May The Horse Be With You

We had so much fun last weekend at the racetrack, we decided to go back on Sunday to Tampa Bay Downs to watch another afternoon of live thoroughbred horse racing. The action is fast, exciting and really a ton of fun to photograph around the grandstand and the track.

I had a much better advantage this time, for since I was now familiar with what to expect, so I was able to get into position and know what lens, settings and angles to shoot from. Plus, throw in the fact that they sell real Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, it doesn't get any better than this.

The photo of the day however was while sitting out in the picnic area setting up for the next race, I saw a guy sitting in a lawn chair, reading a racing program and sipping on some cold ones. Sitting beside him he had a cooler that read "May the horse be with you!". Kinda summed up another great way to end the weekend.

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Getting Frisky

After spending the morning in downtown Tampa, we decided to spend the evening out on Honeymoon Island to watch the baby Great Horned Owl and see how he is doing. Mommy Owl was in a few trees over from the nest as the baby sat on the edge watching her sleep in the afternoon sun.

We never did find the male, but right after sunset, the baby started to take his first flight, as he flew from one side of the nest to the other, flying sometimes high above the nest while his mother watched from a distance. He is really curious about his world around him, and growing up fast.

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And Baby Makes Three

It's been awhile since I have been out to Honeymoon Island, for the babies are just now starting to come out of their nests, and this years baby Great Horned Owl is finally big enough to get some good photos of. The resident pair of the island had their baby late this year, and have only one offspring, but what a cutie he is.

I met up with my friend John to see if we could get a good shot of the family together, but mommy and daddy were away from the nest as baby was sitting up on the edge of the nest listening as the parents were hooting back and forth to one another. I was able to get photos of each of them, and it shouldn't be too much longer now that the baby is hunting with his daddy.

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Crusin' St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, Florida was the scene last Saturday for a personal On-location Photo Workshop with Chuck, who just moved to the Tampa Bay area five months ago from Washington D.C. The agenda for the workshop was to capture some of the beauty of Florida in St. Petersburg, both the "postcard shot" with some unique details that make this city one of the most beautiful in the country.

It was refreshing to walk around with Chuck who really knows his equipment, so we spent less time on the technical aspect, but concentrated on the art of light and photography. With a light breeze and warm temperatures, it made for one great and productive workshop, and Chuck was able to capture and fill his portfolio with some very unique shots of paradise.

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And They're Off

Once in a while, I get thrown a curveball. Not often, but last Sunday was the first time in a long time that curve came down the pipe right at me. My good friend John and I planned to go out to photograph the horse races at Tampa Bay Downs, so I met up with John, his wife and mom, as well as met up with another good friend Bret, his wife and mom for an afternoon of fun in the sun.

I have never been to a horse race track to photograph the thoroughbreds, and I felt like a fish out of the water. I had no clue what was coming, where they were going, where to position myself or for just how fast paced horse racing live can be. Instead of giving up, with the help of John and Tara whom have been to the track before, I learned how to anticipate the action, but it took a few races to get into the groove.

We ended up staying for all eleven races, and I had a great time, so much, I will be going back to shoot some more, especially now that I know what was going on. I didn't place any bets, for I was having too much fun photographing the horses, and it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

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Smoke Over The Water

Just after lunch today, I was walking through downtown Clearwater after a photo shoot and noticed it was getting hazy, real hazy. The skies were filling up with smoke, and the smell indicated something was very wrong.

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Click Here To View Panorama Of Clearwater Under Smoke
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The entire Tampa Bay area is covered in a thick cloud of smoke from a brushfire that is burning out of control in southern Georgia. You read that right, Georgia, and the winds are bringing it all the way down the state of Florida.

Love Doves

Many nature photographers pass by these birds almost on a daily basis, for they are one of our more common species that is found just about anywhere in Florida. I must admit when I see a Eurasian Collared-Dove, I too usually don't give them a second look, for they aren't really a challenge. However, when babies can be found, they can be great subjects to photograph.

I found a nest high up in a palm tree, if you can call it a nest, where the dove was sitting on a palm frond that was cut and looks like a shelf, just barely big enough for even the female even sit on. I observed the dove for several days, and she was always there, so I knew she was sitting on an egg.

Two days ago, the baby was born, and blends in so perfectly with his surroundings, if you didn't know they were there, you'd never see it. The past few days has been a great time watching, observing and photographing this new little dove as it explores his new world around him.

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STKx8

Spring is here in Florida, and with it brings one of the most mysterious birds, the Swallow-tailed Kite. Not a lot of information is really known about these beautiful birds, except that if you have ever had the chance to see one, they are by far the most beautiful bird in flight, for they glide across the sky with little to no effort. They are very secretive, and one of the most prized photographs of many photographers, for they are very difficult to capture on film.

It was getting late in the evening when I noticed out our window a pair of Swallow-tailed Kites circling high above the tree line, so I ran out the door, camera in hand, to see if they would come down. When I arrived at the pond that they were circling, all of a sudden there was eight, yes eight, gliding over my head, all talking back and forth to one another. Not only was it an amazing sight to see this many at one time, but to also hear them communicate. They circled high overhead, and some were curious by my presence, and made a few passes right over my head. After a long while, they sailed off deep into Brooker Creek Preserve for the night. Made for a great way to end the day.

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Raise The Roof

It's April, so that only can mean that NHL Playoff hockey is back in the bay, and we scored tickets for the first game to be played at the St. Pete Times Forum to watch the Lightning take on the New Jersey Devils. We sat right behind the Devils bench, and to be at a playoff hockey game is nothing like being at a regular season game. It was ten times more intense, loud and crazy, and this was one of the most exciting games we have ever been to.

The game had a lot of good hits, and was fast paced from start to end. Being so close to the action is awesome, for you really get into the game, and to see future Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur was about as good as it gets. When the last few seconds ticked off the clock, the noise was so loud it felt as if the roof was going to blow off the Forum, which was an amazing sight and sound to say the least of the entire crowd going crazy.

	1	2	3	T
NEW JERSEY DEVILS	0	1	1	2
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING	1	0	2	3

After the game, we ran into Dave Andreychuk (again) outside his bar across from the St. Pete Times Forum, and he was kind enough to sign our tickets and pose for some photos. It was a great ending to another great night of hockey in the bay.

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Photo Workshop: Sponge Docks

Saturday was shaping up to be a great day, and for my latest on-location photography workshop, I met up with Amy and James at the Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs for a full day workshop as we explored the many interesting sights at the Sponge Docks.

This workshop was a very basic "Photography 101" style of learning, since both Amy and James has just gotten into the hobby, so I took them on a journey of the very basic foundations, terms, techniques and history of photography. It was refreshing to go over the basics, for even myself I forget to remember the basics, for I have been doing them for so long, they have become second nature, so this was a great workshop for all.

After a couple of hours in "class", we took a boat ride out into the Gulf of Mexico to continue our workshop, and to enjoy the vast scenery of the open seas. We even got to photograph not only some of the boats out in the marina, but boats out in open waters, and a special bonus, a pod of Dolphins that we found about four miles offshore.

When we got back to the Sponge Docks, we had perfect light, and we now put what we learned in class and put it to test, and both Amy and James really took off and had a blast practicing to photograph the Sponge Docks with their new found knowledge. We even had time to do a model shoot with Amy, for she agreed to help with the book project I am working on, and the shoot was a huge success.

We ended the day with a great sunset over the Anclote River, and without a doubt both Amy and James took away a huge amount of information and knowledge, and had fun during our time together.

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Goliath Grouper

I had plans to go to St. Petersburg down at the Pier to get a skyline shot of the city, but when I got there, it was jam packed for they were having a festival going on, so I never made it to my destination. I was bummed, but the night was still young, and the weather was as perfect as you could ask for, so I headed further south down to the Sunshine Skyway Pier to get some new photos of the bridge from the South Pier.

It was pretty uneventful, as I set-up and was snapping away a series of photos of the bridge as I watched the Dolphins swim by playing and chasing fish around the pier. The weather was awesome, and the waters in the bay was as calm as they can be, which resulted in some real nice reflections in the water.

Just as I was packing up to head home, Ron, a fisherman that was next to me when I was taking pictures hooked something big, and yelled over to me to help. I called over to a young couple on the other side of me to also come help, for this looked like it was going to take more then one person to reel this one in. Ron got it to the surface, and it was a HUGE Goliath Grouper (also known as a Jewfish), and wow, this is the one most dream of snagging.

Ron brought it to the deck of the pier on for a minute to see it, and I snapped a few pics of his catch to document that he really did indeed catch this monster. It is illegal in the state of Florida to keep Goliath Groupers, so Ron had to release it back into the waters from which it came. It was an unbelievable ending to a great day at the Sunshine Skyway Pier.

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Surf Honeymoon

With the recent cold front moving across the east coast, it brought some cooler weather to Tampa Bay, and it kicks up the waves on the Gulf of Mexico. Since we don't get a lot of surf on the gulf, when we do, the surfers hit the beach in droves. Honeymoon Island was the scene Saturday afternoon as down on the rocky beaches, numerous surfers were riding the waves up and down the coastline, from beginners to advanced surfers.

I don't know too much about surfing, except it was a blast to photograph from the beach, especially since I have never given it a try before, and I was able to get a few keepers in the bunch. The trick was to try to not only get the surfer in an interesting position, but to get the board as well, and hope there wasn't a wipe out!

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Field Notes: Florida Fighting Conch

Pronounced "Konk", the Florida Fighting Conch belongs to a class of marine animals known as Gastropods. The Florida Fighting Conch is very common in shallow waters in southern and West Florida. Fighting Conchs are also found along the coasts of North Carolina and throughout the Caribbean region and in the Gulf of Mexico. These animals live in shallow sea grass or sand flats. They feed on algae and their eyes are positioned at the end of eye stalks.

Gastropods make up the largest class of mollusks. They are around 2-3 inches in length. The Florida Fighting Conchs have sickle-shaped operculum at the end of the foot which assist the conch in crawling and it is used to ward off potential predators. The operculum also seals the opening of the shell. Fighting Conchs will bury themselves in the sand bed and clean the upper layers. These animals "lick" the surface of the sand and sea grass with a structure called a "rasping tongue" or "radula". As these little sea creatures drag around their shell, you can see their mouth and eyes coming out of from the opening of the shell.

The Florida Fighting Conch reaches sexual maturity around one year of age. At this time, they are 6-8 centimeters in length. Once the male and female mate, the female will lay an egg mass that will hatch 3 to 4 days later. The baby conchs develop in the water column for 3-4 weeks. After this, they settle into their nursery habitat of sea grass beds and sand flats.

Most mollusks if picked up, will pull back into their shells and close their doors as a defensive maneuver so the opening of the shell is capped off for safety. If the Florida Fighting Conch is picked up, it may come far out of it's shell and make vigorous efforts and attempts to escape by thrashing about in your hands, thus the name.

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View A Photo Of A Florida Fighting Conch Shell Close-up
View A Photo Of A Florida Fighting Conch Shell On The Beach
View A Photo Of A Florida Fighting Conch Shell In The Surf
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While we have been snorkeling or swimming in 2-6 feet of water, we have observed Fighting Conchs moving along the sandy bottom of the ocean. When floating above them, you can see them looking at you with their eyes which are positioned at the end of eye stalks. During the late afternoon hours to sunset, we have also observed them slowly rising up from the sand beds as they crawl along the sandy floors and sea grass beds looking for algae to eat.

One evening while snorkeling at Fort DeSoto Beach, we noticed that more than one type of conch will work together to pry open the two halves of a large live clam. Once they got the clam opened, they were enjoying the clam juices and the meat inside. We have seen different types of conchs working together to do this, and even a Lightning Whelk stopped by to help.

If you find a live conch shell of any species, please be gentle with them and have respect for these little creatures. Observe their beautiful shells and then quickly and safely return them back to the ocean. Their shell is their home so do NOT take their home away from them. There are plenty of washed up conch shells on the beach that have no animal in them. Be careful though, for we have picked up conch shells that had no conch/snail in them but the shells had crabs hiding in them.

We have also found conch shells that have even had small fish using the shell for a home. We gently placed the shell and it's resident back into the ocean where we got them from. It seems that other sea creatures use conch shells and other sea shells for a safe home too. After a storm, is a good time to find washed up conch shells on the beaches of Florida, but double-check that nobody is using the shell you found as a home.

Birds In Flight Workshop

Last Saturday, I met up with Walt and Darien for a Birding Workshop, and we had a great day ahead of us of fun and adventure. We met up at Anclote River to see if we could get some photos of the Bald Eagles, but now that the little ones have fledged, they are really hard to find now. We were kinda disappointed, but knew we had other opportunities ahead of us.

The goal for this workshop was to learn how to get Birds in Flight, one of the more trickier subjects to tackle, since it takes a good knowledge of not only the equipment, but the birds one wishes to photograph as well. After a few stops at Anclote River, Fred Howard Park, Wall Springs, Palm Harbor Sports Complex, we ended up at Honeymoon Island where we knew we would get great opportunities to get the Osprey's in flight, since this is now the height of nesting season, and it is a guarantee to get some great shots of them as they fly all over the island overhead.

We sure weren't disappointed, for we witnessed several great opportunities, and I showed Walt and Darien how to get some incredible shots of the Ospreys as they were flying above us, and we even got the rare treat of witnessing a dogfight between two males as they were fighting for the right to mate with a female.

It was an another really great workshop, and was a huge success for everyone.

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