East Coast Adventure

For awhile now I have been wanting to check out some of the State Parks along the east coast between Flagler Beach and St. Augustine. I bought a State Park Pass this year and thought I should take advantage of it. Despite the hot weather I drove to Flagler and then went north on A1A. First stop was at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park. This park is located along the Matanzas River and was once owned by a distant relative of George Washington. I think I was the only person at the park and seemed to attract all of the mosquitos. The park has some formal rose gardens and other ponds, flowers and of course large oaks. Mostly shaded walkways and paths lead through the park. I tried some lensbaby shots with the new macro lens attached. Shooting in the sun was a little difficult due to the heat and I ended up over exposing most of the flower shots. The camera has to be set on manual so I have to learn to pick the proper exposures.

One of the large live oaks at Washington Oaks Gardens SP

Lens Baby shot with macro attachment

The gardens are on the river side of A1A. Leaving the gardens, there is another part of the park on the ocean. I walked up to the beach and was surprised to see the beach covered with cocina rocks. This is an unusual sight for a Florida beach. It was mid-morning so the light was harsh but I took several shots and plan to return for a sunrise in the near future.

Next stop was the St. Augustine Light Station. The view was spectacular from the top and the breezes were welcomed after the climb in an unairconditioned lighthouse.

Spiral staircases always make an interesting shot - ISO 1250!

Playing Tourist Close to Home



Lens Baby shot of boats with reflections.





Balcony outside Bice Restaurant. HDR and Color Efex Pro





Portofino Hotel Lobby shot at 800 Iso. Tonal Contrast in Color Efex Pro



If you can't travel to exotic locations there are always things to photograph around our many theme parks and themed hotels. I walked over to the Portofino Hotel on an early morning to shoot the many boats in the lagoon with the colorful reflections from the buildings. The buildings themselves have painted facades that are a little fake looking but their reflections in the water are awesome.

Architectural Abstracts

Out of the Archives...

A while back I had some of my old negs scanned and this one was always interesting to me, so I decided to see if I could give it a mysterious look. The scan was very grainy which seemed to work for this particular image.

Heritage Village in Largo, FL

This is an HDR shot I took while at the Heritage Village in Largo several months ago. This is an incredible living museum with many restored historical buildings. Lots of subjects to shoot and best of all, its free admission. Next door is a botanical garden which I will check out next visit. I took three exposures, two stops apart and brought them into Photomatix to work the magic. After that I tweaked it a little with Nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast.

Step Back in Time, Cortez, Florida

The Village of Cortez, on the gulf coast near Bradenton Beach, is an old Florida fishing village. The area was settled by commercial fisherman. Residents called the eastern shore of Sarasota bay south of the village, the kitchen for its wealth of fish, scallops and other seafood. Net fishing was popular due to the large amounts of black mullet. Most of the shoreline structures were destroyed by a hurricane in 1921, but the resilient residents rebuilt them. Today it is still an active fishing village with several fish markets and restaurants. This was a great place to shoot old docks, boats, old wooden buildings and birds. Hope to go back and photograph at sunset instead of high noon and 95 degree temps. The locals were very helpful in pointing me in the direction of scenic areas of interest. There is a small museum housed in the original school house but I didn't have the time to visit it. Lunch was at the Cortez Kitchen next door to Cortez Seafood with a rustic outdoor deck next to the  boat docks.

Welcome to Cortez

Building at the Cortez Historical Museum

Buoys and Beer - Antique and Salvage Shop, Cortez

Dingy's at Bradenton Beach on Sarasota Bay

Spring Training

Spring Garden Ranch, Deleon Springs, FL