unitedstates Archives - Page 31 of 34

March 17, 2016March 17, 2016

December Sunset

I remember taking this because it was on my birthday last December. The conditions looked good and I thought, hey I can do whatever I want today so I headed out and caught this amazing display. Not a bad present.

Here are a few other sunset images from the gallery

We get these sunsets quite a bit, the trick is knowing when to show up. Of course there’s an app for that, it’s called Sky Fire at http://www.skyfireapp.com. Basically it looks at the atmospheric conditions near you and produces a probability of a good sunset or sunrise. I’ve used it once or twice and it works about seventy percent of the time. Close to home I’ve learned to read the sky but my own success rate is only about fifty percent. On the road it’s a good tool to have especial if you are not familiar with the conditions.

I like living near the water as its become a central theme in many of my landscape images. Most of our planet is covered in water and I think I heard or read somewhere that there is more water below the earths surface than all the oceans. That’s mind boggling if it’s true. Nonetheless water in an image is a strong element that resonates with me at some level. Maybe its because our bodies are mostly water and there is some elemental attraction. You never know.

March 13, 2016

Lido Light

Lido Beach is at the southern end of Lido Key in Sarasota. This is more of a dreamscape that I made from a normal photograph, all the elements are real, the beach, light in the sky, sand and the couple. I just blurred everything a little to give it an ethereal quality which most approximates the feeling I get when I’m actually here at sunset. This is a typical Friday night at the beach, with nothing more to do than soak it in.

Other seascape images from the gallery

As I write this its spring break in Florida and most people equate that with rowdy crowds on the beach. There is another type of crowd found here in the more secluded beaches of Sarasota. Secluded is a relative term in the sense that if you compare this area to Clearwater or Ft Lauderdale it is downright quiet.

For whatever reason there was a bit of a chill in the air this day, not enough to wear a jacket, but enough to wrap in a towel while watching the sun go down. That was a week ago and now the temps are back up and the only thing with a chill is the ice in my glass; that’s an attempt at some worn-out Florida humor. But there’s a bit of truth to it especially as winter recedes and ice is a hot commodity. That’s doesn’t sound right either.

March 9, 2016March 10, 2016

In the Next Life

This is a I275 rest stop near Tampa just before the Skyway bridge. Its one of the most scenic highway stops in the state, especially at sunset. Truckers know this well as I see them all lined on break with this scene out their windscreens. Moments like this, especially at dusk, have me longing for the open road; next life perhaps.

Other images of or near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

In this life I’m a software architect by day and a photographer by night. It keeps me home yet longing for the road. I spend more time pining for a journey than the comfort of home. If I was a trucker it would be the opposite, longing for home on long lonely highways. The best solution for me is to live in the moment, be thankful for what I have. I am thankful for what I have, but in my next life, …

Speaking of the next life, if you could choose to come back as an animal, what would it be? I have so many ideas it would be hard to choose. Living here in Florida I’d want to be an Eagle or Osprey, I like the thought of flying high and surveying the landscape, although I’m not sure about eating my prey while it’s still alive. Another idea; my own pet dog, his name is Wiggles, he gets a tonne of love and has a good life. But he is a rescue, and I wouldn’t want to go through the abuse he did before we got him. On second thought, I guess I’m happy just being me for now.

March 8, 2016March 8, 2016

Bay Area Lights

This is a long exposure of the San Francisco Bay Bridge I took last year. I was with about three hundred people on a Trey Ratcliff photowalk. The problem with me and photowalks is that I’m a straggler. I see so many things that I want to take pictures of that I end up at the back of the pack, I can’t seem to keep up.

Click here to see the California Gallery

This is one of many thirty-second exposures I did while standing here with a tripod. If you do the math that puts me in this spot for about ten minutes. By the time I had enough presence of mind to look up the end of the pack was hundreds of yards down the road. Time to run.

Now, many months later, I just happened to look at this and remember that evening. I met many people and had a blast. Also I just noticed the V-shaped light in the distance between the two leading lines. I don’t recall seeing it that night. Anyway, now this is one of my favorite shots from the photowalk.

March 3, 2016

Window Shot

This is sunrise north of the Manatee River in Palmetto Florida. I’ll be driving along running an errand and see something that makes me wish I had my camera. Once in a while I have it like the day I took this out the window of my car. The area is known as North River which has a small-town atmosphere. However now we are in the peak of snowbird season which is when the population is doubled due to the number of people that come down to Florida for the winter.

More images from around my home

Even though I live in a small town it’s still an urban area. Even so I’m always looking for images and paying attention to the light. Often enough there are good conditions for photography, but when I’m on a street or in a parking lot or sitting at a stop light it loses some of its allure. A sunset next to a gas station is not my idea of landscape photography. But, maybe if I try hard enough I could find a composition there also.

For instance, this I used my telephoto lens to create a narrow field of view between two houses. Because I aimed just so you don’t see the houses or urban sprawl. I like simplistic images because it is a way for me to bring some balance to the clutter of urban spaces through art. Here I’m using my imagination to create what I’d like to see, rather than what I do see.

March 1, 2016

Looking North

Here is another shot I took from an observation tower looking north towards St Pete. In the foreground is the trail through Robinson Preserve, off in the distance is the Sunshine Skyway bridge and, if you look closely, beyond the bridge is downtown St Petersburg.

Click for Florida Gallery

For the sky and water I overlaid the texture from the inside of a native american Cedar canoe. Surely that has nothing to do with this picture yet it seemed to work well. Textures are photos of other things that can be used to add to an otherwise plain surface. I started collecting textures, which is just another way of saying I’ve been taking pickers of the ground, walls, clouds or interesting patterns. I never know how something will work until I try it out, like this one.

I wrote a post about pictorialism and how I gravitate towards the artistic side of photography. That’s evident in this image because I’ve changed it to convey a feeling or idea, not so much a strict representation of the moment. I’m not that much into the purist side of photography where we document a moment in time. That’s an honorable profession, it’s just not for me. I’m in it for the art. Totally.

February 25, 2016February 25, 2016

Riverwalk in Bradenton

Riverwalk in Bradenton is where I go to walk and get a little break in the evening. Usually it’s filled with people doing the same, but every now and then I’ll have the place to myself. On this occasion the weather dropped below room temperature which is too cold for thin blooded Floridians. As I write it’s winter in Florida which is really the best time of year. The climate is moderate and everything is in full swing on account of the tourists.

See more images from around my home

Last week I went to a restaurant to order take-out. I arrived at six o’clock, ordered and sat at the bar while I waited. Twenty minutes later there was a line up out the door. This is the season many businesses make it big, the time of year when revenue pours through the front door non-stop . Tis the season to be merry. Ho ho ho.

Actually, now that I think about it, winter is like summer here, everyone is out and about, enjoying the outdoors, beaches, restaurants and sports. All the local events are planned for winter; fairs, shows, circus, you name it; everything happens in winter. Summer is our winter because we get tropical storms and torrential rain almost every day. When I first came here it took about three years for me to figure that out. I may be a slow learner but now but now I’m wise to the ways. Ho ho ho.

February 24, 2016February 24, 2016

Midday in Sarasota

I took this at midday in Sarasota while driving around last weekend. For me this is more of a daydream than a real picture. I daydream when I drive sometimes. Some things are so automatic that they get relegated to the autopilot side of the brain while the other side goes in a different direction. I’m headed that way right now.

When I look at a scene I look for an impression. We’re each so different no two impressions are the same. For some reason this takes me back to when I was about five years old and our family went on a road trip to San Jose. I remember the hotel and that it had a pool. I have no idea why this reminds me of that, it’s not logical. The blur in this image represents my faded memories of my five-year-old self; looking through a glass darkly.

Isn’t it a paradox that some people revert to their childhood memories as they grow older. I think something gets inverted. Maybe memory is like a fabric we can fold in or out and expose different surfaces. Not that I have a clue, but I think it’s a little different then I might think. Anyway, this has been a little trip down memory lane. Time to stop the daydream and drive.

February 22, 2016February 23, 2016

Another Backyard Sunrise

This is another backyard sunrise from home. I don’t really have a backyard and this is not “my” backyard but, it’s in my hometown so figuratively speaking it’s “in” my backyard. Having said all of that, and having said that this is sunrise, you know I’m facing east. For some reason we get a lot of amazing sunrises happening in the east due to the way the clouds form in my backyard. Let me explain.

More images of Florida sunrises

The geography and weather patterns of central Florida are such that the clouds often park themselves over the land, not over the water. For instance, on this morning while we had a brilliant sunrise to the East; to the West there were no clouds, only clear blue sky. I’m not complaining, just making an observation. Well, as a photographer maybe I’m complaining just a little.

If you think about it, Florida is one big peninsula with oceans on both sides. Somehow that creates unique weather patterns which most of the time I ignore. But one of those patterns is that clouds will hang over the land and stop at the coast. So when they do that in the morning this is the result, a backyard sunrise. Actually my backyard faces the West and, ….oh good grief, there I go again.

February 21, 2016February 21, 2016

Beach Sunday

Today was Beach Sunday in my town. It’s not a holiday, just the day after Saturday and the day before Dreaded Monday. And I know it was Beach Sunday because when I got into my car to drive to the beach at 12:15pm, I hit traffic. It seems everybody got the same idea at the same time. A lot of great minds thinking alike.

When we get perfect days like today I have to pinch myself and remember how lucky I am to live here. It’s a twenty minute drive to some of the best beaches on the planet. Today I was with a couple family members who had just flown down from Canada. So I have it on good authority that today scored high on the awesomeness scale. They made sure they sent pictures back home just to rub it in. Of course I had nothing to do with that.

Check out the beach gallery here.

I love it when people come here from somewhere cold and get to experience days like today. It makes all the planning and waiting worthwhile. For me, I’m glad I have family that comes down so that I can have an excuse to go to the beach. Whenever someone comes to visit, I always bring them here on the first day, just to feel the sand and water and get in the right frame of mind for the rest of their stay. As far as that goes today the mission was accomplished.