The Indian Shores Sky

The types of images above are best made with a tripod. But, as I indicated in yesterday's post, I didn't travel with a tripod. This limited me in certain ways. Particularly, it was next to, if not impossible to attempt catching the nice, smooth backwash effect as the water makes its way back the ocean from the beach. I am not sure if I am describing this in the best way. But many photogs find (or place) a shell in the foreground to anchor the scene and shoot a slow exposure of the water as it rushes back over the shell. It gives a nice silky look that I like. Also, crisp night scenes to include sunsets and cityscapes were pretty much out of the question. Like I indicated in another post, it was a family vacation and I would take what I could get from what time and gear I had.

Anyway, all the images here were handheld. There really isn't much, if any, camera movement noticeable in these. That's because I used a relatively open aperture. The types of images here are best exposed with a small aperture for greater depth of field. That's where the tripod (and remote shutter release) assists you.

The one with the beach in the extreme foreground was taken from the balcony of our condo. The other two were taken from somewhere on that beach.

More From The Shore

I travelled light on this vacation. For me, that means no tripod (sinful) and no 300mm f/2.8 lens. Everything else goes and is packed in a Lowe Pro Trekker backpack-style camera bag that I carry with me everywhere.

My tripod, while carbon fiber and fairly compact for its size, was an investment and I don't let it out of my sight. Meaning, I won't pack it in checked luggage and I am not sure if I would be allowed to hand-carry it on the plane. So, on trips made by plane I am sans tripod. Not the best of situations. I use Gitzo legs (tripod) with a Really Right Stuff BH-55 head. Tony Sweet recommended this combination to me some time ago while I was a student in one of the many classes he conducts every year.

At the time, I was lugging around a Bogen aluminum tripod with a center column and a 3-way tilt panhead. I'm not sure if everyone knows what I am referring to here, but that thing was a beast. Before Tony convinced me otherwise, I thought I had the best combination going. Don't get me wrong, the current combination that I use was a fairly expensive investment. But as Tony wisely told me, you will have a system that will never require replacement or upgrade. So true, unless it comes up missing which is why I don't take it on plane trips. Speaking of center columns on tripods, the Gitzo doesn't have one. The BH-55 mounts directly to the legs. That's the only way to roll. It creates a much more stable base. Another wise Tony Sweet comment, "Why put a monopod on top of a tripod?" Excellent point.

The image above was taken from a parking lot looking toward the shore. That's a beach umbrella in the background.

Indian Shores Florida - What's a Beach Without a Bucket?

Our trip to Indian Shores was a vacation. It wasn't a photo expedition, a photo surfari, or a photo trek. With that in mind and still wanting to make sure I did find some photo ops, I did a little research about the area and managed to get up early some mornings and venture out on my own. I don't know about you, but when I am out looking for scenes and shooting images, nobody wants to be around. I take too long. I take too many shots. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Vacations are always too short. You try and cram as much in as you can in a certain number of days and many times you go home exhausted. Exhausted from a trip that took you away from work and the routine of your daily life. A trip you took with the intent of relaxing and decompressing in order to get back to the real world feeling fresh and ready to take things head on. I know most, if not all, have felt this way at one time or another. It's funny. We joke about it. We accept it. And we do it again the next year.

We did lots of things on vacation, many of which I didn't document with a camera. I captured enough to personally remind us of the great time we spent in and around Indian Shores. And, I believe I managed to get a few keepers to satisfy my photography addiction.

*By the way, for those of you that believe I spelled "safari" wrong, it's a play on words, haha.

Vacation Indian Shores

As I have noted in recent posts, we vacationed in Florida. Indian Shores specifically. The plane ride from Virginia to Florida was a bit rough. More turbulence on a flight than I can recall in recent years (military flights excluded, haha). We never flew over water so I don't believe the seat cushion/flotation device was ever an issue.

Indian Shores is a barrier island on the west coast of Florida. It's a beautiful part of the State. Keep up with the blog for more images and notes from the trip. You can subscribe to the feed by clicking on the orange RSS icon.

Also, most images in this blog can be enlarged by left clicking on the image.

All images in this post were captured with an iPhone.

Great Egret

We recently took a trip to Indian Shores, Florida. It's on the Gulf side of Florida. The image above as well as the Blue Heron in the previous post were both made on the beach. It's home to lots of shore birds throughout the year. I am processing images from the trip and will post more images and information on the trip in future posts.

The Great Blue Heron

High Key Flower Image

Using a tabletop, I placed these three flowers on a white plate and used window lighting as well as artificial light and reflectors to make this image. I added texture in post processing. I have other images from this mini-session but have yet to process anything else.