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The Peace is a river of fossils. It's waters meander through
phosphate-mine country east of Tampa, Florida,
from Bartow to the Gulf of Mexico. I found hundreds of fossilized shark teeth
there back in my South Florida days while
canoeing, camping, and exploring the Peace River’s
honey-colored waters and white-sand beaches.
My prize tooth back then was about 2 1/2 inches long.
Early this month, John Moran and I revisited the Peace River, accompanied by a massive megalodon tooth
(giant shark) John had borrowed from a museum.
Photographing the tooth in the Peace would honor the ancient history of
both fossil and place. I had brought my
Canon G12 with its underwater housing in hopes of maybe combining the mysteries
beneath with the scenic beauty above in a half-in and half-out of water shot.
Launching our paddlecrafts at Zolfo Springs this fine
morning, I felt a rush -- being off on a new adventure in this place of my
youth. Six hours later, we were barely
out of sight of the bridge where we’d put in. We’d become caught up in moment
by moment photo ops and the day slipped away.
John may have made one keeper of the tooth but there were many other
eye-catchers as well in the creeks, turtles, palms, and birds.
When reality kicked in
– namely 23 miles to go in the next two days – we decided to paddle into the moonlit
night. Submerged snags kept us focused
(on not tipping over).
Finally, we set up our tents around 10 pm and fell asleep to the serenade of flowing
water and hooting owls. At dawn's crack,
I discovered we were surrounded by at least a hundred vultures. Felt a bit Gulliver-like. The birds scrambled to the trees to watch as
we emerged from our tents. Food?
As the day unfolded, I searched for the right setting to
photograph the tooth: shallow water,
palms in the background, sunlight coming from about 45 degrees off my back (so
my shadow wouldn’t be a problem.) This
seemed so simple and yet proved elusive.
Finally, late in the day, the shot lined up and I felt excited by (hopeful)
success.
We were beat and ready to stop when the rain began. Setting up camp in the rain is no fun so we opted
again to paddle on into night. As hunger
peaked, we knew we needed at least a dinner stop. Luckily, by the time we had eaten, the rain
had pretty much stopped so we stayed the night.
By morning, the weather was gorgeous again. I saw an otter by these turtle-shaped rocks. And many birds along the way.
Our final short day was relaxed because of all our night
paddling. Rocky banks had replaced sand
bars. A few artsy shots at our nap-stop finished the trip and soon we were
pulling our boats out at Gardner.
9 comments:
Wonderful photos, as usual, David - thanx for posting!
You're a true master of light David! Every photo is just magical.
Great photos David. John (and you I don't doubt) has visualized that megalodon tooth shot for quite a while now. How do you feel it turned out? I love it, but as with all artists, you are your own worst critic. :)
Hey ... users would get more out of the experience if you can publish the images about twice as large. They are pretty small.
Love to see your posts!
Finally, David, you are free to be all that you have always been capable of !!!!
My favorite is the one with the vultures in the morning light, but I also like the turtle shaped rocks. The pictures are all outstanding, those are just my favorites.
Last week we came through Zolfo Springs and detoured to cross over the Peace River several times--wondering what it would be like to paddle down it there. Now, we know. Thanks! Beautiful photography!
Lots of really nice work, David, but the turtle was my favorite. Hi to Flash.
Absolutely super, thanks for taking us along on your trip.
Awesome photos and story, David... I love the tooth shot... very, very nice! Keep it up, I love reading about all of your adventures
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