Sloppy Joe's Bar

There is no shortage of nightlife in Key West. Sloppy Joe's Bar is just one of many on the main drag called Duval Street. The bar has several claims to fame, one being the home of the original Sloppy Joe sandwich. My wife and I ate lunch there to give the Original Sloppy Joe a try. The sandwich wasn't anything to brag about but the Sloppy Joe Loaded Fries and Barbecued Shrimp were fantastic.

Arr, Keep Out

While wondering around the island of Key West Florida I found this beautiful home. It not only appealed to my eye with all its beauty but my sense of humor as well. Check out this link for more on How to Talk Like a Pirate.

Click on the picture for a larger view to find the Pirate reference.

Our First Tulip

I found this tulip in full bloom in our front flower bed today when I came home from work. It is in a bad spot, right up against the side of the concrete porch. The flower was facing west and it was around 7:00 PM when I got around to taking the picture. I wanted to try and make the shadows a secondary subject to the flower so I stuck a white mat board behind for a better background and to give more definition to the shadows. I used the Rough Pastels Filter in PhotoShop to give it more of an artsy feel.

Long Neck Cats and Sun Flowers

While wondering around in Mallory Square in Key West Florida shopping, I came across these two pictures. I am not sure what the significance of the Long Neck Cats is but I actually saw someone trucking one of these around downtown.



I just liked all the different expressions on the faces of the suns.

Key West (Off Beat)

I recently got to visit Key West Florida with my wife. Of course I took all the standard tourist shots, but thought I'd post something a little different here. Pictured here is a Bronze sculpture of the Sun and Moon that I really liked. If I were rich I would have shipped this baby home, but all I could afford was to take its picture. I tweaked the colors and made the collage effect to make it more of my own.

I am reading a book by Bryan Peterson "Understanding Shutter Speed". I wanted to practice some of the slow shutter techniques he covered in the book but didn't have a 4 stop ND filter to slow my shutter down enough. So I had to do a little creative adjustment in PhotoShop to get the effect I was looking for in this shot.



I found what looked to be a sanctioned graffiti wall on my way to check out the piers. I took several shots of different artist work. This one titled "What About" was one of my favorites.



There was this guy on the dock cutting up what I think was bait. Occasionally he would throw a piece of scrap to this group of pelicans in the water. I thought it made for a comical composition. I call this one "Pelican Buffet".



This shot could of benefited from a polarizer but I was shooting with my 50mm and do not have one that fits that lens.

Check out all my other online outlets for more pictures from the trip.

WOW Tauren

A friend of mine plays and collects War Of Warcraft figures. He had this one--a Tauren above his desk and I thought it would make for a great picture opportunity. And yes I spent sometime with it in PhotoShop. The figure is plastic and reflects light like you would think plastic does.

I used a little ambient light to help keep the exposure under 8 seconds to reduce noise. The rest of the light came from a small Mag flashlight. I painted the figure with it during the exposure.

The following is from the WOW website on just what a Tauren is:

The Tauren are huge, bestial creatures who live in the grassy, open barrens of central Kalimdor. They live to serve nature and maintain the balance between the wild things of the land and the restless spirit of the elements. Despite their enormous size and brute strength, the remarkably peaceful Tauren cultivate a quiet, tribal society. However, when roused by conflict, Tauren are implacable enemies who will use every ounce of their strength to smash their enemies under hoof. Under the leadership of their ancient chief, Cairne Bloodhoof, the Tauren allied themselves with the Orcs during the invasion of the Burning Legion. The two races have remained steadfast allies ever since. Like the Orcs, the Tauren struggle to retain their sense of tradition and noble identity.

Ball in Watercolor

My wife came home after Easter shopping with two clear bounce balls. One had gold glitter and the other silver. I thought it would be cool to try and capture the swirling glitter with a slow exposure. I setup a black backdrop and recruited my family to shake and place the ball. The resulting shots were okay but this one that I used the Watercolor filter on plus a few other tweaks was my shot of the day.