St Pete Christmas Tree

In Florida we have no snow, so we have to make it seem like Christmas with lots of lights.

Straub Park is on the waterfront in downtown St Petersburg. The entire park is decorated with lights and lighted scenes. This is the city Christmas Tree. If you look closely near the bottom, you'll see where we still have flowers in bloom.

Part of the celebration includes trucked in snow and ice. The kids will be able to play in the snow and skate on the ice. It's kind of strange to see them playing in the snow wearing shorts, T-shirts and flip flops. But at the same time, it's good to see the kids enjoying the snow--something they've never seen except in photos and on calendars. This all takes place December 10th.

In the evening, it'll all be topped off with the decorated boat parade. It's a fun time for all to enjoy.

Tampa Skyline - Blue Hour

A couple nights ago, members of my photo group went to Ballast Point Park in Tampa to make photos of the Tampa skyline from a different vantage point.

We took many photos, but after going through all of them, I liked this one the best. Tampa is a beautiful city.

Ballast Point Pier

Several of my students mentioned this place to me, so I decided to check it out for myself. They told me I could get great shots of the Tampa skyline from this park.

I don't think the view of the Tampa skyline from this park is that great, compared to other places have been; but I like this pier. If you are one of my followers, you know I love to photograph piers and bridges.

I tried this shot in HDR, but since I'm not that great at HDR, I ended up deleting it and just using the file as it came out of my camera. I particularly like the starbursts on the lights and the way they shine on the water as well as the silhouetted rocks in the foreground. It's difficult to see, but in the background are limestone mines and quarries. I've never seen them before and had to ask another photographer what they were. Now I'm wondering where exactly the quary is so I could possibly drive there to photograph it.

Settings used for this shot on my tripod-mounted Canon 40D were, ISO 200 to keep digital noise to a minimum, 4 seconds at F16 -2 stops exposure compensation. F16 provided the Depth of Field, while the 4 second exposure smoothed out the water somewhat. This was shot at 55mm with my 55-250mm IS lens.