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Bok Tower Gardens

This photo was taken a few minutes after a thunderstorm. I emerged from under a shelter to capture the scene, ears still ringing from the lightning strike on the tower. All in all, a typical summer afternoon in Florida.

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Bok Tower Gardens
This was taken minutes after a thunderstorm passed overhead

There are shelters throughout the gardens, and it was nice to just sit there with my fellow visitors through the rain; there are worst places to be stuck. As gardens go, Bok Tower Gardens draw a good size crowd. Only a couple of minutes after I took this, the paths re-filled with people.

I recently posted a photo of the golden door at the base of the tower, and now you can see it in the context of the full tower.

visit the landscape gallery

I’m not a garden person per se. I don’t often get my hands dirty working with plants. But I know it’s richly satisfying to many people. I’m the other half of the population that likes to come around after the hard work to admire and take photos. That should count for something, right?

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Pond Panorama

Here is an image from nearby Tom Bennett Park in Bradenton. I’ve been here twice this week trying to get some photos that do the landscape justice. To make this, I combined four vertical images, and each was a combination of two focus stacked images; so eight in all.

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Pond Panorama
This is eight images combined into a hi-res panorama.

I’ve been doing a lot of focus stacking lately. If you’re not familiar, it’s taking two or more photos of the same thing, each focused at a different distance. Then by combining the in-focus parts of each image, everything is sharp. It’s an excellent technique to use when you want to have a strong foreground element. It makes good sense in a lot of landscape scenes. Also, since this is a multi-image panorama, the resolution is very high. Therefore, having everything in focus is even more beneficial.

more panoramas from the gallery

I was at this same park a day or two earlier when I came to walk with my dog. This time I came alone to shoot, but after I did, I felt a little guilty that Mr. Wiggles got gypped out of a walk. I could have brought him because the photography wasn’t particularly difficult. Mr. Wiggles has me wrapped around his paw. I’m not done here so I’ll probably bring him along next time.

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Pond and Clouds

I took this image the other day on my way out of Emerson Point Preserve. This pond is at the entrance and is a real head turner when driving in or out. I’ve taken many pictures of it, and I’ve driven by many more times. This time I stopped for another photo.

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Pond and Clouds
The soft morning light on the pond and clouds at Emerson Point

I think the reason I like this photo, in particular, is that it has a little less contrast. It reveals the softer light and colors of the morning; I took this about twenty minutes after sunrise.

more images from Emerson Point

Sometimes I make complicated photos with a lot of elements and much post-processing. However, sometimes the picture speaks for itself without much effort from me. What I think, is that this image is one of those where nature does all the talking. So on that note, I’ll shut up and let mother nature take it from here.

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Water Hazard

The other day my wife and I played nine holes at a local course. I’m not a good golfer, but it doesn’t mean I won’t bring my camera. As we were waiting for the group ahead, I grabbed this photo of a water hazard at the third tee.

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Water Hazard
This was taken from the third tee at Buffalo Creek Golf Course in Manatee County

During the week I rarely get out during the day. That’s a shame because the first part of the day is when we get these puffy clouds. Florida is hot as hell, and somehow that creates these evenly spaced clouds. But I digress, when I squint my eyes the reflections on the water reminded me of a kaleidoscope, and that’s why I took this photo.

more reflections

The thing about the golf course ponds in Florida is they nearly all have alligators. We didn’t see any in this one, but in two others we did. When I first came to Florida, it was a little freaky, but now I’m used to it. They do their thing, and we continue hitting little white balls. But if the ball goes into the water hazard, it’s not advisable to fish it out. I’m just saying.

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Uncovering Gems

This image is another from the series I took while visiting Neal Preserve in Bradenton. The dry season is over, and thundershowers are now a regular occurrence until the end of summer. Water fills the ponds which in turn creates photo opportunities like this. Only a few weeks back this might have been bone dry.

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Uncovering Gems
A pond at Neal Preserve in Bradenton after the afternoon rain

The image is an HDR; it’s a combination of five shots of different exposures. Because I was shooting directly at the sun, I took exposures from -4 to 0. The software that I use, Aurora HDR, is smart enough to pick out the best from each frame to combine into one. Then I use the sliders and masking techniques to adjust the saturation, shadows, and highlights. After a while, it started to have a look and feel I was trying to uncover.

more landscape photography

Processing a photo is like polishing a stone, you work at it until it shines. That’s a simple analogy but aptly reflects the process. So often I’ll look at the raw photo that I have sitting in my library and think to myself it has little or no potential. But then, perhaps out of curiosity, I begin working on it and sometimes, I get a real gem. Not always, but enough times to keep me coming back for more.

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Old Photos New Software

This is an HDR image full of fall colors that I took four years ago in New Zealand. It was the first morning of a five-day workshop with Trey Ratcliff. In the southern hemisphere, April is in Autumn so the leaves were turning.

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Old Photos New Software
This is an old photo I processed with Skylum’s Aurora 2018

I had recently purchased the Sony A7R and now, four years later, I’m still impressed with the images. Since that time Sony has created two new generations of that camera so I now use the third generation A7R III. Also, since that time Trey and Skylum introduced HDR software known as Aurora HDR. Now Aurora is in its second or third generation as well. As a result, I’m revisiting these old photos with the new software. The software has improved to the point that it’s very easy to make old photos look amazing.

New Zealand gallery

Four years seems like such a long time, I would go back in a heartbeat. For a photographer, New Zealand is a dream. But I did take thousands of photos while I was there so even if I don’t get back right away I still have these photos to look at and enjoy.

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Roaring Brook Nature Center 2

I took this about three years ago at a little park called Roaring Brook Nature Center on Canton Connecticut. The pond empties down the mountain at a dike and indeed the brook does roar at that spot. Here is another image from nearly the same spot.

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Roaring Brook Nature Center 2
I took this on a nature walk a few years back.

I was here in spring which of course is when all the streams and rivers are full of melting snow. Spring is also the season for pollen and they get it heavily in Connecticut. My rental car was covered with a yellow layer so thick it resembled volcanic ash.

I’ve also been here (not this spot exactly) in Autumn and of course, the scene is quite different. All of New England is ablaze in colors and it’s a great time for a road trip.

more landscape photos from the gallery

This particular visit was a difficult one. We had just lost one of our beloved dogs from an unexpected illness and I was feeling sad. That’s when I looked up this little park figuring it would do me some good to go for a nature walk. When I saw scenes like this it helped take my mind off the pain. Times like that are never easy.

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Dead Pool

My guess is that this standing body of water is covered in some type algae which has robbed it of oxygen. If I’m right about that then there really is no life here, just a still quiet dead pool.

Dead Pool
A dead pool within the Terra Ceia Preserve State Park

I first noticed this while hiking through here and recently came back with my mountain bike and camera. Its inside a state park and there are several of these standing pools of water, but this one grabs your attention because there are no birds or life of any form and has this smooth velvet-like green carpet on the surface.

However in the hurricane season when we get torrential rains and a high tide at the same time these pools get reconnected to the bayou and probably come back to life for a short spell as the water becomes oxygenated again.

Some of my favorite images from the gallery

Anyway, there is a path around it and plenty of angles to look at this spectacle. With the bayou, mangroves and wetlands so full of life this presents an unexpected sight. It reminds me of the Tolkien Dead Marshes. In one sense it appears quite beautiful but I fear that if I get too close I might never be seen again. I can’t help but let my imagination runs a little wild when I see sights like this. This is a real-life dead pool. Your oxymoron for the day.

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Popcorn Clouds

A couple of mornings ago I came to this park to take pictures. It’s only a few minutes drive so its convenient for me to get here and back before breakfast. Lord knows I can’t miss breakfast.

Popcorn Clouds
Popcorn clouds in the sky over Palmetto Florida at Emerson Point

Now for whatever reason, we get these amazing popcorn-like clouds coming out of the East. They glide in from the middle of Florida over the land and then stop abruptly at the coast. So if I were to turn around and face west towards the Gulf of Mexico the sky would be cloudless. I think that’s strange and it drives me nuts. I would love to take pictures of these clouds over the beach but they’re never there, they’re hovering inland. I have no idea why that happens but I do notice it quite a lot.

Other images from Emerson Point

From my home office I have a window that looks east and I can see these clouds during the day. I’d rather be out taking photos of them than working so I was pretty happy that I came this morning; just as I was about to leave I noticed them. All good things come to those who wait. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

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Palavas Swamp

Palavas Swamp
The Palavas Swamp in southern France                   Click here to purchase a fine art framed print

The Palavas swamp is a habitat for all manner of birds on account of the shrimp and other tasty morsels that thrive here. The glassy surface at dusk caught my eye as I drove past. Those houses on the other side sit along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, this is a popular destination for vacationers in summer. However I was here in the off-season which afforded me an opportunity to see a slightly different side of life in southern France. Quiet walks along the beach or simply watching the night set in across the swamp.

Check out some of my favorite images here

Other swamps around this area are used to cultivate salt. The nearby town of Aigues-Mortes is where some of the finest salt in the world comes from. I’m not a good judge of salt but it seems to me refined and smooth. nevertheless but we bought a little box to bring home which we use sparingly for special dishes.

Aside from the salt, several little aspects of French culture rubbed off on us while we were here.; cheese, wine and baguettes be chief among them. But other things like slowing down to enjoy a meal which is something we don’t always do back home. In the end we came back with just enough to whet our appetite for more and the thought that things taste better when we slow down and, use a dash of good salt.