Trolleys

You know the places that are close by but you never have visited? Well, I was up in Connecticut and Massachusetts visiting my Dad and we were trying to think of something to do. I have passed by the signs between home and the airport for the Trolley Museum for probably more than 30 years. So this time we decided to check it out. We started out watching the movie and then went out to ride a trolley. They have pretty much non stop trolley rides on various restored trolleys. The one we rode was a unique top-less version with stadium seating. I think it was originally used in Canada. We had a fun time riding the trolley. The museum also has a fire engine museum which had a least a dozen restored fire trucks. We wandered around in the back where they were restoring more trolleys and buses. This area was not really for the general public but no one seemed to mind too much. I loved the old, rusted trolleys with all the textures. It was a fun visit and something I can check off my list.

The motormen

We rode this open air trolley with the "stadium" seats

Waiting for restoration. My family was from Kenmore, NY and I lived there when I was born. Too young to remember any trolleys.

Graphic patterns and textures

"Water color" Reflections

 

Early morning at Portofino Hotel brings out spectacular colors from the buildings reflected in their little harbor. The photos take on a water color appearance. It's fun to find things to photograph without having to travel very far.

Orlando Wetlands Park in search of Reflections

Family of Whistling Ducks escaping from the hungry alligator

The plan was to spend the morning working in the yard, but since it was a holiday I decided to do something more fun such as photographing at the Orlando Wetlands Park. My intent was to concentrate on finding reflections in the water. I had not expected much of the water to be green with algae as you can see with the duck family photo. I did find some reflections later in the morning but by then the wind had picked up and the water was not smooth. The eastern most pond had recently been cleaned out according to the caretaker and it was full of great white egrets, great blue herons and even little blue herons. I saw more king fishers than I have ever seen out there. I almost got a shot of two king fishers as they flew by but I was changing out the lens and wasn't ready. Seems like the more you are unprepared to take a shot, the closer they fly past you. This must be some "rule" of bird photography. I hope to get back out there before it closes from November to February.

Cocoa Beach Surf Festival

Every Labor Day weekend there is a surfing festival at the Cocoa Beach Pier. This year the waves were far from spectacular. As a result there wasn't as much action to photograph. It was also low tide so I did most of the photography from the fishing pier and shot down on the surfers. The challenge is getting the faces of the surfers and the light is behind them for the most part. Some cloud cover would have been nice but it stayed quite sunny and bright the whole time. I think I will need to get a hoodman loupe before the next time shooting surfing. It was difficult to review the images in the bright sun.