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Sutro Baths at Lands End

This is from my last time here at Lands Ending in San Francisco when I must have taken a million photos. I like how the pool reflects the light of the sky against the sea. It’s what remains of the Sutro Baths from about a hundred hears ago and there is a history of it you can look up on Wikipedia. Speaking of which I just made my yearly donation to Wikipedia. I use it a lot and feel a sense of obligation to contribute.

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Sutro Baths at Lands End
Sutro Baths at Lands End in San Francisco

The west coast of California is something I took for granted when I grew up here. That, and I was more of a mountain boy spending time skiing and backpacking in the Sierras. Whenever I’d mention to someone that I was from California they’d assume I surfed, but to this day I’ve never rode a single wave.

Now that I’m into photography it’s renewed an interest in my homeland of California. So when I’m here, usually for other reasons, I take time for photography.

California Gallery

I had a flight back to the east that night and so I had time to kill and plenty of space on my memory card. So I stayed long after the sunset composing a million images until it was completely dark.

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Pulling Out of Port

Here we are pulling out of port in Barcelona being followed by a flock of gulls. It was amusing because they seemed to know the routine and followed the ship quite a way out. It was an excuse for me to get some funny photos.

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Pulling Out of Port
Pulling out of port in Barcelona

When it comes to animals I anthropomorphize them; I assign human traits to their expressions and actions. I think we’ve had it wrong all along. Perhaps I see the animals in a different way, like maybe there’s more them.

I always try to show animals respect and never assume I know how intelligent they are or what they’re thinking. On the other hand I eat meat, so that’s something to reconcile. That’s my inconsistent sense of things and if you asked me to explain better I probably couldn’t.

more animal images

Nevertheless, I still think our co-inhabitants on this planet deserve more respect than we give them. And for that I am happy to feed the gulls.

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Houses in Nassau

I was on a tour boat when I snapped this row of houses in Nassau. It was my first time to the Bahamas and it pretty much lived up to expectations. At least as far as what I saw on the tour, which included some amazing waterfront homes.

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Houses in Nassau
Houses in Nassau that we saw while on a tour of the island

Our tour took us to a beach where we sat under umbrellas and watched the waves. I know that sounds great, and it was, but I’m from Florida and I get that at home. Since then I decided to visit places unlike where I live.

Nonetheless, what I saw is still quite nice. We took a last minute weekend cruise and this was the destination. The Bahamas are very close to Florida yet a different country all together. In that respect it’s something fun to explore without needing an airline ticket.

beach photo gallery

After the tour we walked around town and took a taxi to a famous fish house for some proper Caribbean food. And that is something we don’t get much of at home.

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Cruise Ship Leaving the Port of Venice

This was taken from a water taxi as we passed a cruise ship leaving the port of Venice. I’ve been on several cruises and the port of Venice is the most scenic I’ve seen. This was not the ship I was on but if you look close you’ll see all the passengers lined up along the rail. They’re looking out at the city of Venice.

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Cruise Ship Leaving the Port of Venice
Cruise Ship Leaving the Port of Venice

I was on an even larger ship that left a few hours later and the scene must have looked similar. There were so many people standing on one side that the hull tilted towards the city. It was the most amazing feeling; the ships are so large it never occurred to me that the weight of the passengers could make it tilt.

The procedure for docking a cruise ship in Venice involves being towed by two or more tugboats. The tugs are massive machines. There is one that pulls from the bow and one or more that guide the stern. Because they move so slow you have a perfect vantage of the city. I stood on the thirteenth deck and looked down upon the rooftops. It was one of the highlights of the cruise.

more images of boats

In any case, this was just a random shot with an interesting perspective. It’s one thing to stand on the top deck and look out, and quite another to see it pass by from the water level.

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Sailboats in La Grande-Motte

I was La Grande-Motte a couple of years ago walking around with my camera. A friend who was running some errands dropped me off for the morning. It’s a seaside resort town on the Mediterranean and in that respect has a lot of similarities to where I live in Florida. I was here in the off-season so it did not have the normal crowds.

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Sailboats in La Grande-Motte
Sailboats in La Grande-Motte

I could be wrong but it seems like there are more sailboats in Europe than in the states. I’m no expert but I think we have more powerboats in the US. Nevertheless these long rows of docks are common in southern France.

more images from France

The symmetrical leading lines of the rows reflecting on the water fascinate me. For that matter, leading lines and water always grab my attention. It’s something I’ve taken photos of over and over again. There is a good explanation for it, I’m sure.

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Oasis in Plain Sight

One of the things I like most about Sarasota is their public spaces. This is a good example of that, an oasis in plain sight.

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Oasis in Plain Sight
Oasis in plain sight – Bayfront Park in Sarasota

I took this in the middle of summer when we get amazing clouds. I don’t normally take pictures of city parks but this one is situated right on the inter-coastal waterway so I couldn’t resist.

Every time I drive by this park seems empty. I’m not sure if people just aren’t aware of it or what, but it’s the perfect spot. Just stop the car, walk over to the water and sit on a bench. As far as parks go this is one of the prettiest in the area.

more Sarasota photos

This is an HDR image; I took three photos with different exposures and combined them in AuroraHDR. It makes it possible the show the whole range of light when there are extreme ranges like this. It’s hard to take an image like this any other way.

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Inside the Old Walls of Aigues-Mortes

This image is for me a study in the transformation of a scene. The photo was taken in daylight inside the old walls of Aigues-Mortes, southern France. However the photo appears to be in the evening. It’s an example of what I imagined verses what I saw.

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Inside the Old Walls of Aigues-Mortes
Inside the Old Walls of Aigues-Mortes

Street signs, power lines and crowds were all removed. I worked on the tones and the light. I added the illumination of the lamps and a sunset through the portal. Finally I added shadows and some subtle shades. In reality there is very little reality in the image.

But is there reality in a novel, movie or painting? They’re all renderings of an artist. Sometimes I tire of reality and prefer the world of imagination. I am a practical guy so these explorations are a departure from the routine of daily life.

more from france

Given how much time we spend in the day-to-day it’s advisable to escape for a while. For me, that means simply transforming a scene from day to night.

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Signs at Sea

When sailing you find yourself looking for signs at sea. Any kind of sign will do; weather signs, signs of land and signs of life. Open water doesn’t have the familiar frames of reference, so unconsciously our minds are pre-occupied with building one.

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Signs at Sea
Signs at Sea – when at sea we look for signs of life

This is not news to anyone who sails. The frame of reference for a sailor is different. Sailors know how to read signs and surely there are many more signs that we’re not even aware of.

This was taken as I sailed on a cruise ship towards Venice. To the combination of clouds, water and land on the horizon I added birds from another image. They were not in the original but for me they completed the scene.

more seascape images

The idea here is that these are all signs at sea. Chances are you’re much better than me at reading them.

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Bridge of Sighs

This is the Bridge of Sighs as it frames a crowd of people beyond. In this case I am focused on the crowds rather than attempting to obscure them. It’s a different perspective but something I’ve been exploring lately. Lets just say it’s a slightly different take on travel photography.

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Bridge of Sighs
Bridge of Sighs in Venice

My idea is to have crowds of people juxtaposed to architecture or in iconic settings. If it’s done right there’s something that makes us want to look closer. Normally crowds are not that interesting but therein lies the challenge.

Also I write about it because it helps me make sense of new ideas like this. The more I integrate it the more I can repeat this idea in different settings; it’s a form of study.

more bridge images

Writing is an integral part of photography for me. I take a photo, work on it and then write about it. In the end I have a something more than just a photo. All the while I’m learning something new and having a little fun. And as they say, it’s all good.

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Calm Before the Storm

I took this a couple years back on Sanibel Causeway, which connects the mainland to the small island of Sanibel. We have a lot of causeways and bridges in Florida because there are so many islands. When I first moved to Florida the unbelievable number of bridges was one of my first impressions.

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Sanibel Causeway
Calm Before the Storm on Sanibel Causeway

Wherever there is a causeway you’ll find people standing at the waters edge with a fishing poll. In many ways this is a typical scene when driving around either coast.

The setting sun illuminated a large column behind the fisherman. I walked around and took a bunch of photos but within thirty minutes it had moved our way and we were covered in dark clouds. As I jumped in the car it started to rain and within a few minutes there was thunder, lighting and zero visibility. That’s a fairly common occurrence during the hot months.

more cloudscapes

This image continues a theme of simplification. I removed a lot of distractions to create an impression of the scene from that afternoon. In effect, this is the calm before the storm.