Florida’s Largest Formation of Coastal Limestone - Blowing Rocks Beach
Blowing Rocks Beach offers a uniquely rocky seascape the is part of the largest limestone rock formation along the US East coast.
Blowing Rocks Beach is located along the southeastern coast of Florida.
I visited Blowing Rocks Preserve on a weekend that happened to coincide with the first hurricane of the year approaching Florida. This resulted in unpredictable weather as bands of rain crossed parts of South Florida as the storm made it’s way through the passage between Florida and Cuba.
Unfortunately I did not do enough research when planning this trip, so when I got the the Preserve at sunrise I found it to be closed. The actual Preserve itself does not open to the Public until 9AM.
So instead, I was able to park at at park about a mile south called Coral Cove Park. They have recently completed roadside parking along the road in front of the park for overflow parking, which also can be used to park if you arrive before sunrise.
All of my photography occurred at this park instead of the actual Preserve, but there were still many large limestone formations along the beach. Luckily, it was near high-tide so shooting amongst the rocks was far more interesting that if it had been low tide.
Searching for the shot in the rocks. Photo credit to Lawrence Leyderman.
Getting low with the rocks means more compelling compositions, but also puts you at risk of getting yourself and your gear splashed with salty water.
It is always a challenge to arrive at an unknown place just minutes before sunrise with the hopes of finding the right compositions to capture the rising sun. I struggled to capture anything noteworthy shooting wide angle, which was my main objective for sunrise and the minutes immediately after. Sunrise (or sunset) always presents the challenge of dynamic range, especially when your composition includes the sun. An added challenge is the ever changing weather conditions and always having to keep an eye on the incoming waves. Fortunately in my experience, Florida does not see the same kind of dangerous rogue waves that you may see on the Pacific coast, but it is still worth keeping a lookout. Even with the supposed weatherproofing of Canon’s R5 I have had to send it off for repair after being exposed to light rain.
My final composition before abandoning the wide angle scenes. I used three exposures to create this image. One for the sky, one for the waves being backlit by the morning light, and one for the coastal foreground that included the splash on the right side, which was fortunately not blown out and overexposed. Other than the exposure blending there is minimal editing going on here. The reason this image needs editing is because the scene has such a high dynamic range, with the darks being very dark and the highlights being very bright, multiple exposures are needed in order to preserve the details in the highlights and shadow areas. In addition to the lighting, I capture all my images in RAW format and unedited RAW images are dull by default so there is some color that needs to be brought back in post processing to get the image looking natural.
Once the sun was up it was quickly obscured by clouds and only broke through occasionally for a few seconds at a time. So I turned my attention to the details within the rock, looking for interesting structures and formations. Using a slower shutter speed of about .5s - 1s, I was able to use the water to help simplify these smaller scenes by creating a misty, fog-like effect. Part of this challenge was waiting for the right wave that wasn’t too strong so it didn’t turn the entire scene into whiteness.
I enjoy shooting these kind of scenes because you can really tap into your own creativity and just shoot what you like. To achieve the right balance of water trails I would use multiple exposures stacked in photoshop, and exposing the parts that I liked the most, and hiding the rest.
After shooting the beach for an hour or so it was 8AM and Jonathan Dickinson State Park was about to open. Being right down the road from the Blowing Rocks Preserve it was super convenient and I even grabbed a coffee on the way to the park. This park is massive, and I was really looking forward to checking it out. I even hauled my bike all the way down from Orlando for the sole purpose of riding the trails in this park.
Unfortunately, the weather was getting ready to change. The first image below is one of a couple I took from the observation tower and I had wanted to work a nice big panoramic to showcase the vast biodiversity the park hosts but when I turned around I saw the impending rain clouds that brought torrential rains.
With the winds blowing from the East I was able to position my car to where I could roll down the passenger side window and shoot through the rain without getting much rain inside the car. Still not an ideal way to spend my morning, but I also took the time to explore the visitor center and drive the length of the park.
Once the rain cleared I set out on my bike. This proved more challenging than I had anticipated because the usually sandy paths were now muddy, making it even more difficult to pedal through than just sand.
Taking a break from biking the muddy trail to take a quick pano. The image shows the comparison between burnt and unburnt sections of the flatwoods.
As I was making my way across the muddy path, I came across this unbelievably red scene. The recent burn had caused all of the undergrowth, pines, and cypress tress to be red and the swampy marsh contrasted nicely as it was very black. The images I captured do not do it justice, I found it very difficult to find a composition of interest from the path I was on. In addition, I was sweating and my lens was fogging up.
I got excited when I saw the Great Egret sitting far into the scene. I was hopeful that he would take off and I would capture him in flight with the crisp white of his body contrasting sharply with the rest of the scene.
Unfortunately, he was so far I could barely set my focus on him.
I managed to grab a shot in focus through what seemed like a thousand feet of cypress branches. I waited, holding on to the hope that he would take off and fly into a more ideal frame… until he flew away, in the opposite direction from me. Right on par with my luck during this trip.
After making it out of the off-road path I checked the weather and saw more rain on the way. It was now almost noon and the sunlight was harsh, so I decided to hit the paved trail to head back to my car. I spotted a deer on the way back, but I find that I hardly care enough about deer to stop and take out the camera to get a shot. I guess I’m not cut out to be a wildlife photographer afterall.
Overall, Jonathan Dickinson State Park look like it would be awesome to explore, and I intend to return one day when there is not a hurricane.
