TEAM WORK!!

You may remember that the other evening Evin and I went with Cindy and Zell to see the Key deer and to visit the No Name Pub on the Big Pine Key. While we were on No Name Island I saw a car stopped in the road in front of us and its occupant was doing the same as us, taking photos of the Key deer. We had just taking photos of a nice buck while the stranger was taking photos of a Key deer doe. Since we had just seen the nice eight point buck up the road, after driving past the stranger, I turned our Escape around to go back tell him where a nice buck is.

Evin and Zell of course, thought I was crazy when I turned around in the road and headed back in the direction of where we had just been in order to tell a complete stranger of the better photo opportunity in the edge of the woods a few hundred yards down the road. You see, bucks are much more skittish around humans. Those with nice antlers, even more so.

Again, I didn't know the stranger and he didn't know me. But, you know me, ".... never met a stranger!!" I told the starnger my name is Steve and his told me he was Chris. He was very appreciative and friendly and got back into his car and went away from us to take photos of the buck.

Later, we see him driving toward us on a dead end road and as our cars passed I roll down the car window, motion for him to stop and we talk again. We share where we are staying that we are fulltime RVers. I invite him to come up one evening to Knights Key RV Resort and Marina to try to get the "Green Flash" on film. Chris has a new Nikon D 7000 and would have a much better chance of capturing the phenomenon on his camera than I do with my camera phone.

He also expresses an interest in maybe RVing fulltime. I told him to come down and hang out with us and some fellow RVers. The next night we are at the Knights Key Tiki bar and beach doing our "Green Flash" sunset watch ritual and Chris comes walking up. What follows is a little of what we end up doing together a day or two later.

Chris called me on the phone before lunch today and asked us to come up to the Holiday Inn where he is straying. He tells me he has seen several large iguanas today and I might could get some photos of a big iguana up close and personal. He advises that the iguana often come to the hotel's pool to get fresh water or eat some of the hotel's plants.

I really admire his camera and tell him I would like to compare a similar photo of an iguana taken with my camera phone with one taken with his Nikon. He says, "Sure."  Evin and I agree to take him up on his invitation. Of course we make a real sacrifice and stop on the way to the Holiday Inn to eat hog fish and a salad at Key Fisheries.

OUR STOMACHS FULL, WE ARE READY TO GET SOME GREAT IGUANA PHOTOS!!!!

Evin and Chris, camera in hand, by the pool....

....the view from where we were seated....

....the view from the other end of the pool....

....as I am taking the photo Chris points to his left.

I walk over to the garden and there is a male iguana....

....look in the shadows in front of my feet!!!!

The iguana sees me, then turns and runs for the boardwalk....

 

I go one way with my camera phone and Chris runs around the building in an attempt to block the iguana from running away from me. He, of course, takes his Nikon D 7000!! I start shooting North and he shoots South toward me. Soon, you will see the quality difference between my Droid camera phone and his Nikon....

....the iguana runs from me; but, as I go through the gate I see Chris crawling on his belly and blocking the iguana's escape, often stopping to fire away with his Nikon!!

I methodically move toward the iguana and Chris....

....all the while Chris is blocking and shooting....

....how about this shot?!?!?!?!

So, now is the time to see the difference in cameras....

(All Chris's shots have "CB" is the right corner.)

Chris gets a photo of me taking the close-up that follows....

My close-up....

Chris's close-up.

SEE THE DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at those feet!!!!

 

About to jump in, he had enough of us!! He looks back over his shoulder in disdain, gives us the "mean eye" and says,

"See ya!! Why don't you two go fly a kite....uh, better still....go jump in the cold ocean!!"

 

Chris looks at me and I look at him and we say to each other,

"That sounds like a good idea!!"