All Posts

Egrets typically look very elegant, almost regal. But I recently learned they have their days. On a windy day when focusing on the baitfish at their feet, they let it all go. Feathers tossed in every direction to reveal that they're just like everybody else. These Barnegat Inlet photos show this particular bird in his "island time" state of mind.

I set out yesterday in my little skiff with a camera in search of interesting birds in flight. I wanted to test some different settings to freeze action in midair. Ironically, the most interesting shot was a guy who was clamming on a remote island near Barnegat Inlet, who walked past a beached buoy in the background. These aids to navigation are crucial to safe passage for boats coming and going between Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. This particular channel marker is cl

At first I thought I was just grabbing a snapshot of a couple of sea gulls...

We beached our skiff on Conklin Island in Barnegat Bay this past weekend. We were on a mission to find sea glass. The colorful treasures are usually prevalent on Conklin's shores. Instead, we were greeted by scores of horseshoe crabs. It was obvious that it's horseshoe mating season. Sea turtles were also scurrying into the water from the beach grasses. It's egg laying time. The funniest thing among the circle of life that was happening around us was buoys that found a home,

Whenever I have a few spare minutes, I take a camera and long lens to different areas of the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Barnegat, NJ. Forsythe is a protected nature sanctuary that spans 48,000 acres of New Jersey's coastal habitats. A true treasure. And, it never fails that I can see any number of egrets, ibis, herons, and more. I've even seen storks, which is a rare sighting in NJ. Today was no exception. Here are just a couple of the nearly 200 shots I captured sp

My wife and I, along with a couple of friends, recently went to Atlantic City for the Soar and Shore Air Show. Perfect weather. We spent several hours on the beach watching the progression of planes, from vintage aircraft to modern fighter jets, as they performed their seemingly impossible aerobatics. Really stunning. At the begining of the show, two Coast Guard helicopters with divers demontrated air-sea rescues. After the demonstration, two Coasties emerged from the surf in

I think I've been looking at birds far too long. Going through recent snashots taken in Florida I found this funny pair. I guess they're looking in opposite directions so they can discover anyone or any animal approaching them from any angle... like a guy with a camera. But it does look like a two-headed bird.

It's been said that putting a purple martin house in your backyard is like installing a neighborhood. They gather and perform aerobatics to snatch up flying insects for meals. Fun to watch! And they can be very noisy. This flock was seen at Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach, Florida over the winter. A crazy flurry of activity in the neighborhood.

Catching early morning light or taking pictures on clear, blue sky days can greatly increase your chance of capturing a beautiful photo or two. What about the rest of the time? Which lately seems to be most of the time. I challenge myself on the bleakest of days to find the beauty. It's always there, there's just different light. I captured these photos at the mouth of Forked River on Barnegat Bay. As you can see, it was wall to wall clouds. Dark, rainy, just a bit dreary. So

I frequently grab a camera and a couple of lenses to head out for a long scenic walk. Whether I'm in New Jersey or South Florida, I'm lucky to be near fantastic wildlife refuges. Both Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach and the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge up and down the NJ coast are treasures. A casual walk on any day will be a show of all kinds of bird activity, fish schooling, and at Wakodahatchee, alligators creeping. Certainly getting your steps is impo

There are approximately 60 drawbridges in Florida's stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway, the inland passage that boaters will navigate to travel US coastal waters. To do so means timing your arrival for the opening of the bridges if your vessel is too tall to clear the span. Each bridge has a tender who manages the bridge openings for traveling vessels. And each bridge has its unique version of the operator's booth. I usually take a picture when I'm near one of them, they ea

One day while going through cabinets in my office I stumbled upon a box of older manual Nikon lenses that I had not seen in a while. They were flea market finds from years ago. Including 24, 50 and 135mm lenses from the late 1960s to the early 70s. It doesn't take much to distract me. I quickly bolted the 24mm lens to a camera and wandered around the house taking pictures to remind myself of how beautiful these lenses can render an image. The shot above is a sea shell arrange

You can look in the same direction of the sky at the same time every evening, and it's amazing how different the sunset's moods can appear. From a dark brilliant striped sky, like the snapshot above, to the soothing wispy, cotton candy watercolor below. It's always a treat, but especially on the water!

I recently went to the Boynton Inlet in Florida. It was a prime morning for grabbing images of pelicans. They were all over the place, diving into the inlet snatching baitfish and hanging on the wall waiting for the next school to swim by on the incoming tide. For pelicans, they were moving pretty fast, which made it challenging to take pictures of them. But I got a few good ones.

Strolling around Double Creek in Barnegat, NJ yielded some pretty nice finds recently. The sandpiper above, lost in her thoughts, and the turtle below drying off after an early morning swim. Further along the trail was a red wing blackbird, giving me grief about intruding on his turf. And, common to this part of New Jersey, a blossoming water lily. Seeing these flowers never gets old.

I often take my camera for a walk around Cloverdale Farm County Park in Barnegat, NJ. It's one of those places where you never know what you will find, like this bird perched on an anemometer looking for the right wind. Or, the goslings below, oblivious to whom might be watching, satisfying their appetite.

Walking recently to take in the view at the Forsythe boardwalk in Barnegat, NJ, I was amused by the infiltration of grasses through the walkway. Nature surrounds you, and even rises up to meet you. It was a beautiful clear morning without much activity in the wetlands of Double Creek, except for a couple of seagulls bathing and sunning themselves.