fall color tour

(click to enlarge)


I went on a vacation. Really, I did. It wasn't meant to be a relaxing trip. There was little time to relax about with all the driving and Chinese photo drills, and driving and hiking and driving and shooting and driving and searching for waterfalls. Did I mention the driving?

Months ago, Allen planned a fall color trip to North Carolina. He found a cheap cabin and he and Mike planned to go. The cabin sleeps four so Sherry & Susan joined. But the Susan found out that the cabin would be too primitive for her. OP has a friend with a condo not far away and he planned on meeting them. Mike cancelled and the trip moved to the condo.

Plans were talked about on Tuesdays at the photo meet-ups. It sounded like fun but I knew I couldn't go for a week. That is just too much for dad and the boys. Then OP had to get back early so the trip was shortened to 4 days. Hmm...

I mentioned it to my dad and he started mapping out the drive. I hadn't even committed to going and he was waving good-bye. Then as I was leaving, he said "Enjoy yourself but don't do anything I wouldn't do." That equates to "Enjoy the trip but don't go."

I went. I had a good time. I'll be posting more. Hopefully soon. You can see more photos at my potd blog.

[photo walk] tampa riverwalk

Another Friday means another Friday morning photo walk. The night before I had some odd dream about the photo walk and Jeff and bubblegum machines. I have weird dreams.



Bridget, Sherry & I carpooled. We met at Starbuck's rather than drive to different houses. I think it saves time in the long run.



I had a few people call saying they were lost. google maps failed me and showed me the wrong address for the location. Oops. The ones who called were new members and not familiar with the area or our group.



I was glad to see that Doyle made it with his kids. He brought me back a gift from Spain. It was an oblong shaped packaged and I asked if it was cigars. He said no but close. Tampons? He laughed but his son was most likely embarrassed. He is 13 years old. It was a paper fan. It is very pretty and we took a shot of it with my woodling. I brought the small woodlings along for props. They make a dull area more interesting and fun. I need to bring the glue dots next time to help with posing.



We ended up being the end of the group. Jeff seemed happy to lead the other especially those new with camera questions. We spent a long time around the convention center. Doyle got talking to some people about what we were doing there. The kids found some jellyfish and stingrays swimming in the water.







Doyle had to leave early. We barely got around the convention center when he had to go. At least he left us laughing at his silly antics.







We caught up with the group at the next park. Then lost them again soon after that. They walked along the river but we made a short cut through a bank with air conditioning. It was very hot. The bank had a very cool vault with a round door but we couldn't take photos inside. The vault was not in use.





At Cutis Hixson park, there were kids playing in the water. It looks so fun and cool. I was tempted except that even my waterproof sandals take too long to dry. We went to Five Guys for lunch.





After lunch, some people went back to the park. Bridget, Jason and I walked along Ashley street. I turned because I wanted to take some shots of the sculpture in front of the Bank of America building. The last time I was there, I only had my 50 mm and couldn't get the whole thing in one shot. A security guard came out to make sure were weren't taking pictures of the ATM. We didn't want shots of the ATM. He stayed out there watching us until we were off the block.



Jason said we should go to One City Center. I said they wouldn't allow photos because Doyle and Sherry got in trouble at an earlier walk. He said it was OK so we went. Jason works security for another building. One City Center has a large water fountain with sunken waterfalls. I wish I had my tripod. No one did bother us. I learned later from sherry that they got in trouble when they went inside to shoot.



Jason left and we walked back to the car. The heat just sucks the energy.

[photo walk] scott kelby's worldwide photo walk

Last year I went on the second annual walk in Dunedin lead by RC Concepcion. I had a blast. Who knew photography could be so fun? I knew I could not wait year for another photo walk. Through RC, I found meet-up and joined Tampa Photography Forum. You can see my previous posts for all the walks I been on in the past year.





Around May, I started wondering about this year's walk. I was eager to see what walks would be available and was hoping to join 2 or 3 walks. Scott announced the date and his walk to Tarpon Springs filled up quickly. I didn't want to go to Tarpon Springs during the day since we had just had a photo walk there and it was hot and not very exciting. The consensus is that night time shoots are better. RC announced his walk in Ybor City, also near noon. We just had several walks in Ybor and I wasn't keen to go back though there are some areas I wanted to visit.





Jeff, from Tampa Photography Forum, announced his walks. The first was a morning walk to Palm Harbor. I have never been and knew I wanted to check it out. Jeff's second walk was a TeCo Trolley Ride and Car Barn Tour. Hmm... we just did that too. But I knew I could basically do what I wanted to do and not tag around with the group.





Jeff had tried to set up a third walk to Clearwater Beach at sunset. But he was beat by Scott Kelly from the west coast who wanted a sunrise and a sunset walk. Kelly's walk took a long time to fill up so Jeff never got a chance for a second walk in the area. He decided his third walk would actually be led by Jeff Davis, a member of NPPF.





I wasn't sure what to sign up for. I was waiting to see if Jeff could get another walk. Then I found out my dad would not be here to watch the boys. Luckily, Savi was available. I decided to limit myself to just 2 walks. Ryan just doesn't like me to gone for bed time routines.





Tropical Depression Bonnie went to the west of us but brought a lot of rain. We weren't sure if any of the walks would go on. All walks had a rain date of Sunday. Since I could not be flexible like that, I had intended on going out even if it rained. It was gray Saturday morning but eventually cleared up. It was hot and humid with heat indexes over 100.





Doyle, Bridget, OP and I formed a group and walked around Palm Harbor. We were disappointed in the size and lack of interesting things to photograph. The downtown was declared an Historic District but had no personality. Doyle got a shot of rather large woman shaving her tattooed legs at the bus stop. I got some good shots but nothing worthy of winning a contest.

first portrait session

My hairdresser talked me into taking portraits of her 14 month & family. I prefer taking candids of people. I am not comfortable giving direction and telling people how to pose. But I realized that the photography I like to do probably will not make a living for us. Portraiture is a better route. So I am going to practice on people I know until I feel confident with strangers.

We planned to meet at University of Tampa. They have a nice park and large porches for open shade. The only problem is the heat. My boys came with me and we got their early. We walked around and I practiced on them. We went inside Plant Hall to cool off.

D and her family arrived. I had not met her husband and son before. J was cute and responded well enough to my laugh. We started on the front porch and then moved inside. I am disappointed with the photos from inside. I think I had the flash too low and most of the images are too dark.



We tried some on the back porch but Jack was getting cranky. We moved to the grass and finished up there. I did take loads of shots. I have 200 that are good enough to process but will edit them down to about 30-40.

Shooting J makes me regret not taking better pictures of the boys when they were little. Then again, trying to pose one while watching the other or trying to pose them together was difficult at best. No wonder I prefer shooting architecture and landscapes.

[photo walk] phillipe park

This wasn't a regular photo walk. Well, it was for Jeff and the group as they have their Monday Morning Photo Walks in different parks around Pinellas County. I had never gone as they meet at 8 am.

I had been going through my mail and saw the reminder and asked Ryan if he wanted to go. To my surprise, he said yes. Phillipe Park is in Safety Harbor and I knew we wouldn't get there on time without rushing out the door so I didn't worry about it. We got there at 8:25 but took a while to find every one. We found their cars but didn't find any photographers about. We started walking on our own.

Phillipe Park is quite active with joggers, walkers and bicyclists. We saw a few birds but Ryan managed to scare them away. We walked to an area that is a beach. I asked Andy if he wanted to get his feet wet since he and I have sandals which can get wet. Ryan said his shoes could get wet and walked in the water. Converse really aren't meant to get wet. We squished and squeaked the rest of the way.

We did find Jeff and the rest of the group. They walked a bit then drove then walked some more. Phillipe park is not that big, we walked about a mile loop though there was some more to explore. Ryan was bored and wanted to go.

We had to stop for gas so I told Ryan to look out for Hess. He spotted one right away and it was $2.51 per gallon. Closer to us it was $2.57 per gallon.

We got to the clubhouse at 10:35. Ryan wouldn't swim because it was too "late." Andy I got in the water. It was almost too warm but after the walk this morning it felt good.

Then we went to lunch and Target for groceries.

[photo walk] dunedin

We limited our summer photo walks to every other week. Our photo walk to the cemetery was cancelled due to rain. So it had been a month since I had a real photo walk. (The train ride didn't seem like a real photo walk. It was mostly sitting on the train and watching Bob sleep.) I almost didn't get to go because Hank was up north and Savi had to go home to visit her dad. She had called to tell me she would be back in time. (I must have thought I wouldn't be going because I never put it on my calendar.) Savi emailed me on Wednesday asking me to pick her up from the airport. It would mean a lot of time in the car for the boys but I said yes. I really wanted to go out on Friday.








I got there just before 10 and there were already a fair number of people there. (Darn navigon, it took me to the wrong place.) Jeff was already giving his spiel and soon started the walk. Doyle and I were lagging behind and I realized everyone had walked on. It was only 10:15! I usually wait until 10:15 to start the walk because there is always someone who it late.







We walked around the marina onto the beach. There were 5 sunfish sailboats waiting for teens and their sailing lessons. The colorful sails were perfect. It was a hot day and I didn't mind hanging out by the water. Jeff and Theresa left for a meeting which is probably why Jeff was eager to start the walk. Others wanted to walk in town. Doyle's tripod fell over breaking his $10 flea market camera.





Mary lives in Dunedin and gave us the tour. She wanted to show us her favorite places. Doyle looked at old cameras at the coin shop. Mary explained the oranges we saw on various buildings.





Bridget and Deb had taken a class on learning to read the histograms. So they were a bit preoccupied and I did tease them a bit. Jeff believes in making sure the histogram is good. I prefer to just check the blinkies. Everyone has their own way of doing things and it is good to learn different ways so you can decide which path to follow.





We didn't get very far before it was time for lunch. We ate at Casa Tina's. Half of the group skipped lunch but Jeff and Theresa managed to meet us there.







It was too hot to do much more than shoot on our way back to the marina where we parked. I need to schedule this again when it cools down some. I am seriously thinking of suspended the Friday morning walks in the summer next year. No one likes the heat and I don't like having to worry about baby-sitters.

[photo walk] Florida railroad museum

Once again, it's not about the photography but about the socialization.



The boys and I had been to the Florida Railroad Museum years ago for A Day Out with Thomas. I should have remembered that it wasn't an exciting trip and that I only had 2 blurry photos of the boys in the club car. I didn't remember and signed up.



Since Parrish is about an hour away, Jeff had suggested carpooling for those in Pinellas County. I decided to suggest a carpool group in New Tampa. Not having done this before, I got to the parking lot early but no one showed. Or maybe I missed people by sitting in my car reading Little Women.


I drove alone and played my music loud. I got to Parrish a bit after 10. Then we waiting in line to exchange our online vouchers for actual tickets. We had little time to shoot before they were boarding the train. The open coach filled first. I was disappointed to have position the middle car which had air conditioning. We sat for about a half hour. I sat with Bob. I had only met him once before and thought we would talk. But he didn't talk too much. In fact, he fell asleep when we were moving and rocking.



My disappointment disappeared once I realized there was little to photograph. The trip goes through scrub and only I a few places is it cleared that there is a view. And most of the time, those views are empty fields. We did go by one area that had a recent controlled burn. The colors are what made it interesting, the green foreground, the red burned leaves and the blue sky.



Another area of some interest were tomato crops in front of the power plant. Mostlythe sky is what holds the interest.



We continued to Willow. A small town without a town. It is on the map but we drove through it without knowing we did. There, we saw the old abandoned trains. They stopped long enough to let us shoot but did not let us off the train.



We went back the way we came. Knowing it held little interest was a comfort since I did not have to keep looking for something interesting.




We got off the train and went to shoot the cars we missed before we left.the red caboose was OK. Someone had said it was better than the orange caboose at Heritage Village but I am not sure. I took some hand held HDR. It didn't seem worth the effort to get my tripod.











Then we went to Linger Lodge. The hype was more than they place. and when 70 of us showed up, they couldn't handle it. Inside is filled with stuffed snakes and fish and other wild life. It was dark in there so I didn't try many shots. Even at 1600 ISO, my shutter speed was very low.







We had finally finished eating when I noticed it was after 3! I had to be home so dad to go to church. I paid and rushed home to find the power out. I was there just past 4:30 but dad chose to stay home. The power came back on at 5:18. The a/c worked all evening to get back down to 80 inside.

[photo walk] gulfport

We had a Friday morning photo walk in Gulfport. Jeff had suggested it. I had never heard of the place. It is near St. Pete Beach but inland from the inter coastal water way. It is a small community filled with art and craft items. There are plenty of cafés and bars. Because it was off-season, the place was not crowded. We had our pick of free parking.

















It was cloudy and rainy but cleared up in time for the walk. We met in front of the Gulfport Casino Hall. This relic has been turned into a spot for dances and other gatherings. There were 9 of us and we split up and walked around the streets.














There are plenty of brightly painted cottages and interesting businesses. One manager invited us to come into her bar & restaurant and take photos. Since they were cleaning, we could only go upstairs to the patio. It was nice to take some shots from one storey up but not worth the trouble.





















We had lunch in a spot Jeff recommended called the Village Pub. They were going for the English Pub atmosphere. It is a small place with Guiness on tap and bangers & mash on the menu. I got the fish chips and it was good. Dessert, the Brown Derby, was very good.

thursday odds & ends

I planned to stay home today.

I tried to stay home today.

I knew I would last until about 1:30 or 2:00 before I had to get out. So I decided not to fight it and left the house about 11:30. My intention was to go to lunch and then Whole Foods to see if they had frozen salmon filets.

But first I had to install my new iPhone car mount from Pro Clip. I had first looked at these about a year ago when I got my iPhone. I didn't want to spend the money, about $80, so I opted for a mount from Arkon. That was a waste of $40. The rubber gasket started to split with in a few weeks. And lately, the suction cup would fail during driving and the whole thing, with my iPhone, would fly across the dash. The Pro Clip System is two parts specific to your car and your device. First you install the mount to your car which was easy enough. Then you screw in the swivel to the mount. The only problem was not having enough light and trying to work with tiny black screws. But it only took about 5 minutes. And it feels really solid. I love that I no longer have to stretch to reach the iPhone. And it no longer sits on the dash, under the window, getting really hot. In fact, being in front of the vent helps to keep it cool. Someone asked when the heat is on but I don't think it is a problem. First of all, there is about an inch between the mount and the vent so the air is easily diverted. And when the heat is on, it is usually coming through the lower vents since heat rises. When I do get a new device or car, I am thinking I can just switch out that part of the system.

I was going to try Evos for lunch. I have never been there and since I am trying to eat better, it sounded like a good idea. But the parking lot was full. It is my fault for trying to eat at 12:30. I found a spot in an adjacent lot and thought about walking over then decided I should patronize these shops. I went to Jimmy Johns. I had never been here either. It was kind of loud inside and rather over whelming with the menus boards on the wall. I quickly found a vegetarian sandwich that looked good and placed my order. The standard is french bread but I probably should have opted for the whole grain. The service was quick and the sandwich was tasty. I opted to omit the avocado spread so the sandwich did seem to missing something. Maybe some spicy mustard next time?

Nicholson House used to be in International Plaza. It is a quirky gift shop where people love to walk around and giggle at the silly things offered for sale. I missed the store and decided to walk through. It is a lot smaller and still just as crowded. I saw some greeting cards made from photographs from Tampa. Each card was $3 for a 4x6 mounted on 5x7 embossed card stock. The photos were crap. Seriously. The exposure was off and they lacked contrast. I could do as well or better with my iPhone. So how do I get my cards and photos in there for sale?

Next I went to Whole Foods. I haven't been there in almost 2 years. It is so far away. And now with Nutrition S'mart so close, there is little reason to go there. Their deli section is impressive but nothing I wanted just then. They did not have any wild Alaskan salmon. The only frozen salmon filets they had were a product of the UK. What? No thanks. I did find some wild Alaskan salmon burgers and decided to give them a try. I also got a couple of Amy's pizzas for those time I really want pizza. I got a few Cliff Bars to try. Good Guide claims they are one of the better bars and Publix does not carry them. I decided to try the Oregon Chai since it was on sale. I usually get Tazo Organic Chai because it is $1.50 than the Oregon. I found some dish soap with an almond scent. Yum! I almost picked up some foaming hand wash but put it back when I saw it was $10! Whole Foods does credit you $.10 for each bag you bring in and use. But they ask if you want the credit or have it donated. You fell like a schmuck asking for the $.20 so of course you yes to donating. So... you bring in your own bag, Whole Foods saves money since they don't have to use their own. Then the credit they would have given you goes into their charity fund which then gives them tax breaks. Very clever on their part.

I got home and tried one of the Cliff Bars. Hmm... When I was single, I used to bike. A lot. On some of my longer rides, I ate (choked down) Power Bars. They were so thick and dense that I could never smoosh them in my bag. And I needed a half bottle of water to get that bar down. They could never be mistaken for candy bars. Cliff Bars are a definite improvement over Power Bars. But they are still dense and thick. Not something I will grab for a quick snack but a good idea to keep one in my photo bag for those longer walks.

Bonnie got me to sign up for Words for Friends. We played last night and I beat her. OK, she resigned but I was leading with one tile left that I couldn't use. She started another game but I went to bed. It can be addicting and distracting and challenging. I have never really played scrabble before.

Bonnie also got me interested in the Brain Balance Program. I am reading the book. I am skeptical. Especially when they program, which is 1 hour for 3 days a week, for 12 weeks, costs $6000. That is $166 per hour.

The boys got home with a note that they will be taking a different bus in the afternoons. Scheduling this school year and been a challenge.

[photo walk] heritage village & botanical gardens

I hadn't heard of this place until a few months ago. I was interested and scheduled a photo walk. I picked up Todd and Sherry since it is a long drive from Wesley Chapel.





The park is actually a series of parks all connected through foot paths. And google isn't too clear where the actual address is so we had people end up in 4 different locations. Cells brought us all together.





Heritage Village is a series of restored old buildings from around the area. Some of the buildings are open to the public. The area is shaded but it was still pretty warm.























The botanical gardens have seen better days. Most of the high maintenance plants and flowers have been removed with budget cuts. There wasn't anything interesting to see as far plants are concerned.







There is a art museum but it has closed. All of the outdoor sculpture is gone as well.









The wedding garden is still kept up but the fountain has been blocked up.

I would like to go back but just spend time at Heritage Village and skip the gardens.

We went to Crabby Bills in Indian Rocks Beach for lunch. Good food, slow service.