Landscape Archives - Page 23 of 88

September 19, 2016September 19, 2016

Lightning Storms

I live in an area of Florida where lightning storms are common. Growing up in California I remember the one lightning storm I ever saw. Now living here it’s so common I hardly notice. However I did notice this one as I drove home from the beach last weekend.

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Normally there’s thunder as well but sometimes the lightning is silent. I’m not really sure why that is. Quite often the lightning will stay in the clouds rather than strike the ground. In cases like that the lightning can be so frequent that its like watching fireworks, a flash every couple of seconds. The evening I took this it was about every ten-seconds.

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To capture lightning you need a tripod. Once mounted I use manual mode on my Sony. I set the shutter speed to Bulb and using the remote I open the shutter until a flash of lighting occurs and then close it. In this case the shutter was open for six-seconds.

It really is a lot of fun. It’s a little like a meditation just sitting there in front of a nice scene capturing pictures of lightning.

September 19, 2016September 19, 2016

Hunting for Images

When I show up at a beach to take pictures I approach from the road as though I’m hunting for images. Well, maybe that’s a little over dramatic. Let’s just say I’m looking for a shot as soon as I get out of the car. So as I walk on to the beach I might see something like this and quickly snap a photo.

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Placing anonymous people in the image adds a point of interest for consideration. It’s a simple trick that causes our brains to project ourselves into the scene. Of course scenes don’t always need people but in general should at least one thing of interest like a bird, or tree or boat, anything really. The point is certain objects have a way of telling story in a picture, and it seems that people tell some of the best stories, just by being present in a picture.

When I place people in landscape images I do so anonymously. I do it with stealth so as not to disturb people in their own world. If someone sees me with the camera I’ll walk away so as not to ruin the moment that they may be having.

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So to be as unobtrusive as possible I try to make sure my camera settings are ready. If not I could be fumbling around for a couple of minutes. In this case I saw the scene, snapped a picture and moved on. And in this case I managed to captured the moment without harming my prey in any way. 🙂

September 13, 2016

Dusk at Bradenton Beach

I took this about a week ago during dusk at Bradenton Beach. This is a one minute exposure which makes the waves of the look smooth. It was actually a little darker when I took this but the long exposure makes it appear a brighter.

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Along the right are the lights of the restaurants as they cast their glow on the overhead clouds. These restaurants attract both locals and visitors here at night. The Beachhouse Resturant is on the right, a reliable favorite of ours.

Straight up the beach about a mile is Holmes Beach, its more popular than Bradenton Beach so this is a little less crowded. This whole area is known as Anna Maria Island. It’s basically a key linked to the mainland by two bridges, surrounded by beaches and dotted with little villages, piers and restaurants. This is the laid back section of Florida.

I love coming here at sunset and night to take photos, there is always something interesting. We love the area so much we are planning to rent a beach house here soon and do a stay-cation. Why travel when you have all this in your own backyard?

September 12, 2016September 12, 2016

Staying Late at Holmes Beach

I’m always amazed by the numbers of people staying late at Holmes Beach. I should be used to it, but each time it surprises me just a little. I live about twenty minutes away and I’ll come here to watch the sunset and take a few pictures. On the drive I figure the place will have emptied out. About the only time I’ve seen it empty is during a rare storm or heavy fog.

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Holmes Beach is right at the end of a main thoroughfare so it’s the most convenient to get to. Once in a while I come here during the day but mostly I’m here at sunset. If I walk up to the water I can see people lining the beach for at least a mile in each direction.

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A few days ago we came here during the day to take a walk and relax. At the end of it we sat in an outdoor restaurant next to the lifeguard stand. As we watched the scene I had the idea of taking a shot with the people lining the shore. When I came back a few days later that’s what I did, however this was not exactly the same shot I had in my mind, but close enough for now. I’ll just have to come back to get that other shot I was thinking about. I have such a hard job sometimes.

September 8, 2016September 8, 2016

Midnight Sun

This is a rendering of the midnight sun in the Alaskan summer. I took this from the balcony of a cruise ship late one evening as we sailed towards Seward. From my perspective on the ship there were hundreds of miles of mountains as far as you can see. The size of Alaska is so big that much of it is untouched by humans. I don’t know that for a fact but given the size, terrain and remoteness it is all but impossible to fully explore. Perhaps Alaska is one of the last remaining frontiers on earth.

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We live on an amazing planet and often I find myself without adequate words to describe what I’m seeing. Sometimes a photo will do but I may take liberties to express a feeling beyond what eyes can see. Of course, it’s all a matter of interpretation but I do my best. So when I see and experience the vastness of Alaska I am at a loss for words. That’s when I turn to art to convey something just beyond description.

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Of course none of this is unusual. Case in point is the peoples of the original nations. Their art is prolific and profound and is shaped by the landscape, seasons and spirit of the region. Isn’t it interesting how artist seem to congregate in places where beauty is abundant? Obviously there’s something to it.

September 6, 2016

Another Day Another Heron

I could post pictures of herons every day of the week, but then I’d have to rename the blog, Another Day Another Heron. This is such a common sight here in central Florida that I almost take it for granted; almost, but not quite. I used to live in Ontario Canada and I would travel into the back country. Up there the heron sightings were rare and it was a big deal when you saw one. Not so much here, they basically own the place. You see them along any stretch of water all up and down the coast. And they are territorial so you typically see them alone. I’ve noticed that other seabirds tend to give herons a wide berth.

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The few I saw in Ontario were shy of humans, basically they would move away if you got within a hundred meters. Again, not so here, it seems they’ve grown accustom to us humans. They’ll even take an interested in us if we happen to be fishing. If you have bait or scraps they come right up to you. For me it’s quite an experience. It reminds me of feeding Flamingos in a petting zoo, they are even more amazing up close.

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Herons fish in the shallow waters snatching fish with their pointy beaks. If you watch them for any length of time you’ll note they are extremely patient. They’ll remain perfectly still while a fish swims up and then they’ll strike like lightning. The prey never even saw it coming. It reminds me of martial arts, quick, precise, lethal.

September 5, 2016

Space Between

Today is a holiday. Its a day to unwind and put a little space between me and the real world.

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August 31, 2016

Calm After the Storm

Today and tomorrow we are getting a tropical storm that’s dumping a bunch of rain in the Tampa area. That’s normal for this time of year. I look forward to getting outside to take pictures of the calm after the storm. This is an image I took a few weeks back after an afternoon thunderstorm. In the evening the clouds dissipate causing them to scatter like brushstrokes in the sky.

Sometimes we can tell that a storm is coming by the behavior of the birds. Where I live the houses form a circle around a stand of trees. The houses shield the trees from the winds and so birds will congregate as much a twenty-four hours before a storm. How they know is beyond me, I’m pretty sure they’re not watching the weather channel. Maybe the weather channel is watching them, you never know.

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This is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The surface of the road is four-hundred feet high and spans about eight miles over the entrance to the bay. When storms come through the wind can get high enough that they close it down. I’ve driven over the bridge in a tropical storm and it was an experience I won’t forget. However the next day the winds die down, the birds return to the shore and we all go about our business like it never even happened; summertime in Florida.

August 30, 2016

Riverhouse Reef and Grill

That building on the left is the Riverhouse Reef and Grill. I live near a crossroads of sorts, it’s a main thoroughfare between the two towns of Palmetto and Bradenton. As it happens the thoroughfare is really a couple of bridges over a river, and on each side of the river are marinas, parks and restaurants. All in all it’s a pretty nice place to explore and you don’t have to go too far to find a good waterfront restaurant.

Sometimes we’ll come to this place in Palmetto, other times we’ll go directly across the river to Pier 22 in Bradenton. We sit outside, why sit indoors when the weather is so good? Its rare that we go to an indoor restaurant with so many options. I’m not fanatical about eating outside but it’s rare we go out and eat indoors.

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I took this shot at dusk from a concrete pier that used to be the main bridge between the two towns. Someone recently told me that the main bridge was destroyed in a hurricane back in the sixties and so now it’s just a fishing pier. It’s a nice place to walk at dusk and sunset, especially after eating too much at the Riverhouse Reef and Grill.

August 28, 2016

Leaving on an Airplane

I’ve had jobs where every week I’d be leaving on an airplane. It still happens sometimes but not as much. So when I’m not traveling I like to take the time to do what “normal” people do. Meaning, going for a drive, letting time pass, waking up in my own bed. When I took this shot the jet in the sky brought those memories to my mind. I was the guy up there looking down at the people enjoying the rest of their Sunday.

Being up in that plane is neither good nor bad, it just is what it is. But there is another perspective rooted on the ground. It’s the perspective of, well, being rooted. I have moved around so often it feels I have no roots. I feel like an outsider even where I live. But I have a place I call home, and for that I am grateful.

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Home does not have to be the place we were born or even grew up. It’s a place to return to, or maybe just a place to rest our head. With all that is happening in the world I am grateful for that simple pleasure. But nothing on this earth is forever, not even roots. Eventually a time will come when we depart one home en route to another. And when that time comes we will carry our home in our hearts.