craigoneal's blog

Photo By Craig ONeal

"Tomorrow the sun will shine"

Even in a storm, there's beauty.

Tropical Storm Fay slamming into the Jacksonville Beach Pier. 8/22/08

Photo By: Craig ONeal

During a recent fishing trip from St. Augustine, our guide thought we should try catching black tip sharks by following several shrimp boats just off the inlet.

The guide explained that soon after the shrimp are loaded on the boat, leftover fish that where caught in the nets are shoveled back into the sea.  This created the most spectacular feeding frenzy between birds, mammals, and fish that I had ever seen. 

This photo captures a moment in time when a large porpoise leaps out of the water, while other wildlife apparently enjoyed a plentiful bounty.

Photo by Craig ONeal

This uncommon sighting of a double rainbow was captured on 8-8-08. Eights are lucky symbols according to the Chinese who planned and held the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics on this specific date.  

Photo by Craig ONeal

Wild pigs are more plentiful than many of us think, but these mostly nocturnal and destructive beasts are a rare site during the day, especially in the summer heat. That’s why I was surprised and thrilled to have my camera gear set up on a small observation deck overlooking a fresh water swamp in Guana over the weekend.

Photos by Craig ONeal

The first photo (taken at Bird Island) captures an adult Anhinga flipping a small fish up in the air after surfacing since they can’t eat while under water.

The bottom photo was taken near the east entrance of Sawgrass Country Club where the headwaters of Guana Lake starts. In summer this area is teaming with alligators hiding in the lily pads waiting for prey. 

Photos by: Craig ONeal

The rookery at Bird Island is teaming with babies this time of year. Both juvenile and infant Water Turkeys (Anhinga anhinga), also known as Snakebirds can be found impatiantly waiting for their parents to bring food to them during morning hours.

This is great time to grab your camera or children and watch the feedings in action.

Photos by: Craig ONeal

If you’ve ever strolled the trails in the Guana reserve you might have come across the eastern red cedar forest near the inter-coastal waterway at Shell Bluff.

This is one of my favorite sections in the reserve. The subtropical maritime forest opens up into a wonderland of cedar trees and explodes with its distinctive sweet smell.

Last week, the NERR weather station recorded 52mph straight-line winds that apparently snapped three of these big cedar trees like the pencils they were once made of.

Photos by: Craig ONeal

Bird Island in Ponte Vedra is an incredible place to photograph and view local wildlife. After reading a recent article in the Shorelines by Maggie Fitzroy about this little treasure located behind the PV library and fire station, I decided to grab the cameras and see what wildlife it had to offer. This freshwater habitat is almost completely surrounded by cattail reeds giving cover to egrets, herons, and other local birds, while the rookery (a little island) is the current home to baby water turkeys (Anhinga) and a family of playful otters.I would highly recommend Bird Island to anyone wanting to try their skills at nature photography. To view the entire Bird Island gallery follow this link to jacksonville.com http://photos.jacksonville.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=554028

Photo by: Craig ONeal

Creating artwork out of a photo is fun and easy when using post processing software such as Picnik or Photoshop.

This photo of a saltwater marsh was taken just off of the purple trail in the Guana Reserve.Using HDR (high dynamic resolution) software and a slight double exposure creates a much different look than the original photo.

Photo by: Craig ONeal

The Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is listed on the Florida “endanger species” list and categorized as a “threatened species” and I was lucky to find this guy grazing on broadleaf grass in the northern flatwood section of the Guana Reserve over the weekend. 

I was careful in my approach since it’s unlawful to harass endangered or threatened species, so I captured an “eye level” photo stream from about 30ft using my long lens set at 400mm. He obviously has had little or no human contact before, showing no concern over my presents.