30-Minutes-in-the-Life: Nov 2013: Jupiter Inlet

In the life of a photographer, whose art is created in tiny fractions of a second, thirty minutes is a sustained thought.  Thirty, minutes, the length of a child's ballet class, a quick sauce's simmer; a commute, is long enough to witness change and short enough to be over before you know it.  We offer you here our monthly results of thirty minutes of watching and waiting and recording, of rendering permanent those fractions of a second that slip past in the time it takes to watch a television show.  Thirty minutes in the life

~ Sara Kelly

 

 

30-minutes-in-the-Life is a group of photographers who stop for 30 minutes and take photographs.  I am privileged to be a part of this group with these amazing women.

 

For this time frame I have chosen pictures I took 2 weekends ago up in Jupiter.  We joined up with friends to go and listen to some live music and then off to dinner.  Nothing better than time with friends!

 

What caught my attention on this particular afternoon was the different cloud formations as the 30 minutes progressed.  The area is very pretty and I have enjoyed now seeing both sides of the inlet. 

 

The first half  of the photos were taken at the Inlet from a venue called Castaways.

 

  

 

Since we could not get a seat in the rather full area, we walked along the pier to take in the view.

Below is the Jupiter Lighthouse which I featured in a previous blog.  I actually climbed to the top of the lighthouse.  If you want to read more about the light house click here.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The balance below were taken 5 minutes away from a venue called the Dive Shack.  Nothing nicer than eating your dinner with friends, overlooking this peaceful view and listening to an artist playing kettle drums.  Good times. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The balance of these pictures do not fall into my 30 minute time frame, but I did want to include them.
 

 

 

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”  

~ Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds

 

 

Remember to follow the link and see what Cindy Cavanagh, Family Portrait Photography, Sydney Australia has shared this month.

 

To learn more about this project go to 30-Minutes-in-the-Life  webpage and enjoy what has been offered over the past few months. 

Project 10 Challenge Nov 2013: Brown

I joined Project 10 Challenge last month. The aim of the group is to post 10 photo's on the current topic.

 

The topic for the Project 10 Challenge is..... brown. 

 

Brown...what is brown, Florida never goes brown...

 

Oh yes, my little resident mallards are brown.  My initial take of these two was 2 days ago.  Every morning and every evening I go outside on the patio and they are waiting on the dock for their food.  We have this little dance - I open the patio doors and they stand up and watch me.  The minute my foot touches the grass they slip into the water.  They swim around in circles until I have put their food in their bowl and the minute I head up the bank they head for the food. 

 

Generally they do not mind sharing with the local doves and black birds.  However, this morning was a different story.

 

 

There were invaders in their territory - occasionally we will get other mallards come along hoping that they will have the opportunity to grab some food.

For a while they just swam around each other

Even the white faced Ibis was oblivious to the tension out on the water.

And just like that one suddenly got to close to the food source, and this one was off am a rampage, chasing the invaders all over there place.

 

He does not stop until they have all moved away and the two of them have their dock and their food back to themselves.

I hope you enjoyed my morning entertainment - these two never fail to bring a smile to my eyes.  I delight in the beauty of these two beautiful birds.  My only desire would be to have them have baby ducklings in my back garden.  Then I think I would be in heaven. 

 

“It doesn't matter if you're born in a duck yard, so long as you are hatched from a swan's egg!”

~ Hans Christian Andersen, The Ugly Duckling

 

If you wish to see the previous posting for Project 10 Challenge: Layers at Vizcaya click here

 

 

Twins

In October I was asked to take photographs of a new friend and her twins.  There were a few conditions to what I needed to take, mainly close up pictures of the babies, but also one with mom and her twins. 

 

I asked my photo groups for suggestions on how to photograph twins, and looked on line for different posing of the twins and then I took a deep breathe and said let's do it. 

 

My drive to where I would meet them was 1 hour from where I live.  One of my requirements was that the babies were to sleep prior to the shoot.  We set a time for around 12:30pm.

 

First thing I learned pretty quickly, is that taking photo's of a 6 month old and taking photo's of a 1 year old was very different.  Throw into the mix two 1 year olds and that is a whole new ball game.  I very quickly realized that trying to pose them was not going to work and so I just got flat on the ground at their level and started to take random photographs.  Second thing I learned was that if they are tired they are not happy campers.  Third thing I learned was putting them directly on grass is probably not a good idea.   During this session my little guy found grass and that was that for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fairly soon they got tired and irritable, and once I discovered that they had not slept I had a choice, go home, or let them sleep and try again afterward.  The second option is what I ended up doing.  I hung out while they slept. 

 

 

 

Once they woke up they were is in better mood, so we did a clothes change and then headed back outside to see what else we could get. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking photo's is definitely tiring work for these sweet little souls and to be rewarded with the smile I got from this little guy but just pure joy.