Another view

 An alternate view from my earlier post.

Egret and reflection

Skeleton Beach

Just north of Jacksonville, near where the St. Johns River flows to the ocean, is Big Talbot Island State Park. It offers hiking and great bird watching opportunities, and the skeleton beach (also known as Boneyard Beach) which has many dead and toppled trees on the sand.

Halloween Photoshop fun

When I shot these spooky looking tree silhouettes it was against a deep blue dusk sky, but I bumped up  the contrast and changed the tint to a Halloween orange. Still it seemed a big moon would be a nice addition so I added a photo from an earlier post. I then added a mask to put the moon behind the trees, added a bit of warm tint to make to make the moon fit the scene, and finally added a subtle glow to the edge. 

This is a deviation to my normal posts. I normally only post images without a lot of manipulation, but it is fun to do play in Photoshop sometimes.

Paint spots

Greenway

Our community has a number of trails that cut through the preserved natural areas of the town. We are lucky to have beautiful and safe places to bike or walk while separated from motor vehicle traffic.

Old vines

East Coast Railway Foreman’s House #93

Our local history museum includes a small collection of buildings from the early days of Jacksonville beach (Beaches Museum History Museum and Park). It also includes a 1911 steam locomotive and tender, station, a chapel and several other buildings. It is a pretty nice collection and interesting way to spend an hour or so. Details of some of the other building are below.