Manatee County Archives - Page 19 of 52

October 5, 2016October 5, 2016

Sunrise Taking Shape

On Monday I noticed a sunrise taking shape as I drove home from the gym. So I grabbed my gear and headed across the river to capture the colors as they lite the sky. I barely made it on account of all the traffic, most people were driving to work. By the time I finished and headed back over the bridge the roads were clogged, fortunate for me I was returning against the traffic. But by the time I got home showered and got ready for work, I was late. But you know something? Getting a nice photo makes it all worth while. Hello Monday.

Daily Photo

This is a combination of two long exposure shots. The bottom half is a three minute exposure and the top half is a five-second exposure. I put it all together with the help of AuroraHDR 2017, an updated photo editing tool from Macphun and Trey Ratcliff. Every now and then I take a photo that begs to have the original colors restored, this is one. By that I mean that the colors of a photo are never as full as the actual scene. AuroraHDR allows some of that to be restored. Of course I use artistic license as well because photography is an expression of art for me.

sunrise gallery

As I write this it’s a couple of days later on Wednesday, aka hump day. I don’t know about you but I look forward to the weekend. Three more days to go. Then all is good, I can take more photos, I can spend more time outside, I can be free for a couple of days, free of deadlines, work, worries. Then, Monday rolls around again and we start it all over again. But maybe with a few Mondays like this I might not mind it so much. (Fingers crossed)

October 4, 2016October 4, 2016

Long Exposure Sunrise

This is a long exposure sunrise shot I took Sunday morning from Anna Maria Island. In reality there are waves and gulls and pelicans flying about. But using a couple of strong neutral density filters I can stretch-out the exposure about two or three minutes to create an entirely different effect. It’s a little like looking through an arc welders mask, very little light gets through.

Daily Image

I have had filters for a while but I recently purchased these Lee filters from B&H in New York. They’ve opened up a world of long exposure photography. And for whatever reason it seems to suit me. I suppose that’s because as I write my blog I like to wax philosophical about photos, and a long exposures seem to fit right in with that narrative. In a way they are ethereal, not quite real, a little removed from reality. That can be a great place to begin.

florida gallery

The funny thing is I don’t write my blog for anyone in particular. I do it only because I like to. I like taking pictures in a creative way and then writing about them. It’s just another way to be creative and for me its a fun thing to do. I would much rather take pictures and write about them than watch TV. Unfortunately I do watch the news almost every day, and that has me running back to my photography as quickly as I can.

September 28, 2016September 28, 2016

Sunrise on the Manatee

This is a one minute exposure of Sunrise on the Manatee River in Bradenton. People that show up here for a morning walk see a version of this every day. I’m not a regular so for me it’s an extra special treat. One thing for sure, the sunrise walkers are super friendly. I must have had half a dozen people come up and say good morning while I was taking pictures. It was like they had organized a welcome committee. It was awesome.

Daily Image

Most mornings the river is smooth like glass and the long exposure has a tendency to make it look even more so. The clouds were moving towards me and you can see a little of that action at the top. All in all I like how this turned out and there was very little I did to adjust the final image. I love editing photos but in some cases the original speaks for itself and needs very little help.

manatee county gallery

I came here looking for a totally different shot. I thought the clouds would be fuller and all lit up with the warm glow of the sun. For whatever reason that never happened. Being flexible is key to photography, especially if you shoot landscapes outside. You just never know for sure what you’ll get. In this case I got an unexpected scene and about a half dozen good mornings.

September 27, 2016September 27, 2016

Nature’s Fireworks

What do you call a place that starts the day with a sunrise and ends with nature’s fireworks? I call it Florida in summer. Normally the thunderstorms come in the afternoon but once in a while they’ll occur at night. The spectacle is both awesome and beautiful. The lightning flashes occur every few seconds appearing like something out of a science fiction movie. When I first moved here I was awestruck, now I’m more or less accustomed to it.

Daily Image

Most people stay indoors, it’s not a good idea to be outside when this happens. Getting struck by lightning is a real possibility in this region. That being said, I was a couple of miles away from these strikes and after just a few shots I retreated to my car. A picture may be worth a thousand words but it’s not worth getting hurt over.

night gallery

But, thunderstorms rarely last for very long. Within a few minutes the lightning stopped, the rain started and it all blew over within about forty-minutes. Even though its officially autumn, the tropical weather continues here in Florida for about another month. Then, sometime in mid-to-late October we’ll get a cool front and it all stops as quickly as it started. But for now, we still have a few weeks of nature’s fireworks remaining.

September 26, 2016September 26, 2016

Morning at the Pier on Anna Maria

On Sunday I spent part of the morning at the pier on Anna Maria Island. This image is a study of sorts. I recently purchased a couple Lee filters and have been experimenting with long exposure daytime photography. In this case the experiment was to see what would happen if I took a long exposure of the sunrise. I used a wide angle so that the pier would be somewhat proportional to the sun. This is exposed for nearly three minutes, 175 seconds to be exact. For an experiment, I kind of like how it turned out.

Daily Image

If you look close you’ll see ghost like images of the white egrets that populate the pier in the morning. I would normally try to keep them out of the frame but in this case they’re faded presence adds a narrative to the scene, an indication of what was going on at the time. In fact, what was going on is there were fishermen behind me net casting for bait fish. They would dump the catch on the pier and the egrets would snatch up any that didn’t make it into the bait bucket. Long story short, I was surrounded by white egrets.

more images from anna maria

I came here to watch the sunrise on a Sunday morning. As usual I wasn’t alone, there are always a handful of people doing the same thing. It’s a beautiful place and time of day to be here and it’s almost like being in church, there is a sense of reverence. In a way I suppose I was at the weekly Anna Maria sunrise service, only the parishioners were my fellow egrets and fishermen.

September 21, 2016

Long Exposure at Bradenton Beach

This is another long exposure at Bradenton Beach. In fact the exposure was over a minute and a half and in that time people walked in and out of the frame, only they don’t show up. However this one person just stayed in place the entire time and so she was the only one that showed up. If I recall there was with a small child running in the water, splashing and generally having a good time while this lady watched. Interesting how that turned out, eh?

Daily Photo

Long exposures are a slice of time that give us a four dimensional view of the world. When you compress time into an image this is one version of what it looks like. It brings up all kinds of interesting ideas. Imagine if you could step into a different dimension where time moves at a slower rate. Then imagine that you could look back into this dimension. Maybe this is what you’d see. Kind of like being an Ent from the Lord of The Rings and watching hobbits.

Beach Gallery

This is just one way to apply a little abstraction to the world and put it in a different perspective. Sometimes we use angles, or height or light to see things a little differently. In this case I’m using time. For me its just another way to change the perspective of a scene.

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.

Daily Photo

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.

new zealand gallery

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.

Daily Photo

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.

Daily Image

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.

Daily Photo

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.

beach gallery

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.