Doing the Same Thing

When I show up here in the morning there is usually someone else doing the same thing. I cannot imagine how many photos of this bridge exists. I am one in a long line of bridge photographers. When I got my first DSLR this is the first place I came to. I’ve been here since and I’ll be back again.

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Doing the Same Thing
Doing the Same Thing – Photography of Familiar Places

Sometimes I’ll do an outing with my camera and not get any good photos. That’s subjective and long after I may change my mind. Photography is a state of mind and what you perceive as good changes over time. It also has to do with mood. We watch movies based on our mood; drama, comedy, thriller and romance, they all appeal to different moods. So it is with photography. One day I may like one photo, the next day another.

Sometimes I’ll go back and look at a shot I did years ago and have a completely different appreciation of it. I might no longer like it. Or I might see something I like but missed.

abstract images

On this morning I met a man from Newfoundland who was also taking pictures of the bridge. It was perhaps his first and only time he would be here. In that case I hope he got some images he likes.

The Other Morning

The other morning I came here to a little park by the bridge. There are nice views all around despite the urban setting. I had the new wide angle Laowa 12mm f/2.8 lens. I used it to pull a lot of the scene into the frame. Wide angle lenses are good for that but we have an even wider angle of view with our eyes. I was wondering why don’t we see things this way all the time.

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The Other Morning
The Other Morning on Siesta Key

It was early and I had the place to myself. I took a lot of photos in various directions. The lens gives the water and clouds equal prominence. The texture of the clouds this morning was balanced by the texture of the water and creates an interesting effect.

This is the bridge to Siesta Key in Sarasota. Its sunrise and were facing east so I crossed the bridge to get to this spot. As soon as I finished I crossed back. Bridges like this are the lifeblood of Florida communities. They make living on small islands possible for people without boats.

bridge images from the gallery

Anyway, I’m still learning about the new lens and so far so good. I’m reshooting old locations for a new perspective. That’s probably something I’ll be doing for a while.

Saturday Evening at the Beach

This is Saturday Evening at the Beach. After an early dinner I noticed the clouds looking good for a sunset so I headed towards the ocean. I’m glad I did because the display was well worth the effort. At times like this everyone is lined up along the shore with their smart phones snapping away, I arrived just in time and this was the first shot out of my camera. Talk about cutting it close.

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Saturday Evening at the Beach
Saturday Evening at the Beach on Anna Maria Island Florida

I stress myself out sometimes when chasing sunsets. Getting in the right place at the right time can be easier said than done. That’s mostly because I have to drive here. I suppose it would be easier if I lived right on the beach. (Note to self).

When the sun gets low on the horizon there are only about three minutes to get a shot. Its better to get here a half hour ahead of time but I’m rarely that organized.

sunset photos from the gallery

This time of year we start to getting tourist and winter residents so the traffic also plays into the equation. Even though I know all these things I still manage to show up at the last possible moment.

I suppose my tombstone will read, …”He arrived at the last possible moment, better late than never”.

Wide Angle View

This is a wide angle view of the Gulf of Mexico I took from Emerson Point in Florida. I made this with the new Laowa 12mm f/2.8 lens that was created through the help of a Kickstarter. The claim to fame on this lens is that there is no distortion. That’s something hard to do but someone figured it out and this is the result. Generally we use software to remove the distortion of a wide lens, but in this case it’s not necessary. Anyway, it’s kinda cool in a geeky kind of way and I’ll be carrying the lens with me in the next little while.

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Wide Angle View
Wide Angle View from Emerson Point

Sometimes I’ll drive to this spot if I think there’ll nice sunset. It’s one of my goto spots for sunsets since it’s so close to home. Normally there are a handful of other peopler her with cameras looking to snap some nice pics.

I don’t mind repeating myself because mother nature never does. So no matter how many times I come to the same spot, it will always be different.

After the sun sets the park ranger usually comes along to shoo everyone out of the park. It closes right after sunset and if you linger too long they will let you know. I used to get annoyed by that but I have since come to realize that the park is the domain of the wildlife. As soon as it gets dark the road fills with all manner of creatures coming out for the evening. So it makes sense that we should give them their space not to mention it can be dangerous if cars are on the roads at the same time.

sunset images

So basically I come, I shoot, I depart. A very quick excursion close to home and without a whole lot of effort.

Morning Sunburst

A morning sunburst of light is projected from behind the clouds. This was from behind our house in Palmetto Florida. I noticed these rays for several days in a row on account of the type of clouds, this time I was within reach of the camera. In fact I took this though an upper window, right through a glass pane. Normally that’s not optimal but this time it worked out.

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Morning Sunburst
Morning sunburst in Palmetto Florida

How can you not be happy when you see this? Its like a wake-up call from the sun itself, “time to get out of bed!”.

I don’t pull out my camera that often at home but this time I couldn’t resist. We get equally awesome scenes in the evening in the other way, but there are just too many distractions with houses and such.

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For some reason this reminds me of a corny TV commercial of a guy dressed in a sun suit. He’s a hopelessly optimistic and talking about breakfast, I think it’s an ad for Jimmy Dean breakfast food. In any case he ends up making everyone feel better.

Back to the real world. Now that we are all awake its time get up and get breakfast. I’m just say’in.

Stuff of Dreams

The sunrises and sunsets in the last week have been the stuff of dreams. That’s because we are transitioning between seasons and thunderclouds are being replaced with wispy Stratus. This has had me a little stressed, as I’ve been too busy to get out, or more accurately, I’ve had really bad timing. By the time I notice its too late, or at least I think it is. All that aside, on this morning I grabbed my bag, still in my workout clothes and headed for the river. I stood out on this pier for a four-minute exposure of the sunrise over Bradenton.

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The Stuff of Dreams
The stuff of dreams is what this scene in Bradenton Florida reminds me of

What I find so fascinating is that the exposure shows the movement of the clouds which seem to travel in different directions depending on their altitude. I suppose a pilot or someone more acquainted with weather knows of the phenomena, but I’m a simple man and I get amazed by such things.

It was rush hour and the bridge was packed with traffic, but of course it doesn’t show up on account of the length of the exposure.

monochrome gallery

So anyway, I managed to reduce a little stress by getting here on this morning, but there are many more times I have missed. I should be happy when I see a beautiful scene, but if I don’t have my camera I end up wishing I did. I think that’s a hazard of the occupation, as a photographer it’s hard to turn off the need to capture and just enjoy the scene, unless of course I’m taking pictures. But I’m working on it and one day I’ll be happy either way, with or without my camera.

The Old Pier

This is the old pier in St. Petersburg Florida. I took this a couple of years ago before they began tearing it down. In fact, they just removed the last piece of it couple of days ago. A new pier will be built in two years, but in the meantime pictures are all we have. It’s a little sad.

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The Old Pier
The old pier in St Petersburg Florida

I liked the old one, it had a certain charm to it. But St Petersburg is a thriving city and they want something new that reflects a more modern aesthetic. Two years is a long time to wait for the new pier.

From a photographic perspective I’m a pier fanatic. When you stand next to one it creates a leading line out into the water. When you stand on top of one it’s more symmetrical. This pier is (or was) the largest in central Florida. It’s the only one I know of that you could drive on. I suppose that’s why the new one will take so long to build, it’s a large project.

sunrises photos from the gallery

I just happen to notice this image at about the same time as I read about the completion of the demolition. A coincidence I suppose, or maybe it’s the ghost of the old pier reaching out for one last hoorah. Whatever the case, may she rest in pieces.

When we are Happy

When we are happy we’ll do all kinds of things. I am reminded of my little dog who, when he gets happy, puts on all kinds of antics. Like my little doggy I am prone to a little silliness as well. And if no-one else is feeling the same, I can always count on him to join in the fun. We are very similar in that respect, when we feel a flow of energy things are good.

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When we are Happy
When we are happy we can let lose a little

For me this image is a metaphor for breaking through and getting a shot of good energy. Just a few minutes before I took this it was raining, then the clouds began to break up and the sun created this display in the sky. Life is full of these kinds of moments and weather has a way of demonstrating this with natural displays of the elements. Lucky for me I was here to capture this display with a camera.

This is in Venice Florida on Florida’s gulf coast. It’s one of my favorite places. It’s an area a little removed from the hustle and bustle and a good place for me to walk the beach and take pictures. Actually there are a lot of places like this in Florida, but I have a few favorites.

sunset gallery

Anyway, it’s the beginning of another week and I was thinking I needed a little good energy to start the week. Looking at this reminds me of the feeling I had when I took this image. This is a metaphorical Monday morning cartwheel to get us through the week.

Next to the Bridge Street Pier

These are moored next to the Bridge Street Pier in the town of Bradenton Beach. Normally I come here to take pictures at the beach but there is another side of town that’s not as well known. It’s on a barrier island so to the west is the gulf and east is the inter-coastal waterway. It’s on the east side that you can watch the sunrise while enjoying a cup of coffee on the town pier. The Bridge Street Pier has a restaurant thats open early seven days a week for breakfast and is one of those gems most people miss.

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Next to the Bridge Street Pier
Next to the Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach Florida

Anyway, there are a lot of boats moored here and just across the water is the town of Cortez. Cortez is one of the last remaining commercial fishing villages on the East coast. You can watch the fishing boats as they head for the draw bridges that surround this spot. Depending on which way they go there could be one or two drawbridges too pass.

florida gallery

Anyway, like many places along the coast, people are famous for getting up to watch the sunrise, (or sunset for that matter). I suppose some do both. This spot is next to a little trailer park with pastel colored mobile homes and flower boxes out front. They are quaint and I thought to myself they are in the perfect location. Out one window you can see the sunrise and out the other the sunset. I could see living that life one day. But until then I’ll just grab a coffee at the pier when I want to see a sunrise.

Museum of Anthropology

This is the back of Vancouver’s Museum of Anthropology. I was here last January walking along the coastal trail below this. It was only mid-afternoon yet the sun was already low on the horizon. Vancouver gets about eight hours of light in the winter, but of course the opposite is true during the summer, maybe twice as much.

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Museum of Anthropology
Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver BC

The museum is full of art, artifacts and history of the original people of the region. As a photographer I was surprised that cameras were allowed inside. You can take photos of anything in the museum. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel compelled to. As I stood in front of the huge carvings and totems I was somehow transported to another time and having a photo seemed, well, inappropriate. Maybe that sounds strange but I felt something to do with the history that could not be captured in an image.

Canada gallery

I think we all carry the threads of connection to people and cultures throughout time. But of course we are unaware of it for the most part. When we come in contact with things from another culture it may spark a nascent memory or feeling. It defies logical explanation because it transcends time and space. So it was with me at the Museum of Anthropology. It doesn’t necessarily change who I am, it just makes me a little more connected to something else. That may sound like a strange thing to say, but, it is what it is, an enigma.