Photo Story

Double Headed Date Palm Tree of St. Petersburg Florida

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Hiding in plain sight is this double headed date palm tree in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 3-exposure HDR handheldI must have walked right past this double headed date palm tree dozens of times, but not until I was out teaching a DSLR Photography Lesson last month did I notice this most unusual tree hiding in plain sight.  Believe it or not, this is not the first time I have seen a double headed palm tree before.  Two years ago I found a cabbage palm in Cape Coral with two heads (see here).  Perhaps they are actually not that rare of an occurrence in nature?

This double headed date palm is near the corner of 1st Ave N and 1st Street N in downtown St. Petersburg.  Go and check it out for yourself!


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St. Petersburg Florida waterfront scenes fine art photography

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Waterfront view from North Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 3-exposure HDR

According to the Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Florida has the third largest continuous waterfront park system in all of North America (behind Chicago & Vancouver).  I believe it is the best thing about St. Petersburg, by far.  It is totally unique to the Tampa Bay area, and really anywhere else on the west coast of Florida.  

A small rainbow over the St. Petersburg Pier - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/200th tripod mounted

You can walk along water for pretty much as far as your legs will want to carry you starting on Coffee Pot Blvd following going all the way down North Shore Blvd.  I have walked its entirety, but only in pieces.  Of course the most notable landmark one will see along the way is The St. Petersburg Pier (above).

Downtown St. Petersburg bathed in a pastel sunset - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRIf you can time your waterfront walk so that it ends at dusk at the top of The Pier itself, well then you may just be treated to a spectacular sunset view like the one above.  In the right weather, there is no more pleasant way to spend a few hours in Florida than walking through St. Petersburg's downtown waterfront parks.

Stunning Vivid Dusk Sky over St. Petersburg Florida from The Pier

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Downtown St. Petersburg vivid dusk south view from The Pier - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 11 sec tripod mounted with cable release

And to think, making this photograph will not even be possible in a year's time because the location I shot this from, the roof of The Pier, will be demolished.  I certainly hope the structure that replaces it will offer similar or better views of the downtown St. Petersburg, Florida waterfront, otherwise there will be no more photos showing its beauty at dusk, twilight and sunset.

Cotton candy coated downtown St. Petersburg vivid pink dusk - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 6 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseI had the opportunity to make these photos only because I was teaching a DSLR Photography Lesson focusing on tripod usage.  Otherwise, I would have been home and never witnessed this amazing view.  In fact, both my student and I had just earlier remarked how gray the sky was and how we would not be able to get any keepers this lesson, but at least I was able to teach him the technical aspects of using a tripod for long exposure photography.  I told him since there is so little color that I would shoot thinking to convert the images to black & white!

Orange dusk breaks over downtown St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/2 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseThen all of a sudden a hint of orange light appeared reflected off the low clouds, as the sun had already actually set.  We took immediate notice and thought, at least we got to see a touch of color.  Then as the sun slipped further to the other side of the Earth, the dusk sky started to explode in color and as we adjusted the length of the shutter speed on our DSLRs, we were able to pull more and more color back over the horizon and into our lenses.  The photographs above are actually posted in reverse chronological order, with the above orange image the first I took.  Each was made almost exactly five minutes after the other.  That is the power of putting your DSLR on a tripod and using shutter speed to create an amazing long exposure image finding light and color the naked eye cannot see.

Heritage Village Largo Florida HDR photographs

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Railroad station at Heritage Village Largo Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedOne of the most popular places for local photographers to go and make photographs is Heritage Village in Largo.  As is often the case with these commonly photographed places, I had never been there until this past weekend where I had my first opportunity to make a brief photo survey of the old building interiors and exteriors, with the former being much more interesting.  The railroad station shown in the above and below images was perhaps the most interesting of all since it was fully decorated with old time suitcases, signs, etc.

Railroad station at Heritage Village inside out view with suitcases - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedThere is no question that suitcases of the past with how they showed wear and tear are far cooler baggage than modern luggage and their bland plastic housings.  However, I cannot say I would want to lug one of those bulky suitcases around with it banging against my leg.  Of course none had wheels for pulling effortlessly behind oneself.  

Classic Florida log cabin at Heritage Village - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedI imagine many people still live in log cabins similar to the one above, but with perhaps a few more modern touches inside.  

Early 20th century style classroom at Heritage Village Largo - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDR tripod mountedThis old classroom was very cosy and free of electronic distractions.  I could fit comfortably in the desks and appreciated their ambidextrous design.  Being a lefthander, I suffered through many right-handed designed desks in elementary through high school.

Big tools at Heritage Village in Largo - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 3-exposure HDR tripod mountedI thought to myself how strong farmers from a century ago must have been to be able to wield such large and heavy tools.  None of the tools were available to touch.  I would have liked to have given them a try!

Dreaming in black & white portrait of a young woman

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Dreaming in black & white portrait of a young woman - Nikon D80 Nikkor 50mm @ f/2 ISO 200 1/200thSome photos you edit immediately, some you get to years later, others you put aside because you know eventually you will want to edit them.  The latter is the case for the above photograph.  It was made two months ago, but it was not in the right mind frame to edit it until apparently today.  Occasionally I would look at it in my Random folder in Aperture 3 and think, do something with this photo now?  No, not yet, but keep it here, I will do something someday.  

I wanted the image to have a dream-like feel to it, so the choice to process it in black & white was natural.  I chose a push process filter in Nik Silver Efex Pro and to that applied a yellow filter to really soften the whites and leave just a few shadows for contrast.  I used the glamor glow filter in Nik Color Efex Pro to also soften the image.  

In composing the shot I did not want the young woman's face to be seen directly, as that would lead the viewer away from vague dreaming and more to wondering who she was.  The profile view shows a little, but leaves a lot a mystery, especially what might she be looking at or what is the expression on her face?

Photographing clouds is always good

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Just clouds -- Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/200thI was up early this morning not necessarily on purpose.  Rain had passed by recently.  Everything was still early morning tranquil.  I saw a great egret standing on the dock not looking to pleased about having been rained on.  I took my Nikon out to get a shot of the bird in the still very good morning light.  I approached slowly, but the egret was having nothing of it and flew off.  

So now I was standing there with camera in hand and seemingly nothing to photograph.  Fortunately, I really like to photograph clouds and to the west were some getting touched by lingering sunrise beams.  I changed my settings in a quick moment from the ones I was hoping to use to photograph the great egret to the best settings for getting a detailed cloud image.  

Instead of heading back inside with nothing, I have a simple cloud image to look at today and help me daydream and wonder what lies beyond their puffy peaks.