manateecounty Archives - Page 25 of 38

May 13, 2016

In Plain View

This is a state park I never knew we had that’s five minutes from home. I had it in my mind to follow this old road and there it was, a park I never knew existed; Terra Ceia Preserve State Park. In fact I’ve driven by here hundreds of times. This entrance is adjacent to a main highway that I take all the time. I just assumed it was private land.

I stopped at a kayak launch and talked to this gentleman who, it turns out, leads tours through the park. Silly me; I forgot to get his name. But I’ll be back regardless, maybe I’ll run into him again, it would be fun to do a tour.

The area is mostly mangroves and bayou and is habitat for all manner of birds including eagles and osprey. But of course for me it’s a new place to explore with my camera. Add to that, the county is opening up another preserve in the opposite direction about five miles away. I am excited to explore that as well.

More images from near home in Manatee County

I suppose most people, me included, don’t notice these parks all that much. But I sure am glad they’re there, in plain view the whole time.

May 9, 2016

Before Dawn

This is another long exposure of the public pier at Anna Maria Island in Florida. It was just before dawn and as usual there were already a few people milling about, mostly fishermen or those who came only to watch the sunrise; another typical morning at AMI.

Probably because of where I live I’m fascinated by bridges and piers, we seem to have a lot of both. How they make these piers, one piling at a time is amazing. To me its counter intuitive to think that you can build a solid structure into the floor of the sea. Even though it’s only a few meters deep it’s submerged. How they drill and then make sure the piling is stable is something I’d like to understand.

More images from Anna Maria Island

Pilings are big business here on the gulf coast because there are a lot of companies that specialize in it. It seems there’s always construction in the water and most of it is concerned with pilings. On the other side of AMI, facing the gulf, they are building a pier. It seems to me that the work is super slow, they’ve been at it for almost a year, but I suppose that’s the nature of the job. You don’t want to leave it to just any Tom, Dick or Harry.

Anyway, thanks to the folks that make these pilings we can sit on a pier and wait for dawn as though we hadn’t a care in the world.

May 6, 2016May 6, 2016

Then and Now

This is a section of Robinson Preserve in Bradenton Florida. I love this section of boardwalk because of the way it curves into the mangroves; …talk about a leading line. It seems every time I try to get this shot something goes wrong, but this time I’m pretty happy with the result. The odds were in my favor for a change.

This is not far from where the Spanish conquistador Hernando DeSoto landed and began an expedition of the new world. There is a lot of history around that but the thing that grabs my imagination is the physical demands of the expedition. Here we have a boardwalk winding through the mangroves, back then there was nothing. Add to that the Florida heat. Then add the wool and leather clothing they wore back then and you start to get my drift.

More images from Robinson Preserve

We live in a different time, now we have boardwalks and piers, but still I like to think about what it was like. To tell you the truth, if I was walking on this and suddenly it disappeared and I found myself in the middle of the mangroves knee deep in muck, I might begin to panic. But that never happens and instead I took this picture and went home to air conditioning and lemonade.

May 5, 2016May 5, 2016

New Eyes

I read somewhere that (I’m paraphrasing) photography teaches us to see things without a camera. I think that’s true because I’m always looking up in the sky at the clouds or looking around for interesting sights. On this morning while walking the dog I noticed the early light on the bridge, the reflection in the water and the clouds that looked like a painting. While there were other people walking nearby, I might have been the only person to notice all these at once.

There was nothing special about the morning I took this, a typical morning by all accounts. Yet I’m always looking for compositions even when I’m not taking photos. It’s the practice of being present in the moment. I don’t always succeed, but more and more I’m in the habit of being aware.

Also, just showing up at a location is half the battle. Not always but usually I can find a composition. It really depends but the more I try the more it happens.

Another thing I’ve read is that as a photographer you should be well practiced in your own neighborhood. That forces me to push and see everyday sights with new eyes.

Anyway, all of these things together and this is what my new eyes picked up while walking the dog.

More images of bridges from the gallery

May 1, 2016May 1, 2016

Early Riser

The other morning I came here to the public pier. This is one of the best places on Anna Maria Island to start the day. There are three types of people that show up for sunrise; fishermen, photographers and early risers. Well, I guess the first two could be called early risers too, but that last group not are not here for any other reason than to watch the sunrise. What do we call them, sun worshippers?

Regardless, it’s not all that crowded. Later in the day it gets a lot more visitors because this is one of the main attractions in the area, a laid back place to pass the time.

This is a long exposure of fifteen-seconds using a tripod. In fact I used a neutral density filter as well. That’s a filter that blocks the light so the exposure takes more time. The result is the appearance of no waves in the water. I like this technique along the water and I find it works best when the light is low already. At night or before dawn the filter isn’t necessary, but as soon as the sun comes up it’s hard to get an exposure for more than a second or two, thats why I use the filter. Its a little like sunblock for the camera.

More Anna Maria Island photos from the gallery

Anyway, coming here as a photographer is always fun. However I think coming here a sun worshipper might be the most fun of all.

April 29, 2016

Popcorn Clouds

A couple of mornings ago I came to this park to take pictures. It’s only a few minutes drive so its convenient for me to get here and back before breakfast. Lord knows I can’t miss breakfast.

Now for whatever reason, we get these amazing popcorn-like clouds coming out of the East. They glide in from the middle of Florida over the land and then stop abruptly at the coast. So if I were to turn around and face west towards the Gulf of Mexico the sky would be cloudless. I think that’s strange and it drives me nuts. I would love to take pictures of these clouds over the beach but they’re never there, they’re hovering inland. I have no idea why that happens but I do notice it quite a lot.

Other images from Emerson Point

From my home office I have a window that looks east and I can see these clouds during the day. I’d rather be out taking photos of them than working so I was pretty happy that I came this morning; just as I was about to leave I noticed them. All good things come to those who wait. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

April 26, 2016

The Stroll

Florida is a retiree heaven. Afternoons like this are when you find people out strolling about, sitting on piers and basically passing the time. I wonder if I’ll ever do that, it seems a little to passive for my taste, I’d rather be taking pictures or riding a bike, but you never know. All the retirees I know say they are more busy after retirement than before. That’s counterintuitive but in a way makes sense.

This is a lazy afternoon scene at the pier in Terra Ceia. These mangroves created a natural frame leading to the water along the boardwalk. Mangroves are everywhere along the coast and are responsible for Florida being on the map. A slight exaggeration but they prevent the erosion against the tide and storms. So unless you are on a beach, you’ll see these mangroves everywhere, and thanks to them Florida hasn’t yet washed away.

checkout more sunset photos in the gallery

Getting back to the main subject, I do spend a lot of time where people are strolling, even if I’m not strolling myself. People like to stroll where the scenery is nice and of course that’s where I like to take photos. So even if I don’t end up retiring and going for a stroll in the afternoon, I’ll have plenty of knowledge on the subject. I’ll become what is known in industry as a SME; a Subject Matter Expert. Having lived in retiree heaven I’ll have an encyclopedic knowledge in the ways, means and methods of strolling.

April 22, 2016

Decompression

Maybe like a lot of you, I sit at a desk all week. Monday through Friday, day-in, day-out. I restrain my movements to a few square feet while I talk or listen endlessly on meeting after meeting. The week is a progression of days leading ever so slowly to the last hurdle, Friday. On Friday morning emails are tinged flippant references to what awaits in another eight hours. Then finally, after an eternity, it comes.

This is what decompression looks like, a central mass expanding. Friday feels like this.

Friday night, Saturday and Sunday during the day are all free. Free of deadlines, free of worries, free of compression. Then, sometime Sunday afternoon or evening, the realization that it’s almost over kicks in. I watch my favorite shows, think about what I wish I’d done, go to bed.

Monday morning is all business, get the dog walked, get to work, get through e-mails before my first meeting. Settle in, focus on the task, narrow my center of mass. Five more days to go.

Hey, check out my favorite images here. But, if you don’t agree, pick your own favorites here.

April 19, 2016April 19, 2016

Water Ride

I was driving to the park the other day with my dog and looked over to see these horseback riders going the other way. It’s not everyday that you see a bunch of horses swimming the other way, but there they were. Actually this is well known in my area. Along the causeway in Bradenton people come to ride horses in the water. It’s a fun thing to watch and many times I’ve pulled over to look at the horses, but this is the first time I saw them all in the water at once so I couldn’t resist taking a photo.

My dog is so funny, he’s normally so quiet, but when he sees horses or cows he loves to bark. I’m not sure what it is but I think they might be big dogs to him. Whatever the case, it’s hilarious since he’s so quite otherwise. Suffice to say he got in a few words as these “big dogs” passed us by.

The big puffy clouds seem to make the whole scene surreal. This is my favorite time of year in Florida, the weather is perfect in every way. Of course that’s why so many people come here to get a break from the cold and snow. In another month we’ll start getting humidity and thunderstorms and then there is a completely different type of drama in the skies. Also, I think once it gets hotter the horses really like coming here to cool off. Not a bad way for the big dogs to spend the afternoon.

More images from my county in the Gallery

April 14, 2016April 14, 2016

Through the Weeds

I live next to this abandoned housing development, I can see it out my window. The development was abandoned before the houses could be built so there are roads and a harbour but nothing else. Sometimes I’ll head over to take photos, especially if the sky has nice clouds. This was early on a Sunday morning and its safe to say there was no one else in sight.

I’m always a little cautious when I come here since it’s basically a wild area save for the construction remnants. I’ve seen alligators in the creek and we found a fourteen foot snake skin on the fence. At night I’ve seen a fox and we hear the coyotes as well. Given the lack of human traffic here it’s likely I could startle a creature as I walk around, so just being aware of my surroundings and keeping my eyes open is probably a good idea.

Gallery images from my hometown of Palmetto

Anyway, this is an HDR image that I processed in AuroraHDR Pro. The way you can tell is that I not only can we see the sun but the green color of the plants from the perspective of the camera. I combined five images (-3, -3,-1,0 and +1) to get the full dynamic range into the image. I didn’t have a lot of great composition choices so I just started playing around with the idea of the sunset from behind the weeds. I can’t tell you why but I like how it turned out. Maybe one day there will be a house right here and this is the view someone wakes up to each day, minus the weeds of course.

Check out the Landscape gallery on Flickr