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Clearwater Beach

Florida has more than it’s share of pirates, they’re everywhere. I took this last weekend at Clearwater Beach where it appears the pirates where just off shore. We also have a lot of bikers in Florida. More often than not they’re just fun loving retired dudes with big beards and bigger paunches, like my neighbor a few doors down. My theory is that the pirates of old reincarnated as bikers in Florida, and when they’re not riding their bikes they’re pretending to be pirates. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

Florida has more than it's share of pirates, they're everywhere. I took this last weekend at Clearwater Beach where it appears the pirates where just off shore. We also have a lot of bikers in Florida. More often than not they're just fun loving retired dudes with big beards and bigger paunches, like my neighbor a few doors down. My theory is that the pirates of old reincarnated as bikers in Florida, and when they're not riding their bikes they're pretending to be pirates. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

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Traffic Jam

The interstate near my home was recently shutdown and traffic got routed through the city streets. While this created a nightmare for drivers, it presented an opportunity for me to capture the cars moving over the bridge during rush hour. Unbeknownst to the drivers, there was another traffic jam of sorts as all of the seagulls clamored for front row seats to the spectacle and/or good spot to spend the night. I’m not sure which is more disturbing, the traffic jam or the fact that I managed to relate it to a flock of seagulls.

The interstate near my home was recently shutdown and traffic got routed through the city streets. While this created a nightmare for drivers, it presented an opportunity for me to capture the cars moving over the bridge during rush hour. Unbeknownst to the drivers, there was another traffic jam of sorts as all of the seagulls clamored for front row seats to the spectacle and/or good spot to spend the night. I'm not sure which is more disturbing, the traffic jam or the fact that I managed to relate it to a flock of seagulls.

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Loss of Words

Is it any wonder that sometimes I run out of words? At the end of Emerson Point in Manatee County Florida is where a few of us locals go to watch the sunset. Sure, the beaches are good, but there are a few secret places like this that, well, leave me at a loss for words. So perhaps I’ll just leave it at that. Have a great weekend everyone.

Is it any wonder that sometimes I run out of words? At the end of Emerson Point in Manatee County Florida is where a few of us locals go to watch the sunset. Sure, the beaches are good, but there are a few secret places like this that, well, leave me at a loss for words. So perhaps I'll just leave it at that. Have a great weekend everyone.

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Fog

The last few days here in central Florida have been foggy which means the light is soft, something I love. Everything is mysterious and the mood is completely transformed. This was taken at St Petes Beach which is just south of Clearwater. Earlier, at around 6:30 in the morning I was in another location near my home taking photos of a pier. As I walked back to my car a very well dress couple approached me, apparently they had a ministry and were out spreading the word. I politely smiled and suggested I didn’t need the pamphlet but thanked them anyway. They continued on in the early morning light and I glanced back as they disappeared into the fog. I was dumbstruck by this powerful metaphor of searching for lost souls in the fog, it played on my mind for a while after. Why where they there so early on such foggy morning? That, at least to me, was a bit of a mystery, and as ephemeral as the fog.

The last few days here in central Florida have been foggy which means the light is soft, something I love. Everything is mysterious and the mood is completely transformed. This was taken at St Petes beach which is just south of Clearwater. Earlier, at around 6:30 in the morning, I was in another location near my home taking photos of a pier. As I walked back to my car a very well dress couple approached me, apparently they had a ministry and were out spreading the word. I politely smiled and suggested I didn't need the pamphlet but thanked them anyway. They continued on in the early morning light and I glanced back as they disappeared into the fog. I was dumbstruck by this powerful metaphor of searching for lost souls in the fog, it played on my mind for a while after. Why where they there so early on such foggy morning? That, at least to me, was a bit of a mystery, and as ephemeral as the fog.

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Property Value

Florida is emerging from the crash of the US real estate market. Near where I live is an abandoned development where all the roads and utilities where built but not a single house. I’ve never been on the property myself, but I took this one morning from a spot that looks over the mangroves along the river onto the abandoned development. Folks in my town of Palmetto expect that someone will revive the project at some point. And when they do, some lucky homeowner is going to wakeup to a sunrise like this each morning. I’m thinking that’s probably worth a penny or two in property value. Just a guess.

Florida is emerging from the crash of the US real estate market. Near where I live is an abandoned development where all the roads and utilities where built but not a single house. I've never been on the property myself, but I took this one morning from a spot that looks over the mangroves along the river onto the abandoned development. Folks in my town of Palmetto expect that someone will revive the project at some point. And when they do, some lucky homeowner is going to wakeup to a sunrise like this each morning. I'm thinking that's probably worth a penny or two in property value. Just a guess.

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Walk in the Forest

Last summer I took this picture early one morning on a trail in Jasper Alberta. It was on this same trail that I met a elk bull the night before. I had come out at night to capture an image of the moon reflecting on the lake. As I walked past this spot I saw what I thought was a tree, only it pivoted right in front of me. A small digression. When in the forest at night and something big moves in front of you, you discover your adrenal glands. Back to the story. I stopped dead in my tracks, every fibre in by body as still as stone while my eyes tried desperately to focus. After what seemed an eternity (likely only five seconds) I recognized papa elk sitting on the trail with his full rack extended up like a tree. Big papa. I slowly took a step back, then another, and then slowly turned around and walked away pretending to be calm. So the next morning I captured this photo of the trail to remind me of the encounter with papa elk. Like I need a reminder.

Last summer I took this picture early one morning on a trail in Jasper Alberta. It was on this same trail that I met a elk bull the night before. I had come out at night to capture an image of the moon reflecting on the lake. As I walked past this spot I saw what I thought was a tree, only it pivoted right in front of me. A small digression. When in the forest at night and something big moves in front of you, you discover your adrenal glands. Back to the story. I stopped dead in my tracks, every fibre in by body as still as stone while my eyes tried desperately to focus. After what seemed an eternity (likely only five seconds) I recognized papa elk sitting on the trail with his full rack extended up like a tree. Big papa. I slowly took a step back, then another, and then slowly turned around and walked away pretending to be calm. So the next morning I captured this photo of the trail to remind me of the encounter with papa elk. Like I need a reminder.

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Break Time

Whenever I need a break I head down to the beach for a walk. I just made that up, I don’t really, but it sounds like a good idea. When I head down to the beach it’s usually to take pictures. I see a lot of other people taking a break and it looks so serene and peaceful I have to take a picture of it. I know there’s a lesson or commentary in there somewhere, but hey, it is what it is. This is one of the old piers in Bradenton Beach in Manatee County Florida and while I was taking it’s picture the other people here were sitting in beach chairs and enjoying the scenery.

Whenever I need a break I head down to the beach for a walk. I just made that up, I don't really, but it sounds like a good idea. When I head down to the beach it's usually to take pictures. I see a lot of other people taking a break and it looks so serene and peaceful I have to take a picture of it. I know there's a lesson or commentary in there somewhere, but hey, it is what it is. This is one of the old piers in Bradenton Beach in Manatee County Florida and while I was taking it's picture the other people here were sitting in beach chairs and enjoying the scenery.

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The Trail Up Mt Edith Cavell

Okay, I’m about to get serious on you. A couple of weeks before I captured this one of those little chunks of ice known as the Ghost Glacier fell off and landed in a pool below creating a fifty foot wave which damaged the parking lot and road below this trail. I felt a little unsettled as our guide who walks these trails everyday was still shaken from the enormity of the event. It’s hard to grasp the scale of things from a picture, but you can try. Fortunately it happened around five in the morning before hundreds of people arrived for a hike and sightseeing. I was more than happy to hike from a vantage along the top of the moraine in case another chunk decided to come off. I’m a city slicker and I need to be reminded of mother nature’s power every now and then. This did it for me.

Okay, I'm about to get serious on you. A couple of weeks before I captured this one of those little chunks of ice known as the Ghost Glacier fell off and landed in a pool below creating a fifty foot wave which damaged the parking lot and road below this trail. I felt a little unsettled as our guide who walks these trails everyday was still shaken from the enormity of the event. It's hard to grasp the scale of things from a picture, but you can try. Fortunately it happened around five in the morning before hundreds of people arrived for a hike and sightseeing. I was more than happy to hike from a vantage along the top of the moraine in case another chunk decided to come off. I'm a city slicker and I need to be reminded of mother nature's power every now and then. This did it for me.

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Another Old Pier

I’m not complaining but, …it got a little chilly here the last couple of days, about 50F/10C. I got so stoked I dressed up for the occasion with a sweatshirt, socks and shoes. My sandals took a well deserved day off. They were calling for snow in the Florida panhandle so I was hoping against the odds we might get a whiff, no such luck. Had to recycle the makeshift cardboard sled, maybe next year. This is another broken down pier busy protecting white sand on the beach from washing away. You know, white sand. No, not that stuff you sled on. But I digress, …what was I talking about?

I'm not complaining but, ...it got a little chilly here the last couple of days, about 50F/10C. I got so stoked I dressed up for the occasion with a sweatshirt, socks and shoes. My sandals took a well deserved day off. They were calling for snow in the Florida panhandle so I was hoping against the odds we might get a whiff, no such luck. Had to recycle the makeshift cardboard sled, maybe next year. This is another broken down pier busy protecting white sand on the beach from washing away. You know, white sand. No, not that stuff you sled on. But I digress, ...what was I talking about?

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Golden Hour

They call it the golden hour, but sometimes it’s pink. A couple of weeks ago and looked over to see this scene right as the sun was setting. Not very golden is it. In fact it only looks like this once in a blue moon. Pink clouds, golden hour, blue moon; got all that? This is the public boat dock at Holmes Beach in Manatee County Florida.

They call it the golden hour, but sometimes it's pink. A couple of weeks ago and looked over to see this scene right as the sun was setting. Not very golden is it. In fact it only looks like this once in a blue moon. Pink clouds, golden hour, blue moon; got all that? This is the public boat dock at Holmes Beach in Manatee County Florida.

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