YouTube Videos

I hate video. It is just such an effort to download, edit on the computer, then output. It never has been my thing. However, that seemed to have changed recently, for I got a new 60gig HDD camera and with the new iMovie, I am actually enjoying the process now.

So with the new gear, I plan on capturing every now and then some interesting clips to share, and will be posting them up on YouTube.

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View Collection of YouTube Videos
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Hope you enjoy the short videos!

Major League Downtown

The past several weeks here in Tampa Bay, rumors have been flying about the possibility of a new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays baseball club. Today, those plans were unveiled, and wow, this is an amazing looking stadium.

I have only been to the current Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg twice, and I don't like it at all. Baseball is meant to be played outdoors, and not in a warehouse (the best way I can describe it). If this becomes a reality, this would be one of the most beautiful stadiums in baseball, not to mention a great photo opportunity to boot.

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View The New Stadium Rendering
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Let's hope that the city can pull this off, for I know I would be there on opening day, and go to LOTS more games every year.

Stick By Stick

With the Hurricane Season coming to a close, it's now time for the birds to begin a new season of their own. I took a drive out to Anclote River to check on the pair of Bald Eagles I watched last year, and I found them around their same nest they use year after year. The female has just laid this years eggs, for she was sitting on the nest, and about every hour, she would get up and turn them over. When she needed a break, the male flew in and took over the duties, and in one photo I got of the female when she flew from the nest, you can clearly see numerous chest feathers that are missing, a sure sign that she has used them to line the nest for warmth.

After spending several hours watching the Eagles, I headed over to Anclote River Park to see if there was anything going on, and I stumbled across several Great Blue Heron nests in the tops of the Slash Pines. I really had no intention of staying, but when I found the nests, I was fascinated by the activity, for it looks as if nest building has just began. Every so often, the male would fly form the nest, go across the river to the river bank, and search out for some sticks. When he found one to his liking, he would bring it back to the female who was waiting, and they would carefully place and weave the sticks to build their nest.

Stick by stick, twig by twig, piece by piece I watched as the Great Blue Heron flew back and forth, bring little presents back to the female. It was amazing to witness all of this just yards in front of me. Several time I cursed myself for not having my zoom lens with me, for I was able to get so close, they completely filled the frame and then some. It is certainly shaping up to be a great start of a new year of photo opportunities.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Homosassa Springs

We decided to do something different on Friday, and go someplace we have never been to and see things we have yet to see. Although we have been all over the area here in Tampa and all over South Florida, we have yet to see any thing north of here, especially the natural springs that are simply beautiful to witness. So, we headed an hour and a half north to Homosassa Springs State Park to spend the day to see what we could find.

Homosassa Springs is the only state park in Florida that has on display all of the endangered and wild species of birds and animals that can be found in the state, and the park far exceeded our expectations. It was amazing to walk all around and see all kinds of birds and animals, including Black Bears, Florida Panthers, Red and Grey Foxes, Mute Swans, Caracaras, Red-shoulded Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Coopers Hawks, Barred Owls, Great Horned Owls, Barn Owls, Kestrels, Alligators, Whooping Cranes, Bald Eagles, and of course, the Florida Manatees.

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Watch A Video Of Florida Manatees In Homosassa Springs
(QuickTime Format - 3:05 - 7MB)
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It was well worth the drive up to the park, and we wish we had more time to also explore the natural springs, for it was the first time we have ever seen one, and we were amazed at their beauty and how they work. It is a place we will be going back to in the summer when the days are longer to really get out and explore these natural wonders here in Florida.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Thanksgiving Surprise

It was looking to be a bust, for it was cloudy and rainy for most of the day, and we almost called it quits. We had plans to go to Honeymoon Island to spend Thanksgiving, for we knew very few if anyone would be there, so we could enjoy the walking trails all to ourselves. We also wanted to find the pair of Great Horned Owls, but it was looking to be a rain-out.

As luck would have it, the skies cleared a little, so we packed up and went to Honeymoon late in the day. This time, we took along a HD Video camera to tape the owls if we found them. As we made our way down the path, we stopped to take a break, and as luck had it, we stopped right in front of both of the owls. We set up our gear and began to record them, unknowing we were about to not only witness a very rare event, but tape it as well.

The sun had already set, and the owls were up, preening their feathers for the nights activities, as well as hooting back and forth to one another. Just then, the male flew from his branch, and mated with the female right in front of us. We have never seen this before, and was shocked that they would allow us to see an intimate moment between them. I ran to camera, and sure enough, it recorded it... all 10 seconds of it!

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Watch A Video Of A Pair Of Great Horned Owls Mating In HD
(QuickTime HD Format - 1:05 - 25MB)
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What an amazing sight to witness, which was something that we never would of guessed to have seen. Hopefully, we will be seeing some baby owlets in the coming months!

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Hockey Holiday

The temperatures outside was a balmy 80 degrees, but the weather inside the St. Pete Times Forum was much cooler for the start of the holidays, and the agenda was a Thanksgiving Eve hockey game between the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

This was our first time to see many of the new faces of the Rangers, and our seats right behind the bench was perfect to see some of our favorites, including Brendan Shanahan, Sean Avery, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist.

The game was a tight one, with the Rangers jumping out to a lead, and the Lightning scored in the final seconds, but still came up short. It was a great way to kick off the long holiday weekend out on the town.

	1	2	3	T
NEW YORK RANGERS	1	0	1	2
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING	0	0	1	1

Worldwide Anole

I went to the mailbox as I do everyday, and after sifting through all the junk mail, I saw a package from Creation Magazine. Inside that package, was several complimentary issues of their latest issue, which features a Brown Anole photograph that I shot back in the summer.

I knew the magazine, which is published in Australia, was coming, but there is nothing like seeing your work published in a magazine, much less the cover. Inside, there is an article on the Anole, along with several other photos that I took.

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View The Cover Of Creation Magazine
(JPG - 104KB)
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I bet that little Anole that I photographed while picnicking on Honeymoon Island here in Florida has no idea he is now worldwide famous!

Sunset Beach

Last weekend, we stumbled upon (don't ask, long story) a little unknown beach called Sunset Beach in Tarpon Springs. It is a tiny little island in the Gulf of Mexico, so we headed out late in the afternoon to see if it lives up to it's name. While I waited for the big show, I turned my attention to the numerous shorebirds that had gathered for the evening, and it was fun to get some crazy shots of the Laughing Gulls as they were taking baths, making all kinds of interesting poses.

Just before the sun set over the horizon, I got into place to capture the sunset, and there is a real neat rock formation that jets out from the shore that adds some nice foreground interest. Well, the beach surely did live up to it's name, but then again, all of the beaches here always produce a perfect view of some of the most beautiful sunsets in Tampa Bay.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

The Freshman

I got a call a couple of days ago from my friend, Chris Hurtt, and he was all excited with some fantastic news. He went on to tell me that one of our former students, Edward Nunez made the cover of Popular Photography Magazine. WHAT?!?! What outstanding news!

Chris and I met Edward a year ago on a workshop we were conducting in San Francisco, and right from the start, we both agreed that Edward was an incredible photographer, and we nicknamed him "Eagle Eye". For having only been shooting for a couple of months, Edward was able to see compositions that no one else was able to see.

It was actually funny, for a couple of weeks before the workshop, Edward emailed me and asked if he was good enough to join us on the workshop, and I replied that of course, everyone was welcome, for that is what the workshops are designed for, to teach students the art of photography, and all are welcome.

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Read The Article About Edward In Popular Photography Magazine
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Here it is a year later after that workshop, and a former student is featured on one of the largest magazines on photography. Huge congrats Edward, and keep on shootin'!!!

Ironman

The Ford Ironman World Championship 70.3 took place Saturday here in Clearwater, and with an event that attracts 1,500 participants, it is one of the largest single-day events in Tampa. This year, the course was changed, and as luck would have it, part of the course ran right by our house. So I was out of bed by 7:30am, and after a short 5 minute walk, I was out on McMullen-Booth Road to watch the event, and hopefully to get some good photos of the action as they flew by me on their bikes.

One of the more interesting facts I learned while talking with some others that also gathered to watch and cheer on the participants, was that most of the bikes that the pro riders were using cost well over $10,000. I was blown away by that, for I though paying $200 was a bit much! The weather was about as perfect as it could be, which made for a great morning watching one of the largest triathlons in the world.

The event consisted of a 1.2-mile swim on Clearwater Beach, a 56-mile bike course that goes from the beach as far east as McMullen-Booth Road, south to Gandy Boulevard and north to East Lake and a 13.1-mile run, mainly through Clearwater.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Busy, Busy, Busy

The past few weeks have been extremely busy to say the least (which explains the lack of updates to the blog!). I have had three personal workshops over the course of two weeks, but what a blast they were. I love to teach the personal workshop, for I get to meet some of the most interesting and fantastic people here in the Tampa Bay area.

Last weekend however I took a break on Saturday to go to the Art Festival at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in St. Petersburg, where I entered four photos in their photo contest. Last year was exciting, for I won "Best of Show", as well as others for each of my entries. This year, I ended up finishing Third and a Honorable Mention, which isn't too bad. However, I gotta say this, the photo that was selected for best of show was, well, lousy. There were a lot of better entries that should of been considered, and I gotta say, I was quite disappointed in some of the selections.

We walked around for a bit at the festival, and the highlight was to see up close a pair of Screech Owls they had for a nature show, and boy, are they ever some cuties! We also took a walk on the nature trails and ran across a baby Alligator as he sat on the banks of the lake sunning himself in the warm afternoon sunshine.

Later on Saturday, we took off and headed to the Suncoast Sea Bird Sanctuary in Reddington Beach to spend the rest of the day at the beach, and to see some of the birds at the center. It was great to spend some quiet time on the beach, for there are very little tourists this time of the year, so we literally can go to the beaches and almost be alone. Definitely a time to take advantage of that!

The rest of the year is filling up fast with more workshops, so anytime I can take a break and enjoy the weather is bonus, but it's better to busy then not! Phew!

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)