3:30 AM Run Into Town

My sleep pattern varies from time to time. Sometimes I am amazed I slept till 6 and then others when I can't seem to sleep past 4. Must be guilty conscious or heavy thoughts. Let's just go with heavy thoughts. I am presently in the earlier to bed earlier to rise phase. So I decided that I needed to do something so I loaded up the tripod and camera and decided to take a few night shots at Vinoy. The Leonid meteors showers peaked on November 18th, I think, but clouds and an unusual cold front dampened my enthusiasm. So tonight nothing was happening, but still travelled into town one early morning to see what i could see.

And what I found wasn't particular exciting except these two birds, huddled together facing a bracing breeze, just staring into the Bay.

I think it is quite a nice shot. These two guys, different species, finding a kind of kinship in a lonely vigil. Nature tells us animals basically eat, sleep and breed, but these guys seem to have an otherworldliness to them. Sentinels, watching for or maybe seeing what we cannot.

The other shots weren't as nice as that, more mundane park vistas while pretty in their own way, don't actually have much to say.

I include this one simply to demonstrate the light pollution that exists in this area. That yellow tint is all Tampa lighting.

And speaking of lighting, I noticed the eternal flames at the Holocaust Museum were not all functioning. I don't know how these things work, but I would have thought, simply as a testimonial kind of thing, that the directors would insure that these lights, above all else, remain lit. The eternal flames in St. Pete aren't so eternal.

Other possible subjects for picture taking in the early morning hours are somewhat chancy. There is a contingent of homeless that make this area their own. It is virtually impossible to walk the streets at this time of night without being approached and then with camera is inviting trouble. It is best to approach street photography with a great deal of caution.

One school of thought is to compensate those you photograph with a buck or two. Another school says anything in the public realm is, well, public. It may be best to point the camera at night upwards.

Comments

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless. Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001. It was one of those things that can generate crime: two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job. Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things. Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold. But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find. His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead. He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds. He will be paralyzed for life. None of this is pleasant. Reading the f...

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida. There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife. In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride. He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much. He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A. But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here. If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying. He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed. No...

Summer Swim

It's Monday and the start of another work week. Except for me. I have the week off because the parents of my daycare charges are taking the week off, too. This is one of those wordless posts I love on Mondays so I can put my laziness in full view of loyal readers. These pics need no words. Why muddy the waters? They were taken at the pool at Sinkhole Estates aka Death Valley. The nice thing about this pool is it is heated in winter. If one must find positives in one's situation, I suppose that is one. But, please, no more.

Existing In BFE

Search This Blog