St. Marks Lighthouse Long view, basking in the Moonlight, Florida’s Forgotten Coast

Here is the St Mark’s Lighthouse in the Moonlight. About 30 minutes after Sunset.

This past weekend after the busyness of Christmas was finished. I was eager to hit the road again. To continue Photographing all of Florida’s Lighthouses. I returned to a place near and dear to my Heart and my Soul…

Florida’s forgotten Coast…

We went to the St. Marks Lighthouse for some Sunset and Moonlight Photography, via the St. Marks NWR. The sunset was unremarkable. The Lighthouse shining in the moonlight was awesome. We were operating under some time constraints. I was only able to take a few shots. Here are two of my favorites, A Long view, at Top and The Tower, at Bottom.

St. Marks Lighthouse Tower basking in the Moonlight, Florida’s Forgotten Coast

Date Taken: 12-27-09 Full Moonlight 6:57PM
Model:Nikon D80
Shutter Speed:90.3 seconds F-Stop:f11 ISO:3200
Focal length:11mm Lens:Tamron 11-18 Wide Angle

Date Taken: 12-27-09 Full Moonlight 6:51PM
Model:Nikon D80
Shutter Speed:90.5 seconds F-Stop:f11 ISO:3200
Focal length:11mm Lens:Tamron 11-18 Wide Angle

Dunes – Lone Survivor – Florida’s Forgotten Coast

I have always wanted to Photograph Florida’s Dunes. Not the man made variety
but the original Dunes that covered most of Florida’s coasts since the Dawn of time. They have a hard crust and are highly resistant to the effects of Florida’s Tropical Storm season.
The Dunes in Florida’s Forgotten Coast are of the real variety.
They start South of Tallahassee, around to the west, to about Seaside, Fl.

A Winter storm front had stalled south of Tallahassee over the Dunes. My favorite
weather when doing Photography. We were late arriving and found an out of the way Park called the Bald Pont Dunes at about 10 PM. The moon was full, The skies were full of storm clouds, the winds blowing hard…

We saw this Lone Tree near the shore Holding on for dear Life, with carcasses of trees long since gone, around it.

Date Taken: 03-02-07 Full Moonlight
Model:Nikon D80 Shutter Speed:603 seconds F-Stop:f16 ISO:100
Focal length:11mm Lens:Tamron 11-18 Wide Angle

Click on Image to view full size image:

Sunset by the Dunes – Florida’s Forgotten Coast

Florida’s Dunes, Very beautiful, Picturesque, Mystical, and are just plain fun to be around. They are a Perfect and completely natural way for protecting Florida’s coasts from erosion and the tropical storm season. We need to restore and protect all of them.

While meandering along Florida’s Forgotten Coast we came across these awesome dunes at The Mexico City Beach, FL.

This weekend, a storm front had just passed before Sunset. In this panoramic photo you can see the front, to the left of the Sun. The clouds were of the billowy, stringy, Brightly colored variety. The Sea oats were waffling back and forth in the Breeze. Perfect for a relaxing sunset with mother nature. This particular night also had an eclipse of the Moon.

So we sat back in awe of the Dunes and Sunset, Then we turned around and watched the eclipse of the Moon from in front of the dunes…

Top Photo of Dunes : Date Taken: 03-02-07 Sunset
Model:Nikon D80 Shutter Speed:N/A F-Stop:f5.6 ISO:125
Focal length:11mm Lens:Tamron 11-18 Wide Angle

Bottom Photo of Moon : Date Taken: 03-02-07 Moonlight
Model:Nikon D80 Shutter Speed: 1/10s F-Stop:f11 ISO:100
Focal length:200mm Lens: Nikon 18-200mm Wide Angle

The Mexico City Beach web site, a great place to visit:
http://www.mexicobeach.com/cdc/

You can read my first Dunes Story and Photograph here:
http://www.awesomephotographyblog.com/travel/dunes-lone-survivor-floridas-forgotten-coast/