Random Photos from the Dike

These are just some random photos of several different things, from windsurfers to different species of birds, shrimpers and their boats, getting their daily catch,  large oil tankers, and a really cute seagull on a vendor sign.

There is always something going on down here, and many things to photograph. You have to be in the right place at the right time, and sometimes it’s just going to happen, and you get to be there when it does happen.

I have the opportunity to see a lot of different birds, in a lot of different places in a 12 mile stretch.  There are tons of people in this place that love to fish, and some are catching fish and some are not, but all having a good time during the week and especially on the weekends.

There is also a lot of big ship traffic, due to the fact that this is a PORT city. We have huge tankers coming in daily and the awesomeness if this is beyond me.  They due create huge waves if they are really barreling into the port, and then all of a sudden you see a tug boat, and they shut that huge tanker down, from their current speed.

 

On the day I took the windsurfer shots, I was in the back of my truck with the tripod, and it was still so windy, but if you would like to photograph windsurfers, THAT is the best time to do so.  There were approximately 50 windsurfers, and para gliders out there on that particular day.  It is always fascinating to see them do this, and think to yourself, WOW, I could that…Umm..NOT..I know that kite would drag me all over the place and I’d just be bruised up and embarrassed.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

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Our Day at the Texas City Dike

So, while my daughter is visiting, from New York, she has been helping me do some things having to do with my photography.  She advised me to take more pictures, and that is what we went to do.  We went walking along the park near the Texas City Dike, and we found several different things, and animals to take photos of at that point.  We both immediately started taking pictures of all sorts of animals.  We found turtles, nutria ( rat looking animals), tons of birds, and flamingos, ducks, and several people feeding all of them bread, so they would stay there so we could take pictures.

We also took pictures of people, and each other, to try and get the good photos.   We both did very well if  I do say so myself.  We walked along and stopped and took photos, whenever the urge, ( or the scene) looked right for the photo.

Since I live close to the Texas City Dike, taking photos can sometimes be a challenge in coming up with different things to photograph, but it is also a great place to take photos of the ocean, and everything surrounding it.  I have taken lots of photos of different areas, and the photos below are just some of them that I’ve taken.  I will be taking several more, but the ones below are the ones taken on this date and time.

Enjoy

 

 

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My Vacation in Phuket, Thailand

I am putting some great pictures on here, so that I may share with you, the great time I had in Phuket, Thailand.  I went there once again, with 3 friends for our annual fishing tournament. This was my third trip to Thailand, and my second to Phuket.  This time though, we got to take a day and go snorkeling, away from the hustle and bustle of the fishing tournament. We actually got to relax and enjoy the many wonders of this part of the world, and things we do not see everyday here in the real world of our lives.

I’ve posted many pictures of the islands that we went too, and motored right on by on the way, also, the lovely Long Boats, that seem to be the mode of transportation for many people on islands, other than the main islands.  I did not however, ride in one, but came really close to several of them to take pictures.

We also did encounter a few monkeys, along the way, on the banks of the islands.  They were friendly, for the most part, but if you didn’t have any food, look out, they were coming after you. And they were beautiful all the same.

In the end, we won 2nd runner up in the fishing tournament out of 20 teams which is not bad, considering we won 1st place last year in Speedboats. But maybe next year we will be able to win it again.  We did a lot of fishing, just not a lot of catching.

Enjoy the pictures!

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Waterfalls & Flowers

I spent the weekend at my sisters house and they have just completed construction on the new project of their pool.

I had the pleasure of being able to practice getting some great photos from the waterfall in this pool. 

Shallow depth of field in the pool

 This picture is capturing my shallow depth of field. and I love the fact that you can see in the background a waterway in the photo, but the accent is the photo.

Stopping the waterfall

Stopping the water in pool. I’ve got several different techniques to aquire this technique, so bare with me, you will see.

Here is showing the water stoppage, with some shallow depth of field.

Slowing the shutter speed to creat this effect

 Wanted to show the Angel Hair effect, is what I call this. Great technique for showing these types of photos.

Getting some color in here.

Wanted to show some foliage within the rocks of the pool.

Water raining down in the middle of the rocksStopping in mid stream

Wanted to show here that I could stop water and you can actually see the droplets.

 

I will be posting on here, the shutter speeds and what I actually did to get these photos.  I took approximately 150 pictures to aquire these shots, and make them just how I needed to make them as well as composing the perfect shot, that would be interesting to my readers.

Thanks for stopping by and seeing my progress.

 

Birds

My Studies of Photography

Wanted to start out this blog, by saying that I’m new to WordPress.  So I’m going to be fumbling my way through this and learn as I go. 

I am now studying Photography as a student at New York Insitute of Photography, and I will be posting my photos here, so that you all may comment and see how I’m doing. Feel free to critique as you wish, but please be mindful of your critiques, as I’m still learning. All constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for stopping by to read this, and I look forward to comments on the photos as soon as I post them.