Cacao Blooms - Start to Finish

The blooms are attached to the trunk of the tree. It seems to me that this is a natural defense to keep the branches from breaking. The cacao fruits are so heavy that just two on any of the branches could cause it to snap so the tree has it's fruit on it's trunk. The last picture is our homemade drying rack. After fermenting we put the beans on this rack in the direct sun for about 4 days then we roast in a wok over an open fire.

Our Cacao in bloom

We have about 25 cacao trees along our creeks here in Costa Rica. We have been playing around with the drying process and learning how to prune our trees lately. We have done a successful batch of nibs but still don't quite understand the tempering to chocolate process. Here are two images of the fruit on the tree and a collection of ripened fruit. Tomorrow we will post two more. I am in love with the look of the tree and the colors of the fruit.

Even ugly animals can be cute

Our husky tree'd this opposum in one of our Gumbo Limbo trees. He could have been chased up a less useful tree but he got lucky. The Gumbo Limbo has fruits that many migratory North American birds enjoy, has resin that is used as glue and incense and the lumber has been used for years to make carousel horses in the U.S..

Shingles

Not the weird skin kind.

Green Vine Snake

We were walking back from delivering a cake to our neighbors and came upon this guy attempting to snatch a gecko in a banana tree. He missed the gecko and then noting our presence stayed in the tree long enough for Barry to run into the house and get his gear. We will post two more images of him tomorrow. If you want to learn more about Vine snakes go to wikipedia.

Roots

Our recent move got me thinking about roots and how sometimes when you replant something it dies and sometimes it flourishes. As important as your early roots are you should always reach to obtain what you need to grow, be it sunlight, fresh water or shade.

Magic Mushrooms

These fungi's are growing up the side of a tree in the rainforest of Costa Rica. A bit of dappled light illuminates the caps of a few making the scene magical.

Osprey - Triple Threat

Another image from Cayo Costa State Park in Florida. This osprey was preparing to land on his giant nest high up in the tree.

Cayo Costa State Park Florida

This is a black and white of Cayo Costa State Park on Florida's Gulf side. This shot was taken after some nasty weather and most of the driftwood was scattered around on the ground. The same image in color didn't have quite the same appeal so we decided to stay with the shadowy b&w. Cayo Costa is an island so one can only get there by boat. It has cheap camping and beautiful sunsets. There are also several nesting Osprey's so it's a good place for a photog to spend a few days.

Simple components

This image may not be an instant eye catcher but it has all the components of a solid image. The rocks are in the foreground to fill the frame, large tree limbs reach out to the left to help fill as well. It's basic but depending on what the company who is buying it wants it could have just the perfect amount of room on the left hand side for text. This image was shot to sell.

Morning has broken

Processing HDR differently

This is a tree on our farm in Costa Rica. One can normally see only one or two old growth large trees around "non-protected" areas because farmers cut down trees to sell and to make room for their cows. This tree is in bad shape but still beautiful. This was processed in HDR to help pick up the shadows and highlights on a very sunny day. Below is the same picture but processed differently (to the extreme in photomatics).

Supermoon

Nuff said.

Kiss

A Valentines day smooch.

Roots of a Buttress

A black and white image of the roots of a buttress tree.

Petals of a Water Apple

The petals fall just before the fruit starts to grow. The color left on the ground is a bright, florescent pink. The first time I saw it I had to touch it to verify that it was naturally that color. I love water apple season here in Costa Rica. The fruit is also known as a wax apple.

Water Apple

Ladies & Gentlemen, the beautiful water apple. The bright flowers of this fruit tree fall just before the soft, fleshy meat of the water apple starts to bulge. Tasty.

A smooth landing

Shadows

Full Moon Glow