Intro

I’m a photographer living in the Central Florida area.  My main photography interests are nature and wildlife.  I enjoy writing about interesting places around here that I’ve visited and photographed.  In addition to sharing my experiences, I try to make each blog entry helpful to visiting photo enthusiasts by including links to information about the place as well as some hints on what and how to photograph there.  I also include some of the photos I’ve taken and links to additional photos in galleries so that readers can get a better idea of what’s there and what the photo ops are.  My hope is that photo enthusiast visitors to the Orlando area can use these pages as their “photo scout” resource while they’re here.  I also hope that local residents will find the information useful.

In addition to the photographic opportunities in the Central Florida Area, I also write about my photo experiences in other areas.  These too may be useful to photo enthusiasts.

I tag the photo opportunity blog posts as either “CFL Photo Ops” or “Other Photo Ops“.  You can filter the blog by clicking on these (and other) tags in the side bar on the right side of each blog page.

This blog has been up and going since May of 2007. As of August 2010, there are about 105 posts covering a broad variety of (mostly) photo related subjects. With so many entries it’s becoming harder to locate information, so I decided to add this Table of Contents / Index page to organize the photo-op information.  I’ve divided it into the four tables below so you can more easily find information you’re looking for.

Although I can’t promise to keep blogging forever, I do very much enjoy it.  Comments and constructive criticism on how to improve the blog, or suggestions for places to visit are welcome.  And if you have questions on the area, please feel free to ask.  I’ve lived here for many years, and just may have the answer you’re looking for.  Leave a comment or email me at ed@rosack.com.

Photo Ops in the Central Florida area:

Place	What’s there?	Travel time from Winter Springs / Oviedo	Blog Entry	Galleries	Sample photo
Audubon Birds of Prey Center – Maitland, Florida	Captive Birds (eagles, owls, hawks, etc.), some flowers & plants	~ 25 minutes	Audubon Birds of Prey	Birds of Prey
Black Point Wildllife Drive – Titusville, Florida	Wildlife (birds, gators, wild pigs, Bobcats(?)), some wetlands landscape	~ 1 hour	Blackpoint, etc, May 08 Blackpoint, Jan. 09 Blackpoint, May 09 Blackpoint, Aug. 09 May ’10 update	Blackpoint 1 Blackpoint 2 Blackpoint 3
Butterfly Rainforest – Gainsville, Florida	Butterflies, Flowers & Plants	~ 2 hours	Butterfly Rainforest	Butterfly gallery
Canaveral National Seashore – New Smyrna Beach, Fl	Ocean, surf, few  birds	~ 1 hour	Canaveral National Seashore	CNS on Flickr
Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Orlando, Fl	Many captive animals, scenic displays and attractions, rides	~ 1 hour	Animal Kingdom, May 09 Animal Kingdom Lodge, Aug. 09 May ’10 update	Animal Kingdom gallery Animal Kingdom on Flickr
Disney’s EPCOT – Orlando, Fl	Displays,  attractions, rides, and occasional special events	~ 1 hour	EPCOT, March 2010	EPCOT on Flickr
Emeralda Marsh – Lake County, Fl	The crown jewel of bird watching in Lake County – at the right time of year	~ 1 hour	Emeralda Marsh, June 2010	Some of the photos in this set on Flickr
Fort Christmas – Christmas, Fl	Old Florida Settlement	~ 30 minutes	Ft. Christmas	Ft. Christmas on Flickr
Gatorland – Orlando, Fl.	Gators, and other captive animals, many wild birds at the rookery	~ 1 hour	Gatorland - Comparing Gatorland to the Alligator Farm - May ’10 update	Gatorland on Flickr
Gaylord Palms – Orlando, Fl.	Resort hotel, with scenic atrium, etc.	~ 45 minutes	Gaylord Palms	Gaylord Palms photo set on Flickr
Kennedy Space Center – Titusville, Fl	Space memorabilia, attractions / rides	~ 1 hour	KSC	KSC on Flickr
Lake Eola – Downtown Orlando, Florida	Cityscapes, sunsets, street scenes	~ 20 minutes	Dusk at Lake Eola	Lake Eola set on Flickr
Lake Jessop Conservation Area – near Sanford, Florida	Flowers in late September / early October	~ 20 minutes	Lake Jessop wildflowers Lake Jessop storm and flowers	Lake Jessop on Flickr Lake Jessop gallery
Orlando Wetlands Park – Orlando, Fl	Wildlife (many birds, gators, deer, raccoons, otters, etc), some wetlands landscapes	~ 30 minutes	OWP, Jun 07 OWP, Jul 08 OWP, Apr 09 OWP, May 09 OWP, Jul. 09 OWP, Oct. 09 OWP, Nov. 09	OWP on Flickr – 1 OWP on Flickr – 2 OWP gallery – 1 OWP gallery – 2 OWP gallery – 3
Paynes Prairie – Gainsville, Florida	Wildlife (Bison, wild horses, many gators, many birds including whooping cranes)	~ 2 hours	Paynes Prarie	Paynes Praries gallery
Ponce Inlet Beach and lighthouse – Ponce Inlet, Florida	Shore birds, surfers, sunsets, lighthous	~ 1 hour	Lighthouse and Night Photos	Ponce Inlet Gallery on Flickr
Ravine Gardens State Park – Palatka, Florida	Azaleas, Rose Garden, Ravine, Suspension Bridge	~ 2 hours	Ravine Gardens	Ravine Gardens set on Flickr
Seaworld – Orlando, Fl	Many aquatic captive animals, wild birds, rides	~ 35 minutes	Seaworld, Dec 07 Seaworld, Nov 08 Seaworld, Nov 09	Seaworld on Flickr Seaworld gallery 1 Seaworld gallery 2
St. Augustine, Fl. & the Alligator Farm	Gators, and other captive animals, many wild birds at the rookery, old town, Ft. Matanzas, lighthouse, many other attractions	~ 2 hours	Alligator Farm, May 07 St. Augustine, Jul 07 Alligator Farm, Apr 08 Comparing Gatorland to the Alligator Farm June ’10 update July ’10	St. Augustine gallery 1 St. Augustine gallery 2 Spoonbills St. Augustine on Flickr
Viera Wetlands – Melbourne, Florida	Many birds, some gators	~ 1 hour	Viera Wetlands, Jan. 10 Viera Wetlands, Feb. 10	Viera Wetlands on Flickr

Photo Ops outside of Central Florida:

Place	What’s there?	Blog Entry	Galleries
Alaska by cruise ship from Seattle	Glaciers, wildlife, mountains, landscapes, culture	Other Alaskan photos Glaciers Wildlife Home from Alaska	Alaska on Flickr
Cincinnati, Ohio	Scenic city, parks	Ohio to Kentucky and back	Cincinnati gallery
Evansville, Indiana	Casino, Ohio River, Not too far from St. Louis	Evansville, Indiana Photo Ops	Evansville Gallery
Garden of the Gods – Colorado Springs, Colorado	Landscapes, rock formations	Denver, Dec 06 Garden of the Gods	Denver on Flickr Denver, Mar 09
Mount Evans, Colorado	Wildlife (Elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, marmots, pika, etc), flowers, landscapes	Mt. Evans	Mt. Evans gallery
San Francisco, California and Muir Woods	Very scenic city, major photo ops close by	San Franciso and Muir Woods	San Francisco gallery Muir Woods gallery
Wisconsin	Scenic countryside	Wisconsin	Port Washington gallery
Yosemite, California	Premier landscape photo ops, wildlife	Yosemite	Yosemite gallery

Links to Florida Photo Op info on other Web sites:

Here are some links to articles that I’ve found on other web sites describing Florida Photo Ops.

To do

A list of locations that I hope to report on in the future. I’ll add to this list as I hear about additional spots in the area.

This page was last updated on August 21, 2010.

©2010, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved.