Dogs and their Humans-The Bond.



I am a dog person, and these are my girls Spooky and Boo.

  In fact, I credit Spooky and Boo for sparking my interest in photography. The desire to catch them in motion as we learned the sport of dog agility was the big push. Plus the training also help make them good little models!

 

 

Last March a couple friends from the local dog training club asked if I would like to shoot a disc dog competition in Brooksville.

 

 

 

Outside of some rain the first day, it was a great weekend and I got to watch some real athletes in action. 

 

I shot thousands of photos that weekend and it was during the editing that I started noticing an interesting pattern emerge.

 

Now we all have heard about owners and dogs looking alike.

 

And some owners like to dress their dogs like themselves.

 

 

Some owners are so close to their dogs, it's often hard to tell who's running who!

 

 

But I was seeing something else...

 

 
 

At first it was very subtle

 

 

But it soon became very obvious! The humans were controlling the dogs with their minds, and a little body English!

 

 

Okay...I know there's no mind control going on here, but I did find it rather amusing.

 

 

This one I call the Sumo

 

 

And here is "Show em your teeth!"

 

Thanks for looking!

 

 

Tampa Bay Automobile Museum

Yesterday I visited The Tampa Bay Automobile Museum. I've drove by this place many times while working and have always wanted to check the place out.

 

 

 

 Mostly European cars, so there was a lot I wasn't familiar with. The only two American cars there was a Mustang (all wheel drive!) and a beautiful Corvair. 

 

I'm not a big car guy, so I'm not going to get into much detail. I did find this early prototype of a front wheel drive car. You can tell it's basically a cut off frame turned around.

 

 

Also cool to see how some of the many features we take for granted got started.

 

 

Cars are always a fun excuse to break out the fisheye!

 

 

Alternate fuel were represented as well, with at least 2 electric cars (one older then you would think) and a reproduction of the world's first self propelled vehicle (steam!).

 

Most of the cars here run and are driven, keys are in them, Florida tags too!

All in all, a good way to spend a hour or two and well worth the $8 bucks.

 

Check it out for yourself

 

 

 

 



Scott Kelby's World Wide Photo Walk

Scott Kelby's World Wide Photo Walk 2016

 

For the last 3 years I have participated in the Scott Kelby Photo Walks as a walker and it has been an amazing experience. As an amateur photographer, and something of an introvert these walks have given me exposure to other photographers I otherwise wouldn't of had.

Last year though, I had an idea about leading a walk of my own in what I hope will be a very unique walk...The Wagon Wheel Flea Market!

 

 

There will be plenty of subjects to shoot..and bargains to be had!

 

 

People to see

 

The produce tables alone offer great opportunities!

 

So if you're looking for something different, join me Oct.1 2016 as we spend a couple hours exploring a real piece of Pinellas County history and then share photos, and tell lies over lunch next door at the Cajun Café.

 

 

http://worldwidephotowalk.com/walk/wagon-wheel-flea-market/

 

 

 



Kiteboarding at the Skyway







An early day led me to the Skyway this morning.




 



Thought I was going to get some shots of kite boarders...




 



Then this happened! Wasn't expecting that!





 

Pretty impressive!
 

The Fairway Village Racing Club

Fairway Village is a 55 and older golf/mobile home park in Largo, Florida and my parents have a place here. I often see some of the residents and their RC sailboats playing around on the lake and thought it might be worth stopping for a few shots.

                                Hmmm...Pokémon Go colors? Coincidence? Yeah, probably!

They were nice gentlemen and they made a point to tell me they were a part of the Fairway Village Racing Club! Guys, if I could of found a website I would of linked to it for you.

 

 



Oaklawn Cemetery

 

 I read about Oaklawn Cemetery in the paper this weekend and as luck would have it, I got the chance to visit it today.







 

 

Oaklawn is known as Tampa's first cemetery and buried here are many of Tampa's oldest families, you'll recognize some names for the streets named after them. Mr. Ybor is buried here, along with pirates, slaves, among others.

 

 

 

I tried to time my visit so I would be there for some mid day sun, giving me a chance to break out the IR filter.

 

For more on Oaklawn Cemetery, try the Wikipedia Entry

 

Largo Municipal Cemetery

 Yesterday, off early, bright sun, beautiful day! It was my chance to try something I've been wanting to experiment with. Infrared Photography in a cemetery. The combination of all the green grass, trees, and the tombstones make for some interesting shots as I had seen in other photographer's work.

 There's a couple way to shoot infrared photos. You can use a filter on your lens that blocks most visible light. I guess the preferred method is a IR converted camera. There's good and bad to both methods, but for now I'm using a filter (hoya r72 for anyone interested). Using a filter requires a tripod and some long exposure times. This is why you'll see the dreamlike smeared clouds, and blurring of the tree leaves.


 

  Founded in 1887, Largo Municipal Cemetery is much more interesting then the name would imply. Well kept, with newer graves mixed amongst the old. There's actually a headstone inscribed with the infamous "I told you I was sick"!

  I never would of stumbled across this gem of a cemetery if not for the game of Geocaching as there was a cache here (and may still be. I don't know).



One of the more interesting tombstones here. It's known as "The Man in the Tree" to local Geocachers.

Some of the trees here are magnificent!