manateecounty Archives - Page 19 of 38

December 16, 2016

Hometown Marina

This is the marina in Palmetto Florida. Actually there are a lot of marinas in Palmetto but this is the main one. Well, one of the main ones. Let me start over. This is one of several marinas in my hometown.

Daily Image

I’m not really into boats so they tend to look the same to me. There are huge differences of course; these are sailboats. At a marina closer to my home there are mostly powerboats. I never really thought about it until now but the two marinas are quite different. This marina is past all the bridges so the boats can sail straight into open waters. The marina close to home is on the other side of three bridges, one which is a draw bridge.

So now it makes sense, why would someone dock a sailboat behind an obstacle course of bridges when they could dock here? As for the powerboats near me, the bridges are not obstacles. They don’t have the same concerns with mast height, bridge structures and a drawbridge, they simple steer right through.

minimalism from the gallery

Now that I have all that figured out, back to the photo. The setting sun over the water caught my attention. That by itself would have been a nice, but in this case I had the added bonus of a marina filled with sailboats with access to open water.

December 9, 2016December 9, 2016

Meditation Sunset

This is a meditation sunset from Emerson Point in my hometown of Palmetto. It’s the kind of image you might see on the cover of a meditation book, at least that’s what comes to my mind.

Daily Image

Speaking of which, I’ve been trying meditation lately. Not that I know what I’m doing, just taking a few minutes to clear my mind when I can. Long story short, it’s easier said than done. And to be honest I’m not sure if this picture would help. As soon as I look at a photo I start thinking thoughts and you’re not supposed to do that. But I’m no expert so take what I say with a grain of salt. Maybe I should give it a try, it might help for all I know.

Moving along, I took this with my new Laowa 12mm wide angle lens. The fun thing about getting a new lens is I get to try it out on familiar locations and see what happens. A wide angle lens has the tendency to create a tunnel effect, meaning that everything appears to converge in a point on the horizon. It’s just a nifty effect of the lens, we don’t actually see things that way.

images featuring clouds in the gallery

Anyway, let’s all take a deep breath, look at this picture and clear our minds. It might just do us a world of good. When I finally figure out how to meditate I’ll write a book and put this photo on the cover. Maybe.

December 5, 2016

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.

Daily Image

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.

European Gallery

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.

November 27, 2016

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.

Daily Image

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”.

November 24, 2016

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.

Daily Image

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.

November 15, 2016

The Heron Dreams

As the waves lap upon the shore and the stars circle the night sky, the Heron dreams. In dreams we inhabit the same landscape, perhaps.

Daily Image

We miss so much when we don’t acknowledge nature. I have recently come to believe that the elemental spirits of nature, those we call animals, are so much more connected with the truth of life than we will ever know.

I am astonished at how much these beings revere us. We take it for granted, we always have. But if we stop and think, better yet, if we connect with them, we may learn something about them. We may even learn something about ourselves.

I am coming to realize that animals have so much to teach us. I think that in our current society we gloss over this to our own detriment. Perhaps it is just a temporary condition and in years to come we will correct this.

night photography

Perhaps one way to correct this is to make an attempt to respect and acknowledge the animals around us. They are all around, shouldn’t we take notice? When you look into the eyes of an animal you will see a window to a soul or spirit that is just as viable a life as our own. More often than not see love looking back.

I think that by connecting with our animal friends we will unlock something in ourselves. All we have to do is notice. This is my simple tribute to the elemental life all around us.

November 5, 2016

Mid Summer Night

I took this a couple of months ago on a mid summer night. I was hanging out by the water watching the clouds roll in. Yeah right, like I have time to do that. Lets just I was standing here and good grief Miss Molly, all hell started to break loose. The clouds got low and thick, menace was in the air, and then suddenly, crack, boom, flash.

Daily Image

Maybe my dramatic writing skills are a little to be desired. I’ll keep my day job, but if you know any comic book publishers that need a ghost writer let me know. I’m pretty sure I could do that. I’m there for you baby.

Where was I? Oh yeah, down by the river watching the clouds roll in. So, if I was of sound mind and judgement I wouldn’t even be here. It’s not safe. You know that saying, it’s about as likely as being struck by lightning. It doesn’t apply to Florida. Chances are, if you’re STUPID, or just an ambitious photographer, you’ll get it. So, at times like this it’s best not to be stupid, or a photographer. Unless you don’t care.

manatee county images

I don’t really care about all that, I live for the perfect shot, the moment. Ha ha ha. Okay, I hear the nurses, they’re coming to give me my meds. I have to go.

October 31, 2016October 31, 2016

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.

Daily Image

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.

full gallery

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.

October 29, 2016

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.

Daily Image

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.

October 27, 2016

Sea and Sky

The Sunshine Skyway is almost ten miles long and as you drive across you have great views of the sea and sky. When you are in your car it looks like you are driving into the sky. Maybe that’s where it got its name, (that’s just a guess on my part).

Daily Image

Skyway Clouds — Sea and Sky from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

On this morning I came to a little island on the northern stretch to take pictures.    In the summer the clouds form large columns that tower miles into the sky. When the sun is low on the horizon the light hits these columns at different angles depending on the elevation. What I notice is that the lower section of the cloud columns have warmer colors whereas those higher up tend to appear white. My guess is there are more particles in the lower atmosphere.

In Florida, when you see thunderclouds in the afternoon the variation in colors is hard to miss. In this image the clouds are about fifteen miles in the distance but you can still see the variation in colors.

cloudscapes in the gallery

This is another long exposure panorama. It’s a thirty-second exposure that I took one morning just after dawn. I stitched two images to create the panorama. This vantage point is about ten minutes from home so it’s an easy spot to get to. I had to cross the bridge to get here and then again to get back. I suppose that means I had my head in the clouds at least twice before breakfast. Not an unusual thing for me I suppose.