inspired photography with just enough perspective
Across the river from my home is the Bradenton Riverwalk where you can walk, jog, bike or skate. On weekends and evenings it can be quite busy especially when they have food and music festivals. My favorite time to come here is the morning just as the sun is rising. Because it’s such a heroic effort for me I’m always surprised at how many people get up and out early for a jog or walk. This was taken right next to an empty skateboard park early one morning a few weeks back.
Another shot of another old pier at sunset, but come to think about it the sunset was just an afterthought. The combinations of rock, wood, sand and water is what attracted me, the sun was a bonus. Just another sunset at Coquina Beach in the town of Bradenton Beach, Florida. From a beach in a town named for a beach, life is a beach.
A couple of Sundays ago I took a Kayak through the Mangroves at Robinson Park in Bradenton. To be honest, until a few weeks ago I’d never even heard the term “Mangrove Tunnel”. But here they are, all over Florida, just waiting for Kayakers to pass through. Anyway, this is my first experience and it was spectacular. I kept taking photos when I should have been navigating with the paddle and so my Kayak kept drifting to the walls of the tunnel. Click click click, drift, crunch, paddle backwards, …click click click, drift, crunch, …and so it continued through the whole length of the tunnel. I couldn’t help myself, it was just to amazing of an experience.
So I think its normal when you look at a photo to imagine yourself in the scene. I do that all the time and I think its what creates longing. While this isn’t a particular warm picture, it does make me want to follow the tracks into the fog. Something about tracks. When I was a child I used to dream about tracks, the dreams were kind of weird, I can’t explain them, but somehow, skipping all the middle pieces I ended up somewhere. Maybe in some vague way, this reminds me of that, a magical journey along the tracks. I’ll just need to sleep on it.
Of all the subjects I like shoot in in my home town, bridges are my favorite. This is one of two draw bridges to Anna Maria Island. Most bridges in the area are draw bridges and whenever I approach one in my car I secretly wish that the sirens would sound and I’d have to stop and wait. There’s no better place to be stuck in traffic than on a draw bridge in Florida. Turn off the engine, roll down the windows, and watch the boats floating by. Real stressful.
These are the still waters of Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta. As far as lakes go, this is one of he most beautiful on Earth. Certainly there are a lot of places I’ve not been, but I digress. The lake itself is about 20 miles long and surrounded by awe inspiring peaks of the Canadian Rockies. Yes, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are up there, but this lake is remote and for all intents and purposes, pristine like no other. No crowds, no helicopters, no room service, this is the real deal. In any case, if and when you get a chance, do check it out.
I take most of my pictures around sunrise and sunset and so tend to be a little bit frantic during those fleeting moments. Thus was the case when I shot this, I was on a trail desperately looking for a view across a pond when I just had to stop and shoot lest I miss the sun altogether. Bad timing, not enough planning, guilty as charged. I was disappointed enough that I threw this into the reject pile. Now, six months later, I was scanning my old shots and thought it was worthy of a second chance. So here, straight from the recycle bin, is a sunset through the bushes at Emerson Point in Florida.
A few weeks back when we had a lot of fog I captured this image of St Petes beach in Florida. Despite the fog these cabanas were setup and ready use. I wondered to myself who would needs these in the fog, but within thirty minutes the fog had lifted and many of the cabanas had been taken. Fog or no fog, this is a very popular beach.
Another pier at Robinson Preserve in Bradenton Florida. I get so intrigued by the cloud formations in the sky that I have to check myself from time to time. Like this evening I was walking the dogs and even though we didn’t get a good sunset, the clouds were all feathery and swirly, a little like this shot. I got to thinking that I was probably the only person in the county looking up at the clouds and thinking how nice they were. Maybe I don’t want to go there and what that means, but hey, I’m easily amused and as a photographer, appreciate swirly clouds. I like pizza too.
This is little pond at Emerson Point in Palmetto. Because it’s close to home I come by here to walk along the trails. The problem is that I want to take a picture every time. A little alarm bell goes in my head off and warns me that I may be repeating myself. However, on second thought, no two pictures of this pond are the same. The light constantly changes and this time there was an abundance of blue. When I win the lottery I’ll travel most of the year and take pictures of exotic places all over the world, but until then I’ll be happy to just find different ways to take pictures of the beauty in my back yard.