The Sargasso Sea

Last week I had the opportunity to tag along on a filming expedition. Sisbro Studios rented one of FAU’s boats, the Elasmobranch Research Laboratory Dusky, to film fishes that congregate underneath the mats of sargassum macroalgea that float along the Eastern coast of Florida. Robert Sams was the cameraman and I just acted as extra lookout and safety diver. We snorkeled in open water, which is something I haven’t done often. We looked for patches of sargassum just east and south of the Boca Raton inlet. The first patch we came across was quite a distance from shore and the water was crystal clear. Robert spotted a school of Mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) when he first dove in. When I entered the water, there were schools of various baitfish and young Sargassum Triggerfish (Xanthichthys ringens). I also spotted a small Tripletail (Lobotes surinamensis) among the sargassum. Just before finishing up, a small Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) passed by just in front of Robert’s camera, so hopefully he got a nice shot of it. Unfortunately, sargassum was difficult to find in the open ocean in large quantities, so we had to come closer to shore to find more. There the water not as clear and there were a lot of particles suspended in the water that probably made filming more difficult. Nevertheless we persisted and I was able to spot a young Scrawled Filefish (Aluterus schoepfi). We wrapped up the day with lunch and Robert spent the afternoon filming fiddler crabs, while I went back to the office.

The film project is for an upcoming educational DVD for grade school students about water, and how inland lakes are ultimately connected to the oceans. I admire such projects and the people who create them. Education is the key to conservation.

The experience had me thinking again about why we fellow nature photographers trudge around lots of equipment in the blistering hot sun each week. I am not a professional photographer, I only do this as a hobby, because I like nature and I like photography. I don’t make any money from my photographs. In fact, I spend far more money on camera equipment then I ever get back from winning photography contests. So why do I do it? Well first and foremost is that it’s fun. I learn so much about photography and wildlife from my weekend photo adventures. It’s neat to see animal behavior that has not been seen by many, and even better to document it in photographs. Second, it’s a hobby that lets me contribute something to the community; by letting you see that there are beautiful and interesting creatures right in our own backyards. Hopefully the work will inspire some to take a closer look at the wild things around them and to want to preserve the few remaining habitats that they have. To help get this message across, I provide my images for free to educators, students, and others that will use them for educational purposes. If you’re interested in using any of my images is such a matter, please contact me.

Since I mentioned FAU’s Elasmobranch Research Laboratory, I should also mention that Shark Week on the Discovery channel starts this week. One of the graduate students from the FAU shark lab will be featured in the documentary Perfect Predators on August 1, 2007.

Why Canon?

Another of the questions I am often asked is why I chose Canon equipment over that of other brands. I’ve given that question more thought recently and the answer, I’ve concluded, is advertising. When I was much younger, my first experience with an SLR camera was with my dad’s Asahi Pentax Spotmatic. It was pretty much completely manual, but its ability to use interchangeable lenses for specific purposes always fascinated me. Growing up, and getting to see different parts of the world, my interest in animals and nature grew. We had a subscription to National Geographic Magazine and a whole slew of back issues that we kept in our library. I would constantly go through all the issues looking for stories about wildlife, and dream of being able to travel the world to get similar stories and images. Not every issue was about wildlife, but you could always count on an advertisement from Canon to feature a new species. The advertisements were titled “Wildlife as Canon sees it”. Each magazine had a different advertisement that highlighted one Canon’s long white telephoto lenses that was used to capture a spectacular image of a rare species.

When I started working part-time and made enough money to afford an SLR camera of my own, I knew that Canon was the brand that I wanted. A trip down to the local Service Merchandise also revealed that Canon made one of the most affordable SLRs, the EOS Rebel. Like many would be photographers I had delusions of grandeur when I got my first SLR. I quickly found out that it was not easy to get those spectacular shots; at least not with the EF 28-80mm lens that the camera came with. So I invested in a telephoto zoom lens the EF 75-300mm lens and a Speedlite 200E. They made things a little better, but not by much, as my reach was still limited. Despite the limitations, I enjoyed using the EOS Rebel and decided that it would take wonderful pictures during a trip to Costa Rica. I was excited because I was finally on a trip to an exotic locale with a camera in tow. The camera performed well enough, although my shooting skills were less than spectacular at the time. A week or so later, the EOS Rebel started acting funny and the EF 28-80mm lens wouldn’t work at all. This was my first lesson that travel photography requires good equipment. It seems that moisture had made its way into the camera and lens from the high humidity of the Costa Rican rainforest. The camera could be repaired, but the lens could not. A week and a few hundred dollars later I walked out of the camera store with a new EOS 28-80mm lens and a repaired EOS Rebel. I put the camera away and didn’t touch it again for quite some time.

The digital camera revolution took place and once again I was intrigued by the new digital SLR technology. So what brand do I purchase? Well, Canon of course. Justifying that I can still use my almost new 28-80mm lens and 70-300mm zoom, I would once again become a great wildlife photographer.

So, why Canon? For the advertising. In addition to the ads in National Geographic magazine, Canon also sponsored one of my favorite shows on PBS, Nature. So Canon, to me, was synonymous with great wildlife photography. Speaking of which, one of the shows I’ve been enjoying lately on PBS (WLRN) are repeats of Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe. It’s also sponsored by Canon.

Partly Cloudy...

Partly cloudy, highs near 90° F with scattered thunderstorms. That about sums up the weather in July. When you adjust for humidity it can easily feel like 98° F out there, and that's enough to keep most photographers indoors. It's only in the very early morning or the late evening that the temperatures are bearable for outdoor activities, and that's true for the wild animals as well.



So today, my friend Chuck and I went scouting for some new locations to shoot. One of the places we stopped at was Secret Woods Nature Center, in Broward County. It's a well hidden park that looks promising for macro photography. There are lots of land and fiddler crabs, as well as a variety of insects. I didn't take any pictures as I left my camera in the car, because it was just a scouting trip. I did leave with a rather nasty spider bite that happened when my left arm brushed against the boardwalk railing and I felt this painful burning feeling on my arm. I'm not sure what kind of spider it was as I never saw it, and I'm actually just guessing that it is a spider bite from researching the symptoms on the Internet. I like taking pictures of insects and spiders, but I hate being bitten by them.

The July gallery is now open. Like the June gallery, it's going to be a mixture of the standard birds as well as some insect macro photography.

On our way back home we stopped by the southern entrance to Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. From there you could clearly see the afternoon thunderstorms gathering over the Everglades.

Some of you have been asking about out little girl Arwen. Since I took down the old web site AmyandJay.net, I guess there have been no updates about her to the general public. Well, I didn't know so many readers of Beauty of the Wild were so interested in our little girl's progress. To find out all about Arwen's monthly adventures you'll need to subscribe to Multiply.com. That's where we've moved all of our family related information. There are three main multiply sites where you can find us. They are: Jay Paredes, Amy Paredes, and Jake Paredes.