Sunset Beach Treasure Island Florida at Twilight - click to view at 1800px - 4-shot panorama image - available for commercial license and fine art print

I have heard that Montana is called Big Sky Country.  Picturing that in my mind has fascinated me for years.  I have lived in claustrophobic places, where glimpes of the sky are all that is allowed.  Fortunately, for a majority of my life I have been able to gaze westward across a 180 degree expanse of the Gulf of Mexico.  The horizon is not infinity, it is Texas.  Still, since 1992 when I first discovered Sunset Beach, it has become a sacred place to me.  

A whole novel could be written about my time on that half mile strip of sand over the past 19 years, though I would not want to share those stories, at least not yet.  For now I will only share the view that has given me solace and freedom of mind.  

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The marina across from the Vinoy Hotel sailboat reflections - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens @ f/11 ISO 200 3-bracket HDR handheld

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One day I will have to go out and make fine art photographs like this on purpose, as this one was made while teaching a DSLR Photography Lesson.  I noticed the sailboats' masts reflecting in the water and thought this makes this spot look much more interesting than the other 198 times I have seen and walked by it.  I normally do not center the horizon so much in the frame, but for certain reflection shots it works.  I left the top of the sky and did not crop right to the top of the masts to let the sky itself have more of a place in the photograph instead of only featuring the boats themselves.  

Taking three bracketed shots and using HDR processing allowed for a much more colorful and detailed image than the single exposure photo I took first.  I liked the scene, but I recognized that a single exposure may only leave me with a black & white choice for a final image, whereas also taking bracketed shots for HDR gave me an additional option to pick from once I returned home and looked at the photos on my 24" monitor.  

Dramatic Sky over Tampa Bay - 5-bracket HDR f/8 ISO 200 tripod mounted with cable releaseI have been starting to miss mountains the past few weeks.  I watched every stage of the 2011 Tour de France as the riders first went over the Pyrenees and then the Alps.  The helicopter views of the French countryside were often as stunning as the cycling action.  With the option to make landscapes of mountains and architecture shots of old castles, I was thinking, "Florida really has nothing in comparison."

Well, Florida has almost nothing.  Here we do have near daily dramatic sunsets and stormy skies.  Each twilight brings a slightly different cloud pattern, sky color and reflection over Tampa Bay (if looking east from The Pier as in the above photo).

Still, once one lives around mountains, it is hard to forget them.  I imagine it is the same for living by the Sea.  Perhaps the combination of mountains and sea are why so many songs are written about California.  

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Moonrise over The Pier St. Petersburg Florida - SETUP: f/5.6 ISO 200 1/40th handheld 

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"Sometimes I can't believe in, I'm moving past the feeling again." -- Arcade Fire

As society moves further and further into illusion, the order of the natural world ever gets pushed more and more into the background.  This is one of my main motivating forces as a photographer.  I want to preserve the natural world while it is still visible for me to see.  This is the only way I currently know how to stop time.  As I have said before, I make photographs first and foremost for myself to look at.  If others dig them, so be it.

Every sunset to me seems the death of the world.  The sky closes its eyes.  Darkness falls.  Yet, in due time the world brightens again and, lo, there is another day.  

Yet I remain drawn to every sunset I see.  There has to be some escape through it.  

Click image for 3000px version -- Bowman's Beach Sanibel Island Double Rainbow Panorama - 5-shot panorama image

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Bowman's Beach is a dog friendly (on-leash) beach on Sanibel Island, and one of its best beaches of any kind.  I took a timeout from swimming and running with Kiki to photograph a complete rainbow that had formed to the east.  We had to drive through a powerful thunderstorm and wait out the remnants of it while eating onion rings undercover before it was even safe, never mind dry, enough to head out onto the beach.  Storms always seem to leave good things behind, like this rainbow.  I did not even notice it was a double rainbow with my naked eye.  Only once I brought out some detail in Aperture 3 did I see the upper bow.

Sunset over Bowman's Beach Sanibel Island - 3-bracket HDRThe just passed storm also meant the beach was nearly deserted, which was fine by me and Kiki.  We ran far up the shoreline (see photo above) into the sunset, then swam and jogged our way back.  It was one of the most pleasant experiences in recent memory.

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