Tranqulity

Photo quote for today:

"I always thought good photos were like jokes. If you have to explain it, it just isn't that good." - Anonymous


The storm has finally moved on. My Tuesday quote reflects how I feel about this image today, but who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Another Red Flag Day

Photo quote for today:
"Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I'm going to take tomorrow." Imogen Cunningham

Shooting was limited again today thanks to tropical storm Debby. Try again tomorrow. If you'd like to see the before image of the read flag shot just scroll down to the blue lifeguard station in my earlier post.

Photo quote for today:

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs." - Ansel Adams

I'm fortunate to be about a (5) minute drive of Myakka River State Park.  The river flows through 58 square miles of wetlands, prairies, hammocks and pinelands, and has a very diverse bird population, not to mention thousands of Alligators. One of the migrating birds that winters down here is the White Pelican, with a wingspan of around (9) feet it's the largest of the seasonal visitors. I took a few snaps in late spring, just before they left for the season. I'll be posting some of the other birds that make this area home in upcoming posts.

Birds

Photo quote for today:
Pictures you have taken have an influence on those that you are going to make. That's life! - John Sexton

I thought I'd share some of the bird life to be found here in Florida.

Solitude

Photo quote for today: 

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep". - Scott Adams After photographing landscapes in Maine and the even larger landscapes of the Southwest for the last 35 years I have found it very challenging trying to accomplish anything close to the same here, in my new home in Florida. With everything being as green as it is, and flat, I've had to revisit my definition of what I envision to be a landscape. After some thought I've settled on working areas by the beaches, along with the great cloud formations that form over the prairie (see my earlier post). At this time they're both a work in progress and subject to change as I keep exploring my options. In this series I'm studying the effects of ultra long exposures, in pre-dawn light, to see how differing surf conditions impact the composition. Of course the tides here only vary by a foot, between high and low tide, so I'll have to wait for a storm to blow in for a true test of what things will look like.

Visualize

Photo quote for today: "You don't take a photograph, you make it" - Ansel Adams

The one thing that trumps everything when it comes to making that great image is your ability to visualize the finished image. There is nothing new about this concept, the most well known photographer of our time, Ansel Adams, was unquestionably the master of visualization. Now that we've arrived into the digital age we have within our reach the ability to control every aspect of image creation. So the next time you come across your next jaw dropping subject take a moment to pause and visualize the final result.

In my series below on the lifeguard stations of Siesta Key, my visualization was that of a very simple composition. I wanted the stations to pop out, complemented by an interesting sky. Because I now live in a region known as the Sun Coast it took several weeks of weather watching, and numerous trips to the beach, to capture the raw images. I've purposely included the original image of the blue station as a before an after comparison of what I visualized in the final image.

Photo quote for today:
It matters little how much equipment we use; it matters much that we be masters of all we do use. - Sam Abell

Prairie and thunderhead, Myakka River State Park


This is typical of the summer weather along the Gulf Coast of Florida. In the late afternoon thunderstorms boil up and create these big sky landscapes. I grabbed this image along the Myakka Prairie, less then a 10 minute drive from the house. I expect I'll be spending much more time in the prairie this summer.  

Bamboo In Abstract

Photo quote of the day:
Our job is to record, each in his own way, this world of light and shadow and time that will never come again exactly as it is today. - Edward Abbey

Now that I've relocated to a new state it's time to do some posting. Black and white has been my latest interest, so I'd like to share these new ones for your comments. Mike