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Venice Pier

This is Venice Pier on Florida’s west coast. A couple of weeks ago I found myself here with camera in hand. This is a really cool pier and at the foot of it is Sharky’s restaurant which is a must see if you’re visiting the area. This is one of those places we take our guests when they come down to visit. The combination of restaurant and pier on the beach in Florida is always fun. In fact, I was just talking to some friends about how we need more piers so that everybody can walk out to take it all in or go fishing for the afternoon. Of course the reason I really want more piers is so I can take pictures of them at sunset. Maybe one of these days I’ll try fishing off a pier instead, or maybe not.

This is Venice Pier on Florida's west coast. A couple of weeks ago I found myself here with camera in hand. This is a really cool pier and at the foot of it is Sharky's restaurant which is a must see if you're visiting the area. This is one of those places we take our guests when they come down to visit. The combination of restaurant and pier on the beach in Florida is always fun. In fact, I was just talking to some friends about how we need more piers so that everybody can walk out to take it all in or go fishing for the afternoon. Of course the reason I really want more piers is so I can take pictures of them at sunset. Maybe one of these days I'll try fishing off a pier instead, or maybe not.

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Moment in Time

One of my favorite subjects is an empty bench facing the sunset. I suppose there is some longing inside of me to just sit and be the person on that bench. But that’s the whole point of these photos, to transport myself from where I am now to this setting. I think that’s why I love photography, it allows me to save these little snippets of time so that I can go back and visit them from time to time. Whenever I do the experiences of that moment come back. For instance, when I took this there was another lady with a camera, probably a tourist, who was so impressed with the scene that she was taking dozens and dozens of pictures of the water and sunset. When I see someone do that I always wonder if they’ll ever go back and actually look at the photos they took. But I suppose that on some level she thought that if she could just get the perfect photo she could go back and look at it from time to time and return to this moment in time. Lady, wherever you are, I’m doing the same thing right now.

One of my favorite subjects is an empty bench facing the sunset. I suppose there is some longing inside of me to just sit and be the person on that bench. But that's the whole point of these photos, to transport myself from where I am now to this setting. I think that's why I love photography, it allows me to save these little snippets of time so that I can go back and visit them from time to time. Whenever I do the experiences of that moment come back. For instance, when I took this there was another lady with a camera, probably a tourist, who was so impressed with the scene that she was taking dozens and dozens of pictures of the water and sunset. When I see someone do that I always wonder if they'll ever go back and actually look at the photos they took. But I suppose that on some level she thought that if she could just get the perfect photo she could go back and look at it from time to time and return to this moment in time. Lady, wherever you are, I'm doing the same thing right now.

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Backyard Sunrise

I live on the west coast of Florida in Manatee County. While that’s great for watching sunsets from the beach over the Gulf of Mexico, it presents a little more of a challenge for catching a good sunrise. However, because I walk my dogs before dawn I usually have an opportunity to look up at the cloud cover and make a guess as to what the sunrise might look like. So it was on this morning as I walked the dogs about ten minutes before sunrise. When I saw the colors begin to display I lost any self restraint and began a mad dash for my camera and car keys. Problem is there aren’t many places near my house where I can get an unobstructed view, …except one place. A couple of blocks away is a vacant lot and next to that is an unobstructed view, …from someone’s backyard. Fortunate for me the owners seemed not to be awake as I quietly positioned my tripod on a steep slope at the edge of the backyard. When done I emerged from the backyard through the lot with tripod and camera in hand and managed to get a worried look from a lady out for a morning walk. Am I a little nuts? Sure, but satisfied nonetheless.

I live on the west coast of Florida in Manatee County. While that's great for watching sunsets from the beach over the Gulf of Mexico, it presents a little more of a challenge for catching a good sunrise with my camera. However, because I walk my dogs before dawn I usually have an opportunity to look up at the cloud cover and make a guess as to what the sunrise might look like. So it was on this morning as I walked the dogs about ten minutes before sunrise. When I saw the colors begin to display I lost all self restraint and began a mad dash for my camera and car keys. Problem is there aren't many places near my house where I can get an unobstructed view, ...except one place. I quickly drove a couple of blocks away to a vacant lot and next to that is an unobstructed view, ...in someones backyard. Fortunate for me the owners seemed not to be awake as quietly positioned my tripod on a steep slope at the edge of their backyard. As I emerged from the backyard through the lot with tripod and camera in hand I managed to get a worried look from a lady out for her morning walk. Am I a little nuts? Yup. Am I glad I got this shot? You betcha.

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This Side of Heaven

When I spied this shot I thought maybe I’d died and gone to heaven. Well, maybe not me but the folks watching the sunset in their beach chairs. Not many people that move down here to Manatee County in Florida return to their northern homes unless they’re what we call “snowbirds”; fly down in winter and back up in summer. I used to live in a northern climate and now I think I’d have a hard time going back. It’s true there’s beauty everywhere, but something about the gentle rolling of the waves and the warm breeze is hard to resist. Lets face it, Florida is a retirement state and for good reason. So, while Florida has industries and agriculture, I think it’s biggest draw is tourism. In my opinion it’s too hard to focus the mind when the climate and scenery are this inviting. It’s my theory that people in northern climates are more industrious because they are forced to stay indoors through the long cold months. I don’t know where I’m going with all this, probably nowhere. In any case, when I wake up from this daydream I hope I’m close to this beach. In the meantime, I’m not retired so I better get back to work.

When I spied this shot I thought maybe I'd died and gone to heaven. Well, maybe not me but the folks watching the sunset in their beach chairs. Not many people that move down here to Manatee County in Florida return to their northern homes unless they're what we call
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Kokonut Hut

The Kokonut Hut is in Bradenton Beach, Florida. About a mile radius from this spot is where I shoot a lot scenes, an area with beautiful beaches, bridges and of course, sunsets. On this evening I was hoping for more but the heavy clouds were not cooperating. In fact I met a family of four that were standing there waiting for the sunset as it was their last day and they picked a (very) rare week when it rained every day. I doubled my resolve not to take the natural beauty we have here in Florida for granted. I ended up with this exposure because I thought that even without the sunset, hanging out at a tiki bar close to the water with the warm air and cool drink is not so bad after all.

The Kokonut Hut is in Bradenton Beach, Florida. About a mile radius from this spot is where I shoot a lot scenes, an area with beautiful beaches, bridges and of course, sunsets. On this evening I was hoping for more but the heavy clouds were not cooperating. In fact I met a family of four that were standing there waiting for the sunset as it was their last day and they picked a (very) rare week when it rained every day. I doubled my resolve not to take the natural beauty we have here in Florida for granted. I ended up with this exposure because I thought that even without the sunset, hanging out at a tiki bar close to the water with the warm air and cool drink is not so bad after all.

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Palms

Being originally from California, I associate palms with LA and Hollywood. But now I live in Florida and I’m pretty sure we have a lot more here. There are three (not these) at the end of my street facing east and so when walking my dogs in the morning I’ll see the sun rise behind them. Through the seasons, the sun goes from the left side of the palms to the right. Even though I’ve known this I’ve never really noticed the sun’s position until I started watching it rise from behind the Palm trees. I’ve been composing that shot in my mind for a while, but convincing my dogs that I have to take a picture during our morning walkie is easier said than done. In the meantime, I happened to grab this one morning while shooting the sunrise a few miles from home. Hopefully my dogs didn’t mind.

Being originally from California, I associate palms with LA and Hollywood. But now I live in Florida and I'm pretty sure we have a lot more here. There are three (not these) at the end of my street facing east and so when walking my dogs in the morning I'll see the sun rise behind them. Through the seasons, the sun goes from the left side of the palms to the right. Even though I've known this I've never really noticed the sun's position until I started watching it rise from behind the Palm trees. I've been composing that shot in my mind for a while, but convincing my dogs that I have to take a picture during our morning walkie is easier said than done. In the meantime, I happened to grab this one morning while shooting the sunrise a few miles from home. Hopefully my dogs didn't mind.

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Coquina

This is such a popular spot for family picnics that it can be hard to get parking on weekends. However, I took this in the middle of the week when few locals were out. I came here the other night to take some more pictures and saw a pod of dolphins frolicking in the waters pictured on the left. The water drops off just a few feet from shore and the current is quite strong, just right for dolphins to play and catch a meal. I never get tired of watching them in the wild. It’s an amazing feeling to stand just a few feet away from animals that may be smarter than me. And that’s just my dogs. I’m pretty sure dolphins are indeed smarter than me.

This is such a popular spot for family picnics that it can be hard to get parking on weekends. However, I took this in the middle of the week when few locals were out. I came here the other night to take some more pictures and saw a pod of dolphins frolicking in the waters pictured here. The water drops off just a few feet from shore and the current is quite strong, just right for dolphins to play and catch a meal. I never get tired of watching them in the wild. It's an amazing feeling to stand just a few feet away from animals that may be smarter than me. And that's just my dogs. I'm pretty sure Dolphins are indeed smarter than me.

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Weather Patterns

I’m convinced that Bradenton Beach in Florida has some of the best sunsets. I’m not entirely sure why but there seems to be a unique weather pattern that places high clouds over the beach as the sun is going down creating the perfect sunset. I also think it happens mostly in the spring, summer and fall. Which is entirely fine with the millions of snow birds that come down in winter since “all” they get are clear skies. Too bad for them, but then I suppose that’s a good thing (no clouds in the sky in winter) unless you are some over the top sunset obsessed photographer, …not that I know anyone like that.

I'm convinced that Bradenton Beach in Florida has some of the best sunsets. I'm not entirely sure why but there seems to be a unique weather pattern that places high clouds over the beach as the sun is going down creating the perfect sunset. I also think it happens mostly in the spring, summer and fall. Which is entirely fine with the millions of snow birds that come down in winter since

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Morning Walk

This is another shot of Emerson Point in Palmetto Florida. I love this place in the morning, it’s so quite and I’m likely to see Osprey, Eagles, Great Herons, any number of fish and a beautiful sunrise. The Parks department built these wooden walkways across the Mangroves to view the ecosystems at work up close. And when you’re done you can pickup a fresh Duncan Donuts coffee on your way home. Another morning in paradise, eh?
This is another shot of Emerson Point in Palmetto Florida. I love this place in the morning, it's so quite and I'm likely to see Osprey, Eagles, Great Herons, any number of fish and a beautiful sunrise. The Parks department built these wooden walkways across the Mangroves to view the ecosystems at work up close. And when you're done you can pickup a fresh Duncan Donuts coffee on your way home. Another morning in paradise, eh?
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Tarpon Pointe Sunrise

I live in a community across the river from the Tarpon Pointe Grill & Tiki Bar. Often I’ll walk the dogs at night and stop at the point right along the river to listen to the sounds of live music coming from here. Boy, they have some good music and parties. However, when I took this, it was sunrise and everything was still and calm, not a soul in sight. Funny what difference a few hours makes.

I live in a community across the river from the Tarpon Pointe Grill & Tiki Bar. Often I'll walk the dogs at night and stop at the point right along the river to listen to the sounds of the live music coming from here. Boy, they have some good music and good parties. However, when I took this, it was sunrise and everything was still and calm, not a soul in sight. Funny what difference a few hours makes.

Follow link to obtain a limited edition print of this photo.