Gateway Arch in St Louis - Westward Bound

November 30, 2016 in Photo Story

Kiki and I suddenly left Florida one Saturday night in early November. I had long been wanting to do it, but with such things sometimes they just happen all of a sudden due to the sudden rising of circumstances. We did have a destination though when setting out -- Iowa. To get there it brought us through a few U.S. landmarks that I had never been to before. One of them was Gateway Arch in St. Louis. This will be the first post in a series called Westward Bound.

Lake Worth Pier Florida

August 22, 2016 in Photo Story

Kiki and I took a weekend trip over to the West Palm Beach area of Florida to check out a dog beach near Juno. The night before we happened to come across a scenic ocean park that lead to a pier. Though this is officially the Lake Worth Pier, it is most know for Benny's on the Beach restaurant. I liked how this pier retains the classic look of old Florida from the 1960s. It suits the beach scene well better than modern looking piers and structure on piers.

Fireworks Photography Cape Coral 2016 Red White Boom

July 05, 2016 in Photo Story

These fireworks were not the first flashes of light in the skies over Cape Coral on 4th of July 2016 evening. Those were from the lightning sparking horizontally through the clouds. Still, Red White & Boom 2016 started sharply at 9:30pm with only a very light sprinkle. Toward the end the rain did start coming down a little harder and you can see the water droplets that got on my camera lens in the lower right corners of the two photos below.

Sakura Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo Japan means Spring has arrived

March 20, 2014 in Nature & Wildlife, Photo Story

Inokashira Park with sakura cherry blossoms in full bloom - Olympus 5060 digital cameraIt is the first day of spring, which in Florida does not have as much meaning as there is never really any winter so it's not a date to look forward to like it is in most parts of the world. This is expecially true in Tokyo, where the end of March brought my favorite (and millions of others' favorite) time of year, cherry blossom season. Sakura (the Japanese word, also a popular name for girls) bloom for about two weeks. If things time out right, that means getting two weekends to enjoy the pinkish white blossoms. Above is Inokashera Park, a place to see sakura in a more natural setting from land or water. Many couples go out on small boats, but the legend of the pond is that any couple that does is then doomed to breakup!

The old & new of the Shinjuku area of Tokyo Japan with a river lined with cherry blossoms.This photo is from my neighborhood in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo and highlights the contrast of the ultra-modern, the traditional and the natural world all in one, which is why of all places I lived abroad, Shinjuku was the only one I felt a real connection with. On this weekday, I had the cement river walkway all to myself.

Overlooking a pond in Shinjuku Gyoen during cherry blossom season

The pond and overlook temple above are in Shinjuku Gyoen, perhaps the most esteemed place to go to see sakura. This park was within walking distance from my apartment and my favorite place to escape the city while still being in the heart of the city.

Tampa Hotel UFO ceiling HDR photography

January 30, 2014 in Photo Story

I thought this ceiling was very interesting looking in a Tampa hotel - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRThis image is from a wedding I photographed a few years ago in a hotel in Tampa. I was at the reception area early to shoot the table settings, wedding cake, etc. Upon entering the ballroom I was immediately taken with the ceiling. To me it looked like a UFO floating right on top of everything. In editing I added some effects to heighten the alien look to the ceiling and room in general of this HDR image. What does it look like to you?

Tampa Jet Center in Florida at Dusk

January 16, 2014 in Photo Story

A view from Tampa Jet Center with Raymond James Stadium home to the Bucs in the background - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRI have had the chance to attend several events at the Tampa Jet Center in Florida. Most of my photographs focus on the cars and people at those events, but I liked the airport setting itself and as one cannot exactly stroll onto a runway and make photographs legally in most situations, I appreciated the unique opportunity I had to shoot on the tarmac. Luckily Mother Nature provided a nice background as the setting sun sent some orange light into the clouds at dusk that evening.

Favorite Five Photographs of 2013

January 09, 2014 in Photo Story

The five photographs below represent my personal favorites that I made in 2013, from various categories. The process, as always, for selecting my favorite images of the year is based on if the photo made me feel emotion. Another factor for choosing is if the particular photograph was a breakthrough for me in terms of technique or content.

Severe lightning strikes in St. Petersburg Florida during a powerful June 2013 storm - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 bulb mode lens covered until strike tripod mounted with cable release

1 - Lightning Strikes Downtown St. Petersburg - category: nature, long exposure

This was by far the most dangerous photograph I have ever made. I did not purposefully go out into a lightning storm. I was teaching a photography lesson along the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront as I had done hundreds of times before. You may have heard the saying that a storm can come out of nowhere, well that is what happened this time. Dark clouds could be seen rolling in that including funnel clouds dipping down! Then the lightning started. It was a lesson teaching how to shoot from a tripod which allowed us both to get a chane to capture lightning. The crack from this lightning bolt was the loudest I had heard in over 20 years. I ran to cover along with the student just after making this shot as rain began pouring down. It was a bit scary and a little risky, but it resulted in the photograph that makes me feel the most emotion from 2013 because of it. (read the original photo story for this image)

Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Tampa Car Photography Shoot in Ybor City - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/320th with two speed lights behind custom ADV.1 Wheels

2 - Lamborghini Gallardo in Ybor City - category: car, strobist, Photoshop

It was a good year for photographing cars as I got to photograph a number of special sports cars and super cars. I ended the 2013 shooting year with this Lamborghini Gallardo shoot. It was a mid-day shoot, but I knew I wanted to create a dark, atmospheric shot nonetheless. Using mostly digital photo editing skills, I transformed the shady street the Lamborghini was parked on to look like a dark alley. I also placed two speedlights under the wheels creating the glowing effect at the bottom, something I had never done before. (read the original photo story for this image)

Father holds his baby girl in the air at Madeira Beach Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/250th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power beside camera & SB-600 @ 1/4 power to frame right

3 - Father Holding Up Baby Daughter - category: portrait, candid, strobist

Making portraits on the beach is always an unknown due mostly to weather. If there is no great sunset, so be it. If there is, then the sunset background canvas helps make any ordinary photo look special. Then if you can add subjects willing to do something different placed in optimal lighting from two speedlights, the results can be one of the best beach portraits I have made. This type of shot is full of pitfalls from shadows falling on the subjects face to the baby not having a happy expression. For this particular portrait, everything fell right into place. (read the original photo story for this image)

After 10 seconds, a swinging ship on a pendulum looks elliptical at St. Rafael Church Festival Snell Isle Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 10.5 sec tripod mounted with cable release

4- Carnival Ride on Snell Isle - category: night photography, long exposure

I am a nostalgic person. It delights me greatly that a small carnival travels from who knows where each October to setup right across the way from my apartment. One day just a grass soccer field, the next a wonderland of excitement that reminds me of going to them as a kid. Now when I visit this carnival I do not go on any of the rides, I just observe with my eyes and then my camera capturing what the eye cannot even see. Then I eat deep fried Oreos and go home and overnight the place returns to a quiet soccer field. (read the original photo story for this image)

Great Egret looking straight at the lens in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/1000th

5 - Great Egret Looks Awkward From Straight-on - category: bird, nature, perspective

This area of Florida provides close access to all kinds of large wading birds, like the Great Egret. From most angles, they are very beautiful and elegant birds with their long slender necks and white plummage. However, if you remove the dept of their shape and look at them from straight-on, to me, they look incredibly odd and like another creature entirely. One is so used to seeing these birds from the side perspective, that from the front, they look almost unnatural, not unlike how Beavis should only be observed from the side. (read the original photo story for this image)