Another Interior Shot of the Salvatore Dali Museum

This interior shot of the Salvatore Dali Museum shows what I call the gridiron window. As you can see, it extends from the ground floor up to the roof. By reinforcing the glass with the steel, it is strong enough to withstand a hurricane.

I love the lines, curves and angles in this museum. Looking through the window, you can see Tampa Bay. While the old museum was built on the water, it didn't use the water as part of the design.

This is truly state-of-the-art and it reflects the artistry of the great master, Salvatore Dali.

Inchworm

Sorry I've left you all wondering whatever happened to me. I must apologize for leaving you all in the lurch.

It all started at Thanksgiving time, when I got Pneumonia. It took 3 rounds of antibiotics to get rid of the Pneumonia, but it left me depressed and tired. I went on vacation to NY to see the grandkids and then to CT to see my kids, but it still wasn't enough to shake the depression. While I brought my camera gear with me, I never took it out of the case. The only photos I shot during the whole time was about 10 photos with my camera phone of my grand and great grandchildren. I just didn't feel like taking photos or anything else for that matter.

When I got home from my vacation I found out that I had to move by 2/11. That didn't give me very much time to raise money for the move and to find a place I could afford. I've always been a deadline person, so I got busy and finally found a great place with a wonderful view in downtown St Petersburg. I'm just loving it here.

Finally, I'm over the depression and fully recovered from the Pneumonia and have started to shoot a bit again (I think it was the move that got me out of it).

This one today is of an Inchworm that was inching his way across the mud catcher in front of the doorway of the building I moved to. I didn't have my camera on me, but I had my trusty old camera phone, so I got down on all fours and made a shot of him. Imagine finding something like this in the middle of the city!

The inchworm is the larvae or caterpillar of the Geometrid Moth. There are so many varieties in their coloring and markings that it was hard to identify it correctly. I'm still not 100% sure. Hopefully, one of you will be able to confirm my guess or correct it.

Mallard Fight

A personal note to my followers: Sorry I haven't been posting much lately, but it's been way too cold in Florida and I haven't been taking any photos lately. In addition, my computer is right next to the front door so I haven't been editing due to the draft from the door. I just freeze.

You will probably have to click on this shot to get the best view. I wish there weren't so many reflections. These two Mallards got into a squabble and I was lucky enough to catch them in the heat of it. It was cool to watch them.

This is the first time there's been so many Mallards here. Usually, there's 4 Mottled Ducks who come back every year. I counted 10 Mallards this morning and I haven't seen the usual Mottled Ducks. I wonder why that is?

Settings used for this shot were ISO 400 to get a high shutter speed (1/250) to stop the action enough to get some clarity, F5.6 to try to blur out some of the sharp reflections, 55-200mm lens at 250mm, partial metering off the duck in flight, + 1 1/3 stops exposure compensation because the birds were backlit.