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.