Low Hanging Branch

A branch hangs over the water along the Sunshine Skyway in Tampa. This image was taken at dawn one weekend.

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Low Hanging Branch
From the Sunshine Skyway in Florida

During the weekdays, the skyway is inundated with cars commuting to work in the various counties that surround Tampa Bay. I traverse three counties just to get to Tampa, one county twice. The weird way Tampa is carved up, Hillsborough County is on both sides of Pinellas County, on the same highway.

more from this area in the gallery

Nevertheless, this is a long exposure that I took from Hillsborough County looking back at Manatee County. The Skyway is an impossibly long crossing of Tampa Bay. Not only is it a scenic drive, but it’s also a recreation area and one of the best rest stops in Florida.

Obstructed View

There are so many mangroves along the water that quite often the view is obstructed. But maybe in some cases, it’s a good thing.

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Obstructed View
An obstructed view of the gulf through the bushes in Emerson Point, Palmetto

I was walking along a hidden shoreline at Emerson Point in the afternoon when I took this photo. I’m not sure what prompted me, but it seems the focus on the foliage is the subject of this image.

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Foreground elements are essential, especially in environmental or landscape shots. They’re a good idea anyway because they tend to be the first thing we focus on. As our eyes wander, we travel from foreground to the background. The trick in photography is to make that journey enjoyable.

Westward Gaze

This is a common scene at the beach and a good illustration of why I prefer the west coast of Florida.

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WestwardGaze
The sun sets on the western coast of Florida.

Or for that matter, the west coast of anywhere. Sure, you can get up early to see the sunrise on the east, but it’s not the same. Watching the sun sink into the ocean at the end of the day is observed facing west only.

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According to astonomy.com, about half of the galaxys rotate clockwise like ours, and the other half counterclockwise. That means that planets in other galaxies, and maybe a few in our own, have planets with the sunset in the east — something to think about.

Remote Beach

At the tip of Longboat Key is a beach strewn with the remnants of past storms. It creates a surreal scene, and it’s a nice place to hang out.

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Remote Beach
A remote beach at the northern tip of Longboat Key in Florida

The beach is only accessible by hike so, it becomes a bohemian camp of sorts. You feel very much away from it all here. Each time I come, there are groups of people in temporary camps with hammocks hanging from the trees. Sometimes they are playing music or singing, like gypsy gatherings in a Patrick Rothfuss novel.

more from Longboat Key in the gallery

At around sunset on any given day, you’ll see photographers trek here with their clients. I’ve done that, but I also look for unique scenes like this when I come alone.

Park Bench

Bayfront Park in Sarasota has benches along a winding path. A good time to come is the evening to watch the sunset by the water.

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Park Bench
A scene from Bayfront Park in Sarasota, Florida

One side faces the city, the other Sarasota Bay. There are yachts docked, so it’s also a residence of sorts for folks that live on their vessels. That sounds like a fun lifestyle.

more from Sarasota in the gallery

Each time I come there is something to see. I always bring my camera looking for stories. Stories are little vignettes of life that, when we see, it sparks our imagination. In that way, the photo doesn’t have to be too complicated. I think this photo is an example of what I mean.

Steam Clock

On the east side of Vancouver is an old steam clock. In the Steampunk universe, these things are commonplace.

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Steam Clock
A night scene in the Gastown section of Vancouver

Everyone stands around and waits and, after about fifteen minutes or so it gives off steam. In the age Apple Watch, it’s fascinating to watch a relic mark the hours by vapor and gears.

more from Vancouver in the gallery

The area is known as Gastown, and it has a lot of places to hang out. You could eat at a different place each night of the year. Whenever I’m in town, I come here and shoot night scenes. It’s been a few years so I can’t wait to come back. And unlike the glass towers a few blocks away, this Gastown is in a universe all it’s own.

Bridge Again

I take a lot of photos of this bridge; I should open a gallery and call it the Manatee Bridge gallery. With these types of scenes can you blame me?

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Bridge Again
Another image of the Manatee Avenue Bridge in Bradenton, Florida

What makes this so mesmerizing is the calm water of the intercoastal. When it’s like glass, it reflects everything and creates a dreamscape-like effect. That’s what I strive for but rarely achieve.

more bridges in the gallery

Anyway, if you go to my gallery and enter the keyword “ManateeAvenueBridge” in the search, you’ll get all the versions of this bridge I’ve taken over the years. In another five or ten years I’ll probably have quite the collection. Then they can rename the bridge after me. It will be called the Rick Bridge, or not.

Streets of Nice

Here is another photo from Nice France. I took this as I walked around the streets above the harbor on a hot August morning.

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Streets of Nice
A small street in Nice, France

The hill above the harbor is steep, and I remember thinking to my self that I didn’t want to get too hot first thing in the morning. So I paced myself and took slow steps, trying to avoid exertion. That was a fool’s errand because I quickly became covered in sweat no matter how slow I walked. I ended up getting ice cream for breakfast to cool down. That’s just how I roll.

more bicycle images from the gallery

Nevertheless, I prefer to walk around these little streets as opposed to the more famous beaches of Nice. Beaches I have all around me in Florida, so when in Europe, I like unique places like this; even when covered in sweat and eating ice cream.

Lions Bay

About five years ago I took a drive up the coast from Vancouver. I took this at a little community called Lions Bay.

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Lions Bay
Lion’s Bay, north of Vancouver, BC

This image has been sitting in my rejects file for a year or two. Now and then I look at the rejects and see if I should reconsider any. My perspective changes so much that, given a little time, I might change my mind.

more from the Canada gallery

To be clear, most of my photos deserve to be in the dust bin; they are not that interesting. I usually wait at least a week, typically much longer, to post a photo. It takes a little time to look at a picture dispassionately and decide if it rises to the level. But even then, it’s all subjective, and what makes a good photo is entirely in the eye of the beholder.

Caboose View

In Skagway Alaska, we caught a sightseeing train from the sea up into White Pass. I took this just after we reversed directions to head back down.

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Caboose View
The view out the back of the White Pass Railroad in Skagway, Alaska

The whole trip I hung out between the cars where I could get pictures of the landscape. On the way up we were in the first car behind the engine. Then the train pulled into a siding and the locomotive connected to the other end and, as you can see, we were at the back.

more from Alaska in the gallery

It was pretty high up, and the weather dropped about forty-degrees. Skagway used to be a mining town, and in the Klondike days before the train, miners would traverse the pass on foot or mule. That would be a hard slog indeed, so I was glad to be on a train with its trusty breaks all the way back down.