Blue Cypress Lake

Blue Cypress Lake

    While Photographing on the east coast of Florida at a boardwalk over the water which had several islands that held many species of wading birds, a gentleman came up to me and we started talking. He knew right away my level of photography and mentioned a lake called Blue Cypress Lake 30 miles east of Vero Beach. He said that Ole Joe runs a boat guiding and fishing service there where you could go out and photograph for the most part a water raptor called an Osprey. He said that lake held about 300 pair of nesting birds during the spring and that I should look into it.

    Blue Cypress Lake is the largest lake in Indian River County and is a ten-square mile naturalists and fisherman's paradise. This lake is also a photographers paradise for the bird life and the waterscapes, as well as spectacular sunrises and sunsets. As the origin of the St. John's River, the lake is abundant with wildlife, including bass, delicious catfish, alligators,  ospreys and of course majestic bald cypress trees. The lake is a premiere location in Florida for trophy size large mouth bass fishing.

    

    Well, I had probably a couple of hundred Osprey images already, but would look up Blue Cypress Lake on the internet when I got back home. I found the web site for this lake and

found a video that someone posted of the Bald Cypress trees out in the water away from the shoreline. The video quality was on the poor side but was good enough for further investigation. So I called and got Jeannie, Ole Joe’s wife at the fish camp bait shop, and talked to her for quite awhile. About a week later I decided to pack up my boat with provisions for an overnight stay on the water and go explore this lake. This is about a 2 hour drive from my place on the West coast of Florida. I arrived early in the afternoon and met Joe and Jeannie and told them about my plans to overnight in my boat on the lake. Joe gave me a map of the lake and warned me of the cypress trees that were cut down in the 50s and are still lying on the shallow bottom and if I hit one of those with prop of the motor it could take out my lower unit. He said don’t go close to shore past the cypress trees that are out in the lake. I had 2 electric trolling motors on my boat, so when I got close to the trees,

I raised the big 70 HP motor and used the electric motors to get around in the shallows. I spent all that afternoon on the west side of the lake, which did not allow for sunset images, but did provide plenty of shooting of the Ospreys landing in the trees and building their nests. So I opted to get up bright and early the next morning for some colorful sunrise images of the trees from the backside, 

which turned out to be a perfect location. The west side also allows for some very good early

morning light on the cypress trees up to about 9 am. The Ospreys were just beginning to build

their nest and there was no shortage of tree and spaces in which to do so. Some trees have as 

many as 3 - 4 pairs of birds biding for just the right location in the same tree. This made for

some interesting actions  images of these birds. After filling up several camera cards, I loaded

up my boat and said goodby to Joe and Jeannie and headed back for the 2 hour return trip 

home.

    After looking at the map that Joe gave me, and the Google Earth satellite maps, I could easily see where the morning light and afternoon light would be best for future trips and

adjusted my arrival times such that I would motor across the lake to the East side for late afternoon light on those trees and sunset images. The best time for sunset images are well after the sun goes beyond the horizon. This is when the colorful light show begins. I would shoot for about another 30 minutes or so and then would head back across the lake to the boat ramp, tie up my boat at the dock and spend the night in my pickup truck with a fiberglass camper shell top. You need to be closed up tight as the mosquitoes at night are merciless. I have a 12 V fan and 2 screened windows which is plenty

good enough to cool off and sleep. The next morning I would get up bright and early and make coffee and have a couple of donuts and get in my boat and head out to the west side of the lake and find a suitable location for some silhouetted cypress tree sunrise images with the colorful first light of dawn. I can’t remember not making a good sunrise or sunset image on this lake, it just doesn’t happen.

The Blue Cypress Lake fish camp, owned by Joe and Jeannie had four one room cabin rentals on the water where you could tie up your boat right behind your room. There were also two mobile trailers that they rented as well. After discussing my future plans of conducting overnight photographic tours on the lake and needing rooms for my clients,

Joe and Jeannie said that they welcomed me in doing so and we came up with a pricing that worked out for the both of us. My photo tours would consist of 4-5 hours of waterscape photography and photos of nesting Osprey in the afternoon, followed up with another hour of sunset photography to finish the first day and then head back to our rooms for the night. It was a nice convenience to be able to tie up my boat right behind my cabin. We brought our dinner meals, as the cabin have a full kitchen and bathroom with refreshing hot showers. The next morning we made coffee and pastry and got in the boat and headed out to the West side of the lake where I had several places lined up for spectacular sunrise images with silhouetted cypress trees. We would then photograph the beautiful golden light of early

morning of the cypress trees and then concentrate the rest of the morning on obtaining flight shots and courting of the Ospreys. After about 11 o’clock the light would be a bit harsh so we would head back to the cabins so the people could get their things in order while I loaded up the boat on the trailer. Jeannie was very kind and would get my people in her golf cart and bring them back the the bait shop next to the boat ramp. Over the next couple of years I conducted about two dozen or so photo tour to this lake. One of those tours was a group from a camera club in northern Florida, whereby I had presented a digital slide program that I arranged to some very good nature music. My second presentation for the night was a program on Blue Cypress Lake. Before I left that night, I had 5 people want to sign up right then for my next availability photo tour to this lake and more people wanting more information about my photo tours. That club tour required me to rent a 24 foot pontoon boat that Joe rented, and three cabins for the night. We would then photograph the beautiful golden light of early

morning of the cypress trees and then concentrate the rest of the morning on obtaining flight shots and courting of the Ospreys. After about 11 o’clock the light would be a bit harsh so we would head back to the cabins so the people could get their things in order while I loaded up the boat on the trailer. Jeannie was very kind and would get my people in her golf cart and bring them back the the bait shop next to the boat ramp. Over the next couple of years I conducted about two dozen or so photo tour to this lake. One of those tours was a group from a camera club in 

northern Florida, whereby I had presented a digital slide program

that I arrange to some very good nature music. My second presentation for the night was a program on Blue Cypress Lake. Before I left that night, I had 5 people want to sign up right then for my next availability photo tour to this lake and more people wanting more information about my photo tours. That club tour required me to rent a 24 foot pontoon boat that Joe rented, and three cabins for the night.

One of the most interesting aspects of this lake is that it is completely private, with the total perimeter of the lake totally pristine with no buildings.

There is only the small trailer community of about 30 homes on three canals constructed back in the early 50s and the fish camp / boat ramp. The land around the lake and out for several miles is owned by the State of Florida as part of the preservation of the headwaters of the St. Johns River that flows north. The logging industry that felled the cypress trees in the 50s and many were never retrieved. There is still a tremendous amount of submerged trees on the bottom all around the perimeter of the lake. The State of Florida would not grant a permit to retrieve the remainder of those trees due to environmental concerns of the process, and so this lake will always remain as is, a pristine slice of heaven.

 Sadly, Ole Joe passed away and Jeannie 

managed to hang onto their house and the

cabins / fish camp for a few more years before she sold it. I have not been back after that but I still remember this lakes beauty and I have thousands of beautiful images to admire. Many of those images still vividly remind me of sitting in my boat on the lake and watching the beautiful colors of the day fade away into the night sky.

J. Michael