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.