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.