Me and Kiki huddling in the shade in the middle of the Jay B Starkey Wilderness Park desert - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th self-timer camera on groundSeeking a desert, Kiki and I returned to Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park which has long trails made up of sandy fire roads with little tree cover.  Why seek a desert?  Because yesterday I heard America's "Horse With No Name" and it became the theme for today's outdoors adventure.  There were other reasons for seeking a desert too, but those are more omnipresent and need not be singled out.  Our first visit to this park was back in November of 2009, and based on the lead image of that post and the one below, you can see how my HDR technique has improved in the past three years (no more ghosting!).  

Most of the 3-mile Loop Trail of Jay B Starkey Wilderness Park is desolate - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 3-exposure HDR handheldWandering for 5-miles (including the beginning 1.9 mile loop) in mostly desert trails with the strong Florida sun beating down on you may not sound that appealing, but it is exceptionally good for producing clarity of mind, if not clarity of photographs.  I cannot speak for Kiki, but the desolate trails provided exactly the environment I wished to be in.  We saw not a single human our entire time out there.  If you do not count the countless ants and flying insects, and the two birds' shadows I saw fly by (I did not use the energy to lift my head toward the sun to see them), then the only creature we encountered was a friendly gopher tortoise, who kindly yielded the right-of-way to us.  I am fascinated by the mechanical movement of tortoises and how they can withdraw from the world anywhere they want to.  I did not stop to photograph him, because in the desert you risk forgetting even your own name.  Indeed we took refuge for awhile at the max point out in the desert under a very well placed roofed picnic table (top image).  Kiki dug a hole to cool off in as I took a few photos.  Once she had sufficiently ceased panting, we continued on, though I know shade break or not, we were good for more miles.

I did not touch this tree - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 3-exposure HDR handheldOnce back in the corral area, I chomped on a few crackers and Kiki a dog biscuit, and we both took water.  Just as we arrived back I noticed off to the side a very peculiar tree.  I saw none in such condition anywhere else in the park, not even in the middle of the desert trail where one would think such a tree would be found.  This scary tree was right next to the campground (see blue tent).  I would not want to get the campsite within eyeshot of it.

It was a good visit to Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park and if you do go make sure it is as early as possible to avoid the hot Florida sun, bring lots of water as there is none on site for humans and prepare to cross a desert.

J.B. Starkey Wilderness Park:

• 10500 Wilderness Park Boulevard
  New Port Richey, FL 34655
  
• hours sunrise to sunset
• dogs ok!
• camping - car, primitive & backcountry

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Have you taken more temporary or permanent detours with your photography?Your photography path should take detours.  Some of them will be temporary, while others will be permanent.  A temporary detour can come when you get a new lens and are able to make a photograph you could not before.  You may take a few month detour into only producing HDR images, which often happens when a photographer discovers this Pandora's Box of photography techniques.  

Permanent detours can arise with increased photography knowledge.  These can be detours in personal shooting style, subject matter and shooting techniques.  The horrible vignettes you used to put on every portrait you made early in your photography career?  The detour away from those cannot come soon enough!  Blurry night images because you did not have a tripod?  Gone once you invest in a proper one.

I have made several significant, permanent detours in my (relatively) brief professional photography career.  I started out thinking I would work with others, but that really turned into more of a temporary detour.  I was focused on weddings and portraits, but a free business meeting consultation lead to my biggest detour to date switching my focus to commercial, event and teaching photography.

That was last year's big detour.  I expect another one will come sometime this year.  

My photography tip then is to expect photography detours and recognize which ones will be temporary, and which ones will be permanent.

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Bird's eye view of Tokyo from Nikon Headquarters in Shinjuku - Nikon D80 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/40thAll you see above I could navigate precisely on foot, by bike or on train, for this was my home neighborhood for six years.  Yet I never saw it from so high above until the very end of my time there.  If it looks like a maze I can assure you it most certainly was.  Passing through it on foot or by train was a constant series of turns, not just left and right, but also up and down in and out of stations, underground street passages and long, very long tunnels.  By far the fastest way to get from point A to point B was by bike, especially if one had the nerve to ride out in traffic, though by day or night I only ever found a section of about a quarter mile of road in that entire maze to be risky to ride on.

When friends visited it was a point of pride to lead them on a dizzying path through routes that took months to learn.  

I made this photograph from the Nikon Headquarters high up in a skyscraper in Shinjuku, the hub of Tokyo, if not its heart.  I lived a 10-minute walk from here, which in Tokyo walking time, is a short distance.  You could get hands on with every lens Nikon makes and also bring your Nikon DSLR in for a free sensor cleaning if it was still within warranty.  You were also treated to the view you see above.  I of course had to shoot through windows to make this shot.  I erased the spots on the windows visible in the sky portion of the photo.

If you can believe it, this place felt as much like home to me as any place I have ever lived.  

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Street photography portrait of a girl on the streets of Takadanobaba, Tokyo, Japan - one of my personal favorite shots of all timeThe above photograph is one of my personal favorites that I have ever made.  It is the kind of photograph that may appeal only to the photographer who took it.  The reasons I can give for why it is a personal favorite would be, after all, personal.  I do not know the girl in the photograph.  I will never return to the city I made this photograph in.  However, they combine to make a photograph that reminds me of my time in Tokyo more than a photo of even Tokyo Tower.  Much of my time in Tokyo was spent out on the street.  In that city you walk, a lot.  You are also always surrounded by people on the streets.  In my last year there I bought my first DSLR and often had it with me.  I then realized I loved street photography.  I made this street photography portrait on one of the very first times I used my newly obtained Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens.  It was the first time to have a f/2.8 lens and immediately I was blown away by the bokeh it could make at f/2.8 and 200mm, and in particular the bokeh in this image.  I can still recall seeing this photo first pop-up on the review screen on the back of my Nikon D80.  It was the beginning of my street photography career.

So my photography tip is this:  to help you remember the city you are traveling or living in, try street photography.  Those images may come to have more meaning to you in the years that follow than the best landmark photograph you took. 

Nature's spiral black & white seashell macro image - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/32 ISO 200 2.5s tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersPhotography is mostly about observing.  To be a good observer, I believe one needs to practice silence in mind and body.  The seashells featured in this photo story would not found along a quiet beach where I was taking a contemplative stroll.  They were, in fact, found in the middle of the chaos of my neighborhood dog park, but since my mind was silent, I was able to observe them.

This seashell reminds me of an anklyosaurus - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1.6 sec tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersBy the newly installed water station there is a ring of seashells, not crushed, but small and mostly whole.  As I pushed the nozzle to let Kiki drink, I observed this unusual fact.  Mostly one finds crushed seashells used in landscaping purposes so to see a bed of intact seashells surprised me.  You have to bend over quite a bit to trigger the water flow allowing me to notice the details in the shells.  I thought to myself, "I will take a few home to make macro photographs of."

Into a cavern of a seashell opening - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1.6 sec tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersIt fascinates me to think that such objects once resided untold miles away at untold depths in the sea.  Where were they from?  How old are they?  Of all places they end up in a dog park, albeit one very close to the sea.  In fact, you can see a part of Tampa Bay from the park.  Now these seashells have journeyed a few more miles to inside my apartment.  They have felt air conditioning.  However, I shall return them shortly to the dog park and their water fountain resting place.  

How did you get cracked seashell? Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/32 ISO 200 2.5 sec tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersPHOTOGRAPHY TIP:  always be observing, and you will always be improving your photography

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