September Gardens

Photos from trips last week to the Florida Botanical Gardens, USF Botanical Gardens, and Eureka Springs Park. The first set is from Eureka Springs, a small Hillsborough County park near the Vandenberg Airport just north of I-4.

Thanks to insomnia, I woke up early enough one morning to make the roughly hour-long drive to the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo to get there before 7:30 a.m. It opens at 7 a.m. so you can get the early morning soft light, and dew on some of the flowers. It was worth the trip, though a breeze made it hard at times. Moving plants equal blurry pictures.

After that, I got greedy, took a detour on my way home, and went to the USF Botanical Gardens. I fought the wind again, but clouds helped soften the harsh midday sun.

Another Day at the Races

I know it's beginning to look like the only thing I photograph are horses, I know. My father goes to the track frequently and sometimes I meet him out there. It is a good place to try to capture action and there is color and character around the track, too.

Downtown Tampa Photos

On the way home from the racetrack (see previous post), I stopped and squeezed off a few frames in downtown Tampa, including a couple that offer evidence that I was really there! I didn't stay long. I have shot there before (see some of those photos by clicking here) and had only a couple of shots I wanted to try to get.

Tarpon Springs Photos

These are from a trip to Tarpon Springs I took with my father and brother. We were there in the heat of the afternoon, hardly the ideal sun for photography. But shooting in poor light is better than not shooting at all. A couple of these shots came from a 90-minute boat trip we took. The bearded guy in the mirror shot is not my father. But the guy in the background of that shot is my brother.

Previous PhotoWalk + Lowry Zoo Pictures

These are photos from last year's Scott Kelby Worldwide PhotoWalk in Safety Harbor. August 24, 2008, to be precise. I post them here for the benefit of members of the Riverview Digital Photography Meetup Group as we look for places to shoot.

I drove through intermittent rain to get to the town then walked several blocks down Main Street through a steady downpour to the meeting place. But I made it. Luckily for the 50 or so people gathered under the gazebo at John Wilson Park the rain stopped before we set off to document Safety Harbor.

I had an idea in my head that there would be some guidance involved but the only instructions we got were to meet at Crispers restaurant at 7 p.m., that whining was not allowed and to take care not to get hit by a car.

The restaurant is a good place to meet afterward. It is large enough to accommodate a group and people could fire up their laptops and share their results if they wanted.



A few months earlier I joined several thousand other price-conscious people when I visited Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa on a $5 admission day. Below are some of the results.

Ybor City Photo Walk

This was another photo walk with fellow members of the Riverview Photography Meetup Group. I've shot in Ybor City numerous times, with models and without, so it gets more challenging to find things I haven't seen and shot before.



When you get there early in the morning, the only people you're likely to meet are either photographers or people sleeping off the night before. I felt a little uneasy shooting the bums on the benches.

The $150 Photograph

Not working a 9-to-5 job means you can spend some daytime hours doing other things.

I got to do some volunteer work for the WUSF Radio Reading Service yesterday. The service broadcasts readings of newspapers, magazines and other literature to blind and disabled people who have special radios to receive the signal.

With a background in broadcasting, it's a great outlet. Plus it's the perfect thing for someone who likes the sound of his own voice. So I'm always glad to do it.

I was less glad when I took a wrong turn on the way there, drove over a sidewalk and got a $151 citation from the USF campus police. $151 I could have spent on something I wanted.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Afterward I went to the USF Botanical Garden. I had brought my camera thinking I'd try to snap some shots in the butterfly garden. Of course, by the time I got finished with the police and did my reading, it was nearly 4:30 p.m.

So the picture below of the largest insect I have ever seen cost me $151 to take. I don't even know what it is. I just noticed a funny looking yellow color on a flower and went to investigate.


It could have been worse. I got rained on and rushed back to my car. As I sat waiting to see if the rain would pass, I noticed two people coming out of the botanical gardens' gift shop and head to the the only two other cars in the lot.

That's when I realized the place was closing. Had the rain not sent me fleeing to my car I'd have been locked inside the gardens until 9 a.m. today.

Downtown Tampa Walkabout

Although I have created a photography business, I shoot for fun, whether the job pays or not. To get myself out shooting more I joined a meetup group for photographers in my area.

This morning we spent a gray morning shooting in downtown Tampa. Saturday mornings are great because the city is empty and you can get unobstructed views of its architecture. If you're ever shooting people, you don't have to compete with crowds for uncluttered backdrops. It's also a good time of day because the light is more flattering and kinder to the camera.

We had to dodge raindrops at times and I got nailed by fire ants while paying too much attention to my framing and not enough to my footing once but often conditions that feel miserable are ideal for photography. Overcast skies serve wonderfully as diffusers of light. Colors really pop under cloudy skies. We got a few patches of clear blue above too.

Non-Paying Customer

It's my father, though, and he's paid enough over the years!

Medard Park

These are a few shots from a recent outing to a county park. I like the shot of the bird that looks like it's headless. It was actually grooming itself on the side away from the camera. It takes a lot of patience to shoot nature. It also takes a lot of bug spray, which repels mosquitoes but, unfortunately, not flies.

Family Photography Shoot

First of all, welcome to a slightly new look to the blog. I tweaked the code to eliminate right-hand side column to allow room for larger slide shows. Of course, you an always see examples of our photography at www.photoquist.com.

I wanted the expanded layout to show off some photos from a shoot I had yesterday in Tampa's Lettuce Lake Park. The shoot with Brad, Fumi and their darling six-year-old daughter Maiko was great fun. The predicted rain held off and the cloudy skies helped our cause by diffusing the sun.

Anyway, let me stop rambling for a moment so you can see some of the shots!



The park is a good venue. It has a boardwalk, lots of woods and shade trees (also good for softening sunlight) as well as playground equipment and a swing set. But on those it was hard to keep Maiko still long enough to snap off a photo! I thought the bubbles might make for some interesting photos and Brad brought the bubble-making gear. Maiko didn't stand in one place very long for that, either! Fortunately, I also brought a pad of paper and a couple of pens. Drawing gave her something to do while keeping her stationary -- for a little while!