Shutterstock Photographer Forum :: View topic

mikenorton · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:47 pm

copidosoma,
ROFL!!!!!!!! I never thought about that. It could be that's where it started.

Dave,
Sorry for the cheap shot! But you know someone was going to say it.

digigandalf · Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 5404 Location: Twinsburg, OH

mikenorton · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:51 pm

rudyumans · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 5:13 pm

I think I posted this image in the past, but here it is again. This time with some explanations

This picture is in itself nothing special. Just an early morning in the Florida Everglades. As a matter of fact, it was rejected the first time. I had to resubmit it with a note to the reviewer that is was NOT about the sign. It is not another "sign picture".

The Everglades is for the most part a river ("Slough"), a "river of grass" as Marjorie Stoneman called it. It is not a swamp, but really the overflow of Lake Okeechobee of the St John and the Kissimmee rivers that dump their waters in the Lake. This section of the river used be 10 times bigger until the big sugar companies and the Army Corps of Engineers showed up. :(

Anyway, the river has little tree islands that are called "Hammocks". There are 3 basic kinds of Hammocks. Tropical Hardwood, Bayheads, and Rock Reefs. Rock Reefs are elevated ridges of limestone (Coral rock as we call it). These hammocks or tree islands have different vegetation and different residents than their surroundings. Small elevations make big differences in the plant and wildlife in the Everglades. The highest elevation you will find is 8 feet.

The "pass" in this picture cuts through a rock reef hammock and is the highest pass in the Everglades.

So, even though it is just an ordinary picture, the subject is very significant.

Did I mention, I love the Everglades

cpaulfell · Joined: 07 Dec 2011 Posts: 2409

In Africa there is a very allusive group of animals called Africa’s Secret 7. People can go there whole lives without seeing some of these animals and never mind seeing them in the actual wild. They are the serval, aardvark, pangolin, genet, African wildcat, civet and porcupine.

I was doing a project in Madagascar and every couple of months I would head off for some R&R in South Africa. Of course there is only one place for me and that is the bush. During one of my trips we were following a mother leopard and her young son. Suddenly the attitude of the young leopard changed becoming very alert. I could see what at first looked to be a hare jumping about 50m away from us. Before you could blink the young leopard took off in a dust cloud. Unbelievable speed when witnessed firsthand in the wild like that.

Anyhow the leopard caught what we first thought was a hare but only once we caught up and got close again we saw that it was an African Wildcat. I had never before seen and African wildcat in wild (and I lived in Africa for 32 years) and on my first sighting I watched a leopard hunt from start to finish. The hunt was of course very exciting indeed…I just wish it was not an African Wildcat that was killed. They are so very rare in the wild.

cpaulfell · Joined: 07 Dec 2011 Posts: 2409

rudyumans · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 6:45 pm

Don't you agree Paul that we take better pictures of our subjects if we have some level of understanding of what we are looking at? ( or at least, in out mind we do LOL)

Love your adventure. Little bit envious here :) I am hoping to photograph the American Crocodile in the wild one day

cpaulfell · Joined: 07 Dec 2011 Posts: 2409

Very true Rudy and best of luck with the croc :)

semmickphoto · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:21 pm

Bump

semmickphoto · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:30 am

cpaulfell · Joined: 07 Dec 2011 Posts: 2409

This one is for all the anglers out there and I know there are a few.

Please clean up after yourself and don't just throw those bits of fishing line off-cut on the ground or in the water. It takes about 600 years for fishing line degrade.

These photos were taken in June on a fishing pier near Fort Lauderdale in Florida. The bird is a common sandpiper. I witnessed quite a few birds of different species with similar afflictions and others with amputated limbs. The pain was clearly visible as the bird tried to walk.

rudyumans · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:14 am

A big fat AMEN to that Paul

cpaulfell · Joined: 07 Dec 2011 Posts: 2409

I think it is a matter of education Rudy. I don't think many anglers are aware or even think of the consequences.

barnabychambers · Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 264

surely only an obtuse angler would ever do such a thing

rudyumans · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:40 am

I guess that is thrue in most cases, but not in all. Ignorance and obliviousness can be solved with education, but only if there is a willingness.

Unless somebody lives in a bubble, one would think that most half way decent fishermen/women are (or should be) aware of these things. If that is not the case, we should lobby with the licensing agencies, fishing magazines, and sporting goods stores to help making people aware of this risk and how to prevent it.