Interesting locations around Hollywood Florida?

[ageorge]

I am going to be spending several days in Hollywood, Florida next week and will have sometime to explore with my camera. I am totally unfamiliar with the area and was hoping some of you may have some interesting suggestions. I would be interested in some swampy everglades/cypress landscapes or some neglected urban/industrial type of environments. I could drive up to an hour for a good location. Any pointers would be highly appreciated.

Thanks,
-alan

[Rick Olson]

Hello Alan,

A little different from your request, but I found the Art Deco district in South Beach-Miami area fascinating ... especially at night. Lots of neon and bright colors. Looks great on 4 x 5 Velvia.

Rick

[Brian Ellis]

The lack of responses here probably answers your question. I don't live in that area but I did live in Central Florida for many years and occasionally visited the lower east coast of Florida. Frankly I never found anything along the lines of your interests (which I also share) in that area. You could spend months in the Everglades without exhausting photographic possibilities and they should be good this time of year - no mosquitoes - but they're probably more than an hour away though I'm not sure, I approached them from the west coast of Florida.

[Ted Chambers]

In the Hollywood - Ft Lauderdale area, you can look for rivers than run inland. I know there's one in downtown Ft Lauderdale that has a bit of the flavor of what you're looking for, although you might have to drive inland a bit to find a less developed area.

As far as industrial landscapes are concerned, there is little of the Rust Belt sort in southern Florida. However, west of Route 1, away from the "gold coast", there are many older, shabby, overgrown, lost-in-time kind of areas that are picturesque in a way that might appeal to you.

[Wayne Crider]

I live and shoot in the Fort Lauderdale area including all of south Florida. Hollywood wise not a lot happening except the Hollywood boardwalk and beach. Just north of Hollywood right up A1A is Dania beach with a Pier and John U. Lloyd Beach State Park. The park borders the Intracoastal waterway (shipping docks view-able) and it's easy enough to go on a weekday and take a picture, but I believe it requires an entrance fee.

Having shot for so long down here my first response would be there's nothing to shoot, but for a visitor there is actually quite a bit. There's River Front in Fort Lauderdale, Viscaya in Miami, Chihuly's back at Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami (a good bet for good pictures besides the gardens are nice), Anhinga Trail out in the Everglades, and South Beach. All of them search-able online. Regardless of the fee's, I'd probably do Fairchild and Viscaya. A trip out to the real Everglades would require a day and although I have shot some bit out there, I feel that it's better if your shooting either 35mm and very long lenses or can actually get off the roads and hike, which is no easy thing to do as an Everglades novice. You really have to be more set up to go hiking, but the regular views are very nice being wide and open, and not at all like the congested south Florida we know. If you wish to go into the Glades, there's Shark Valley and Anhinga to explore, and I have shot LF at Anhinga. It's easy enough to find info thru Google on all of it, plus maps thru whoever you use.