GASAPARILLA ISLAND FLORIDA – Our friend Don Burton (who has introduced us the Gasparilla) took us on a boat ride today, a rare gray and threatening day. There’s an area on the east side of the island that has canals and houses built by boat fanciers. This captured with my Sony Nex-7 and 90mm Elamarit lens.
On this day last year: Still winter.
GASPARILLA ISLAND FLORIDA – The beach club at the Gasparilla Inn provided a demonstration today by a professional sand castle builder. That’s right. A guy who makes a living on the beach making castles (or whatever) out of sand. Makes the rest of us feel like we’re kind of doing it the hard way. Given that it’s Presidents Day weekend (for those of you outside the US we used to celebrate Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays separately, which happen around now, whenever they fell; more recently Presidents Day is celebrated for both of them on a Monday in February, making a three day weekend), a Presidential theme is appropriate.
Our sand castle architect chose an image of a Purple Heart because it incorporates a silhouette of Washington. The Purple Heart is a democratic decoration: it’s given to all who are wounded or killed in action. I received one during my Marine Corps service in Vietnam. It is the only decoration received by most Marines, soldiers and sailors who are killed in action. At the start of the Gulf War I started wearing a Purple Heart lapel pin (which I continue to wear today). I can’t articulate why. It’s with some difficulty that I write these sentences. Anyway, here is the Purple Heart rendered in sand, captured with my Sony Nex-7 and a 24mm Leica Summilux lens.
On this day two years ago: Vietnam Memorial. I’ve looked back two years here (rather than my usual one) because on February 18, 2010 I photographed my shadow on the Vietnam Memorial (shooting infrared) in DC. The juxtaposition is a coincidence and I understand that it borders on the maudlin.
GASPARILLA ISLAND FLORIDA – I spent the afternoon looking for non-beach, non-bird, non-sunrise, non-sunset images on this barrier island on the west coast of Florida. As noted in a previous post I’m packing my Sony Nex-7 and a variety of Leica lenses. Today I stuck with the 24mm Summilux, which is roughly the equivalent to a 35mm on the Nex-7 – a good all around focal length. This island is a colorful place so I’ve indulged my typical lack of editorial discipline and included three images:
On this day one year ago: Out my window.
NEW YORK NEW YORK and GASPARILLA ISLAND FLORIDA – We woke up today in New York, boarded a morning flight to Ft. Myer Florida, arrived there and drove to Gasparilla Island in time to be on the beach in the late afternoon. There is a lot of Florida that we don’t much care for but a 1980 legislation has protected Gasparilla from high density development – it’s like Nantucket with palm trees. I took my Sony Nex-7 and a selection of Leica lenses. Here is sunrise in New York (taken with a 135mm APO-Telyt lens) and a sunset on Gasparilla (taken with a 24mm Summilux lens).
I’ve done a number of these, including a sunrise on February 14 last year.
On this day last year: Hoboken taken with my Alpa TC.
NAPLES FLORIDA – Another walk on the beach at sunset with my Panasonic. There’s a stretch of beach here where thousands of gulls gather to watch the sunset, along with the local residents, who bring out chairs to sit on as they literally watch the sunset. As the last rays of the sun fade they (the people) break out into applause. Really. The experience of being surrounded by a very large number of birds was pure Hitchcock. Here’s an image:
And another sunset.
On this day one year ago: Mustique rainbow.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I’ve operated for a few days on the theory that the point of this exercise (a daily photo blog) is to document my daily life. A visual diary. Ok. So here’s a picture taken with my Panasonic while waiting for a red light. I may have to give this a bit more thought. Maybe it’s a Friday the 13th effect.
On this day one year ago: Hell’s Kitchen.
CHICAGO ILLINOIS – We had a layover in Chicago;s Midway airport on our way back to New York. Shot with my iPhone.
On this day one year ago: mementos.
