inspired photography with just enough perspective
This house is the visitor’s center at Robinson Preserve in Bradenton Florida. As you walk through the preserve you see this beyond the grasses. It reminds of a little house on a prairie, only it’s not so little and this isn’t a prairie, but you get the drift. I came here because it has a lot of wide open space and every once in a while a little space is a good thing.
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This is a shot I took last December at Robinson Preserve. I just arrived from the rainy pacific northwest where it was sunny all day to the sunshine state where we have clouds and rain, go figure. This time of year in Florida has a lot of clouds which of course I love but the photo reminded me that we get occasional clouds in winter as well. Sound mixed up? It is. My weather bearings we’re messed up for years when I first moved here, basicly winter is like summer and with all the tropical storms summer is like winter. Had enough? Okay, this concludes today’s message from the Department of Confusion.
This is a few feet from the kayak launch in a wildlife area known as Robinson Preserve. I’m enamored with the place, I love the open expanse right in the middle of a city where the waters are calm, the wildlife takes refuge and the stillness is enough to restore sanity. It’s been a few weeks so I’m overdue for a trip back, maybe even with a kayak. Things are crazy all over and it’s easy to lose track of what’s important (I’m the poster child for that). But if I come to places like this I have a better chance than just about any other way of finding that place of peace.
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This is the lookout at Robinson Preserve and a favorite place to go and recharge the batteries. At this time of day the mullet are jumping in the bayou below and the only sound is the constant splashing as they try in vain to reduce the mosquito population. Thank goodness for the sanctuaries of silence and nature that can be found in this part of Florida.
I took this from a kayak launch at a nearby park. There’s nothing spectacular about this shot but I think I like the understated nature of it. Just nature, simplicity, lot’s of space. Room to stretch my mind and let the complications of the day dissolve. I think that’s why I like coming to this spot. In any case, the week is almost over and it’s been a busy one for me, so I made a promise to myself to get out somewhere like this where I can let the frenetic pace of the week recede into memory, and hopefully take a few pictures while I’m at it. Have a great weekend everyone.
The other day I walked through Robinson Park just after a rain shower and just before sunset. I think because of the rain the park was deserted which lent a quiet solitude to the place. This was the last shot I took before turning back towards my car. As I walked back I noticed things I didn’t see the other way. And of course with the orange-pinkish clouds I just took my time and enjoyed the moment. Just then a cyclist rode by and when he saw me with my camera, commented “just another day in paradise”. Indeed it is sir, indeed it is.
This is the lookout tower at Robinson Preserve in Bradenton. Actually, most natural preserves in my area have lookout towers because its so flat you need some way to see above the scrub and trees. Any place that has mountains, or even hills, would have no use for these because if you want a vista you just walk to the top of the nearest hill. As I write this I’m on the south island of New Zealand and I’ve not seen a single tower like this. What I have seen are plenty of hills and mountains. Two different worlds entirely.
I took this a a few months back at Robinson Preserve. Fast forward to now and I’m thinking that maybe as soon as this rain clears I’ll come back here to see what I can see. The preserve should have all kinds of puddles, and as the rain moves out we should have some good clouds. But that’s just me thinking out loud, or in type, …whatever. Florida is flat and landscape pictures are all about the ground and / or the sky, no mountains or hills to chime in. So now that I have my idea, I’ll be outta here…, happy Friday everyone.
A couple of Sundays ago I took a Kayak through the Mangroves at Robinson Park in Bradenton. To be honest, until a few weeks ago I’d never even heard the term “Mangrove Tunnel”. But here they are, all over Florida, just waiting for Kayakers to pass through. Anyway, this is my first experience and it was spectacular. I kept taking photos when I should have been navigating with the paddle and so my Kayak kept drifting to the walls of the tunnel. Click click click, drift, crunch, paddle backwards, …click click click, drift, crunch, …and so it continued through the whole length of the tunnel. I couldn’t help myself, it was just to amazing of an experience.
Another pier at Robinson Preserve in Bradenton Florida. I get so intrigued by the cloud formations in the sky that I have to check myself from time to time. Like this evening I was walking the dogs and even though we didn’t get a good sunset, the clouds were all feathery and swirly, a little like this shot. I got to thinking that I was probably the only person in the county looking up at the clouds and thinking how nice they were. Maybe I don’t want to go there and what that means, but hey, I’m easily amused and as a photographer, appreciate swirly clouds. I like pizza too.