Guest Post for Exploration Thursday!

"FLAMINGO"  ~South Florida by Bob Grauer

Today we explore an image taken over in Florida! Bob Grauer, my guest blogger for today has had his work featured here before and am thrilled to pick his brain a bit about how today's post came together. His sea and skyscapes continually amaze me (not to mention he's a killer scrabble player), and in the last couple of years I have learned a lot from Bob about exposure, editing, and getting beautiful color in the camera.

Here's Bob to explain about today's image:

 "It was Halloween 2009 and to escape the constant knocks on my door I headed out to Everglades National Park(ENP). Arriving before dawn, it was a long and very rewarding day of shooting with quite a few images that eventually made it to my portfolio. By late afternoon I was thinking about where I should be to catch the setting sun. I decided on Florida Bay so I headed west on the main ENP road to Flamingo and the pristine Gulf of Mexico, (pre BP disaster). It still looks pristine now, but one has to wonder how much Corexit is in the water.

Upon arriving I found a couple of clouds close to the western horizon. There was a space between the horizon and the clouds. This is a perfect set up where the sun lights up the clouds from underneath. I still had a 1/2 hour so I carefully staked out my spot. Set the camera on the tripod and put on a ND grad filter. Nothing to do for 15-20 minutes but wait. Just as the sun emerged beneath the clouds a flock of birds landed about 15 feet in front of me. I looked through the viewfinder and found the composition was perfect and didn't have to move the camera at all. The birds knew exactly where to be to make my shot perfect. With a few more minutes until the sun met the horizon, I was hoping the birds would stay put. It was my lucky day, this kind of luck is one in a million. It still would have been a beautiful sunset photo without the birds. But with them the image became magical. I couldn't resist using it for the cover of my portfolio book."

As mentioned earlier, I am a huge fan of Bob Grauer's work. To see more of his images please check out his flickr stream here. Also, I know he would be thrilled to have you wander over to check out his book

"South Florida" - A Unique and Varied Landscape

...a beautiful photography book filled with images that transport you to the Everglades region and beyond. Thanks to Bob for sharing one of my personal favorites of your collection with us all, and letting us explore with you!

Thanks for rambling with us folks, get out there and capture a sunset or two yourselves, wherever you are!