With Sunday’s photography class still on my mind I was anxious to go out and shoot again, and Tarpon Springs seemed to be a good choice of destination. I was happy to get there early so that I could find parking that I didn’t have to pay for, but I was too early to find the crowds of people that I had imagined ahead of time. On the other hand, Tarpon Springs is hardly ever so quiet, so that’s a story all it’s own.
It was nice to see that pretty blue sky and puffy white clouds for a change. I think I got a little carried away but I had fun…
That was the name of the class that my friend and I attended today, It was a wonderful class and we stopped on the way home to take pictures. I’d like to say that I tried to apply some of what I learned in the class to the photos I was taking, because you are supposed to visualize the photo you want ahead of time and then make it happen. Beginners ‘spray and pray’, which means you take a zillion pictures and hope you get a good one. I confess, I’m guilty of that. But we had fun today, and practice makes perfect, or so I’m told. I tried to whip them into shape through cropping, at least to some extent.
A long, interesting stem with tiny flowers on the end.Bugs, because they were there. Halloween colors on the bugs.We got caught in the rain, but that didn’t stop us.Gnomes on the brain again. I thought that looked like a gnome door at the playground.Magnificent live oak at Hammock Park.On to Anclote Gulf Park where this cute fishy was caught, but then released. Betty’s detective work came up with the name Scrawled Cowfish.This great blue heron is looking out of the frame so it’s not a good picture, but I liked the rocks.An ever-present osprey on the hunt.Great blue again, but with some repeating pattern…A tricolor heron in the weeds…Welcome to Hammock Park. Gotta love the boots.A water feature, of sorts.This great blue appears to have a wound to his wing, here’s hoping he can fly.You have to drive in through a marina to find Miss Vicki’s where we had lunch. Seems that Yamaha has a lock on those outboard motors.I missed this picture the other day. This little blue heron has a frog he was about to eat. Life just isn’t a Disney movie, as much as I might wish it was.
We got rained on while we were taking pictures at Hammock Park, but we were luckier while we had lunch outdoors by the water. What a nice day…
Sunrise at the mountains? No, but I do love the clouds that could convince me that there’s a mountain range in the distance. And that’s as much color as there was this morning. These are the sunrises that remind me to stick close to home when it comes to sunrise and sunset photo ops. I’m glad I didn’t drive an hour this morning, or maybe it was a prettier sunrise further south. And when I do choose to drive then make a plan to meet friends there so it’ll be fun one way or another.
But that wasn’t my only trip out this morning. A visit to the Chrysler dealer for an oil change put me close enough to the eagle nest that I couldn’t resist looking for them again. And again the eagles were nowhere to be seen. But I was luckier when I headed to the fishing pier to see what I could see.
I believe that that’s a dragonfly on this little blue heron.
I was on the way to my car when I stopped to take the picture of the gull in the sun. But a fisherman came past and asked if I’d gotten a picture of the manatee that was hanging around the fishing pier. The answer to that was no, I had missed that completely. It was a gorgeous day, cool but windy, which made the water choppy and I had to wonder how anyone had noticed the manatee. She had a calf with her too, or so he said. I went back and barely caught her snout as she came up for air for just a second or two. But hey, I saw her, and managed to catch that snout in one of the 20 or so pictures that I took. Sometimes that’s all it takes to make a good day.
Bayport was a favorite sunrise location for me for quite a long time, but several years ago they closed the pier, and then closed the entire park while they replaced the pier. A sunken ship was the cause of the delay, but yesterday then reopened the park, complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony. I would probably still be in the dark about this if not for my former neighbor who posted about the reopening yesterday, which meant that today I was going to make sure to be there for the sunrise.
I wasn’t the only one there. Many very happy fishermen were also there, greeting each other and teasing me about taking pictures of their great, but imaginary, catches. And the sunrise didn’t disappoint. I could have lived without the guy with a drone who was buzzing the area as the sun rose though.
And again the weather was wonderful enough that even after the sunrise I was reluctant to leave, but once the sun was up I thought my day was done. That was until I noticed the grackle on the mirror of one of the parked cars, and then the birds took over the shoot.
The grackles are noisy, but for some reason I enjoy their antics. And of course the seagulls were plentiful too. I saw a Great Blue Heron land and intended to see if I could get a photo of him, or two, but I was busy with the sunrise at first. He was no where to be seen when I did look for him.
I guess the great blue heron that I missed is why I decided to take an alternate route home and see if I could see One-Foot Fred. I wondered what he did once the sunrise was over and his benefactor got on with his day. And when I got to the Hammond’s Creek Bridge there he was, standing right in the curb area where I would have pulled over to park. He paid no attention to me as I pulled over beyond him and got out and took a few pictures. I felt a little sorry for him standing there all alone, not a fisherman in sight. But as I pulled away I saw a fisherman arriving, carrying his tackle box and fishing pole. That made me happy.
Off we went to Hog Island to launch the kayaks on an absolutely perfect day. A little relief from the miserable heat we have ‘enjoyed’ all summer, and a blue sky with lovely clouds instead of thunderstorms. Even the water itself cooperated. A glassy surface with wonderful reflections. Sunburned knees were a small price to pay for such a perfect day…
This last one reminded me of the snow capped mountains in the Tetons. But it has already snowed there, so I guess I need to appreciate all that we have to enjoy here at home.
By this time you would think that I would have been to a place called Sunset Beach for the sunset before, but I hadn’t. Looking at the map I thought it would have a decent view to the east, which isn’t easy to come by here, so I had been there for the sunrise a time or two. But Sunday night after dinner with my son and family I headed the short distance to the beach before I headed home.
These photos are basically in order. Don’t ask me to explain why the houses facing the sunset seemed to be in the spotlight, but they were. Plus lots of wading birds. I walked to a covered pavilion to stand up a little higher and see what I could see, and I basically got rooted to the spot. In one direction I could keep an eye on the sunset as it developed, plus the little sailboat which continued to criss-cross the view the entire time I was there, and in the other direction was a volley ball game which had me hoping for action shots. Mostly I got shots of the players standing and looking up at the ball in the air, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
Lastly the fisher-boy as the color faded, and the sailboat still sailed…
