Catchin the bird's eye view
Hi---How are ya? It's gettin REALLY hot down here---like 80ยบ at midnight. Just when you want to visit the beach
for a week....relax in the sun on the nice comfy, warm white sand, dig some moats & sand castles, dip in the salty
water, get sunburned, have a glass of wine at sunset and then go home....the Official Florida Vacation.
We recently made a quick trip to Tampa on Friday afternoon & returned Saturday night around midnight. The worst
part of the trip was driving thru Orlando on I-4. I hate it. You feel like a prisoner. It should take 20 minutes, but
always ends up an hour or more. So, we went up 75 & over to avoid it on the way home. Much nicer, except Leesburg makes you slow down to 20 mph & that was a bit irritating....
These three shots were taken at John's Pass---a tourist area where you can shop, go on a boat ride, eat (a great breakfast surprisingly at the Friendly Fisherman), fish, etc and the birds are nice enough to pose on the pilings for you. They hang out there in hopes of getting food from the tourists & none of them looked malnourished, believe me.
This shot is from the Double Tree Resort in North Reddington Beach (part of the St Pete Beaches). We had a
room on the top floor with a little balcony facing the water. Birds flew just above you frequently. Saw this one coming and just happened to capture this Laughing Gull looking at me & my camera with a glint of curiosity in the eye.
They flew so close you could have hit them with a stick (if you were so inclined, and I am not in any way endorsing or suggesting such behavior). This picture is so little, it's hard to tell, but the bird's head is cocked and it's checking at me out.
The restaurant was below us, so maybe they were checking the food prospects. We did actually see a
gull land on a deserted plate and gobble up the leftovers. It was a very nice place to stay with very good service!
And this is the reason we went to Tampa---to pick up my Water Wiggles piece from the ARC Gallery in the Museum
of Science & Industry or MOSI. It's the gallery's first annual national juried show, and it was called EARTHVISIONS.
It's a fantastic museum--huge! Several buildings & an IMAX theatre. In fact the gallery surrounds the theatre and is
rounded with freaky slanted walls which could give you a headache if you're in there too long. That's me without Photoshop---but I should go in to slim down the arms, touch up the hair & even out
the tan lines....
PHOTIP: Try composing with two main subjects, like the heron & egret at the top of the blog. Take a shot focusing
on one subject. Then switch the focus and take another shot. Remember to meter on the midtones--not the brightest
or darkest part of your image. A spot meter will do the best job. It measures the light in a small specific area of the composition.
BLESSINGS!
Visit my virtual show
Foundation Academy Pictures
Posted by Pamela at 5/31/2010 8:31 PM 
Categories: Personal and Event
Tags: MOSI IMAX seagull Tampa Reddington Beach FL heron egret St. Pete DoubleTree ARC Gallery
Categories: Personal and Event
Tags: MOSI IMAX seagull Tampa Reddington Beach FL heron egret St. Pete DoubleTree ARC Gallery
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