sand Archives - Page 7 of 8 - Just Enough Focus

December 29, 2015December 29, 2015

Fort De Soto Beach

Visits to the beach

This is Fort De Soto Beach a couple of days ago. With the holiday over we decided to head to the beach and unwind. This is a section that looks across towards the Sunshine Skyway Bridge as it enters Tampa Bay. I don’t spend as much time at the beach as you might think. I go for photography quite a bit, but to sit and vegetate, rarely. I suppose that’s common among us who live here, we take it for granted. I go maybe two or three times a year. But as I say, for photography I go many more times than that. In the end it doesn’t matter because I do spend time along the shore with the waves, breeze and sunsets; I do not take that for granted, at least not yet.

How I created the Image

I worked on this image for several hours this evening. I used a motion blur and carefully blended the original layer. Prior to that I created about ten layers in Photoshop to carefully craft the image to an idea I had in my minds eye. Then finally I used a Lightroom preset to give it an overall desaturated tone.

What I was thinking at the time

You may understand some of these technical details but if not, no worries. The point is, on some images I spend a lot of time and effort to transform an image into something resembling a dreamscape. For no other reason than I like to and, I think that dreams can be just as important as ordinary life. I’ve heard that we make our own reality, so if that’s true, then sometimes I like to create a reality that is a little bit ethereal like a dream, one that I would like to inhabit if I could; at least in my mind.

December 17, 2015December 17, 2015

Bradenton Beach Elements

A few of days ago I arrived at Bradenton Beach just as the sun receded beyond a layer of clouds. I like photos that show people alongside the elements of nature. Something about the outdoors resonates with me and so I try to create images showing people immersed in nature. Living near the coast of Florida I have ample opportunity to explore this. Its safe to say that most of us love to hang out at the beach, not only because its fun, but because it satisfies a need to be outdoors with the elements. The sand, the ocean, the sky and clouds, these are all things we can easily feel affinity for. Maybe we don’t always think about it, we just long for the relaxation and fun, but I think that on another level relaxation and fun come from being exposed to things that are not artificial. This is just a long winded way of saying it’s nice to get outdoors, and what better way to do that then time on a beach. So anyway, here I am, standing on the beach and I noticed these two enjoying the last rays of the sun. I’ll hazard a guess that they had some fun and went home a little more relaxed then when they arrived, I rest my case your honor.

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015

Rainbow on the Coast

I got up early one summer morning and caught this rainbow along the gulf coast as I walked the trails at DeSoto National Memorial in Bradenton. In summer we have thunder clouds that change from one minute to the next. They combine the energy of the warm air and gulf waters to become powerful and, if I might say, rambunctious. By that I mean loud, dramatic and fun to watch, especially from a photography perspective. On this morning I also caught a rainbow as the clouds were breaking apart. This is an area were thunderstorms and rainbows are common as the waters of the Manatee River meet the Gulf of Mexico. The storms like to follow the path of the river and I’ve taken a lot of photos rainbows around here. In real life they are beautiful to look at yet don’t always translate into a good picture. One morning I watched as a double rainbow formed over the river in the soft light of morning. Many people were stopping to look at comment, it was amazing to witness. I took a bunch of photos yet when I got home and looked at them they didn’t look all that special. I think that in most cases, rainbows are meant to be enjoyed in the moment and trying to capture their beauty can be as elusive as the pot of gold at the end.

December 10, 2015December 10, 2015

We are never alone, even when we think we are

At times we need to be alone with the elements. Something about that reminds us that, in fact, we are never truly alone.

I recently read a book called The Light Between Us by Laura Lynne Jackson. It’s basically an autobiography of a person who grew up with a special gift to communicate with the “Other Side”. In it she details the struggles she overcame learning how to deal with that without having someone to help her. Nonetheless, she is one of a handful of scientifically certified psychics in the US and has helped many people bridge the gap between this world and the next as it pertains to bereavement. So, the moral of the story is we’re never really alone. The world we live in is just a subset of the real world and we are surrounded by many who love us all the time, whether we are aware of it or not.

December 7, 2015December 10, 2015

Beach Houses on Anna Maria Island

Beach Houses in Anna Maria — Beach Houses on Anna Maria Island Obtain a fine art print

Walking around the beaches of Anna Maria Island you’ll find houses along the water with a view of the gulf. Some are located on relatively isolated stretches so that even if there are a lot of people at the beach these sections are quiet. Walking past this area the beach was was quiet and undisturbed as evidenced from a colony of skimmers that nest and feed here. As I walked past they paid me little heed as they rested on one leg. I live only twenty minutes away but I keep telling myself that one day I’ll just rent a beach house and do a staycation. I think this remote strip suits me just fine.

November 6, 2015

Nokomis Beach Bridge

In the West coast of Florida most of the beaches are on keys which are long barrier islands up and down the coast. The main reason they don’t get washed away in storms is that usually there are dunes with vegetation to prevent erosion. So we have these bridges over the dunes that create a pretty nice entrance to the sea. As leading lines go, these are one of my favorite because they lead to where we all want to be, on the beach and in the sun. Speaking of which, the weekend is about to begin.

August 13, 2015

Sowing Seagrass on the Seashore

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Planting seagrass like this protects the beach from erosion of storms. Communities up and down the coast of Florida are always looking for ways to preserve the beaches. In some places they dredge up the sand from just beyond the shoreline and place it back on the beach. That’ll last for a couple years depending on the storms and then it needs to be done again. Plants are a natural approach, only they are usually used to protect only the entrance to the beach which usually involves some type of dunes like these.

July 30, 2015July 30, 2015

Under the Kite

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Another shot from the kite festival earlier this year at St Petes Beach Florida. In addition to standard kites, there were a few of these enormous balloon kites that bounced up and down in the breeze. And of course that’s the perfect invitation to come play under the colorful billowy fabric. Of all the photos I took that day, the shots of the children playing around the kites were my favorite.

July 21, 2015

Pass-A-Grille

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Pass-A-Grille is an odd name, I’m sure there’s a good explanation; maybe I’ll find out one day. In the meantime this is a quiet community just south of St Pete’s beach in Florida. I’m standing here at the southern end on a Thursday evening. Little did I realize a WWII bomb was found here under the sand and today as I write this the beach was evacuated and the bomb squad detonated it: so much for being a quiet little community.

June 19, 2015

Weekend at the Beach

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The weekend is finally here, I thought it would never come. Not that I have a lot of hair, nevertheless, time to let it down, kick back and enjoy some much needed R and R. I don’t know about you but I would love for my weekend to be uneventful, not a lot of stuff going on. I think there was a lot of that going on here in Boca Grande last weekend when I took this at the beach. Yup, just a whole lotta nothin.