Florida has these amazing pockets of forests, called hammocks. They're densely packed with hardwood trees and ferns. Here are a few photos that I took in the Oak Hammock Trail on Merritt Island, which is near Cape Canaveral. There was a boardwalk built over the swampy parts, so we were able to get a good look at trees growing up out of the water. We saw plenty of zebra longwing butterflies, which is Florida's state butterfly. I'm looking forward to walking around more hammocks as we travel through Florida. 

We're on our way our next spot. But I thought I would share that I'm doing my best to take photos every day. Luckily the spot we were in had a sweet little pond full of reeds and lily pads. I've always enjoyed using creative, artistic lenses rather than the standard camera lenses. The first two photos were taken with an old Russian lens, the Helios 44. I love this lens since it's so easy to use in low light and gives a beautiful bokeh and velvety focus.

The second set of photos were taken with a Lensbaby Composer Pro with a Edge 80 optic, which you can find out more about here. I love this lens for its creativity, but there can be a bit of a learning curve in using it. Every time I put it on my camera, I have to get reacquainted with it. But it's so worth it for the blurry edgework and unique look. I'm planning on using these two lenses a lot more in my travels.