Gatorland Kissimmee, FL 2008 Text and Photography* Copyright 2008, Robert J. Amoruso * Unless otherwise noted. About Gatorland Florida has an abundance of natural settings where one can capture images of birds: wildlife refuges, national parks, state parks, and little tucked away gems that only a few know about, sites on the Great Florida Birding trail too. But how many people think Gatorland in Orlando when they think of bird and rookery photography? Not enough, and Orlando s oldest family attraction, now celebrating its 60 th anniversary year, is out to change that. Gatorland, located in South Orlando, began as a roadside attraction in 1949 and is emerging into a place where conservation and protection of threatened species, including birds, is a prime focus. The park was founded by the late Owen Godwin and still is in the hands of family members today. Its Old Florida charm is a refreshing change from other Orlando attractions, and for photographers, it is without peer in opportunities to capture stunning images of nesting birds, chicks, courtship displays, flight, and roosting birds. Gatorland today provides affordably priced family-fun with hundreds of alligators and crocodiles, a breeding marsh with boardwalk and observation tower, one-of-a-kind reptilian shows, aviary, petting zoo, swamp walk, educational programs and much, much more. The park has wholly embraced the idea of photography passes, and offers seasonal passes that are good for a calendar year, as well as day or night single admission passes during the nesting season. Mike Godwin, an excellent nature photographer in his own right, developed the program for 2008 and is continuing to make changes and refinements to it that make the passes even more attractive to photographers. Gatorland has a number of things going for it that make it a better destination over similar settings in Florida. With a 10 acre alligator breeding marsh which is home to many gators, and a croc, too, flanked with vegetation on all four sides, it offers a significantly large area for nesting birds to congregate (see image at right north is up). The boardwalk located in the west side of the swamp runs north to south and is approximately 300 yards long. During the 2008 nesting season the greatest concentration extended from the north-end south for 185 yards to the tower. The east swamp shore extends 210 yards with nesting birds the full length. Along the boardwalk are two cabanas offering a respite from the summer heat and sun. The northern most cabana area has some of the best birds in flight opportunities there. At its mid-point, there is a three story tower (left) which offers elevated views of the swamp and the opportunity for a unique perspective of birds in flight Gatorland - Tower 1
(below). Great Egret in flight photographed from the second-story of the tower. Additionally, there are many activities within the park that can occupy a photographer s family or friends while they photograph. Due to the size of the breeding marsh and boardwalk, photographers can really spread out, and there are photographic possibilities around every twist and turn. Image making at Gatorland The primary species nesting at Gatorland include Great, Snowy and Cattle Egrets, Tri-colored and Little Blue Herons and Wood Storks. In recent years, Roseate Spoonbills have nested here with two nests in 2007 and three nests in 2008. Grackles are also a popular non-wading bird species nesting at the rookery. This year a Limpkin started to nest but departed mid-way through the season. Tri-colored Heron in breeding colors. Cattle Egret in breeding colors. The mornings, with the best light and close proximity to the west side nests from the boardwalk, offer excellent opportunities for tight close-up images of golden Cattle Egrets and Tri-colored Herons above. Snowy Egrets and Great Egrets like those below abound. 2
Great Egret in breeding colors. Snowy Egret in breeding colors. Afternoons offer the best light for photographing the east-side shore with many chances at the Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills coming and going from the tall pine trees to stage for a landing in their nests in the canopy below. The image of the spoonie below made as the sun was setting using a slow shutter speed is a composite illustrating the bird s approach and landing on a snag above its nest. Roseate Spoonbill coming in for a landing. A favorite location of mine in the afternoon is the tower on the first level. There I await multiple chances at flight photography including the Great Egrets coming and going from the tall pines on the opposite shore. Opposite the tower on the far shore is a snag sticking up out of the water a favorite roosting place for Snowy Egrets as they search the water for sticks or fish. 3
After working the tower area I move north to the next cabana for more flight photography. However, if the light is right I keep moving north to the end of the boardwalk to one of my favortie places to photograph Alligators bathed in electric gold, yellow and green reflections from the far shore of the swamp. I normally use my 600mm lens for these image due to its bokeh (from the Japanese boke, a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens). Mouth agape, this alligator shows his teeth. Colorful reflections combined with an alligator equals an empressive image. As the end of the day approaches, huge fly-ins of Ibises, (they don t nest there), Great Egrets, Snowies, Vultures and Wood Storks occur everyone coming home for the evening. For these images, I use flash on full power to illuminate the bird from below and by varying my shutter speed, brighten or darken the background sky. White Ibies coming to roost image created using flash as main light. 4
Inbound Great Egret image created using flash as main light. 5
Even with the sun down, opportunites abound. Using flash as main light, I created this image of a Great Blue Heron fishing in the alligator swamp. 6
Equipment Intermediate telephoto lens are perfect at Gatorland. Many of my images are created using 300 to 400mm focal lengths. Zooms are particularly useful to better frame and crop your image in camera. Due to the proximity of the birds, tight close-up portraits can be made in this focal range. Super-telephoto lenses in the 500mm to 600mm range also have their place. I will use my 600mm lens to distance myself from the flying birds, making it easier to track them and decrease my angle of incidence to them. Tight portrait images with distant backgrounds are more accessible as well. Flash plus a Better Beamer will help you to tame highcontrast by filling in the shadows using fill-flash. Even the occasional rain shower provides a time to create a unique image like this one. 7
You will not find yourself slumbering at Gatorland like this guy there is just too much to photograph. Other areas of the park offer looks at non-native species. At the south end of the park is the popular Swamp Walk. Macro and scenic enthusiasts should be sure to investigate it. If this all sounds intriguing, I invite you to attend one of my upcoming workshops. In any event, you will not be disappointed with your visit to Gatorland. Contact Robert Amoruso at 407-808-7417 or email at info@wildscapeimages.com for more info. 8