[photo walk] university of tampa

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We had a Saturday morning photo walk at the University of Tampa. It was nice being down there when the campus was virtually empty. We almost had the place to ourselves along with a couple of unknown photographers. We walked around Plant Hall shooting with the morning light. At 0:00 am, the opened up Plant Hall so we went indoors. I wandered all the way to Fletcher Hall which looks to be the old dining hall from when it was a hotel. I would have done better to have my tripod.























The plan was to walk across the river and have lunch. Since I parked closer than most, I offered to take Frank and meet them at Five Guys. It was really nice to get to talk to Frank one-on-one and get to know him. We didn't have to wait at the restaurant too long before everyone else showed up. Five Guys is a burger joint. They do have grilled cheese sandwiches and a veggie sandwich that is just made using the veggie toppings of the burger. I had a burger.





Afterwards, the group left to walk back across the bridge. Frank and I went back to my van. I saw an old DeSoto in the parking lot and we took some shots of that. Then I took Frank back to UT so he could ride home with Jeff & Theresa.












For the rest of my photos, please see my flickr set.

[photo walk] trolley rides & car barn tour

Oh man! What a fun night. Even if I got no photos I would claim the evening a success.



The trolley ride was OK. The trolley barn was interesting. The company was way too fun.



We started out at the first trolley stop near Centennial Park. We got aboard a trolley and they took us to the car barn. We got to see one of the oldest trolleys in existence. Sherry laid on the tracks for a fun photo op. I was using my camera’s live view instead of stooping down and that was overheating my camera chip. There wasn't much to see inside the barn. Or maybe I was just too hot to find much of interest.































We went back to pickup some late arrivals. Then continued onto Channelside. Since we were just there a few days before, there wasn’t much I wanted to shoot. Norm & I went into Wet Willies and got large margaritas. We were soon joined by others. The place has great colors for hdr.







Jeff introduced me to Bob who shoots with an Olympus E-3. The only two Olympians in a group of 300+ photographers! Jeff used to shoot with Olympus back in his film days. Olympus was late to the game with good auto-focus and dSLR cameras.

Jeff took the group down to the Dick Greco plaza. Norm, John, Sherry & I started to follow but it began to rain so we used that as an excuse went back to Wet Willies for another round.

John wanted to shoot from UT. The four of us got on a crowded trolley and headed towards the convention center. We had to walk the rest of the way. We got about halfway there and Norm decided to turn back. I went with him. We got back on a trolley and found more of the group. They stopped at Channelside again! but Norm & I continued to Ybor and Tampa Bay Brewing Company.



The drinks flowed. The conversation flowed. It was a fun night. They couldn’t provide separate checks so the $300 bill took quite a while to straighten out. We could have had more drinks while we waited!

[photo walk] dade city

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Dade City is an old town. It is the county seat but it's not the biggest town. I have been there a number of times but only once to photograph it. The last time I shot it, I had only had my dSLR a few months and was just getting into photography again. I walked around on Easter Sunday (while my dad thought I was at church) shooting mostly architectural details. Shops were closed so I didn't go inside the many antique shops.



I scheduled a photo walk and was a little concerned that people would just see the out of touch old town and not the quaintness. It does not generate the tourism like the towns along the coast. Only 6 of us signed up. I didn't expect Jeff to enjoy himself.



I had planned to take the historic route but no one wanted to follow a plan. Maybe I will do that myself another time. Dade City is small so we wandered about. The architecture is varied from the Olde City Hall to the post war era bank to the recent court house. Most shops are unique, the only chain, Beef o' Brady's, is local to Tampa Bay.



The hardware store is an old one. And inside you could find just about anything you would every need. And loads of stuff you didn't think of until you saw it. They had used baseball gloves for sale.

















This is the new county courthouse. It's relatively new. It's a nice building but not very detailed.



Doyle had to leave early. He probably didn't want to watch us eating while he had to wait to eat his diet food later. We talked about eating at Lunch on Limoges but Jeff looked at thought it was too hoity toity. We went to Kafé Kokopelli. It is an interesting place. The building is covered in vines and the entry is in the rear of the building. The interior is a mix of reused building materials and newer decorative items. They used old doors to make banquette seating and old French doors to create seating areas. The food was casual and good.





Sherry and I went into another antique store on the way to our cars. This one had very nice, pricey antiques which had been restored. They also worked on clocks.



For some reason, I like taking photos of fire hydrants. Sherry noticed. I like the way this one had different colors of paint peeling.





Jeff said he did have a good time and wants to schedule another walk on Saturday.

[summer break] day 1

Our first day of summer break. Only 67 more to go. It's a Thursday which means pool, lunch & groceries. Dad is here now and he buys most of the groceries on Tuesdays & Fridays. Since dad is here, the boys have a choice about staying home or coming with me. Both boys came with me.

Only a few women were doing water aerobics at the pool. They said hello but we did not join them. Ryan wanted my attention and Andy seemed content just to be in the water. The water did feel good.

Lunch was Wendy's and Chick Fil A. Ryan has been trying new things and recently decided he likes Arby's curly fries. But only occasionally, he had them on Wednesday after his moving up ceremony at school.

The boys looked at books and toys at Target. There are loads of Toy Story 3 items to tie with the release of the movie in 2 weeks. Andy spent his time recording the sounds of the toys on his digital recorder. Smart kid.

I have been working to process and catch up with my photographs. With all the photo walks and events, I am very behind. I did get a collection of images taken in March finished today.

The boys have been going out after dinner to ride their bikes & razors. Ryan is quick about it, making one loop around the village and back home. Andy rides a little longer but not much more than 15 minutes. We recently moved things around in the garage. I wanted to get rid of the bike ramp that they no longer used. But I pulled it out and they use it again. Figures.

[photo walk] tarpon springs

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We went to Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs. I had only been to Tarpon Springs once before, 10 years ago. I don't know if things have changed much as my visit was with Gail and the boys and we didn't stay long.







Once we got our groups together (Jeff had posted a different meet-up spot for the NPPF group) we started walking around. The group did not stay together though Doyle, Bridget and I were together most of the time.





Sherry & Doyle commented that some one always gets a shot of this particular sign. I got Sherry, Doyle & Bridget to pose for me. Hmm... I wonder if it is true?







I can see why Allen & Mike do not like Tarpon Springs. It really is a touristy spot and not many birds besides greedy seagulls. But I like checking out the small and fun details around areas like this.











The weather was hot. Doyle & I took refuge in the Candy Barn. They had loads of all that candy we grew up with. I was good and got nothing.











Doyle suggested these next two shots. And he used to hate getting his picture taken!




(That's really a shell and I cloned out the rest of the wind chime. Content aware fill FTW!)

The sponge museum is really, really, cheesy. I am glad we were there during the off-season. I don't think I could handle of a bunch of tourists going gaga over the cheeps tchotchkes.













After that, we decided to head to the restaurant. Jeff and a few others were already there and seated. Doyle just had tea. (How long is this diet going to last?) I got a crabby patty. We never saw Sponge Bob.

even the school procrastinates

OK. That may be a little unfair. But it sure seems like they wait until the last minute to get everything done. Or maybe there just aren't enough school hours in the day. Either way, it makes for a few busy weeks. Hmm... I wonder if it is so we will appreciate the slow days of summer?

The school organized an ESE talent show for late May. I didn't know it was going to be ESE only and wondered why they decided to dance to thriller with only 2 weeks to practice.

I arrived at the school early. I wanted to set up my tripod and get a handle on how to shoot in low light. I would have liked to set up my tripod in an aisle but knew it wasn't a good idea. I opted for the back of the theatre in the middle. Soon, the student videotaping the program, set up his camera a few feet away from mine. I thought I should offer to move but decided it wouldn't make much difference being so far back.

I could barely see anyone on the stage with my wide angle zoom. So I had to switch to my telephoto zoom which is not as fast. I also had to crank up the ISO to 800. (My pics are not good. I just can't seem to find the motivation to work on them. And they need a lot of work.)

The students were entertaining. A few brave guys got up and did solos. They ranged from OK to please stop but they all had great passion. Andy's class was last. They had some great costumes. Andy's hair was sprayed red. Two weeks later, his scalp is still stained. The kids had fun. And everyone got a medal.

Andy came home with me and we stopped at Chick Fil A.



On Wednesday, I met Ryan and Miss Kato, the behavior specialist, at the middle school for a tour. Andy had a tour last year but I was not told the correct time so I missed it. It was nice to finally see all of the school. I think Ryan was impressed with the size of the media center. It is at least three times the size of the one at his elementary school.

We found out that the regular wheel includes art, music, Spanish and PE. Ryan seemed happy with that. We also found out that he won't need to change for PE if he is wearing t-shirt, shorts & sneakers. I am so glad he had finally decided to wear sneakers again.

Mr. Fowler led the tour. He did not show us any classrooms so we wouldn't disturb them. We did go to Andy's class. All four classroom buildings are similar.

Ryan and Andy came home with me and we stopped at Wendy's and Chick Fil A.

I had walked early on Thursday and had planned to edit photos and then go to the chiropractor. I got a call from the school. It was Miss Leah saying that Andy had $20 but couldn't find it. Huh? It turns out that they were going bowling and I never knew. Since I was dressed, I got in my car and went to the bowling alley.



OK, so I stopped at Starbuck's first. But I still beat them to the bowling alley since the bus was very late. Once they got there, they decided to eat first. We went to Ci-Ci's pizza. Andy had 5 slices of cheese pizza. I had 2 slices of spinach and 2 slices of garlic. Much better than my last trip when I tried the macaroni and cheese pizza.



We went to bowl but didn't get to finish the game. The bus had to be back to take the high school kids home.







Andy came home with me and we went to Chick Fil A. Yep, Chick Fil A three days in a row!

This last week Andy had a picnic n Wednesday and I had Ryan's iep on Thursday. Busy!

[photo walk] trolley rides

I scheduled a photo walk on the trolley. My intention was to ride the trolley. When something looked interesting,one can get off the trolley and take some photos. We would get all-day passes so we could get back on at any time.



The trolleys don't start running until 11:00 am. I scheduled the meet-up for 10:30 thinking that there is always someone who is late. This time, everyone arrived early but we still had to wait for the trolley. I had gotten there early so I could check out Fort Brooke park to see if there was enough for a photo walk. The park is small but is park of the River Walk so a future photo walk would be a good idea.













The weather was warmer than I would have liked. But the trolleys are air conditioned. And since there were only 6 of us, we stayed as a group. Jeff and Theresa came so I ceded control to him. We rode as far as one stop before getting off at Channelside. There was a cruise ship getting ready for departure. There was a guard making sure no one walked down the steps and got too close to the gate.









Doyle wanted his photo taken under the Stumps sign. Silly. I took a few shots with his camera too.



After the ship left, we got back on the trolley. I wanted to take some photos of the newer buildings just north of Channelside. I thought I would stop on our way back.



Since we had a recent photo walk in Ybor City, I didn't plan on walking around much. I just wanted to eat lunch at the brewery. But Jeff started walking with Jim who hadn't been on that walk. So we walked around one very long block and then back to Tampa Bay Brewing Co for lunch. I had a beer, Blonde, and Doyle had unsweetened iced tea. Doyle just started dieting with Jenny Craig and ate nothing. I had a veggie burger. Yum!





I tried taking some shots inside the brewery. I boosted my iso up to 3200 but it was still slow. I realized later than Maya had looked at my camera and had changed it to Program mode. Oops.



We got back on the trolley and headed back. It was too late to stop again. I will have to come some other time to shoot those buildings.

[photo walk] lowry park zoo

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I never really liked going to the zoo when I was young. In fact, I can only recall going once on a school field trip. The Detroit Zoo is large and the animals were few and far between. When the boys were toddler, we did get an annual pass but then we moved down here to Florida. The pass worked for the Lowry Park Zoo and I liked going there much better. The zoo was smaller and more compact. I could whisk the boys through in less than an hour.



We stopped getting annual passes when the boys started school. It's too hot to go during the summer and too crowded on the weekends. Last summer, we got a family pass for the Aquarium. In September, the Aquarium, the Zoo and MOSI, have reciprocal agreements. We ended up getting memberships to the Zoo and MOSI.



The Zoo is near my chiropractor. So I would visit the Zoo before getting my adjustment. I found I liked going to the Zoo without my kids. I could go where I wanted and take as many photos as I wanted without worrying about Andy wandering off.



The Zoo isn't cheap. But I knew that Allen and Mike had passes. And Doyle had said he would go so I schedule a Friday photo walk.



The weather was beautiful but a bit on the warm side. Doyle prefers the overcast days but my camera loves the bright sun. I took my tripod with the intent of shooting the zebras for Bonnie's niece. I wanted to head to the African Safari area first but followed along as Jeff and Allen walked toward the Asian Gardens. My shyness gets in the way of me being an assertive leader. Besides, I know I can come back another time.



Jeff was a bit disappointed and disgusted with the lack of photo opportunities. The Zoo is not designed with the photographer in mind. The barriers are almost impossible to shoot around. I really hadn't thought about it as I am used to it. I like that the animals are so close and not so far away like at the Detroit Zoo.



Allen suggested we go into the Harrell Discovery Center. It is full of colorful frogs. I didn't use my flash so none of my pictures came out. Jeff and Theresa wandered and found the eagles. Jeff was very happy to get a great shot of one.



The Zoo was full of school children and the manatee area was one of the worse. The building is dark and with all those loud kids, unbearable. The manatee pools were cloudy and green and you couldn't really see them.



We left there and Jeff found some egret nests. The ground was stained with bird poop. You could see that there was a bird up there but not enough of the bird to take a shot. Then Allen found another nest with several young birds. The mother sat and guarded while we shot at them with our cameras. The light wasn't great, it was too bright. But I got some good shots. I would have never seen these nests without Jeff and Allen.



We hung around the carousel try to get some shots for hdr. Doyle was trying to get some blur and light trail shots. Jeff entertained us by running around to get some panning shots.





The penguins were disappointing. Only 2 came out and most of the vegetation was lost during the cold winter.

We finally made it to Safari African. We went inside the hall and Doyle and I tried some light trails with the colored lights in the ceiling. There was a restaurant and a food court. No one could decide which place to eat so I chose the restaurant. The air conditioning felt good.



There were more zebras mixed in with the giraffes. The elephants pooped near the water and then ambled away from the stench. I finally saw the baby zebra. Actually there were two! Unfortunately, the grevy zebras are housed with the rhinos so the fences are very thick an d obnoxious. But I managed to get a really good shot even without setting up my tripod. The IS in the camera works pretty well. This exhibit was the most active. The male zebra tried to mount one of the females. He wasn't successful. The rhinos snorted and snuffed at each other and looked to get ready to rumble.



We wandered about and were looking at the African spoonbills and hornbills and storks. There was a fine mesh separating the birds from us. I took some shots not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised with a couple of good shots.



Then we headed back. It was just after 2 pm when we left the park. And over 800 images.

[photo walk] clearwater beach

Last month, I went on a brief nighttime walk to Clearwater Beach. I had never been to Pier 60. I knew I wanted to come back and explore. I scheduled a Friday photo walk.





My sister, Nancy, and I took the boys to a beach near here back in 2001. It was a long drive and keeping track of the boys was not an easy task. And I am not a beach person. I prefer the pool and concrete deck to the ocean and sand. My boys are the same way. So we don't visit the beaches much. It's much easier to go the clubhouse for an hour of swimming than drive and hour, one way.





There were only 5 of us on the walk. I was glad Jeff came since he basically led the group. Mike and Allen prefer more nature and landscape, Maya and I prefer more urban subjects. We walked by the marina. I love the little buildings which house the booths for the various tours. Many were plain and utilitarian but a few were more interesting. We walked to the Bait Shop. We didn't go in. I wonder if they sell bait or are they now just a restaurant?















Jeff knew of a few places where there were there were bird nests. I am not a bird photographer. I lack the patience. And the lens I used most of the time doesn't have the reach. I did like the tell tale sign of birds above with the parking meters.





Then we walked to the Pier. You could walk about half way for free. To get past the gift shop and to the end of the Pier, it cost each person $.50. Maya and I went out while Jeff, Allen & Mike sat on the benches and talked. Most of the people at the end were fishing. The brown pelicans were looking for handouts. Those birds are big and not afraid of humans so much. They startled Maya a few times when they would land on the rails.













I got bored and started walking back. Maya had started to follow but got distracted. Once I got back to the guys, they were ready to go. I had to call Maya to nudge her to come.



We decided it was time for lunch. Allen & Mike didn't stay. Jeff, Maya & I met Maya's husband for lunch at Crabby Bills.

special olympics torch run

We are getting closer to the State Special Olympics and Monday there was a torch run. It was sponsored by the Pasco County Sheriff's Department. The run started at 9:00. I was late because I had to wait for Ryan's bus. I got to SR 54 and US 41 at 9:10 but there was no sign of anyone. I drove up 41 and found the group. I expected a lot more people. I thought it would have been for all of Pasco county but it looked like just a few schools.





I pulled into Hungry Harry's to park. I grabbed my camera just as the runners with the torch were passing. Soon, the rest of the group passed by. When Andy got here, I joined them. I wasn't really prepared. I had on my sandals instead of sneakers. And I had left my wallet and iPhone in the van.





Andy was invited to participate even though he didn't qualify for the State Finals. They said the run would be slow so Jessica thought walking would be OK. But they meant slow run, a jog. Those of us walking slowed up the whole group. At some point, we were picked up and ferried to a spot close to the end of the run. The we got out and walk/jogged to another area. It wasn't the finish but close. They wanted everyone to run into the park together. The only ones who had any energy left were the deputies who had hydration packs on their backs.











Ms. Jessica and Mr. Jim had to get a lift back to get the vans. The kids played on the playground. When they got back, Ms. Jessica dropped Andy and me off at Hungry Harry's and our van. We all went to Chili's for lunch. Andy would not eat the chicken since it was battered and fried and not breaded. He did consent to try the fries. The pepper made him suspicious but he decided he liked them and ate them all.















The high school kids were talking about Mr. Jim's full name. It is James Frances Cracciolo. And it turns out that he his aunt, Janine, was engaged to my brother, Greg. Small world!





Andy wanted to come home with me. But first he wanted to go to Chick Fil A! Andy noticed that they had done some decorating since our last visit. Just some subtle changes, new wall paper and new counter tops. Andy didn't eat much after all those fries. But he did play some. At least until the play area filled with loud, little kids.