Due to a set of very unusual circumstances, I found myself with 4 hours of sanity today.  It was a preview to how my days will be once I win the lottery this year, except of course in the parking lot will be a Porsche 911 Turbo instead of a Saturn Vue.  I found myself being very grateful for something that should be a given, not an extraordinary exception.  Such are the ill things one is often trapped into when living in the world of Men.

There is absolutely nothing I like greater than traveling to some place I have never been before and having that feeling of discovery.  It used to happen often in my early years of living abroad, but much less so the past few years.

Nevertheless, I found myself behind the wheel on a brilliant Florida sunshine day, crisp not yet spring air, with Kiki sniffing out the window as is her greatest traveling thrill.  I saw on a map the night before a place called Crystal River Preserve State Park.  This is the place I headed for expecting a formal state park with ranger station, info board, pamphlet, but there was none of that.  Just two long winding roads leading to the coast, independently of each other.  I took the northernmost one first.

Stopped at what turned out to be a boat ramp surrounded by a nice, finite park with a t-shaped pier.  Saw several manatees swim by then gave veteran Florida travel advice to a very nice older British couple.  One of the other great things I like about travel is chewing the fat with people I meet out on the Road.  I hope they enjoy their time in my suggested destination of St. Augustine, after they visit Kennedy Space Center of course.

The grasslands Kiki and I ran free on reminded me of places I explored as a child in Cape Cod.  I was quite ecstatic to have been lead to this place.  Kiki being a lover of tall (for her) grass and new smells I believe was ecstatic as well.

The 4 hours of sanity continued thusly.  For a good 45 minutes of that time I just sat on the white sand beach (first photo) doing no-thing.  It really, really feels great to do no-thing.  Kiki did dig a few holes before calming down herself and lying in the sand with a nose that looked like it was dipped in sugar crystals.

It was a 4 hours I used all my senses.  A time my eyes almost never left the horizon . . .

You may not know that this former, and long-time, English (actually ESL) teacher will soon be a math teacher!  Indeed.  Each subject (and corresponding teacher) is this year categorized by a sea creature.  Naturally, I am shark.  So I was very pleased to make this HDR image for use in my classroom and as a logo and beacon for the students in the upcoming 2009-2010 school year.

This HDR image was made at John’s Pass in the Clearwater/St. Petersburg area.  I was on a photowalk with the North Pinellas Photography Forum.  At this point I was wondering around on my own exclusively looking for interesting and atypical HDR shots to make.  I believe I succeeded with “Shark Dreams of Flight.”

KIT USED:  Nikon D300 with Tamron XR Di II 17-50mm f/2.8 lens, tripod mounted

PROCESSING:  5-bracketed shots (+/- 1 stop) processed in Photomatix Pro 3 and Color Efex Pro 3

I thought I could show Aya how great U.S. fireworks were as compared to Japan’s.  I had boyhood memories of huge extravaganzas of fireworks with the crowds ooohing and aaaahing as we sat on a gentle grassy slope.  I will now have to admit that tonight’s barely 20- minute fireworks display paled in scale in comparison to Japan’s 1-hour plus hanabi.  Not only that, but we were surrounded by smokers just like in Japan!  Both a mother and a father smoking on their two children, one of which was highly disabled in a complex wheelchair.  Where do I have to live to be free of such extreme ignorance?  Where?!

I cannot remember if I used the technique of covering the lens or not to get multiple fireworks explosions in a single shot.  I think I did though.  I had my D300 in bulb mode, focus at infinity (manual) and mounted on my flimsy tripod all the time loosely covering the lens with its cap.  To do this right you of course need a rock solid tripod, a cable release, and a black piece of card paper.  I had none of them.  Still, all things considered (not mention the street lamp in the lower left), I am semi-pleased with the result.

KIT USED:  Nikon D300 with Tamron xR Di II 17-50mm f/2.8 lens and flimsy Velbon tripod

I saw some great sunsets while living in Tokyo, but I always remembered there is nothing quite like a Florida sunset.  I give Aya full credit for me being able to make this image.  She said the sky must be beautiful this late evening, and she was correct.  

We both grabbed our cameras and leashed Kiki (more on who this is soon . . . ) and headed out onto our back patio area.  I started with a different composition than the one one pictured above, before finally settling on this one.  I had been wanting to try an HDR sunset as well.  I am very pleased with how it turned out.  

KIT USED:  Nikon D300 with Tamron XR Di II 17-50mm f/2.8 lens mounted on a Velbon tripod

POST:  HDR made in Photomatix Pro, then edited in Aperture 2.0 and Nik Software Color Efex Pro 3 (the polarization filter is amazing)