Month: January 2021

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, boats, changing times, Florida landmarks, fun, go with the flow, making memories, nature, perseverance, photography, unintended images

Sunset scenes…

naturecoastimagesblog

I’ve said it before, probably more than once, but sunset at Pine Island never disappoints. But not always for the reasons you may think. Like the feature photo. I had to circle back to take that picture, and after that I decided that even if the sunset wasn’t great I was glad I’d made the drive. I love happening across things like that.

I think they’ve redone some things since I’ve been here. The grill area looks great, and the playground has a pirate theme too.

I often come across a photo shoot at sunset here, but not always one like this one. They had a phone balanced on the nearby grill and reenacted this pose over and over the whole time I was there.

Of course I had to play with the Lensball while I’m trying to learn it’s potential. I was looking for little kid footprints in the sand but had to settle for the seagull prints.

This sailboat/sunfish (?) caught my eye.

After that I got carried away with sunset photos, with and without the Lensball. Which I happily discovered fits in my jacket pocket. One guy asked if he could borrow my jacket, it was cold! That boater must have been freezing!

And I did say they were still at it, the love birds I mean. Yes, Pine Island never disappoints!

a second look, adventure, childhood, coping, facing facts, fun, go with the flow, growing old, life, life goes on, live and learn, Nature's beautiful creatures, perseverance, photography

Having fun….

naturecoastimagesblog

“We never go out to play!”, that was my lament back before Charley and I ever retired. I wanted to go out and have fun, and so I daydreamed about all the fun we’d have when we moved to Florida and had all this time on our hands. I wanted to go biking together, and kayaking seemed like a lot of fun even though I’d never done it. There were state parks to visit, we’d go hiking, and the best thing of all is it would be free, or nearly so. These were my thoughts, but I’m not sure I ever spoke them out loud. We did ride the bikes around the block a few times, but that was about it for outdoor activities together.

And that playful moment may have passed because now when I see people having what looks like fun to me I quickly realize that as much fun as it may appear to be I couldn’t possibly manage to do that anymore. If I ever could.

And now it has hit me that if that was me hanging from these ropes then I couldn’t be taking pictures of my fellow playmates while they are doing the impossible, dare-devil, maneuvers. So maybe it’s okay that I can’t do the things I could once do. But maybe seeing other people having fun is even more fun for me as I watch, through the lens…

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, Bayport, friends, fun, Just do it, learning, life goes on, perseverance, photography, Rise and shine, sunrise, Up and at 'em

Sunrise/Moonset…

naturecoastimagesblog

I have a friend who seems to always find the perfect spot to view an unusual situation for a photo op. Sometimes it requires being on a beach 50 miles from home at 2 AM, which I did once and it really wasn’t too bad. So I really had no excuse not to try to find the spot for the sunrise and moonset that were going to occur at roughly the same time on Thursday morning. Doesn’t that sound intriguing? Would they be in the same shot somehow? I won’t know until I see her pictures, because I didn’t head out quite as early as I would have had to. But I did decide that I might be able to get a good view of the moonset and sunrise from Bayport. It’s almost as far of a drive for me, but a much easier traffic-wise and I know the area. So off I went and this is what I found, which isn’t what I hoped for, but it was fine. The reverse is true for this evening, a moonrise and sunset happening at nearly the same time. And if I want to join my friends I could find the spot in the daylight. We’ll see how brave/energetic I feel later today…

I hurried to take a picture when I saw the nice reflection of the moon in the water.
And I was happy to get this shot also.
But then I had to play with the Lensball but honestly couldn’t make heads or tails out of what I was seeing as I was shooting. And yes, the moon shows in this picture, just not the way I might have expected or wished.
I think I bought the Lensball because I could also buy this little stand that you can attach to your tripod. And yes, it’s an essential element for someone shooting alone.
As the sky got lighter the reflections disappeared.
But the colors of the sky got prettier.
And then it just faded away.
But wait, there was a sunrise happening across the parking lot!
Through the camera lens.
And from the iPhone.

adventure, bucket list, changing times, fantasy images, finding my way, following the rules, fun, Just do it, learning, perseverance, photography, simple things, sky, sunset, technology

New toys…

naturecoastimagesblog

With photography as my favorite thing to do there are a lot of ways for me to spend money on my hobby. I tend to think that I take pictures for ‘free’ since I well remember the days of having your film developed for lots of $$$ and discovering that only a very few of your pictures actually turned out the way you wanted them to. And I have already upgraded my camera and bought several lenses beyond what I started with. And tripods, I’ve bought a few of those. New lenses need bigger and better bags to hold them, and I’m thinking that I ought to buy a wagon of sorts to carry this stuff with me so I can actually use it when I’m shooting. But the reality is that there is only one way to improve my photography and that’s by working on my technique and learning all that I can about how to do better. So I resist buying more stuff, usually. But the Lens Ball has been calling me for a while now. Something different to play with. So I gave in. I took it out at sunset last night, which meant I didn’t have to deal with it getting too hot to hold, a pitfall I’ve heard a lot about, and totally freaked out over the fear of dropping it. It’s heavier than I expected too. So I have only two pictures from last night, but it’s a little something different. Something to help me get through these days, one at a time…

Here’s one taken by the iPhone, and I flipped the image over. The image is upside-down in the lens as you view it to take a picture. Straiss your brain a little to work with it…

a second look, adventure, birds, cats, ducks, Florida landmarks, friends, fun, making memories, Nature's beautiful creatures, perseverance, photography, weather

Zootampa residents…

naturecoastimagesblog

Watching this tiger pacing and yowling has distressed me in past trips to the zoo.. Until yesterday that’s all that I’ve ever seen him do. So seeing him relaxed on that platform was nice, even if he did yowl a bit.

I do force myself to walk the rest of the zoo, instead of spending all my time at the orangutan enclosure. And in doing that I sometimes notice an animal, or in this case a bird, that I hadn’t noticed before. It’s a Black Spur-winged goose, called such because of a spur on it’s wing that can actually be poisonous. Who would have thought that?

Just ducks I know, but I liked the color here.
This elephant is taking a dust bath, doesn’t that sound like fun?
The whole giraffe, not the easiest shot to get. Plus a zebra.
This is a Schmidt’s red-tailed guenon. I love his little heart shaped nose.
This family was enjoying an encounter with an Alhabra Giant tortoise. I was frustrated with out limited view. I wonder how that photographer’s photos turned out.
This is a yellow-billed stork.
I thought this orangutan was hiding it’s face completely, until I got the photo into the computer. She was keeping an eye on us.
a second look, adventure, friends, fun, learning, life, making memories, moments, natural wonders, perseverance, photography

Zoo babies…

naturecoastimagesblog

You know I was looking for orangutans at the zoo on Monday. I especially wanted to see if we could see changes in the newest little baby, but on our first go-round we never did see the mom and baby, so contented ourselves with the antics of the bigger babies. But before we left we came back to the orangutans, and this time not only were mom and baby there, but she moved out into the light and seemed to display him to us as any proud mama might do. I have barely looked at any non-orangutan pictures so far, so forgive me the orangutan overload. I can’t help myself.

He has gotten a lot more interested in the world around him, or so I thought. I’m sure I’ll be back in a few more weeks so we can watch him as he grows…