ART of Darkness – Camping with the Stars! Part I

NIGHT LANDSCAPE ART PHOTOGRAPHY:

EVERGLADES, FLORIDA BAY, TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS,

BIG CYPRESS & BEYOND!

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“A Trip to the Moon!“

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Welcome to the endless seasons of
“Camping with the Stars!”
Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.

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Camping with the Stars means going outside to experience the night as all the wild creatures of the earth do, or as closely as modern western society humans can. It is to step away from, and to go outside the world of people. It means to look up at the vast infinity above full of billions and billions of stars and feel humbled. It means to connect with the power of the infinite and transcend our daily, busy modern lives. It also means to stay up close and connected to the rhythms of the heavens and of the earth!

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Whole sky 360 circular panorama in the late afternoon sun.
Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Deep blue sky with all those Little Fluffy Clouds!

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Camping with the Stars starts in the afternoon under the warmth of the sun – our closest star.

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Napping  inside the inner sanctum of my tent opened up like a clam shell on the beach.
I’m dreaming of a great Florida sunset!
CLICK for crazy clam shell 360 VR figure8 panorama!

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 For me, camping with the stars is one of the treats of an authentic experience of the REAL South Florida, the wilderness of the Everglades ecosystem! Although significantly diminished, our Everglades still range from the Kissimmee River to Lake Okeechobee and down to the Keys and east west in between. This story is a photographic journey to remote destinations that have some of the darkest skies and best star viewing. Along the way, there will be side a trip excursion to the moon and back plus highlights from two other Kayakfari ART series:

ART of Darkness – Kayaking the final frontier of imaging and photography

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ART of the Bay – Florida Bay Landscapes

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After watching the moon descend and peacefully set over the Gulf of Mexico, this story ends paddling out into a fresh new dawn, kayaking the great expanses of Florida Bay!

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I do hope that some of this eye candy rubs off on you, and inspires you to go out and experience camping with the stars for yourself!

If you have a kayak or canoe, connect with one of the meetup kayaking groups that organize camping trips. More ambitious and experienced paddlers will find the Florida Paddling Trails Association an invaluable resource. To go on foot, connect with one of the Florida Trail Association chapters – the Big Cypress chapter in Miami-Dade and the Happy Hoofers chapter in Broward.

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“Sunset procession over Florida Bay”

The day is going .. going .. gone – classic sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. 
CLICK for 360 sunset progression sequence panorama!

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Let’s get things going with a classic South Florida sunset over the water.

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Across Florida Bay: Flamingo to Long Key Roundtrip Adventure

An XXL sun sets over Florida Bay in the Everglades.
CLICK for story!

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As the sun disappears and the moon silently rises, the magic show begins!

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Harvest moon, Super moon, Blood moon and High Tides!

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Introducing the 14% larger and 30% brighter supermoon rising over Florida Bay!

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KAYAKFARI ART PHOTOGRAPHY –

“Harvest Moon”

“Harvest Moon”
Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Blood red harvest full moon rising over Florida Bay.

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The first five minutes of a moon rise are the most poetic. It’s steady ascent above the horizon is clear evidence of  an endless cosmic cycle. From day to night, month to month, epoch to epoch – as our little planet world moves through space and time.

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Kayafari ART Photography – “Pink Moon”.

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Whole sky 360 panorama. As the full moon rises, it nearly wipes away the stars above the Everglades.

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In these circular panoramic images, consider yourself lying flat on the ground looking straight up – that’s a 360 degree all sky view!

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Whole sky 360 panorama full moon and the stars on a partly cloudy night in Florida Bay.

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
A full moon rises over my tent at the eerie Graveyard Creek campsite in Everglades National Park.

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Little Rabbit Key – a camping jewel in Central Florida Bay

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
See the Rabbit in the Moon over Little Rabbit Key Florida Bay.
CLICK for story!

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KAYAKFARI ART PHOTOGRAPHY –

“Full Moon Rising over Florida Bay”

A sweet light easterly breeze and moonrise over eastern Florida Bay.
ART of the Bay – Florida Bay Landscapes!

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Camp LuLu

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Moonrise over Camp Lu Lu at low tide in the Ten Thousand Islands.

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Temporary tidal space and Faith in Numbers!

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Chilling in the moonlight on a Florida Keys sandbar “camp” at low tide.

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Camping on the Johnson Key platform in Florida Bay

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Full moon rising over the Johnson Key chickee platform in Florida Bay.

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The Everglades interior presents a real stillness in the middle of the night, only occasionally punctuated by a fish breaking the surface. It’s the ultimate in chill. You don’t know chill until you’ve experienced the chill of sweet silence in the Everglades!

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Under the serious Moonlight in the Ten Thousand Islands.

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
The full moon and Orion reflected in the Still Of The Night.
Willy Willy backcountry campsite nearer the Everglades interior.

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
The bright full moon with Jupiter and four of it’s largest ‘Galilean’ moons!

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Closeup of Jupiter and it’s Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

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As the full moon continues to rise higher in the sky it sometimes becomes so bright that you could almost read by it. Then, after a while as your eyes adjust to the darkness, the full moon can suddenly seem intolerably bright. It’s not that you’d want to wear shades, but you might want to seek some “shade”!  😉

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Full moon over the  Johnson Key chickee in Florida Bay.

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Staring at the moon can be a hypnotic experience, yet many creatures are nocturnal. They live and die under the moonlight. I once saw a whole flock of Pelicans gliding in the breezes above me in the moonlight. They flew silently in formations, with only the swoosh of their wings giving them away!

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
A rare sight indeed! Pelicans circling overhead at midnight in the moonlight at East Cape.

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ЛУНА (Luna, 1965) П.Клушанцев

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
La Luna, the full moon – Click to explore via Google Moon.
Also check out all the cool Moon names!

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Getting a bit closer, let’s take a little side trip to the moon. A good pair of binoculars can reveal many interesting and beautiful details of the lunar surface. Here we’re gonna do a lunar “drive-by” and see lunar details photographed at an effective focal length of 8800mm, courtesy of the very versatile Pentax Q camera!

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Lunar details seen on a closer approach to the moon!
Copernicus crater at top left, Mare Vaporum at lower right. Apollo 14 landed at lower left on the Fra Mauro formation.
CLICK for excellent site on Lunar observation.

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At home, Google Moon can reveal even more details, but it can’t compare to a view of the real thing.

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DIGITAL FANTASY ART – “Portage to Earth”

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
“Portage to Earth”
ART of Darkness – Kayaking the final frontier.

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Oh no! Nooooooooo! Something took a big bite out of the moon!

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Harvest moon, Super moon, Blood moon and High Tides!

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
As the eclipse consumes more and more of the harvest ‘super’ moon it becomes a ‘blood’ moon!

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A total lunar eclipse is as if the light had somehow been turned off. Again, I am humbled!

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
A total lunar eclipse, one of two visible in the Everglades in 2014.
More total eclipses are always in the works!

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I find great comfort resting under the moonlight while watching it ride across the night sky.

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Whitehorse Key

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Orion and moon over a campfire on Whitehorse Key in the Ten Thousand Islands.

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Once past it’s zenith, the moon’s descent signals a slow countdown to dawn.

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Hell’s Bay chickee in the moonlight.

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KAYAKFARI ART PHOTOGRAPHY –

“Island Night“

“Island Night” – Kayakari ART Photography
CLICK for ART of the Bay – Florida Bay Landscapes.

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The moon’s gravitational pull works ocean tides in an endless cycle. In shallow Florida Bay, this is particularly apparent, especially in places like the flats of First National Bank!

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Beach camping panorama at Northwest Cape in Everglades National Park  with dawn creeping in!
CLICK for interactive VR Panorama!

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Moonset and stars over a research “flume” in the heart of the Shark River Slough on the famed Everglades ‘River of Grass’. This was an old science platform for conducting studies on excess phosphorus loading in the traditionally low nutrient Glades environment.

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Kayaking the River of Grass – a Shark River Slough Expedition.

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
CLICK for story!

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NIGHT FUNSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY and DIGITAL ART –

ART of Cape Romano – The curious inhabitants of Australopithecine Island

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Moon setting over “lunar” shacks of Cape Romano.

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DIGITAL FANTASY ART –

“Crushing weight of the Moment”

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
“Crushing weight of the Moment”
CLICK for ART of Darkness – Kayaking the final frontier.

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As the moon sets and the dawn clears away the darkness, the show is nearly over.

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Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Moonset and Peace on Earth.

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Winter birthday triad on Florida Bay with the ‘Banana Boat’!

Kayakfari ART photography – ART of Darkness series.
Beautiful wispy high clouds threading across the whole pre dawn sky!

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KAYAKFARI ART PHOTOGRAPHY –

“Champagne Dawn”

Kayakfari ART photography – “Champagne Dawn”

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Select images available as high quality archival prints for sale directly to you in various sizes for your collecting, decorating and viewing pleasure!

Images are also available to license for your print or  digital editorial needs!

E-mail me for a price list or for a quote

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Read about paddling and camping on Florida Bay:

Chickees and Keys in Florida Bay – Kayaking, Camping and Nice Dreams!

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But WAIT – there’s MORE!

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Continue on to Part II -> “It’s full of Stars!”

It’s full of Stars!
CLICK for Part II

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! Dynamix Bless UP
Rabbit in the Moon

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© 2016 – 2022 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved!

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The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!

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I hereby disclaim any sponsorship, endorsement, nor association with any product or service described herein. The photographs, depictions, products, and ideas presented on this site are for informational purposes only. Your results may vary, and I do not imply nor guarantee the effectiveness, suitability, design or operation to adhere to any standard. I assume no legal responsibility for the implementation of anything herein presented! Use any and all information at your own risk! By using any and all information from this website, you accept the final liability for any use or possible associated misuse!

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With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂