Lens-Artists – Page 9 – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #345 – My Go-To Places

April 24, 2025Posted in PhotographyTagged beach, Coastal Georgia, Lens-Artists, My Go To Places, ocean, Photo Challenge, salt marsh35 Comments

John of Journeys with JohnBo asks us to share the places we go when we are feeling down and need to take a break.

My favorite go-to place is at home. When I am home I like to see the sky at sunrise or just sit on my back porch overlooking my back yard and the salt marsh.

*My day gets off to a beautiful start when I catch the sunrise from my own backyard*.

*Sometimes I see birds like this Great Egret*

I like to take a walk in my neighborhood which is surrounded by salt marsh and salt water creeks with palm trees, palmettos, and Spanish Moss draped live oak trees creating a peaceful landscape.

The beach is my happy place. If I want to go to the beach there are four barrier islands in coastal Georgia that can be reached by car. There are numerous uninhabited small barrier islands that can be reached by small boats and others that can be reached by ferry.

*Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean on Tybee Island, Georgia, the closest beach to my home.*

*In January we spent two nights on Jekyll Island where we enjoyed the quiet beaches.*

*Sapelo Island is one of the Georgia islands that can be reached by ferry.*

We no longer have a boat but I have fond memories of how peaceful it was to ride through the nearby creeks and rivers.

*Slow boat ride through the coastal Georgia salt water marsh*

Many thanks to John for this challenge Lens-Artists #345 – My Go To Places

Learn more about the Len-Artists challenges and how to participate by clicking here.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #344 – Abandoned

April 13, 2025April 22, 2025Posted in Florida, Photography, TravelTagged Abandoned, Cedar Key, Florida Gulf Coast, Honeymoon Cottage, hurricanes, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Photo Story, Stilt House33 Comments

Anne has challenged us to tell and show our thoughts on abandonment. I’ve seen many abandoned barns, homes and businesses when traveling along the back roads of the America. Each time I see one of these buildings I wonder what happened to the people that lived there or worked there. I wonder why no one wanted it anymore. Where did they go?

Honeymoon Cottage, Cedar Key, Florida

I have images of many abandoned buildings but I decided to focus on one of them that stands out in my mind. The Honeymoon Cottage in Cedar Key on the Gulf Coast of Florida was a stilt house that was built in 1959. It originally was connected to land by a narrow walkway over the water. I don’t have to wonder about why it was abandoned. Powerful hurricanes destroyed it.

We fell in love with Cedar Key when we first visited in 1997 and have returned several times since then. The abandoned wooden structure standing in the water always intrigued me. The header image shows the way the cottage looked when I first photographed it on a visit in 2003. I couldn’t help but think about how much fun it must have been to stay there and how sad it was that no one could use it anymore.

The rest of the images show how the the cottage continued to deteriorate over the years.

Sadly, in March, 2021 the only thing left of the Honeymoon Cottage was a place for the birds to perch.

We haven’t returned to Cedar Key since our last visit in 2021. Since then Hurricane Idalia caused significant damage to the area in August, 2023. Hurricanes Debby and Helene caused more damage in 2024. Some of the businesses are still closed and the community is working hard to rebuild.

Many thanks to Anne for this challenge Lens-Artists #344 – Abandoned

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #343 – Seen on Your Last Outing

April 10, 2025Posted in Historic Sites, PhotographyTagged Civil War Fort, Ft Pulaski, Lens-Artists, National Monument, Photo Challenge, Seen on your last outing19 Comments

For this challenge Ann-Christine asks “What happened on your last outing? Did you meet a friend or did you go shopping? Or maybe you just took a walk in the beautiful weather? What made you take out your camera? We’d love to find out!”

Henry and I have heard about sightings of an American Bald Eagle Nest at the Ft. Pulaski National Monument between Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. On a recent overcast Sunday afternoon we drove to the monument in search of the nest. I made sure I had my telephoto lens with me.

As the ranger at the gate was checking Henry’s National Park Senior Pass we asked her where the nest was. She gave us directions and we began our quest. We found what appeared to be a nest but there were no birds in sight so we began to explore around the Civil War era fort. We called it a day when it started raining a few minutes later.

Two days later on the spur of the moment I decided to go back to search for the eagle again. I grabbed my camera but left my telephoto lens at home. This time when I talked to the ranger she said one of the eagles had been flying around the fort. I almost turned around to go get my big lens but it was getting late and I decided to just wander around the fort instead.

I went straight to where the nest was and surprise! There was a big bird on the nest. I couldn’t get a good enough picture to tell if it is an eagle or not. In the following gallery the image on the left is the closest shot I could get of the bird on the nest. The image on the right is cropped for a closer look. I tried cropping even closer but it’s such a blur I didn’t want to include it here. I can’t tell if it’s a juvenile eagle, a vulture, or some other big bird. I learned my lesson – always bring the big lens!

It was a beautiful day to wander around the fort and snap a few photos.

Even though I didn’t get the Bald Eagle images I was hoping for I had two enjoyable outings to Ft. Pulaski.

Many thanks to Ann-Christine for this challenge Lens-Artists #343 – Seen on my Last Outing

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #342 – Going Wild

March 30, 2025Posted in Birds, Butterflies, Photography, Wildflowers, WildlifeTagged Denali National Park, Everglades National Park, It's a Wild Life, Lens-Artists, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Photo Challenge, wildlife photography37 Comments

Let’s take a walk on the wild side with Egidio’s challenge “Going Wild”. I love being in wilderness areas and photographing the landscapes, wildlife, wildflowers, and birds I see there. For this challenge I chose images from my three favorite wilderness areas.

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is closer to my home than any of my other favorite wilderness areas. We have been there many times and always enjoy the wildlife and birds we see there. The butterflies on wild thistle in the header image was taken in the Okefenokee.

Young alligator in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Everglades National Park, Florida

We have visited Everglades National Park in Florida many times through the years. There are several entrances to the park with Flamingo being the most remote area. The Everglades is a bird lovers dream with many varieties all throughout the park. No matter where you go in the Everglades you are likely to see alligators.

Egrets and Spoonbills gathering in a pond near the Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park

This alligator ignores the human invaders of his territory at Shark Valley in Everglades National Park

Denali National Park, Alaska

Denali National Park is the most remote wilderness area I have ever visited. I loved the feeling of being miles away from civilization while we were there. The scenery is breathtaking and the wildlife abundant. Most of the wildlife we saw was too far away for a good photo even with my telephoto lens.

Celebrating 12 Years of Wandering Dawgs

I started the Wandering Dawgs blog in March, 2013 as a way to document our 4 month RV journey from Georgia to Alaska and back. In the beginning, the only people who read my posts were friends and family. Today, I have blogging friends from all around the world! I recently celebrated the 12th anniversary of Wandering Dawgs! Many thanks to everyone who reads my posts and leaves me comments.

Many thanks to Egidio for this challenge Lens-Artists #341 – It’s a Wild Life

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #341 – Personal Favorites

March 23, 2025Posted in PhotographyTagged Coastal Georgia, Delicate Arch, Haines, Lens-Artists, Pacific Ocean, Personal Favorites, Photo Challenge, Sunrise, sunset34 Comments

For this challenge Tina is challenging us to show no more than five of our all time personal favorite images representing special moments or memories.

This is a really hard challenge for me. I have thousands of pictures in my archives. Most of them remind me of a special time, place or event. The sunrise in the header image was taken in my own back yard. It reminds me of how grateful I am for the gift of another day.

One of the most memorable events from our very first long RV trip occurred in Arches National Park in Utah. We wanted to take the hike for a close up view of Delicate Arch. The hike involved walking up slick red rock and included walking along a narrow ledge before getting to the Arch. I am terrified of heights and the idea of the ledge terrified me but I managed to get all the way to the top to take this picture. This picture reminds me of how I overcame my fears to see this beautiful sight.

Henry standing underneath Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

This silhouette of Henry at sunset reminds me of all the wonderful memories we have from our RV trip traveling south from Washington to California on Highway 101.

Henry watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean in Washington

I have literally thousands of images from our 2013 RV trip to Alaska. We saw amazing landscapes and wildlife and visited many unique places. I chose this image because it brings back happy memories of our fun filled week in Haines. We took the time at the end of each day to enjoy this spectacular view from our campsite.

Watching for whales at the end of the day in Haines, Alaska

The last image reminds me to take the time to stop and enjoy a sunset when I get a chance. I call this tree the bird tree because I often see herons, egrets, wood storks, roseate spoonbills, and other birds perched on the dead limbs. The tree is located on the road to our neighborhood. I’ve driven past it many times over the years and have captured many beautiful sunsets here but this one is my all time favorite.