Category: Pine Island

'scene' along the way, a second look, attitude adjustments, birds, Florida landmarks, fun, life goes on, perseverance, photography, Pine Island, sunset, technology

Sunset songs…

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I’m pretty sure that the Ruddy Turnstones in the feature photo aren’t really one legged. They are the cutest little shore birds and I don’t get to Pine Island to see them often enough. It was a pretty sunset on Tuesday night. And, as I always say, there always seems to be something extra going on there. On this night there were two women playing their guitars and singing old songs that I not only remember and love, but I knew all the words. I wanted to sing with them, if only I had a decent enough voice. But the sunset was also calling me.

Several people did sing and dance with them. And now I see the open guitar cases and maybe I should have made a donation.
This was my view as I walked from the parking lot onto the beach. I hadn’t noticed the music at this point, I was just concentrating of the clouds and hoping the sunset colors would come through.
The birds were flying over, quite a few people were enjoying the view and the music.
Birds kept flying past so I kept shooting.
I was taking a series of shots to turn them into HDRs, but it will take more practice with the camera settings to get that right. But that means I have to go back.

The sky never did light on fire as I’d hoped. But that didn’t spoil my evening a bit.

a second look, birds, bugs, Florida wildlife, flowers, fun, perseverance, photography, Pine Island, sunset

All about the birds…

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It really was all about the birds last night at Pine Island. Surprising birds if you consider the 5 or 6 chickens that were milling around just outside the entry to the parking lot. They must have headed back to the coop before I could get a picture. But walking onto the beach I saw seagulls in the air, lots of them.

They weren’t flying all the time, but when they did!
Lots of clouds were rolling in.
A little solitude for this one.
I was looking at the sun dipping low and reflecting on the water when the birds started flying through my shots.
So I kept shooting.
Lots of shots.
It seems there is always something going on, and when I saw that this guy’s shirt said STAFF I thought there was an event happening. I guess he was just taking it easy at the end of his day.
This shrub was covered in these flowers that I thought were very pretty. So I looked around for a couple that were in the light and at a good height to get a picture, and this is what I found. I didn’t see the bug at first, and I wish it was a bee or a butterfly, but I guess it’ll have to do.

a second look, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, birds, food, fun, moon, perseverance, photography, Pine Island, sunset, Uncategorized

A low key sunset…

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Sometimes you head out for the sunset just because you have the opportunity, even though the sky doesn’t look all that promising. And sometimes you like one view of the sky from Hudson Beach, but your friend wants to watch from the opposite end of the area. You may have been less than gracious, wanting to see the same view you always see. And then you might look at your pictures and think that it wasn’t such a bad outing after all.

A little blue heron visited for a few minutes.
Then he flew off, but circled back for a photo, or two.
The moon is always a tempting shot.
I thought these clouds might be interesting as the sun set.
Most boats were coming in, but a few headed out.
A promising sunset on the way, I thought.
I zoomed in because I liked the way the sun looked as it set behind the vegetation. What I didn’t realize until I saw the shots in the computer is that there are birds in the vegetation.
Lots and lots of birds.
'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, attitude adjustments, birds, brainstorms, changing times, finding my way, Florida landmarks, fun, perseverance, photography, Pine Island, sunset, technology

Old faithful photo ops…

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Good old Pine Island. I decided that since I’d been there for so many sunsets over the years and paid nothing, that maybe I owed them so I wasn’t going to complain about the $5 charge to get in. But with sunset after 7 PM I suppose the toll taker must have gone home. The payment window was shut. And, as I always say, Pine Island never disappoints.

I anticipated seeing the mail boxes in the feature photo, but I expected that if they were still displayed this way they would be tired and worn. Instead it looks as if they have recently had a facelift. And it seems like there are more of them than there used to be. Someone in that neighborhood is quite creative.

Once I arrived on the beach I followed my ears to find this young man and his pan drum. A delightful sound, which I expected to find was a stringed instrument. A lovely sound, perfect for the circumstance. And as he played the beach goers were excited to see dolphins off in the distance, much too far out for me to try to get pictures of them.
Often the sunset itself play second fiddle to whatever else is going on at the time. In this case it was another photo shoot. The dad on the left, the photographer on the left in back, and the very pregnant mom-to-be in her gauzy robe with her pregnant belly proudly displayed. While I love a fun photo shoot, I really cringe over some of these subjects. I think my age is showing.
There were lots of seagulls on the beach, and the people frequently sent them into the air. But what should have been a good photo op lost something because they all seemed to be flying away from me. Not this Ruddy Turnstone though. They are my favorites so this was fine with me.
The moon drew attention from the beach goers also.
Love an (almost full moon.
Back to the parents to be. A more traditional pose.
Among all the seagulls I spotted a Willet.
And the sunset. It was nice enough, but it had a lot of competition.
The end of another fun evening at Pine Island.
'scene' along the way, a second look, Florida landmarks, life goes on, memories, perseverance, photography, Pine Island, sky, strangers become friends, sunset, Uncategorized

Lost and found…

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A reader recently told me not to worry about using ‘old’ pictures, though the ones we were talking about that day were only a month old. These photos were found on an SD card that I apparently had put away upon getting a ‘better’ SD card. The photos were from 11-9-2019, and were taken at Pine Island. It seems I have abandoned Pine Island for sunset photography these days. I haven’t been back since they decided to keep charging the $5/car entrance fee even when you are arriving 20 minutes before sunset. But these photos have reminded me how much I enjoyed the sunsets there, and of the connections I’ve made there also, so perhaps I will rethink my position on paying the fee. I probably used these photos in a blog post back then, but seeing them on the card doesn’t give me a clue about that. And Lightroom has had some fabulous upgrades to use since then. The skies look very much like our current skies, so there is that at least. I sometimes feel as if I temporarily lost, and then found, myself these last few years. All in all, being found is a good thing.

The feature photo is of the beach and sky to the left of the actual sunset. This photo is taken to the right, which would make it towards the north. Very different sky.
It was early yet, but down in the corner you see people settled into their chairs to watch the show.
I don’t know if I expected as pretty a sunset as it turned out to be.
Not a lot of people waiting for sunset, but some.
Low tide adds some interest to the scene.
Finally the sun was dropping below the clouds.
Another photographer with his own perspective on the sunset.
Touchdown! Finally.
I took many more shots as that sky darkened. But this is my last shot from the parking lot as I got ready to leave.

Pine Island is now calling me. Not tonight though. We will be (hopefully) celebrating a Lightning win at one of our favorite places to belly up to the bar tonight. Or drowning our sorrows, it remains to be seen.

'scene' along the way, a second look, adventure, friends, fun, life goes on, making memories, perseverance, photography, Pine Island

Fun and games…

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I have a photography friend who is mainly interested in sports photography, so maybe that’s why I found the four young men playing ball on the beach so interesting. If anyone knows the name of the game they were playing then give me a clue. They were starting each round by bouncing the ball off the round board in the center. After that the rules were not obvious, but that didn’t spoil my fun as I took lots of photos.

Sunset at Pine Island has always been one of my favorite spots, but this time I was a little surprised to find that they were still collecting a parking fee when we got there after 7 PM. $5 for parking all day, or parking for the sunset. I shouldn’t complain since I’ve been parking there for free for four years now. But still…

We buzzed by Bayport before we went to Pine Island, and found people with professional looking camera equipment getting ready for an event. But when I asked about it I found that there was a vigil planned for a man who had been killed a few days before. I decided not to stay for their private moment…