US) will have been six years ago this month. Definitely the best fieldtrip I ever want on at either school or university. What makes it all the more amusing, looking back on the photos from this trip, is that this was before I really took photography seriously and the only thing I had was my old Fuji bridge camera. They are nowhere near the quality of what I would take now, but they do serve as inspiration for when I am able to go back with my improved knowledge and equipment.
If I remember correctly, I think I was still shooting in auto at this point which, upon review, will be why a lot of shots have blown out highlights (including on shots I was amazed with at the time), but the bright Floridian sunshine was probably a saving grace, allowing me to extract as much detail as possible with such a weak camera in well lit conditions. However, the one advantage of a camera such as this is versatility – being an all-in-one option I was not constantly changing lenses to take pictures of things close and then far away and the macro capabilities were actually fairly good. If you wanted a simple and light option for holiday trips then they are ideal and it is not hard to see why expensive options like the Nikon P1000 are still produced today, though bridge cameras have rapidly lost market share to an even more convenient photographic tool – the mobile phone. The flip side of this though is that this lends itself to getting lots of mediocre shots, something I now try to avoid as I have spoken about before. But if you just want holiday snaps then look no further.
What was so remarkable about the wildlife in Florida was simply how close you could get to it. In the UK it is rare you can approach animals beyond the birds that come down to your garden feeder, but in Florida reptiles, birds and even mammals will happily sit close by without getting spooked, allowing you to get plenty of shots. Many times, I was taking photos of egrets and even hawks from ten to fifteen feet away and there was even a moment when cormorants would happily stand in the middle of a busy path where you could probably have patted them on the head. It was such a surreal experience and I honestly do not know why the animals here are so calm around people. It is not like Americans are strangers to hunting and using guns!
It is for this reason I am so keen to go back because the quality of photos I could get with my current gear, at such close quarters, makes me excited just to think about it. Unfortunately, even beyond COVID-19 I cannot see a trip to the US on the cards anytime soon, so I will have to be patient, but it will be worth the wait. I have not entirely decided what lenses I would take on such a trip but taking a 24-70mm, a 105mm macro and then a big telephoto is probably the best bet. I would then pick a lens for each day depending on what I was doing, the temptation as ever is to keep on swapping lens but then you end up back at taking lots of mediocre photos.
I hope you all enjoy the rest of the photos on this blog and if you have had any good experiences on your travels to Florida (or in anywhere else in the US) then please let me know in the comments down below.
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