Other Places

Grayton Beach, Florida is just southeast of Destin, Florida. It is a small preserve with a stream winding it's way to the Gulf of Mexico. I was here to attend the annual summit of the North American Nature Photographer’s Association. Only on this evening were there any clouds during my stay and fortunately I was able to get here to see this scene in person. I was attending a discussion on marketing photographs when I looked out the window and saw the clouds setting up for a nice sunset. I left the conference and got here as quickly as I could. I had planned earlier to come here if the conditions were right. Time was of the essence , so I used Google Earth to find this beach ahead of time so I could go right to this spot. Pre-planning is important if you wish to witness more than your share of fortunate coincidences. The sand flowing beneath my feet was most memorable so I concentrated on capturing it as best I could with F22. The resulting long exposure worked out well too.

This was the only spot I could find in the entire park that had any standing water. It was late spring, and there were a few flowers around but not enough to make a good landscape, so a water scene was the next best thing. It is a natural spring with a small dam that raises the water level a few feet. It can go dry in the summer. Fortunately a few rare clouds drifted by, improving the light quite a bit!