inspired photography with just enough perspective
I took this one of the times I was in Vancouver. As I recall, the weather was terrible most of the time, so I got a lot of practice wearing cold weather clothing.
I’m not complaining but, my wardrobe in Florida consist primarily of shorts and tee shirts. I am aware that most people who don’t live here are envious of that. However, when I do leave town, it’s fun to wear warm clothing. By fun, I mean for a week or two.
I have never been at the center of a Tweet Storm unless of course, we are referring to squawks on the beach. Maybe this is a good metaphor for that.
Speaking of which, I just heard the in-depth interview of Jack Dorsey on Sam Harris’s podcast. The guy is pretty zen, way more than I expected. Long story short, Twitter is a work in progress and, from what I can glean, Jack has his heart in the right place.
more photos with birds from the gallery
I’m not much of a Twitter guy, I just tweet my photos, but that’s probably not the ideal use case. I do like to follow certain people, but I’m not really into participating in public discourse. I’m more contemplative and keep my thoughts to myself. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing; but let just say, it is what it is.
On a typical evening at Bayfront Park in Sarasota, people are walking along a scenic path or merely sitting on a bench. Given the view, can’t say that I blame them.
Sometimes I come here to take sunset photos; other times I prefer to take pictures of people watching the sunset. I’m not sure which I like more, it depends on my mood I suppose.
more monochrome from the gallery
This is street photography, even though it’s in a park. The idea is to freeze a moment in time to preserve the essence of movement, place, and people. Street scenes are studies; they take something fluid and solidify to be examined in detail later. In scenes like this, I see things that were not apparent at the time. I think there is value in that, like maybe an appreciation for the multitude and beauty of things unnoticed.
I took this photo in Pass-A-Grille. The name is anglicized from the French: Passe Aux Grilleurs. It seems it’s always been a favorite place to grill fish.
I’ve only been here a few times in the last decade, but I’ve never grilled fish. Nevertheless, it’s just south of it’s more famous cousin, St Pete Beach. And unlike the communities just north of it, has a distinct village feel.
see more images like this in the sunset gallery
Anyway, I arrived just before sunset and, just like at all the other beaches in the region, people arrive to watch. In case you haven’t noticed, that’s a favorite photographic subject for me. I am attracted to the colors in the sky and, the scenes it creates of people watching the spectacle unfold. I think we like watching the sunset because, at a subconscious level, it’s a reminder of our place on Earth as it moves through the heavens; and, that we are part of something much much more significant.
I like to walk by restaurants and see what the people are eating. It’s also fun to take a picture and freeze the moment so I can decide later if I want to go back.
This is another South Beach night scene. I shoot in places where there are a lot of folks out at night. People are relaxed, and it shows when you catch them unaware. But if they see you, faces change in a blink.
more from Miami in the gallery
We had friends over recently, and Marlise told everyone to act naturally as she snapped some photos. Of course, it had the opposite effect; we all posed and looked unnatural. I guess the tip of the day would be that if you want people to act natural, don’t announce you are taking a photo. Unless, perhaps, you are working with actors who are trained to look natural.
It was one of the hottest days of the year, and for the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why anyone would carry a sweater.
Maybe the stores were air-conditioned in the shopping district of this Italian port city. In Florida, we freeze going to a movie in summer. You dress in shorts and flipflops but then need a jacket in the theater.
When I was here in Solerno, it rained cats and dogs in the morning, and within an hour the streets dried up from the heat. I got a wide range of pictures that day that included different types of weather. It reminded me of Florida summers but with a lot more to explore.
Shooting into the sun on an afternoon is not a great idea. But when it comes to experimenting, I’m full of not great ideas.
In this image, I took about seven exposures to get a wide range of exposures. I then blended a few of them to make the final image. There are some cases, like this, where you need to think outside the box to create an image.
I experiment quite a lot with my camera, and in a lot of cases, the experiment does not turn out well. But, more and more I’m able to imagine what the result should be in my head before I take the photos. Post processing is where the magic happens; it’s where the camera in my mind gets to work with the camera in my hand. In other words, it’s the creative process.
Crossing the North Atlantic in a straight line, each morning you could watch the sunrise from the stern of the ship. Without this constant, there is little else for orientation.
Admittedly, getting up early on vacation to watch the sunrise sounds insane. But crossing the ocean on a ship leaves plenty of time to nap throughout the day. Trust me; sleep is not a problem.
more monochrome images from the gallery
Likewise, in the evening you could see the sunset from the bow, but, at that time it seems you’re always busy getting ready for one thing or another. So early mornings and late evenings are the best time to take pictures on a cruise ship. And that, my fellow travelers, is your cruise ship tip of the day.
Let’s face it, for some of us, there’s only one reason to go to the fair. And in case you’re wondering, it’s not to pet the goats.
It only comes around once a year, so you have to choose carefully. My wife and I checked out all the vendors so we could make an informed decision. She decided on these sausages which, as you can see was an excellent choice. However, I went with fried green tomatoes and, …deep fried Oreo cookies.
The midway was mostly empty on account of the cold weather that night, so we had the pick of all the rides without lines. However, after my meal, I wasn’t sure that a roller coaster was such a good idea. So I stayed behind to pet the goats.
Here is a photo of Trey Ratcliff and Danny Levin that I took about five years ago. Danny and I were on one of Trey’s New Zealand photo adventures.
That seems like such a long time ago, but I still have a ton of photos and memories. I shot this on the original Sony A7R which was relatively new at the time. Now, I’m on the third generation of that camera, but I still own the original. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.
see more from New Zealand in the gallery
Actually, I processed this with the latest tools. In this case I Aurora HDR 2019 and Luminar 3. Those are also the third generations from Skylum, and I’ve been using them for three or four years now. Every time they come out with new versions I go back and find old photos like this to process. When I do that, it’s like taking a trip down memory lane.