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Watching the World Go By

This is a random shot of people chilling on the pier in Bradenton Beach one recent evening. The pier has benches and swings so you can just there watching the world go by. A nice thing about being on a pier is there are no mosquitoes over the water.

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Watching the World Go By
Watching the world go by on the pier in Bradenton Beach Florida

I hope people don’t mind that I take pictures of them like this. I try to keep folks anonymous by shooting from the back. A few minutes later I was shooting in a different direction and didn’t realize there was someone off to the side staring at me as if to say, hey that’s not cool. Normally I just ignore it and make a mental note not to use that photo. Most people don’t care but I try to be considerate.

Once I was taking pictures of a busy sidewalk at an outdoor shopping area. Some guy thought I was taking pictures of him and told me to stop. I look at him blankly and said; why would I want to take a picture of you? I’ll admit I got a little hot under the collar. I had no intention of taking that guy’s picture, but maybe he was not where he was supposed to be, who knows.

The right to take photos in public places is something we have to assert from time to time. I am respectful but people tend to notice when it’s a real camera. Take the same picture with your phone and no one pays any attention. We’ve become conditioned in odd ways that would be difficult to explain to an alien that just landed on earth.

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I found no aliens on this pier and so I didn’t need to explain anything to anybody. I did take a lot of pictures of people staring out to space though. Maybe they saw something I didn’t.

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Dawn on the Bridge Street Pier

Here is another image taken at dawn on the Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach. To get this I arrived before dawn on a Sunday morning. Each time I do that I see the staff still cleaning up at the local tavern, but then I’m here only three hours after closing. The coffee shop on the pier is already open with a few early birds already sitting at the counter. 

The water is always calm and the sky starts turning deep pastel colors. In my humble opinion it’s the best time to be here, assuming you are a morning person of course.

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Dawn on the Bridge Street Pier
Dawn on the Bridge Street Pier in the town of Bradenton Beach

On this last Saturday night I was just a few hundred meters away taking pictures of the gulf in the other direction. This is on Anna Maria Island which is a long narrow island. As I drove past the center of the town there were a lot of people at the outdoor restaurants. It seemed that live music was playing on each corner. 

I’m fortunate to live here, especially during winter. Its human nature to forget and take it all for granted. When I see folks that have travelled here I am reminded how lucky I am.

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Even so I travel to take photos of other places. But when I’m home I have so many things to take pictures in my own backyard. I’m always taking pictures of the water here. The reflections, the waves, the colors, all of it combined .

I’m not really going anywhere with all this.

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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.

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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.

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Pier Before Dawn

The Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach Florida. The bridge is adjacent to the pier and so at this early hour a few early commuters are crossing the bridge on the way to work. I took this about a month back just as the pier re-opened from an extensive renovation. A great place to hang out if you're ever in the area. And if you do come in the morning there is a restaurant here that opens early so you can sit with your cup of coffee and enjoy the scenery.
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The Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach Florida. The bridge is adjacent to the pier and so at this early hour a few early commuters are crossing the bridge on the way to work. I took this about a month back just as the pier re-opened from an extensive renovation. A great place to hang out if you’re ever in the area. And if you do come in the morning there is a restaurant here that opens early so you can sit with your cup of coffee and enjoy the scenery.

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Sailboat Sunrise

The waterways around here are typically sheltered from the ocean by keys. Most people think Florida's keys are at the southern tip, such as Key West, but we have them up and down the west coast along the Gulf of Mexico. All manner of sail and power boats travel up and down, stopping in little towns along the way, there are restaurants and shops catering to these unique sailors. And because the water is calm you will always find boats docked here which can make for some nice pictures if you manage get up around sunrise.

The waterways around here are typically sheltered from the ocean by keys. Most people think Florida’s keys are at the southern tip, such as Key West, but we have them up and down the west coast along the Gulf of Mexico. All manner of sail and power boats travel up and down, stopping in little towns along the way, there are restaurants and shops catering to these unique sailors. And because the water is calm you will always find boats docked here which can make for some nice pictures if you manage get up around sunrise.

Click on photo to enlarge or obtain print

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New Bridge Street Pier

After being closed for about six months for repairs, the Bridge Street pier in Bradenton Beach Florida was recently reopened. And so I turned up before dawn to check it out as any other time this would be full of fishermen and activity, not that that’s bad, but this time I just wanted a shot of the pier by itself. Every now and then I show up here and always go home satisfied having found something new and interesting. In this case it was the pier itself.

After being closed for about six months for repairs, the Bridge Street pier in Bradenton Beach Florida was recently reopened. And so I turned up before dawn to check it out as any other time this would be full of fishermen and activity, not that that’s bad, but this time I just wanted a shot of the pier by itself. Every now and then I show up here and always go home satisfied having found something new and interesting. In this case it was the pier itself.

Click on photo to enlarge.