Hillsborough River

HDR of Rusted Truck in front of Smokehouse Restaurant on Rt. 301

Class II Rapids on Hillsborough River

 

Long Exposure 3 seconds at f/16 using a variable ND filter

I went to Tampa to participate in the World Wide Photo Walk in Ybor City lead by the Photoshop Guys, Pete Collins and Corey Barker.This photowalk was supposed to be i-phones only and the plan was to shoot lots of textures that can later be used in designs and photo montages. I used my Sony Rx-100 since I don't have an I-phone. We were also joined by RC and Brad Moore. It was a great time and we had some pizza afterwards and shared some of the images. I didn't want to drive home late so I reserved a campsite at Hillsborough River State Park. The benefit of camping is that you can get up early and have the park to yourself for photography. Normally the state parks don't open until 8 or 9 am. Usually too late for the good light. I wanted to check out the river rapids and try some long exposure shots.

In Search of Sunflowers, Part Two

To be more exact, they are helianthus angustifolius, also referred to as narrow leaf sunflowers, and swamp sunflowers. I returned to the North Lake Jesup track a little before sunrise and tromped through the wet, tall grass. My feet and pants were soaked in minutes but it was worth it. The sunrise added some nice color with the sunflowers in the foreground. A small lake (pond) also provided some opportunities for reflections.

North Lake Jesup Tract at sunrise

Next stop was the Marl Bed Flats. I finally found it thanks to a great map I found online. The GPS took me previously to the wrong part of the correct road. It's about a half mile hike out to the flats. I met some people who had a remote control aircraft with a GoPro camera attached. They were seeing what it was filming on the I-Phone. So cool! After that I saw two artists painting picutres. At least they didn't have to worry about shooting into the sun.

I tried not to think of what creatures could be lurking in the dense flowers and high grass. Almost every picture had some jet streams in the sky due to the closeness of Sanford International Airport. If the flowers last I may try one more time getting out there either early or late and see what I can do. After that it won't be until next year to shoot the sunflowers.

In search of sunflowers

"Swamp Sunflowers" at the North Lake Jesup Tract

Shot in the late afternoon at the North Lake Jesup Tract

After seeing a fellow photographers photo of these beautiful sunflowers next to Lake Jesup, I started doing a little research to see if I could find and photograph the flowers. I was pretty sure that he photographed the flowers from off of the highway. I found a blog about photo locations so I went off (with a good friend willing to help me explore) to find some of the locations mentioned. The gps took me to where I thought the trail head was, but it was nothing more than a dead end road. I tried another location where there is a park. We started out on the hiking trail. Before even getting into the woods, a snake crossed my path. I couldn't identify it but it can't be good. Not 30 yards down the trail, it was under water. Time to try something else. I found a couple to fishermen coming out of the woods so I approached and asked if they could help me find the flowers. They gave me directions to another location where I finally took some pictures of the flowers. I hope to get back out and try some other spots before the flowers are gone.

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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.