SARS-COV-2 has run rough-shod over my photographic travels over the last 15 months! In January of 2020, I planned trips to Scotland and Jacksonville, Florida for photography trips. However, in March of 2020, all plans were curtailed as Covid-19 spread, and I spent most of the time in isolation at home with my wife, or the office doing tele-visits with patients. However, I received the Pfizer vaccine at the end of December and again in January. At its peak, 3 million Americans a day were getting vaccinated, and the number of hospitalizations and deaths started to decline. My inclination towards travel resumed.

In April of 2021, I contacted Will Dickey, a professional photographer who lives in Jacksonville, Florida for the first time since the pandemic hit. I had read with interest an article that he had written in Outdoor Photographer Magazine about the many great sites to shoot around Jacksonville. After chatting with him on the phone, I made hotel reservations and went up there for a three day weekend.

It’s Friday in the late afternoon, and we arrive at the Huguenot Memorial Park. This area is a large beach on Black Hammock Island in the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in which archaeologists date human habitation to 2500 BC.

Will motors his 4-wheel drive vehicle for a fair distance down the beach to where no other cars are parked. While there are few people, numerous birds are frolicking around. This park was designated a Great Florida Birding Trail by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It is an important habitat for terns, shorebirds, and bar-tailed god-wits. We see gannets, loons, and sea ducks. My favorite species here are pelicans, one of which I photographed as shown above.

The sun is getting lower in the sky, so we hit the car and head to Saw Pit Creek. This area is very near to the George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier State Park. Some fishermen are calling it a day, and are hauling in their boats near the pier. Will and I are in luck. There are beautiful clouds in the sky, as the sun starts to set. This area is a marsh. I made the mistake of not bringing rubber boots, but not to worry, Will has an extra pair. We wade into the creek, set up our tripods and start to shoot.

We get several shots from different perspectives. All in all, I’ll have to say that the locations and weather have been excellent! We pull our tripods out of the mud, pack our cameras back up in our bags, and start to trudge out of the creek. There is one problem. My right foot sinks one foot into the marsh. This is just like quicksand as far as i am concerned. I can’t extricate my foot. Will has gotten ahead of me at this point, and has to make his way back to help pull me out of the muck. My jeans have now had it for the rest of the trip!

I love nature, travel, and photography. However, I can do without mud, ruined clothes and about one hundred insect bites all over my body! I guess this is just the cost of doing business in the world of outdoor photography. I’m looking forward to another shoot tomorrow with extra insect repellant applied.