Pre-Coronapocalypse Travel Photography [Savannah, St. Augustine, Everglades, Key West] Preview Set #1

So, before this whole virus thing got out of control, I realized February-March would likely be my last opportunity to travel.

Perhaps not only my last opportunity to travel, but my last opportunity to pursue photography, last chance to have adventures and meet people. Last call for doing stuff before we all gotta stay inside for a while.

It’s quite clear now that my concerns were correct.

That was the last chance I'll have, for a while.

How long? Who knows.

I camped in remote areas in the Everglades, visited family and friends, and bummed around sleeping on beaches in the keys or in the backseat of my car when I wasn't taken in by the locals or by other travelers.

No, I didn't get the virus. I called it quits before there was much chance of that. Perhaps these stay at home orders will succeed in stopping the spread and I never will get it. More importantly; hopefully we can stop the spread and those who are at high risk will never get it.

So now I have have 1tb+ of photo and video footage. Something like 50,000 shutter clicks. That's a lot. A dozen SD cards filled with footage from the drones, ground cameras, and the gopro for the underwater shots.

Frankly I don't know where to begin in organizing, editing, publishing. This is always the tedious part-- sitting here at the computer, spending 20x as long as it took to shoot the footage on editing, organizing, sorting and publishing.

I've flipped through all of my footage, with great excitement for my captures...

But I also feel a sense of loss. I cut my travels short as coronavirus concerns began to escalate. I made great use of my time on the road, but I feel a sort of regret for not accomplishing even more. For not getting better captures, for not making the most of spontaneous connections, for not being more adventurous.

It's natural I suppose, I look at the footage of these amazing places and wish I never had to leave. I see what's lacking in the footage I’ve brought back and kick myself for not doing better while I was still there and had the chance.

But someday this pandemic will be behind us. When it is, I'll be sure to get back out there for more grand adventures.

For now, I have a lot of that less-exciting deskwork to do in editing and putting all of this footage to work. At least I planned for this. I shot while I could, and piled up deskwork to be addressed during lockdown.

Now we’re here, lockdown is upon us, I have a ridiculous amount of footage to dig into and I have to start somewhere.

So here's a few randomly diverse snaps from my folders, teasers to get me thinking and give a taste of what's to come.

Keep Off The Dunes

One of my favorite beaches to photograph. I've been coming here for 8 years now. This trip I met folks who live on the road where I always park and hike in to the beach.

Moody Traveler's Sunrise

Conditions for shooting the structure on this beach weren't all that great this trip. A perfect storm of low tides, calm seas, and partial overcast would be ideal. But I had little time and had to keep moving, so I took what I could get. Maybe in the hundreds of images I got at this beach this trip there is something special, after all I haven't even started editing.

Bridging The Oceans

We're skipping ahead a bit-- this aerial was around one of the middle keys. Showing the old bridge and the new, over clear and shallow turquoise waters. If you haven't been to the Florida Keys or studied them on a map... it may not be obvious... they're quite a long way away from Miami or anywhere in Florida. They're really way out in the middle of the ocean. A long series of bridges takes you from the bottom of Florida's Everglades out into the caribbean.

Florida Softshell Turtle

Speaking of the Everglades, here's one of it's residents, a florida softshell turtle.

Goofy lookin', ain't he?

Pelican Water-Landing

Old Bahia Honda Bridge

I love the color of the water out here. Bahia Honda Key has some of the best snorkeling sites, in my opinion. Clear, shallow water for miles. The trick is to get out there when there's hardly any wind/waves, then the water is crystal clear with lots of strange fishes swimming about. Yeah I stepped too far back out of focus. Don't care. Just look at the color of that water! I need to go back.

Murky Ribs

Yep, its just a local plant. Great textures are all around, waiting to be captured.

Key West House On Acid

So the locals took me in the first night in Key West. We partied and I happened to have a pair of trippy glasses that had interesting interactions with the lights and decorations in the house.

Can cameras trip acid too? Wishful thinking. We'll never have a camera that captures dreams or the psychedelic realm. Not in this lifetime, anyway.

But at least cameras can wear these cheap "trippy" glasses.

Flowers Macro

Just a simple flower shot. Thrilled to have this lens, opens up a lot of new intriguing possibilities.

My Empire Of Dirt

It's a closeup of one side of someone's sand creation. I think some kids made it.

Empire Of Dirt 2

There ya go, there's a more zoomed out perspective.

Not A Local Species

I have a ton of shots from "Butterfly World" near Okeechobee Florida. Got in there the last day they were open, thanks to the coronapocalypse. Queen Alexandra's Birdwing-- not a local species.

Pilot Envy

Yeah I fly drones, but not this one. Just stopped to admire this DJI Inspire and chat with the pilot. That camera alone is probably worth more than anything I've flone.

Monument From Above

Flying one of my drones in the park. Visuals are a collaboration between lighting, environment, and the camera operator. I enjoyed the flare and the angled end-of-day lighting across this statue.

Lovebirds In Quarantine

These birds are doing it right. If you're gonna get quarantined try to do it with someone you love. They're in an enclosure, but they seem to have everything they need right there.