Same Scenery, Different Park

Boca Ciega Millenium Park - Seminole, FL

So you probably read the title of this blog entry and decided to skip over the pictures and read my explanation for a seemingly repeat photo shoot. I'm half tempted to insert a Conan O'Brien self-insult here. Call it a lack of creativity, or perhaps even another lame attempt at wildlife photography, but please stay with me. I promise to change the scenery in future entries and offer different glimpses of Tampa and its surrounding communities. This weekend Shanti and I headed out to another one of our great local parks for another session in outdoor "wildlife" photography.

I suppose if I were in Alaska or maybe even somewhere in the Arizona desert I might have some fearsome creature or some rare plants to show off. Nah, instead I found a heron that can be found hanging around your local WalMart pond, a lizard often found scurring across your porch, and an exotic Florida palmetto of the "green" variety. Add insult to injury and maybe I peaked your interest when you realized the pink flower isn't really much of a flower. This is actually considered a weed by many gardeners. Don't ask me the name because I can't even pretend to tell you. So why the harsh self-criticism? Not to be too boastful, but I do find some of the pictures to be of acceptable quality. What if I lived in the desert? There is a good chance you would see lots of red dirt, rocks, and sunsets falling between cacti. Maybe if I lived in Utah you would see images of snowboarders and skiiers barreling down the slopes while yours truly struggles to figure out why white powdery snow looks like one big blown out light bulb. Or in the summer, maybe some red dirt, rocks, and sunsets falling between - uh, I know, the braces of a perfect white cross at the top of a Mormon Temple. Practice is for the proactive where exotic landscapes and cultures are for the dreamers. I try and constantly explain this to my fiance Shanti who is constantly dreaming of going places far too exotic for our eyes. Sure, I'd kill to photograph Rome or perhaps the Eiffel Tower whose image in print is probably no longer considered original or even artistic. She is from Hawai'i. I think I could easily go there on my fourth vacation - this time with the burning desire to photograph of course.

Frustration is owning a rusted classic Camaro dying a slow death and not having the means to restore it to new again. Frustration is being 8 years old and staring at your prized remote control monster truck given to you by your grandma on your birthday and not having the money to buy batteries to make it go. Frustration is owning a collection of cameras and staring at the latest editions of National Geographic and wanting to be in every setting depicted in each photograph. I am frustrated because I have been all of those things and still am part of the last. (Ok, I don't own a rusted Camaro and never have. I own a beater 93 Nissan Sentra that I long ago hoped to install a 265hp turboed motor imported from Japan. I just figured the Camaro white lie would add more drama to the point I am trying to make.) I have found in my life that most past times such as piano playing, painting, cooking, or for my sake - photography - all start with extremely basic fundamentals. For the musician, he will bang out "Mary Had a Little Lamb" until his family's ears bleed. The poor painter will waste dozens of canvases trying to make an apple look just right on the wooded kitchen table. The chef? Well, at some point he has to learn how to operate the microwave. (In case you were wondering - yes, I have done and currently do all of the activities I just mentioned. Learning is a real pain.) So I guess the most underwhelming philosophical insight of this entire paragraph is that I have to stay the course and "go back to the basics." Florida is where I live and Florida is what I have to photograph.


Baby steps it is. (Did you notice the tie in with the above picture? How cheesy was THAT!) Weekends have come and gone and I have let my camera(s) sit and stare at me with closed eyes. This weekend was largely a follow up to last weekend. I think I enjoyed my short getaway so much that it made sense to just do it again the following weekend. The joy of photography really does not lie in what you photograph, but rather when you photograph. (Yet another amazing piece of underwhelming philosophy.) These small steps are turning out to be much better than I imagined. (Ok, brace yourself for another sophomoric insight.) These little weekend outings are proving to be much more rewarding than first anticipated. I cannot wait until the day I am in Red Square toting my camera and looking like an absolute tourist. Sure, I have plenty of other ideal places I would like to visit in this lifetime, but at least the journey towards framed wall art, fond memories, and sharing with friends and family will certainly have deeper meaning.
Thanks to everyone who has sorted through my ramblings or enjoyed my photos. To some extent I believe it is a cliche to use the pity approach for attention, but with all honesty the encouragement has been great. Feedback is a huge plus. Look out for future blog entries where I will feature a little more variety than the local Florida park. I hope to make it worth your while. Also, if this entry gives you any indication of the local resident, get out and explore your local parks. As an interested and aspiring photographer I did not have much interest in these places found around my neighborhoods. They do give you something back and make living here much more worthwhile. Here is to looking forward to opportunities to photographing in the Caribbean or maybe Antarctica or to painting red apples on wooden tables. Take your time. Consider, compose, then shoot. Finally, to steal a great catchphrase from the Discovery Channel, "Explore Your World."