Mini Vacay
Spending time in one of my favorite vacation spots is always an instant remedy for stress. The moment the cool air from the water hits your face you can feel it’s healing powers take over your entire body. The happy sounds of tropical music fills your ears, while the delicious aroma of fresh fruit and grilled Gulf seafood teases your sense of smell. Your next thought is always how you immediately know you never want to leave. It’s been far too long since my family and I have been on a vacation anywhere together, so this trip was definitely long overdue! It’s been a tradition of ours to go to Florida at least for a few days to relax, but our last trip was suddenly interrupted by an unfortunate emergency. It’s been well over a year since our last trip and going back we can see right away that a few things have changed. Gone are all of the wild spring-breakers of the past, replaced by a more family oriented crowd which was absolutely perfect timing! After check-in everyone races to the room to drop off their bags and head straight to the beach. Finally!!! The moment you dream of for months at a time has finally arrived, and you couldn’t be happier! Ahh…time to kick your feet up, chill, and enjoy all of the new attractions at your leisure…after all, there’s no room to worry about time here. For once time excuses itself for your enjoyment.
Never without my camera, I documented the trip as usual and I’d like to share a summary of the various sights with images organized more or less in the order in which they were taken. I hope you enjoy the photos and your weekend!
(Click on each photo for a larger view)
Midnight Shift
A late night portrait of a fireman as he and his crew prepare to deal with an electrical fire. Taken in my neighborhood at around 1:30am.
Spring River-fest In Color
The downtown River-fest is one of my favorite local events. I absolutely love food trucks and I’m happy that this city has decided to embrace the growing food truck culture. I’ll admit though, it is very overwhelming for me with all of the wonderful sights and smells everywhere! I’m always so tempted to try all of the different foods on display that I sometimes forget to photograph it. It’s also very difficult to take pictures and eat at the same time, but somehow I still manage to multitask! 😉
Here are a few color selections of the people, pets, and food from this beautiful day posted in chronological order.
(Click each image for a larger view)
Moss
I know most people think moss is gross, and I totally get it, but I happen to think it’s pretty interesting. I love all the details! I also love the growth patterns and colors. I actually have quite a collection of moss photos I’ve accumulated over the years. Here are some of my most recent moss images taken at a park near my house.
(Click Each Image To Enlarge)
Working With People/Marquetta Poolside
I get asked these questions so much now that it drives me crazy!!! So once again I will address this subject hopefully for the last time?!
“Do you still shoot with people?” Yes!!!
“Are you retired?” No!!!
I really don’t like unnecessarily placing labels on things, especially myself, but if I had to label myself I’d say that I am foremost a portrait photographer. Portraits are what I love to create. Over the past 3 years I’ve taken time away from shooting people as much to concentrate on the other styles of photography that interests me. Because of this decision the local public seems to think that I no longer shoot with people, even though I still post people pictures! Shooting with people, models and children is still what I love to do, but the truth is, I’ve had so many issues with the models AND people where I live that I’ve basically been forced to stop working with them. It’s not that I want to stop, it’s more about being tired of all of the drama in order to do what I love. I know that nothing is perfect and as long as you deal with people there will always be problems, but it should never get to a point where the drama outweighs the fun and starts to steal your joy away. Well that’s exactly what started happening to me. So I made the conscious decision to become extremely selective in who I work with as well as what I post. I know that this has definitely confused many, so to clarify my position, I LOVE SHOOTING WITH PEOPLE!!!
I also love shooting on the street, and I love shooting nature. These are the different styles of photography that interest me the most. But, as long as I have a camera I will shoot ANYTHING that I think is cool, fun, or sparks my interest. I never limit myself as far as what I capture even though I might concentrate on one style more than others at a particular time. What I want people to understand is that my current work reflects my environment. There isn’t an abundance of street photography or nature photography opportunities here, but those opportunities are more readily available to me than capable models are. The bottom line is this, I’d love to shoot with more people, but, until they can act right I will continue to focus on the other areas. As long as I’m busy working on something I’m happy so it’s all good to me!
Now, here is a photo from my most recent test shoot with a beautiful young lady named Marquetta. This was a very loose and fun shoot despite the number of difficulties we encountered. I’ll admit, working with her made me miss all the model shoots, and made me want to jump back into it full steam, but…we’ll see…only time will tell? Honestly I’m not very optimistic about it. I’m just going to keep moving forward, and if I happen to meet people along the way that want to move with me then we’ll do to together. If not, I’ll be fine. I’ve always been a loaner so I’ll always have myself to fall back on.
Morning Blossoms
I really love flowers. I love photographing them even more! Unfortunately there isn’t an abundance or variety of flowers where I live. Walking to my car I spotted these beauties and jumped at the chance to snap a few shots of them. I love all of the bright colors and how the flowers were lined up repetitively. I really wish there was a much wider variety to choose from so that I could build a nice collection to share. Until I can find more I guess these will have to do for now? Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Versatility By RNJ 