Lack luster day at Lake Woodruff.

The birds were scarce at Lake Woodruff but the beauty is still there. Fog and drizzle made for good bird photography if only there were more birds there.

Winter brings some golden color at Lake Woodruff.

Mocking bird staring me down

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, Nostrovia!

So, this is the time to reflect on the past year and make some plans and goals for the new year. Photography wise, this was a great year. I enjoyed learning new things, meeting new people and taking a couple of great photography workshops. The best part was having some new friends to share my love of photography with, and go out shooting together. I have never had a problem with going out alone to take photographs, but going out early or late in the darkness was always a little unsettling. As a result, this year having a group to shoot sunrises and sunsets together, my photographs have much more interesting light.

This is the first time I have actually started to think about what is in store for next year. Other than the usual resolutions like lose weight, get organized, etc., I want to slow down and consider my compositions and camera settings instead of just shooting without thought. I plan to take at least one good workshop and maybe some shorter online classes. I have a new optic and macro converters for my Lensbaby, so I am going to get more accomplished at using it. I hope to update my website with some new content, continue to work on long exposure photography and lastly learn to finally use my flash! I think this is a good start to a plan for the new year.

Red Door on Bridge Street - St. Augustine, Florida

Nighttime in Orlando

The new Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. It's a beautiful building when its all lit up at night. We started out before sunset to take photos at Lake Ivanhoe. After that we stopped at the Orlando train station for some photos. From there we went to the performing arts center for some more nighttime photography. I am sure I will be returning there again at different times of day. Nighttime is the most spectacular.

The historic Orlando train station at night.

 

Sunset at Lake Ivanhoe

The old "round" building being demolished.

 The

East Coast Sunrise

Coquina Rock at Marineland Beach

The Florida coastline is generally just flat, sandy beaches. When I stopped at this beach near Marineland one day, I was blown away how interesting the coquina rock formations were. It is now one of my favorite landscape spots. Unfortunately, it is an hour and a half drive from home. Everytime I go the landscape is different depending on the light and the tides. I have been using ND filters to get long exposures and soften the ocean waves. I recently entered this image in the Orlando Camera Club competition and won a second place ribbon.

Japan Festival - Hunters Creek - 2014

Another Florida Sunrise

The Beach at Marineland

Worldwide Photowalk 2014

Once a year Scott Kelby holds his Worldwide Photowalk. There are walks held on the same day all over the world. It is a free, photowalk where you choose a city and join up. When my photo buddies said they wanted to sign up not only for St. Pete, but for the sunrise shoot, I thought they were crazy. Well, we all made it for the 6:45 AM start time. We left Orlando at 4 AM and arrived with plenty of time. The group headed out to the beach to get into position to photograph the sun rising under the Sunshine Skyway bridge. The sky was cloudless but there was enough color to make the shot somewhat interesting. Using my longest focal length, I focused in close and waited for the sun to rise. My pre rise shots were better since I had some technical issues with the longer exposures.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge before sunrise from Fort Desoto

Using the Lee Big Stopper

Once the sun was up, our group headed over to the Fort and Pier at Fort Desoto. There were plenty of birds on the beach, the pier and miscellaneous subjects to shoot. An important part of the Photowalk experience is the breakfast afterwards to socialize with the group and share photos.

Next a few of us decided to go and do some exploring and shooting in the fishing village of Cortez and then onto Anna Maria Island to check out the City Pier. With it being very bright, the best subjects were some close ups of the netting, ropes and bouys that were used by the fishermen.



The City Pier - Anna Maria Island

At Anna Maria Island, we headed over to the city pier to try some daytime, long exposure photography. At this time of day it is necessary to cover up the view finder to keep light from leaking in. Both images were 15 second exposures, f22 and iso 100. It was enough to smooth out the water but not the clouds.

Twice the Sunflowers, Twice the Water!

Lessons learned: Keep checking lens for water drops. After walking a quarter of a mile in the water, I should have checked my lens for water drops.

I tried using a graduated filter but it wasn't effective. I have since gotten a stronger one to try next time.

Sloshing through the swamp in pursuit of swamp sunflowers.

With all the rain we have had lately, it is no surprise that the Marl Bed Flats at Lake Jesup would be underwater. After purchasing a pair of rubber rain boots, we were ready for anything. Arriving just before sunrise, we trekked through the water, mud and cow patties to arrive out on the flats to photograph the sunflowers. The flowers are not completely in bloom but probably will be peak by next weekend.

 

 

Sunrise at New Symrna Beach

Actually the sunrise was hidden by storm clouds and rain storms. Despite the rainy forecast my photo buddies are dedicated and we went to the coast in hopes of finding a sunrise. Even though it never came to fruition, we still had fun photographing the rock jetty, rough surf and ominous clouds and a few dedicated fishermen.

Jetty - New Symrna Beach

Sunrise over St. Augustine, sort of....

 

The beach at Marineland

 

We have been waiting for the sunrise to be a little later so we could make it over to Marineland for the sunrise with the coquina rocks on the beach. The tide was low, in fact very low so the rocks were mostly way above the water level. I was having some camera malfunctions while using my Lee Big Stopper. So, I reverted to shooting without any ND filters. After the sun was up, we headed for breakfast and then on to St. Augustine to find some more photo ops.

Details from some of the historic houses.

  鲍恺熙 
(Joyful & Healthy)

Piers, Pilings and U-Turns

A Groupon deal came along for a hotel in Dunedin, a place I have been wanting to visit for awhile. So, I jumped on the deal and booked a room for a quick weekend trip. My main objective was to shoot the sunset at Honeymoon Island State Park and also the old wooden pilings in Dunedin. With only time for one sunset location, I choose Honeymoon Island and thought I could photograph the pilings in the morning.

Reddington Fishing Pier

On the journey to Dunedin, I did some scouting of other areas close by. I actually started in St. Petersburg at Reddington Pier. It's a nice old wooden fishing pier. After that I stopped at the Seacoast Seabird Sanctuary. Many birds are being rehabilitated there but there are many free roaming birds hanging around. A few steps away on the beach were numerous species of shore birds who are not bothered by people. It was also beastly hot so I moved on.

Next was Clearwater and Pier 60, but by now the beach was way too crowded and I was not interested in paying $5.00 to park for a few minutes. The last stop before Dunedin was the Heritage Museum in Largo. I wanted to go back and take some HDR photos of the old garage with the wide angle lens I had rented for the weekend.

Heritage Museum in Largo

Dunedin is a nice small town on the water and really close to Honeymoon Island State Park. The Pinellas Trail runs through the town, but I will wait until cooler weather to bring my bike. After checking into the hotel and getting some early dinner, I drove over to Honeymoon Island. I checked out several spots before I ended up at the end of the island that is less inhabited and more rocky. I found the spot I wanted for sunset just as the sky changed from clear to dark, ominous looking clouds rapidly moving west. Pretty soon the sky was overall grey and the torrential rains came. Sitting in the car I watched as everyone there eventually left. I decide that I had no where to go so I waited out the storm. Ten minutes before the sun was supposed to set, it started to clear a bit. I grabbed my gear, wrapped in plastic, my umbrella and headed to the beach. I wasn't leaving without a few shots. The state park closes ten minutes after sunset so I was rushing to get shots and get leave.

Honeymoon Island an hour before sunset

North beach at Honeymoon Island as the storm clears.

The next morning I got up early to try and get some shots of the old pilings in Dunedin. I parked close by and set up to get some long exposures. The sun was rising behind me so the light was mostly flat. The sky was mostly cloudless and the water was fairly still. One solitary sailboat was anchored out in the harbor.

It's Finally Complete!

I have been watching this mysterious looking building being erected along I-4 east of Lakeland. My first guess was some type of athletic facility. Actually, it is the brand new Florida Polytechnic University. I went there Saturday night with my photography buddies. The building is awesome and even better after dark. The unique structure of the building is surrounded by large, shallow pools, seven in all. Each pool is higher than the next with a walkway between them. Here are a few of the photos. It will definately be a return location as the campus evolves. Also looks like a good birding spot.

The upper level

One of the ponds