While planning my trip to Everglades National Park I had seen quite a few images from the Ten Thousand Islands area in the very northwest corner of the park so that was the first stop. I arrived in the small town of Everglades City early in the afternoon and after checking into a motel I went searching for a boat to get out among the islands for sunset. Well I guess if I were smart I would have known that you would need your own boat to be able to cruise around and shoot sunset by yourself! All boat rentals that I checked out needed to be back before sunset. In talking with a couple of friendly guys at a local marina, they came up with a solution though. I told them that I was a photographer and gave them an idea of what kind of shot I was looking for. I had in my mind an image with a lone mangrove. These two guys started bouncing locations off each other. They obviously new the area well when they can remember where all the neat mangrove trees were at. They even had pictures on their phones! Bob Miller offered to take my wife and I out for sunset and we agreed to meet at 5:00, an hour and a half before sunset.

After checking out what else the town had to offer, we covered ourselves in bug spray and I put together my gear and headed to the marina. Bob had a fast boat and set out to blaze us from one spot to another, stopping to let me see if it was what I had in mind. They all had potential but it was the last stop that looked most promising. Bob inched the boat in close to a large mangrove on the end of an island. It was very shallow, so I grabbed my gear and jumped out to wade over to the shore. The tide was going out so he had to get away from the island and leave me until I was done shooting sunset. He spent the time entertaining my wife with his local stories.

There wasn’t a cloud to be seen in the sky so I knew my only real shot was going to be just as the sun touched the horizon. I searched out an interesting rock formation to add some depth to the shot and setup and waited. The seas were a little choppy, so I pulled out my neutral density filters to slow down the exposure and smooth out the water. The tide continued to recede as the sun went down which helped accentuate the rocks and I was happy with the final result. I packed up my gear and looked for my ride.

Since the tide was so low it turns out we had a slight predicament. Bob wasn’t able to get close to shore anywhere with mangroves on the edge so he told me to head down to a small beach a hundred yards or so away. That was easier said than done! I bushwhacked my way through a jumble of trees and stumps and made it to the “beach” as Bob nudged the boat in as close as he could. I thew my gear in as the mosquitoes were beginning to attack and we made our way out into the fading light of dusk. Bob weaved the boat around a maze of small islands that all looked the same and before long we were back at the dock. I now know that it would take a little getting used to to not get lost around there and was grateful for Bob’s taxi service. If you are in the area, I would recommend looking him up at the Oyster House Restaurant.

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