The Great Outdoor Adventures

I’ll add the story soon… but for now here’s a few pictures for enjoyment.

This is a short little film I shot in my backyard to try out some new camera settings.

Well this morning, was a morning to separate the men from the boys, and especially the weekend warrior fisherman from the committed hardcore angler.  My good friend Luke, myself, and one of Luke’s good friends, Blake, loaded up the 24′ offshore fishing machine, and made our way down to Saint Marks, Florida.  Well if you are reading this and live in the Tallahassee area, you will remember the temperature was a balmy 29 degrees F this morning.  By the time we actually made it on the water, it was about 9:30 am and approximately 35 degrees F… windchill while running the 9 miles out to our first spot was another story though.  The windchill felt as though it was in the single digits, and I would not doubt it if it was.

Once we arrived at the first spot, we quickly realized that the presence of fish was seriously lacking.  All that was yielded from about 4 hours of fishing was a couple of bites, lost bait, and one big puffer type fish (that was on the other end of my line).

So long story short, as the age old saying goes, “a bad day fishing is still better than a good day at the office”… it could not apply to any better of a day than today!

The following is one of the few images from today… I couldn’t be called an outdoor photographer if I went on a fishing trip and didn’t take at least one picture to share.

Well this past weekend, two of my close friends, Robby and Jason, and myself, converged upon the unsuspecting St. George Island, FL.  It was to be a fun filled weekend of eating “man-food”, camping, bonfires, and of course who could forget, fishing.  Man weekend was declared and man weekend was brought! (Just sitting here reminiscing about this weekend, I’m having urges to build a fire and consume large portions of steak.)  Needless to say it was an awesome weekend in the company of two great guys.

It all started as any usual camping trip… alright it didn’t start like any usual camping trip at all.  Jason and myself were running around town about an hour prior to our departure buying supplies and trying to remember the next item on our packing list.  Myself, being the brilliant organizer that I am (bring your waders. cause that’s some deep sarcasm), thought that I could just memorize my packing list instead of writing it down; let me tell you from experience after this weekend, bad idea.  It seems that I was able to memorize most everything on the list, save the one most important item that is needed during a camping trip… something to sleep on.  I was able to remember such items as salt and pepper shakers and my cell phone charger, but when it came to remembering my sleeping bag, my brain decided to purge that “unnecessary” information.  Just as I thought I was doomed to sleep in the cab of the truck for the evening, Robby arrived.

Robby, the mild mannered mechanical engineer, became a superhero to me that night; because in addition to bringing his sleeping bag, he also happened to bring an extra one, just in case.  I know it was to be a testosterone laddened ”man-weekend”, but I gave him a hug that night.  It seems that Robby got the memo concerning our lack-luster memorization of our packing lists.  Every time we realized we had forgotten something else, Robby was there saying, “let me check… yep! here it is!”  In my lowly humble forgetful opinion, Robby receives the outdoors-man MVP for the weekend.

While I am on an awards kick, I will say there is one more award to be handed out.  If there were an EMMY for outdoor culinary mastery, Jason would have received it hands down.  The steaks… oh the steaks, that he cooked were the closest to perfection that is humanly possible.  I am getting hungry and wiping away the drool as I think about those works of art.

After dinner, began the real fun for the trip, the fishing.  Around 11:30 pm or so, we loaded up in one of the pickup trucks and headed to the St. George Island fishing pier.  It was a little slow on the bite at first, but as we got more bait and chum in the water, the fish became a little more aggressive.  We fished through the night until 3:30 am.  The night yielded about 12-14 fish between the three of us, four of which were definite keeper sizes.  The species caught ranged from Sand Seatrout, Drums, Whiting, Catfish, and one or two Pinfish.  There were several big bites as well, that were quickly followed by a narrow escape by the fish.  All in all, a great night fishing.  The stars were also beautiful.  Living in a city, you don’t realize just how many celestial bodies are up there shining down on this tiny planet.

Upon returning to our little corner of the campgrounds near 3:45 am, we found that we were not the only one’s that enjoy a good steak and some bacon.  Racoons had attempted to open the small cooler bag that was the place of storage for our bacon supply.  Luckily, they did not prevail at their futile attempt to pilfer our bacon, but one did manage to get their little paw inside and tear open a new pack of bacon, ruining it for us three.  But thankfully, that was the only thing those pesky vermin got into.  The remainder of our night consisted of some well earned shut-eye.

As soon as the smell of fresh morning dew, campfire and the harmonious sound of birds chirping and bacon sizzling pierced through the walls of the tent, I was up and ready to begin the next leg of our two day adventure.  We started the day with some hearty breakfast and began breaking down camp.  Our first excursion of the day was through a trail to the bay side of St. George Island.  The tide was extremely low, as you can see in the photo of the kayakers below.  Needless to say, there were no fish caught there, but it was a really nice place to take a few photos at and walk around.  Our next and final stop of the weekend was the beach to attempt a little surf fishing.  There was quite a stiff wind, and so we couldn’t even fish there.  Reluctantly, we decided to head on home.

Over all it was an amazing adventure, that I cannot wait to embark upon again.  Below I’ve posted a few photos from this weekend, and more are soon to follow.

Well like any good hunter, fisherman, or photographer knows, those three words carry much weight to them.  Whether watching so not to miss any movement in the brush, or that shadow stealthily cruising across the flats, the outdoors-man is on full alert, ready to act when the time is right.  At this same level of fine tuned alertness, the photographer watches, knowing that at any moment that “once in a lifetime” image will take place in front of their lens, and if they have prepared and are ready, like the outdoors-man, they will capture that moment in one fell swoop.  It is the waiting that drives many mad.  The preparation is fairly simple, it is under your control, but it is the waiting that lasts, for some, years.  The waiting to have that buck you have dreamed about come into range, the waiting to land that elusive six foot tarpon that you lost countless paychecks searching for, and the waiting to capture that one perfect moment that can be framed, and with pride, mounted on the wall.  It is the waiting that proves to be the hardest.

This weekend, two of my close friends and myself, will be venturing to St. George Island, Florida, for a weekend of camping, fishing, and all around outdoor tom foolery.  We are embarking upon this trek as a band of brothers with no expectation beyond camping, eating, and fishing, but I can not help but think to myself, being an avid photographer and fisherman, is this weekend going to be the culmination of my waiting?  Will that “once in a lifetime” moment happen in front of my eyes, and will I be prepared to capture it in all of it’s splendor?  Just the same, on the fishing point of view, will it be this weekend that I catch one of my dream fish?  Even further beyond this wondering lies the singular question for both, will I be ready and prepared when it happens?

So, as I continue to pack and prepare for the “man weekend”, I will continually revisit these questions.  Not to scare myself or cause any anxiety, but rather as a reminder to remain alert, aware, and prepared.  So this weekend, you can bet I’ll be watching and waiting… and will hopefully have plenty of captured moments to share next week.