The Retention Pond

Finally! After a long dry summer, the retention pond at Sharkey's restaurant has something to retain.



Bob

Back to Reality

The beach is great, but you have to go home sometime.



Bob

Refurbished Jetty

A crane and barge were here for several days, to add some boulders and rearrange others.



I think that the white rocks have been here and the gray ones added.

Bob

Don't Ask

Just don't ask why I did this.



Please.

Bob

Sharpness (Softness?) Test

I have two ways to get an image into a blogspot post. When I'm lazy, I just click on a picture icon in the post-creating window, and blogspot uploads the image. I have no control over the image size. Alternatively, sometimes I upload an image to my Photobucket account, and link it to the blogspot post. When doing that, I control the size of the image in the post.

Yesterday, I was lazy and let the blogspot upload engine insert my image. One viewer, W McM. pointed out that the image in the post looked blurry, but when he clicked on it, a larger version in a Picassa viewer looked sharp. Interesting. So, here is a little test.

Here is the image again uploaded by blogsopt. It is 213x320 pixels. It looks soft. After clicking on it, the expanded, sharper, image is 1063x1600 pixels.



Then I brought my original 1800x1200 pixel image into Photoshop, and made two resized copies, one 213x320 and the other 1063x1600. I uploaded them into Photobucket and linked them below.

This one is 213x320:


And here is 1063x1600:


Oh, interesting.
1. The blogspot uploaded version is more saturated. Only He knows why.
2. Even though the larger version was linked to a 1063x1600 image, blogspot resized it to 680x1024.
3. Sharpness appears to be related to the ultimate size of the image, not whether I used the blogspot upload engine or linked version.

Bob

Sea Oats

They are protected, as they protect OUR beaches.



Bob

Bandit

Must be a bandit - who else would wear a mask?



Bob

Bird Brains

Sanderlings have their own personality.



It's fun to watch the seemingly stiff-legged movements, even while foraging for food in the water. There were loads of small fish in the "breakers", but I couldn't get a decent shot, even with a polarizing filter.



They continued feeding on the sand.



The food consisted of hundreds of small dead sardine-like fish, sans eyes. Usually so many dead fish suggest a red tide bloom. This morning, however, the water was clear and green, and the onshore breeze sweet.



All in all, not a bad way to spend an hour in the morning.

Bob

The Lonely walk

This (not so) lonely fellow is lucky to find a stretch of beach relatively uninhabited.



There are 2 lines of "wrack": stuff that is deposited on the beach that contains food for birds and other creatures. One is the reddish brown weed, and the other is the line of white material near the waterline. Photos of that tomorrow.

Bob

The Light

This is not the image that I had planned to shoot.



But when the light is right, take it!

Bob

Be Thankful

When photographing near the beach, colors are nice. Nice blues, greens, yellows, and cyans. But, reds and magentas are very difficult to find.



Be thankful when someone brings an umbrella.

Bob

Practice

Cast nets are not easy to deploy without them landing in a heap. This young man is getting the knack of it, and practiced quite a bit while I watched.



Good job!

Bob

Cape Canaveral

About 6:45AM, this is what the sky looked like, facing slightly east of north.



I later learned that a rocket, delivering a GPS satellite had been launched from the Cape.

Neat.

Bob

The Publix Flower

My wife assures me that this Astromerica, but I call it the Publix Flower. Publix has these for sale 52 weeks per year. Cheap!



They must be very easy to grow somewhere.

Bob

The Yoga Class

An enthusiastic, if somewhat disorganized, yoga class.



Great classroom.

Bob

Comet?

This rainbow seems to have an attitude.



Bob

The Fisherman

At 12 mm, I like how the lines of bubbles in the surf are magnified, and turned into leading lines.

Bob

Vitimin Water, Anyone?

This vending machine is at the public beach pavillion.



This was at dusk, with no flash. The 50mm f1.8 has its advantages.

Bob

The Sign

The sign says it all. This is from a practice night session with the 50mm f1.8 lens.



Bob

Lazy

OK, this is taking lazy to a new level. I kind of like the lines and colors here.



This was shot through the window behind my computer. Hey, it's an image!

Bob

Tebow Time!

For Florida Gator football fans...



It's TEBOW TIME!

Bob

Firey Morning

One of the rewards for getting up early.

Bob

Shells

Venice Beach is no Sanibel, but we do have SOME shells.



Bob

Armageddon

But we did not get even one drop of rain.



Bob

Evening Stroll

Handheld with the 50mm, f 1.8 lens.



Bob

Lake Placid Debutante

Bob

Night Palms

Trees that are artificially lighted usually are appealing to me. But when photographed, the lighting captured is more harsh than it originally appears to my eye.



Bob

Lake Placid Murals

The town of Lake Placid is trying to become known for its murals. Many buildings are adorned, and what could be ugly cement block walls have become colorful artwork.



I think that the town is doing pretty well!

Bob