Old School Hockey

It's a new season of hockey, and even though the temperature outside was in the upper 70's, it was cold inside the St. Pete Times Forum for a night of old school hockey. A friend of mine, Glenn, had an extra ticket for the game, so I took him up on his offer to catch the game, and what a great game it was.

The game was exciting from start to finish, for about five fights broke out, and it felt more like a playoff game then a regular season game. I love old time style hockey with the fast pace, hits and fights, which made for a great win for the home team.

	1	2	3	T
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS	1	0	1	2
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING	2	1	2	5

Birds Of Florida

It's another year (wow, does time ever fly!), and I just finished my second book in what I hope to become an ongoing series, "Birds Of Florida II". This edition contains 250 pages of over 300 full-color photographs of some of our native species of birds here in Florida. It makes for a great coffee table book that I know you will enjoy. Check out:

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Birds of Florida II - Second Edition

Birds of Florida - First Edition
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More exciting announcements will be coming soon, so stay tuned!

Liftoff

I finally got to see my first Space Shuttle launch today, for past launches, it had been cloudy, so I never saw it go up. Since we are only about 80 or so miles away from the Space Coast, you can easily see them when they launch.

Discovery blasted off at 11:38am and dodged through the clouds as it made its way to the International Space Station. It was cool to finally see one liftoff.

A Day At The Zoo

After going last weekend to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa for ZooBoo, we decided to head back to spend the day to photograph some of the animals at the zoo. Lowry Park Zoo is ranked in the top 10 zoo's in the country, and it's easy to see why, for it is one of the best zoos we have ever been to.

We wanted to get to the zoo early, since the zoo has to new baby White Tigers that were born just a few months ago. They are limited to the amount of time they are out for public display, for they are still young, and the heat of the day here in Tampa can tire them out quickly. The two are so full of energy, and a joy to watch as the romp, pounce and run around playing. We must of spent an hour just watching them for they were so fun!

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Around Tampa Bay

The hard work is paying off. Over the past couple of years now photographing the Tampa Bay area, I have compiled a huge library of images of the area. Recently, I have been approached by several organizations for access to those images, and the photos are now popping up all around the bay.

First up is the Tampa Bay & Company (www.visittampabay.com) which is the largest and most comprehensive tourism resources in Tampa Bay. Several of my images can be seen on their web site, as well as their 2008 Visitors Guide. They just re-lauched their web site, and many of my photos can be seen in the design.

Next is Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo (www.lowryparkzoo.com) which is one of the top rated zoo's in the country. One of my photographs is featured in their 2008 Zoo Calendar, as well as many other photos in their marketing materials, brochures and newsletters.

Lastly is the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (www.cmaquarium.org) which is one of the most respected marine animal hospital for their dedication to research and rehabilitation of marine mammals. Many of my photos will be featured in their new web site that will be launching in the next few weeks, as well in their marketing materials.

Also, the Tampa Bay book that is scheduled to be released early next year will also be available not only at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but also at numerous museums, gift shops and stores in the Tampa Bay area. It really great to see my work of the most beautiful city I live in become available as I see through my viewfinder.

Jen & Amy

A couple of weekends ago, I had the opportunity to teach the last half of a Stock Photography workshop here in Tampa. So what was I to do, especially since I don't really shoot that many stock shots, especially with people? I decided to go to the beach, since the models that were hired for the day would be perfect for that style of work.

The problem however was that since I was instructing, I wasn't able to take one shot with my camera, but two of the models, Jenny and Amy agreed to allow me to re-shoot some of the poses the following weekend. So this past Sunday afternoon, we all met up at the beach on Honeymoon Island for some fun and sun.

We certainly attracted some attention for the other beachgoers, as I had two lovely models and and my assistant on the beach, but we didn't care, and had a lot of fun during our time together. My favorite shots of the evening were the silhouettes, but all in all, it was a great way to wrap up a weekend, and I was thankful that the girls took the time to allow me to shoot them. Thanks girls!

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

ZooBoo

It's that time of the year again, and one of our favorite holidays is fast approaching. This year for Halloween, we decided to head to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa to check out "ZooBoo", and are we glad we did. Earlier in the day, we went to the zoo to enjoy the warm afternoon and take in the sights of the animals, but when the park closed, we left for some dinner as night approached.

We got back to the zoo as the sun set over the horizon, and the place was packed with people for the big event. This was the biggest crowd we have ever seen at the zoo, for it has become a big attraction for the area. Lowry Park really goes all out for the event, and the zoo was well decorated for the holiday. Everywhere you looked, there were displays that appealed to every age group.

The zoo was especially kid friendly, and anyone with little ones really should take in this event, for they make it fun for them, as well as the young at heart too. We really enjoyed walking around and seeing the displays, and everyone was having a great time.

The main attraction for us was the "Pirates Show", where my friend Jeff Ewelt (of JeffTheZooGuy) and his two lovely pirates put on a show of animals to a packed house. They did a play that also taught the audience about the animals of the night, such as the Barred Owl, Armadillo, Bunny Rabbit, Snakes and a Millipede. It was about the funniest show we have ever seen, and we enjoyed it the most while at ZooBoo.

If you are in the Tampa Bay area, this is a "must-see" event, for we had a blast, and know everyone at the zoo had one heck of a great time.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Tampa Bay Stock Photography

With the start of fall, it was time again for another on location photography workshop, and what better place to have one then in my hometown of Tampa Bay. This time, it was all about Stock Photography, and my friend Bryan Peterson flew into town to conduct his workshop here in Tampa, and what a fun weekend it was.

These aren't typically the style of workshops I conduct, since I focus on the creative side of photography, but it was interesting to assist Bryan as he took the students on a whirlwind of exercises to get some great shots for stock, and well as offer tips, tricks and a wealth of ideas and information to get their work sold.

It was a grueling but challenging weekend assisting Bryan, but there was a lot of fun and good times had by all!

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)