Posts Tagged With: Florida

The Florida Coast – From the Treasure Coast to the Dry Tortugas

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Joshua Vogt

Starting last February, for seven months I managed a construction project in Palm Beach County, Florida. Before leaving Colorado for this assignment, I knew full well that I’m a mountain man at heart but looked at the South Florida project as an opportunity to explore a region I would normally not spend more than a few days time while on vacation. Knowing this was very much a short term assignment, I made it a point to get out with my camera often. I was especially spoiled since my apartment in Boca Raton was only a few miles from the beach! So, quite often, I’d set my sights on the beaches of south Florida for my photography.

Even though I often frequented the the beaches that were within a short drive, mainly Deerfield Beach, Boca Raton, and Delray Beach, I did take pictures of the coast as far north as St. Augustine. But, my favorite images were taken in Southern Florida. One memorable trip was when I went backpacking into the Everglades from the Flamingo area to Clubhouse Beach on Florida Bay and was nearly eaten alive by ravenous bugs in the process. Another favorite place I visited was Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park where I camped for nearly three days and took my favorite image while in Florida.

I did quickly realize beaches are popular at all times of the day! This posed a challenge for me because I usually prefer “nature” photos that do not show any human presence and purposefully don’t often include people in my images. Living on one of the most densely populated stretches of coastline in North America, removing all human presence from my images sometimes proved to be an impossibility. However, I did learn that sometimes what makes an image is by including that human connection.

Photographing the ocean also proved to be quite challenging. On the Atlantic Coast, shooting sunrise means you are looking directly into the sun, causing scenes with very high contrast that makes controlling the exposure of images very difficult (for example, you have a really pretty sky, but the ground is totally black. Also, the ocean is a very dynamic beast. The difference between high tide and low tide can completely change the look and feel of a location. Waves are ever changing; sometimes calm sometimes wild and crazy, changing from one extreme to another if what feels like a matter of minutes. I learned an expensive lesson at Blowing Rocks Preserve near Jupiter, Florida when I was hit by an unexpectedly large wave that soaked some of my camera gear and caused several hundred dollars of damage!

Living and frequently shooting the Southern Florida Coast proved to be very challenging and definitely put me outside my comfort zone as a photographer. But ultimately I learned a lot from my experiences in Florida and was able to take away some of my favorite imagery. Even though I’m not destined to live the “salt life,” I understand and appreciate why many people do…

The Splash Zone – Blowing Rocks Preserve – Jupiter, FL

Witches Brew – Boca Raton, FL

Moonrise at the Pier – Deerfield Beach, FL

Sunrise at the Pier – Deerfield Beach, FL

Mudflats to Infinity – Clubhouse Beach – Everglades National Park

Twilight Blues – Delray Beach, FL

Florida Bay Blues – Everglades National Park

Serenity Now – Boca Raton, FL

Surf’s Up – Boca Raton, FL

Gone Fishin’ – Boca Raton, FL

Starburst Sunset – Clubhouse Beach, Everglades National Park

Colorful Calm – Delray Beach, FL

Morning has Broken – Boca Raton, FL

Serpent’s Tongue – Boca Raton, FL

The Moat Wall – Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park

Categories: Hiking, National Parks, Nature | Tags: Blowing Rocks Preserve, Boca Raton, Boca Raton Florida, Delray Beach Florida, Dry Tortugas National Park, Everglades, Florida, Highland Beach, Palm Beach County Florida, South Florida | Leave a comment

Backpacking Clubhouse Beach – Everglades National Park

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Joshua Vogt

Having little experience outside of mountain backcountry travel, I knew getting into the Everglades backcountry would be putting me out of my element. However, I love all things nature and was bound and determined to see an area of the Everglades that is off the beaten path.

Not owning a kayak and not wanting to rent one, I was stuck with finding a hiking trail into the Everglades backcountry. Like many of the national parks, backcountry camping is only allowed in specific areas and in Everglades National Park, very few backcountry camp sites are accessible on foot. I settled on a overnight backpacking trip to Clubhouse Beach via the Coastal Prairie Trail.

The Coastal Prairie Trail starts at the Flamingo area of Everglades National Park and is 7.5 miles one way to Clubhouse Beach. I knew my girlfriend and I were in for a real adventure when picking up our camping permit, the park ranger exclaimed, “Oh, wow! You’re hiking to Clubhouse Beach? No one goes out there!”

Even in mid April, to say it was scorching on the hike would be an understatement. Although the trail is flat, the trail was very muddy. And, the mud was of a greasy and sticky consistency that coated the bottom of your shoes and made hiking very difficult, especially since our packs were overloaded with fresh water for cooking and drinking.

On the hike out to Clubhouse Beach, we ran into an alligator hiding in a bush right next to the trail. He saw us before we saw him and turned toward us and began hissing to let us know to steer clear…talk about intense! We also saw a few snakes and literally thousands of little land crabs that would scurry back to their burrows when we would get within a few feet of them. I can only describe the noise the swarm of little crabs made scurrying about through the brush as creepy.

Shortly after the turnoff to Clubhouse Beach, we found about 100 yards of knee deep water and swamp between us and the beach. Knowing we had just recently had a close encounter with an alligator, hiding in a bush of all places, it took some serious courage on both my girlfriend’s and my part to wade through the swamp (prime gator habitat) to reach our final goal.

All that effort was absolutely worth it; the southern terminus of the everglades, where land meets the milky colored salt water of Florida Bay, is absolutely beautiful. Even though it was the dry season, the bugs were far worse than anything I’ve experienced in the mountains. Still, I managed to hike around and explore the beach and surrounding area and was treated to a spectacular sunset and sunrise. I paid dearly for my explorations; by the time we left the everglades, I had more mosquito bites than one could feasibly count….easily over a hundred on one hand alone!

Sunset at Clubhouse Beach – Everglades National Park

Last Light on the Mudflats – Clubhouse Beach, Everglades National Park

Florida Bay is very shallow. At high tide, you could walk out hundreds of yards out into the bay and never get any deeper than your waist. When the tide went out, vast amounts of interestingly textured mud flats were exposed.

After the sun set, a calm bluish dusk set in. I like to think this photo reminds me of how calm and comfortable this place is, but in fact, I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Florida Bay Blues – Everglades National Park

I took several photos of this interesting shaped remnant of a tree but noticed dark spots in my first few test shots. The mosquito swarms were so intense, the bugs were even swarming my camera! I had to take my baseball cap and waive it around my camera to scare off the bugs and then quickly take a picture before the swarm returned to attack me and my camera.

Batis Patch – Everglades National Park

A patch of Batis, or saltwort, stands out in a large field of the same. Saltwort is a very important salt tolerant plant that grows in the boundary regions between fresh water and salt water.

Katrina’s Wrath

In the mid 2000’s Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma moved across the Everglades and caused significant damage to the coastal forests, killing many trees by stripping them to their trunks, which are left behind as a reminder to the power of these tropical storms. I thought these trees looked like ghosts.

Expansive Flat – Everglades National Park

The Everglades are absolutely vast, but remains a very threatened place. Since 1900, the amount of birds in the everglades has been reduced by 90%. In fact, I was shocked at how few birds we saw over the weekend. With this trip just being a simple in-and-out overnight trip, I was surprised how whipped I felt upon exiting the wilderness, but a sore body is a small price to pay to enjoy a piece of paradise…even if only for a brief time…

Categories: Hiking, National Parks, Nature | Tags: Batis, Clubhouse Beach, Everglades, Everglades National Park, Florida, Florida Bay, Hurricane Katrina | 2 Comments

A Day in Nerd Heaven…Kennedy Space Center

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Joshua Vogt

A month ago or so, I took a day trip to the Kennedy Space Center on the Florida coast east of Orlando. Besides photography and all things outdoors, I’m a big history buff with a special interest in the space program. When I was a very small child, I cut the back fabric off my parent’s couch because “I wanted to see what it looked like inside.” I went on to college and studied mechanical engineering, so I guess it is not terribly surprising I think NASA’s space program is one of the most significant accomplishments of man kind (and therefore really, really, cool). Seeing the launching point for the entire space program up close is truly inspiring whether you’re a big space nut or not.

Because NASA’s complex at Cape Canaveral and Cape Kennedy is so large, to see the sites, you have to take guided bus tours that take you to different areas of the complex. Being the nerd that I am, without hesitating, I signed up for the “mega tour.” The mega tour starts at the visitor center complex and takes you the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Space Shuttle launch pads, and then to an exhibit of the Apollo Saturn V rocket.

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Vehicle Assembly Building Interior

To call the interior space of the vehicle assembly building, or VAB for short, vast would still be an understatement. Nearly 530′ from the floor to the ceiling, the VAB is the fifth largest building in the world by volume.

Launch Pad 39

Launch pads 39 A & B were used as the launch site for the manned Apollo missions and were then outfitted and used for the duration of the shuttle program. Ten seconds before launch, the entire contents of the water tower in the right of the above image, were dumped onto the launch tower and platform to help protect it from the immense heat of the rocket engines.

The Flame Trench

On the launch platform, the shuttle (and moon rockets that came before) sat directly above two trenches that, to prevent damage to the launch facilities, direct the flames of the rockets away from the surrounding infrastructure. Still, during a launch, the area surrounding the platform is anything but a friendly environment. Even with the flame trenches, the heat from the launch would kill anyone within 400′ of the platform. Within 800′ of the platform, the sound of the rockets firing would be so deafening, your heart would stop!

Space Shuttle Atlantis

About a minute after the space shuttle was launched the main engine (big orange tank in the middle) had to be throttled back to slow down the space craft’s acceleration. If the shuttle continued to accelerate at such a rapid pace, the thick lower atmosphere of earth would have crushed the spacecraft. Only once the space craft was much higher in the atmosphere, where the air is much thinner, could the main engine be brought back to full throttle.

Saturn V Rocket Engine Base

A Closer View – Saturn V Rocket Engines

The diameter of each nozzle on the five rocket engines on the Saturn V rocket is more than twelve feet in diameter.

Stage 1 – Saturn V Rocket

When the first stage of the Saturn V rocket was lit, the resulting noise was the loudest man made sound ever produced. Also worth noting, the VIP viewing platform for Apollo rocket launches and also during the shuttle program was three and a quarter miles away from the lunch pad. Why so far? When fully fueled, if the rocket (or space shuttle) were to malfunction and blow up on the ground, the minimum safe distance from the launch platform was three miles! In fact, there was as much explosive energy in the fully fueled space rockets as an atomic bomb!

Lunar Module Interior

With walls so thin, a man could easily punch through them, the lunar module carried two astronauts and landed them on the moon. The lunar module was notoriously unstable and extremely challenging to fly.

Apollo Command Module

When viewing the Saturn V rocket as a whole, it is incredible how small the main space vehicle is compared to the rest of the rocket. The command module was the only part of the space craft designed to return safely back to earth (although it was not reusable). The command module was built to carry three men to and from the moon and did so with the the computing power less than a modern day simple scientific calculator.

My day at NASA was incredible; I was literally like a kid in a candy store and could have easily spent several days exploring the complex at Kennedy Space Center. As our space program continues to evolve, with the Special Launch System (SLS) in development, along with the rovers we’ve sent to mars, and satellites and probes we’ve sent into space, the story that is the United States space program is far from complete. I’m sure I will be back to visit again…

Categories: Architecture, Uncategorized | Tags: Apollo, Florida, Kennedy Space Center, NASA, Space Shuttle | 2 Comments

Dry Tortugas National Park

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Joshua Vogt

In January, I was asked to manage a 6 month project in south Florida. Living in the Rocky Mountains and being an avid skier, moving to a sub tropical climate in the middle of the winter was honestly a hard decision to make. In the end, I decided a short term move to Florida would make a great adventure. Before moving down to Boca Raton, Florida, I researched outdoor activities and attractions in the area and it became immediately clear that a visit to Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park was on the top of my “to do” list.

I always thought the end of the Florida Keys was at Key West; well, the roads end there, but seventy miles further west sit the Dry Tortugas, the true end of the Florida Keys. On Garden Key, sits the massive Fort Jefferson; the third largest coastal defense fort in the United States and, with over 16 million bricks, the largest masonry built structure in the Americas. Although accessing the fort is very easy thanks to the Yankee Freedom ferry, access at my favorite times to photograph, sunrise and sunset, is a bit more challenging. With the Yankee Freedom arriving at the island each day at mid morning, and then leaving mid afternoon, an overnight stay was in order. As luck would have it, very limited primitive camping is provided on the island and I booked a two night stay in the first week of June.

The Moat Wall – Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park

Upon arriving on the island, I began running around scouting locations to come back to and photograph when the light was better. I was immediately drawn to this small section along the moat wall where the original brick pavers were still covering the top of the wall (most of the top has been “restored” by pouring concrete in place of replacing the brick pavers). I noticed this stretch of moat wall pointed due west, and knew the sun would set at the end of the wall, making for a powerful image.

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The Parade Ground – Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park

The parade ground of the fort is 18 acres. At the height of the fort’s use, nearly two thousand soldiers and their families lived on this parade ground. During and after the Civil War, Fort Jefferson was used as a prison, even housing the conspirators of the Lincoln assassination.

Endless Arches – Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park

Over 16 million bricks were used to build hundreds of arches throughout the fort. All of these arches make for countless photographic opportunities,

Hidden Alcove – Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park

Coaling Dock Ruins – Dry Tortugas National Park

Everything man made on Garden Key is in one state of decay or another.

Brick Beach – Dry Tortugas National Park

Historic Decay – Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park

Although the fort takes up the majority of Garden Key, there are two beaches that offer spectacular snorkeling.

South Beach Twilight – Garden Key, Dry Tortugas National Park

I must say, after spending two nights on this very small and remote island, I was ready to get on the ferry, take a shower, and head home. However, I already would love to go back. Even if you only have time to do a day trip to Dry Tortugas National Park, go and see it! You will not be disappointed!

Categories: Architecture, National Parks, Nature | Tags: Dry Tortugas, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, Florida Keys, Fort Jefferson, Key West, Yankee Freedom | 1 Comment

Taking the Plunge

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Joshua Vogt

I believe it to be much overdue, but the time has come to join the blogging community. I must say, I can’t help but feel excited to begin sharing my travels and adventures through my photography. However, must admit, learning a new piece of technology gets me nervous. I dare say more nervous than I was this March when I stumbled upon and had a stand off with a very large alligator in Big Cypress National Preserve!

Staring Contest – Big Cypress National Preserve, FL

Categories: Nature, Wildlife | Tags: Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades, Florida, U.S. Route 41, United States, wildlife | Leave a comment

Posts Tagged With: Florida

The Florida Coast – From the Treasure Coast to the Dry Tortugas

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Backpacking Clubhouse Beach – Everglades National Park

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A Day in Nerd Heaven…Kennedy Space Center

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Dry Tortugas National Park

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Taking the Plunge

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