Cumberland Island, Georgia

To begin with, if anyone is interested in purchasing a print or greeting cards of my Cumberland Island photographs, including others I did not put on this blog, go to my commercial website Fine Art America Website.
They do fantastic work! You can customize your print by size, type of paper, and even have it framed and matted.

As I always say, commercial wildlife photography is not for wimps! I took a 45 minute ferry over to Cumberland Island, a beautiful Georgia barrier island with a lot of history and tons of wildlife. I braved the heat for the day and took some fascinating shots there.

One of the main attractions on the island is the Dungeness manor ruins. This mansion was used as a winter home by the Carnegie family until 1925. It burned in the late 1950's but you can still see traces of grandeur for a bygone era.

When the Carnegie family abandoned the main mansion there they released their horses. Today there are around 114 feral horses roaming the island from this release. Here is a cute foal relaxing in the shade

and here is a horse who is obviously very happy!

In addition to the marvelous horses on the island there are other wildlife such as this wild turkey roaming around.

Though the land is very dry now we did see a few tough flowers such as this white prickly poppy.

I highly recommend Cumberland Island as a day trip for those who love to explore. If you visit the island I strongly suggest carrying sunblock, insect repellent, and lots of cold water. Conditions are somewhat rugged and amenities are lacking but the animals and interesting ruins make it a worthwhile adventure.

Sneaking Up On Me!

Here is an alligator at the edge of a swamp close to my house. As I was photographing him the alligator was busy sizing me up for a meal. I hope he found a more suitable dinner after I left.

My wife cracks up

While we were walking around a park I asked my wife Karen if I could take her picture. As she was posing rather stiffly I made a very off color proposition to her. This is the result!

Where Does the Time Go?

Sorry I have been neglecting this blog for so long. My photography has occupied a lot of time and I have yet another cat! That makes 13 and we have officially gone past saturation here. A month ago I came home to find a little black cat waiting for me in the driveway. I named her Laila, which means "dark beauty", and I've been working to tame this very shy girl.

Last week I got special permission to photograph some animals at the private St. Augustine Wild Reserve. They normally do not allow photography so this was a wonderful chance to capture some beautiful cats and other animals there. They take in animals that are confiscated or are surrendered by owners. Here are a few nice shots I took there:

A beautiful cougar in a pensive mood.

 An arctic fox once owned by Michael Jackson. Though very shy, she wanted to be friends and she came up and licked my hand.

A rather irritated black panther. I had to watch myself with this one as I suspect she wanted to rip my throat out.

I white tiger in a very playful mood. She rolled over on her back and I snapped this shot while standing over her.

I hope you enjoyed seeing these as much as I enjoyed capturing these magnificent creatures. I will post a few more shots from the reserve in my next post as there were just too many good shots to cram all of them into this post. Until then, all the best to you!