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Seawall and Fishing Pier at Fort Desoto Park

This is the seawall and fishing pier at Fort Desoto Park in St Petersburg. We drove up here the other day to walk and watch the sunset. When we arrived we’d just missed a couple of large cruise ships passing out of Tampa Bay; all the ships pass this point.

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Seawall and Fishing Pier at Fort Desoto Park
Seawall and Fishing Pier at Fort Desoto Park

The cruise ships that leave out of Tampa are typically sailing to Mexico, the western Caribbean and now Cuba. Just a few weeks ago the first US based cruise ships departed for a port of call in Cuba. That was big news around here.

It takes about an hour of driving to get here from my home on the other side of the bay. I was talking to a neighbor who has a boat and he comes here in the afternoons to fish. I was surprised to find that out but I think it might actually be shorter to get here by boat.

This is a good place to fish and last year I saw a guy over by the pier catch a six-foot Tarpon. But you have to be careful because once hooked, the sharks like to come by to steal the catch. I’ve heard that Dolphins can do that as well. All’s fair in love and war, and I suppose for serious fishermen it’s a real war out there.

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I don’t have to worry about any of that because I get my fish from a menu. I am not in any way shape or form a fisherman. Sure, I’m probably missing out on a lot of fun, but I’ll stick to taking photos for the time being.

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Hotel Europe in Vancouver’s Gastown

This is Hotel Europe in Vancouver’s Gastown. Gastown is a once-rundown-but-now-trendy section of the city. The last time I was in this area I walked around in the evening.

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Hotel Europe in Vancouver's Gastown
Hotel Europe in Vancouver’s Gastown

There is no end of things to see especially if you like photography. In fact, several years ago I was here with my wife when she booked a photowalk with Susanne at Vancouver Photowalks. I highly recommend it if you’re so inclined. She knows the city and you’re guaranteed to come home with some epic shots.

This is a heritage building built in 1909. There are a lot of restored buildings that give the area its character. The streets are made of bricks and there is an ancient clock operated by steam. You could eat in a different restaurant every night and do an epicurean tour of the world. Each time I come back this section of town just keeps getting better.

Normally I take a tripod with me at night but this time I was just out for a stroll, not really intending to take a lot of pictures. I ended up wishing for a tripod, but made due with a high ISO instead. This was taken handheld using ISO 5000. Even though I’ve had this Sony camera for a couple of years I’m still amazed at what it can do. Maybe one day tripods will become obsolete as well.

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Anyway, if you’re in Vancouver and you want to see something a little different go to Gastown. Even better, arrange to go with Susanne from Vancouver Photowalks.

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Night Scenes Across the River

I shot this in December when the conditions were favorable for fog. It’s an opportunity to capture familiar scenes in a different light. Advection fog occurs when warm air passes over cool water causing evaporation. I live near the river so I notice it just by looking out the window. I headed out one evening to shoot night scenes across the river in Bradenton.

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Night Scenes Across the River
Night Scenes Across the River

If you notice, fog changes our perceptions. Sounds are slightly muffled and distances are cut short. It can be intimate or confining. It creates a sense of seclusion in a place that might normally seem open and exposed.

Like the transition from day into night, fog creates another type of transition from sharp to soft. With weather transitions, there is usually a bit of magic just after it occurs. It’s something new and is a transformation from clarity into a soft glow.

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By using a high ISO I am able to capture these scenes at night without a tripod. Fog creates a visual playground for me as a photographer. It casts everything in a different light and invites fresh interpretations. The same can be said for inclement weather, however fog is the least troublesome to work in.

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Lost in Thought

I can get lost in thought just as much as the next guy. We lead complicated lives. Breaking free of that is a theme with me and reflected in some of my photography. I look for and capture simplicity in a complex world. How did it get this way? We might as well ask why it rains. I think we pile on complexity as we go through life. We do it to ourselves without realizing the consequence. The more we maintain complexity inside, the less we are aware of simplicity around us; at least that’s my theory.

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Lost in Thought
Lost in Thought – Taking a walk and looking for clarity

Taking a walk can help clear the cobwebs. But how did the cobwebs get there in the first place? For me it can be emersion in something to the point that I associated with it rather than the real world. We all do that. If we can at least recognize that then we can know when enough is enough. By detaching from a problem at hand we’re open to things we might otherwise miss. Complexity is self defeating, it works against itself.

I believe that thinking too much is the source of discord. For example, they say money is the root of all evil, but maybe thinking about money is even worse. Thinking too much creates constructs in our minds that are no less real than road blocks in a construction zone. The key to clarity is, well, not thinking. That’s easier said than done. If I could not think for five minutes a day that would be something. Thinking is a tool, but incessantly revolving around something is how blocks occur. So many threads, so much to hold together, something is going to fall.

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Anyway, I took this picture of a man walking alone, surrounded by blocks, and only steps away from a clear pool. And that got me thinking….

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More Alike than Unalike

This reminds me of the saying that we are more alike than unalike. While in Amsterdam I took a ride on a boat through the city canals. It’s a perspective that had me looking up at the houses, streets and people above the water level. It was a covered boat but sat outside the whole time taking photos. Being a foreigner I find it particularly interesting to watch people. I think that’s a natural reaction to a new place, maybe because we relate to people more than surroundings.

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More Alike than Unalike
People are More Alike than Unalike

I think people in most places around the world have a lot in common. Where we live is part of the equation, but not the most important part, at least that’s my theory.

People here seem to be happy. There is a sensibility that’s rarely found in North America, we have it but in isolated cases. What is it? It’s hard to put my finger on it. Folks are content to ride bikes instead of cars. People spend quality time together rather than work all the time. It’s a sense of identity of a small country that is sometimes lost in a large country. And then of course there are the laws, they are very different.

All that aside, at our core we are more alike than unalike. We think about many of the same things, we feel the same, we react to the same things. By experiencing and learning from each other we become wiser. When we look closely at people we realize we are not so different.

monochrome from the gallery

Photography is sometimes an opportunity to meditate on these ideas, to cut through the exterior and make a connection. That may sound counter-intuitive, but I think there’s something to it, at least for me. But then, if we’re not all that different maybe it is for you too.

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Preferred Parking

On Saturday night I was walking back to my hotel in Vancouver and had to stop and do a double take when I passed what appeared to be preferred parking. It’s adjacent to a nightclub and what caught my eye was the modes of transport, i.e. German engineering. I have no idea which club this is but just after I took the shot I saw another couple arriving in a Porsche from Washington State. I guess the club is worth the two-hour drive up. If I had one of these cars I’d park here as well. Surely the valet attendant is well tipped.

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Preferred Parking
Preferred Parking in Vancouver BC

At the time I was walking around looking for street scenes to photograph. My Sony camera is so good at night photography that its something I look forward to doing whenever I’m in a big city.

It’s been about six months since I was in Vancouver and the one difference I noticed was the amount of people smoking weed in the open. I’d say it was more than in Amsterdam, and if you’ve ever been to Amsterdam that’s saying something. Maybe because it was a Saturday night, but I’m not sure.

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Anyway, there is always something to see / do / smell when walking around here. Everyone is out having a good time and some people know how to arrive in style.

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Contemporary Jewish Museum

This is part of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Naturally the design caught my eye and is another example of art in architecture. As unusual a shape as it is, the wide angle lens accentuates the effect. The surrounding buildings seem to bend into its gravitational pull.

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Contemporary Jewish Museum
Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco

Public art can evoke imagination transporting the thoughts of any who take the time to notice. I believe it subconsciously stimulates our inner worlds one individual at a time.

We all need art in our lives. Many of us live, move and age in a world without acknowledgment of art. We ignore it. I am no exception, racing at the feet of another god, unmindful of my surroundings. But eventually we tire of being disconnected from deeper meaning. Art is a portal to the place it was created. That’s an opaque way of saying it leads back to creative energy, because it’s the product of a creative.

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I have never considered myself a creative. But I’ve come to appreciate creatives and their art. And through the practice of the craft of photography I begin to recognize creative similarities in my own and different mediums. If I, of all people, can become aware of the value of art, then there’s hope indeed.

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Bike Roads

In Amsterdam there are bike roads constructed everywhere. I’m not even sure they should be considered lanes because in many cases they are roads in their own right. The first thing I learned when I came here was that they are not for pedestrians. It only took one time. The same thing happened to me in Vancouver once. It must be a common mistake for foreigners.

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Bike Roads
Bike Roads in Amsterdam

Quite often you’ll see passengers sitting sideways on the rack. The racks on these bikes are sturdy and people carry everything on them. While walking in the morning I saw parents carrying their kids to school. It’s no wonder the bicycle culture is passed from one generation to the next.

Bikes are parked everywhere but the highest concentrations are around train stations. At some stations its the only form of parking. There are tens of thousands parked in massive multi-level lots.

Bike mechanics thrive here, bike shops are more common than cheese shops. However people are resourceful and I saw riders jump off to quickly fix a slipped chain or flat tire. It appears that most people know the basics out of necessity.

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Despite all this I rode no bikes while I was here. I only walked so I could take it all in. But on my next trip that will be different. Riding a bike seems the most natural thing to do in Amsterdam.

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The Floor of Toronto’s Eaton Centre

The floor of Toronto’s Eaton Centre as I walked through early one morning. The shapes and lines caught my eye so I used a balcony to capture it looking down. There are normally a lot of people walking around but I was here before opening.

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The Floor of Toronto's Eaton Centre
The Floor of Toronto’s Eaton Centre

Years ago when I lived here this was called the Eaton Center. Eaton’s department store was one of the anchors with Hudson’s Bay the other. Things have changed since those days and the stores are now different and the name of the mall is changed. However I think everyone still calls it the Eaton Centre.

In some monochrome images I’ll leave something in color. This is a technique I use to elevate individuals or things. Photography is a way to freeze an instant of time, a random moment of our lives. Here I am emphasis a person within the setting.

Each person has a unique way of seeing the world, no two are alike. When the mall opens in another hour all of those people will pour in and become a crowd. Each individual in that crowd experiences it in their own way.

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That’s a zen perspective that I sometimes get from photography. I find that if I take a moment to consider a scene I might just find meaning in it. In this case I found meaning in the mall.

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A Little Bit of Everything

I walked through central Amsterdam on a Saturday Night and saw a little bit of everything. Having landed only that morning it was my first exposure to things which I’ve only read about. A lot of people were out having fun which in and of itself is not unusual. However the city of Amsterdam is anything but usual.

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A Little Bit of Everything
A little bit of everything can be seen on a Saturday night in Amsterdam

For instance, I’m not used to seeing people smoking weed and hash out in the open. I’m not used to seeing shops where hallucinogenic drugs are sold. I’m not used to seeing brothels in and amongst the shops, restaurants and bars. Perhaps most unexpected of all was that people seemed quite blasé about it all. These things are just taken in stride.

Honestly I don’t know what I expected. I have this feeling that if we did the same thing in the United States it would be havoc, but that’s probably just my own ill-conceived ideas. I did not see junkies strung out on the street corners. There appeared to be very little crime, I felt perfectly safe on the streets even late at night. It’s the kind of town I could easily live in. In fact Amsterdam has a night mayor. It’s a real position that ensures all the night life runs smoothly.

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Anyway, it was early November and they already had Christmas lights up. That, along with all the happy (and possibly high) revelers out having a good time created a fun atmosphere.  If I had to sum it up I would say that  Amsterdam at night is an exceptional party town that could only exist in a European society. At least that was my first impression.