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Santiago Calatrava’s Oculus

I normally avoid malls. Not that I don’t like to buy things, I just find malls, well, kind of boring. However, if the mall looks like this then I’m all in. This is the Westfield Mall under Santiago Calatrava’s Oculus in New York City. If there is one mall you want to see, this is it.

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Santiago Calatrava's Oculus
Santiago Calatrava’s Oculus is perhaps the only mall in the world I love to visit

While visiting the city I walked in to see what it was and got totally blown away by the architecture. The feeling you get here is intoxicating, which is perhaps the intention as you lose your inhibitions and start buying really cool stuff.

more photos from nyc

Also, it’s a perfect place to come and escape either the summer heat or winter cold. I was here on the hottest day in summer, so the cool air was a welcome break. While my wife looked for shoes I sat at a coffee shop and took it all in. Next time I’m back in the Big Apple, this place will be high on my list again.

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Sunset over the Ringing Bridge

As a photographer I wonder if the architects of this bridge designed it with the setting sun in mind. It’s positioned such that in you get this view in the afternoon as you cross over to Bird Key. Sometimes if we are going to dinner in St Armand’s Circle we’ll cross the bridge at this time; heaven forbid I should have a camera.

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Sunset over the Ringing Bridge
I think the architects of the Ringling Bridge had this scene in mind.

If you scan through my portfolio, you’ll see a lot of photos on or, around this bridge. And yes, some were taken when I was heading to dinner. However, it’s such an iconic location that I’ll keep coming back to hopefully find something slightly different. I’ve worn it out for sure, but hey, who’s counting?

more sunset images

Often on a Sunday morning they’ll close the bridge for a run because this is the closest thing we have to a hill. Florida is really flat. If you want to see the landscape the easiest way is to walk or run up to the middle of the bridge. Of course, you could also stand on the top of a nearby hotel, but then you’d miss out on your exercise, not to mention the intentions of the bridge builders.

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SFMOMA

This is inside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, aka SFMOMA. The last time I was in California I visited, seeing as many exhibits as I could. This is the central atrium with a skylight at the top. These types of shots are disorienting until you figure it out. That’s the whole point, a little mind puzzle.

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SFMOMA
An abstract rendering of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

I spent a lot of time at the photography exhibits as well as the abstract paintings. The photos were from film and taken over fifty years ago, documenting an era in LA that I found fascinating. The abstract paintings were just as intriguing, some with such extraordinary detail that it was hard to imagine the effort required. But then that’s the reason to go; to see new things and learn.

more interior photos

I visited each floor, finally arriving at the top where I walked across a bridge under the skylight, which is bigger than it appears here. There was a lot of stairs, a lot of walking and a lot of standing and observing. When I finally got to the top I took the elevator down and grabbed this image before leaving with a coffee and a head full of new ideas and inspirations.

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Ryan and Graham

Here’s a change of pace. The blog features mostly travel and landscape photos, but I also love doing projects like portraits, events and an occasional wedding. I keep most of that out of the blog because it’s more commercial, but on the other hand it’s a ton of fun and it’s the other side of my work that I don’t talk much about.

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Ryan and Graham Bosmeny
Ryan and Graham Bosmeny at Live Training Center

This is Ryan Bosmeny and his son Graham at an event a couple of weeks ago. Ryan is a regular at Live Training Center here in Palmetto and his son is an aspiring ninja. The father and son team really brought their A-game to this shot and I’m so happy they took the time for this portrait.

more portraits

One little project I’m working on now is a series of giant posters of people that work out at the training center. These will be hung along the walls. It’s a work in progress but I’ll be sure to link to a few photos once we have a few of them up.

Thanks again Ryan and Graham for this most excellent pose!

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Return on Investment

Here is a random shot I took walking along the beach. I walk along the beach because I know I’ll get good photos just by showing up. That’s true about many things, showing up is half the battle. I find that showing up at the beach consistently yields a good return on investment.

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Good Return on Investment
Just getting to the beach always pays dividends, you can bank on it.

Maybe that’s a philosophy for life, just do what you want, and you’ll get more out of it. That’s an over simplification, but it’s partly true. There’s plenty of stuff I have to do that is not fun, but as long as I mix it up with things I like to do it all works out.

more beach photography

It’s easy to sit here and wax philosophical about what’s good and what’s not. But getting out of the chair is the real struggle. Like these people in the picture, when you finally get to where you want to be all the effort seems worth it. That may not make the effort any easier but just knowing there is a payoff is like a light at the end of the tunnel.

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Tall Grasses in the Field

One morning I simply crossed the street to take pictures of weeds in a field. It’s not earth-shattering stuff, rather an experiment in perspective. The idea is to focus on something we take for granted and by doing so, elevate it. Not that our human eyes are the only ones, which I suppose is the whole point.

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Tall Grasses in the Field
A different perspective of the sunrise

At times I’m obsessed with seeing things through different angles, it’s the result of having developed photographer eyes. I use my mind’s eye to see things from other perspectives and then I try to capture it with a camera.

more landscape photography

The perspective of tall grasses in a field at sunrise is just that, a perspective. As a subject of a photograph it does not register high our list. Despite all that I find the image with the rising sun somehow compelling and, a reminder that there is much we see and overlook every day.

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Sweet Nothings

I take a lot of photos of the sea and sky. Not all of them are winners, in fact most aren’t. Nevertheless, I’m incapable of restraining myself when I have a camera and a sunset. I end up with a lot of images composed of the sea, the sky and nothing else so I had an idea to patch them together. Each image is of a different location taken within fifteen of home.

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Sweet Nothings
A collection of simple sea and sky cloudscapes

Now I feel a little less ambivalent about all those “wasted” shots. I think that together they add up to a little more than the sum of the parts. I think now I’ll keep taking these and do more compilations.

more cloudscapes

Yesterday I saw an amazing sunset and took dozens of shots. Out of those I’ll choose maybe one or two and the rest will fade away like the winter sun on equinox. I’m glad I hung on to these though, and now I have a bona fide excuse to go shoot more images of sweet nothing.

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Dinner Along the Canal

Here is a little section of a restaurant along a canal in Venice. Our timing was fortunate because we were seated right away while others who came later had to wait; Italians are late eaters. We enjoyed an amazing meal seated along the canal on a warm summer evening. For the life of me I can’t remember what I ordered but I do remember it tasted very good.

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Dinner Along the Canal
Italians love to eat late dinners and talk for hours into the night.

As chance would have it we were surrounded by tables of Americans, even though there were people from other countries as well. On one side was a group of college girls and on the other was a couple of producers with their wives. There was a film festival going on and I could hear everything the producers were saying. It was one of those situations where you can’t help but hear the conversation, the tables were very close. Somehow the producers started talking to the girls since one of them was trying to break into the business. And on and on and on….

European gallery

Being an American tourist myself I try to be a little circumspect, I know that a reputation proceeds us. There’s nothing wrong with American tourists, but every so often you can sure pick them out. I know I’m a little too quiet, but I prefer to soak up the ambience. That includes the gondolas, lights shining from windows on the canal, amazing Italian food, wine, and occasionally the conversations of my fellow Americans.

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Super Blue Blood Moon over Sarasota

Here is the super blue blood moon over Sarasota’s Ringling bridge. Boy, what a commotion this created. I was standing by myself along the water, nearly hidden by brush along the side of an empty section of road. Some passerby must have seen me and looked over to see what I was doing.

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Super Blue Blood Moon over Sarasota
This spectacle create quite the stir, around the world and right behind me.

As I was absorbed in my camera settings and composing the shot, I was oblivious to everything around me. At one point I heard someone’s voice and looked up to see a crowd of people standing behind me. There was all manner of smart phones taking this same picture with the little LED flashes going off.

Continuing the task at hand, a few minutes later I heard the sound of screeching breaks and horns. It seems the stopped cars nearly caused a traffic pileup. We were standing along a causeway of sorts with no safe place to pull over and park. Nevertheless, it seemed I started a trend, and everybody piled on for an iPhone photo.

more night photography

In the end I got a shot I had in my mind. Just taking a quick look at twitter there are millions of people doing the same thing. Anyway, I’m adding this one to the pile, even if it did nearly cause a pileup.

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Summer Nights in Barcelona

Here is a street scene from a section of Barcelona that’s not too far from the beach. I took this from a moving pedicab that we hired late one night from La Ramblas to the Hotel Arts. Our driver was a German fellow who biked all over Europe and stayed summers in Barcelona to work the pedicabs.

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Summer Nights in Barcelona
Summer Nights in Barcelona

Taking photos from any kind of moving vehicle at night is a challenge, but with a high enough ISO and a wide aperture it’s doable. And a pedicab is a lot easier to shoot from than a taxicab, although I’ve tried that as well.

more street photography

The days and nights we were in Barcelona were very warm. One of the things I like most about Barcelona is how people spend a lot of time socializing in front of little cafes and bistros. That goes for much of Europe but Barcelona in particular.