inspired photography with just enough perspective
These are the gentle wave of Florida’s Gulf Coast. The water is warm, the wave are gentle, what more could you want? This is the stump of an old tree blown down in a hurricane years ago. I suppose then the waves were big but then it’s soon forgotten as the pace of life returns to it’s normal pace, which is about two speeds below slow. 😉
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This time of year we get a lot of clouds which occasionally produce spectacular sunsets. It’s impossible to know exactly how it will turn out, but if you’re like me you just show up and hope for the best. Showing up is the hardest part, but once I’m at the beach another set of neurons take over and it’s all about the hunt, to find my prey in that golden hour. Well, it seems like that sometimes, stalking compositions and then capturing them. Finally I drive home with that satisfied feeling that I bagged a few good ones now secure inside my camera. Photography has to have a few parallels with hunting, but then you already knew that.
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This is a naval station that rest on a little island inside Vancouver Harbour. At first glance when you see this and read the sign you think it can’t be because it’s so small. I think it’s a holdover from the days the harbour needed to be defended, I have never seen a naval ship here. However, there is one reminder that is unmistakable. Just to the left of where I’m standing is an active cannon (that’s right, I said active) in a big cage. Every day of the year at precisely 2100 hours the cannon discharges. It reverberates through the downtown towers in an unmistakable “report” that is sure to startle any non-local unfamiliar with the tradition. I, for one, will always consider this naval station and the accompanying cannon blast an indelible part of the great city that is Vancouver.
Recently I’ve visited the Rosa Fiorelli winery in Manatee County not far from my home. This is a small family run winery that has won many awards for it’s wines as well as the hearts of locals, me included. Sal, the owner was kind enough to allow me back in the evening to get a few shots of the vineyard at dusk. I’m originally from California and used to wineries everywhere, But finding such a beautiful winery in my own backyard here in Florida is an unexpected pleasure.
Last summer we took a train across the Canadian Rockies and this was a shot on the first morning as we approached Kamloops BC. I didn’t sleep much and was up early to capture the train as we followed the Thompson River. I must go back and do this again.
This is the public pier at Anna Maria Island a couple of Sundays ago. I got here before sunrise yet there were people milling about, getting fishing poles ready or just watching the sunrise. And then just after sunrise a couple of dudes started swimming in the water which was warm and inviting. Then, if all that wasn’t enough, a photography club showed up to take pictures of the pier. So just after sunrise on a Sunday when everyone should have been sleeping in, this place was buzzing. Of course I was there also so I’m not even sure what my point is. Nevermind.
The other night I visited the northern tip of Longboat Key. This is one of those spots that only locals seem to know since it’s a little difficult to get to. To get here you have to walk in the water due to beach erosion. The water was warm and inviting which made my task all the more enjoyable. This section has a lot of toppled trees from hurricanes and so it’s a rather surreal landscape. On one of the stumps sat this pileated woodpecker who was not so shy as he let me get quite close. Lets just say this is one of those little corners of heaven, right in my own backyard.
Sometimes when I’m out taking pictures of the scenery something simple as the stillness of water can affect me most. That doesn’t always translate into an interesting picture. Such was the case a few nights ago when I stood with my tripod in the warm calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and took this shot. No birds, no bridges, no nothing. Just water and sky. Kind of like floating at sea. Kind of like drifting in space. Kind of like a meditation. We might think of this during our hectic day and remember that behind, beyond, and above it all is something simple that matters most.
According to Wikipedia about 75 billion dollars of cargo passes through this port every year. What that has to do with anything I don’t know, I just looked that up in hopes it would spark something for me to write about. I know nothing about this port other than its really big and really busy. That word “really” is from the days I lived in California, people say that a lot there, really. I know it’s busy because whenever I’m in Vancouver there is a constant twenty-four hour a day stream of ships in and out of here. I took this from atop the Vancouver Lookout, which is one of those space needle kind of buildings that gives you a great view of everywhere. So there, I managed to just about fill up a paragraph.
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