I went to the Birdsong Nature Center a few weeks ago.  They have a butterfly habitat set up, and there were quite a few fluttering around.  It took some convincing, but I talked a few of them into posing for me.  They work cheap, too!!

I drove up to Columbia a few weeks back, but didn't do a tremendous amount of picture taking.  The weather had a hand in pooping on my plans, but I managed to get a few nice shots. 

This is the Cathedral of St. John in Savannah.  I shot upward from a close distance and spread the camera lens out as wide as it would go.  I also tried out a polarizing lens and it really darkened the sky to a deep blue.  It almost looks like the pic was shot at night, but it was the middle of the day.

This was inside the cathedral.  There were several stained glass windows, but I liked the scene on this window, so I shot it.  It was really dark in there, so I used 1/8 second shutter speed with a wide open aperture, and it allowed me to get the glass, while the surrounding wall came out black.

While I was exploring Savannah, I hopped over to Tybee Island to check things out there.  It wasn't the most scenic place ever, but it did have a nice lighthouse. 

In Columbia; this is the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.  This is one of the buildings that survived Sherman's march through the South in 1865.  I had just chosen the angle that I wanted to shoot it from, and some type of hawk or eagle was kind enough to do a flyby.

I walked past a flower bed in front of the capital building and shot this flower with some of the last light before the clouds came rolling in and brought a massive rain storm. 

The capital building in Columbia.  I'm in the sun, and part of the sky is blue, but you can see that the building is in the shade, and right after I took this, I made a mad dash for the car to beat the rain.  And thankfully so!!  No more pictures that day!

I went up to Thomasville, GA during the long July 4th weekend.  I perused the old cemetery and found some nice statues spread throughout.  It was about two hours before sunset, so I tried to take advantage of the sun's angle in order to get some nice silhouettes.  The shot below worked out great, but the action of the clouds is more than I could have hoped for.  The angels below that also came out quite well.  The film really picked up the sunlight to the west of the camera and left the east side of the shot nicely shaded.

I went back down to St. Marks to try my hand at getting a really nice shot of the sunset.  There was more cloud cover than I wanted, but it still allowed for a nice presentation.

This shot was the day before the one above.  The clouds moved in quickly and completely blocked out the horizon.  But I was able to get one nice shot with a good reflection on the water before the clouds took over.

These roses were shot at the rose garden in Thomasville, GA. 

The photo below features the root system of a fallen cypress tree.  I thought it looked like a little man with his arm around a woman.  He might consider getting that moss waxed off his back.

I was lucky enough to photograph The Vegan Mary this week at the Old City Cemetery, and she looked absolutely adorable!  We worked our way around the cemetery; tried a few things, and as you can see, she's got some great expressions.  Her blue hair looks great in b&w, too.  Thanks to Jenn for that tip about color correction filters.  The black & whites below were shot with a green filter lens.  And of course, thanks to Mary.  You were great to work with! www.myspace.com/theveganmary

While I was down at St. Marks, I took a few shots of the lighthouse.  I wanted to get the reflection in the river, but the only way to do that was to walk down to the river's edge.  I was a bit paranoid to be standing sideways on a steep river bank after an alligator had just run in front of my car!  So I kept one eye on the water and one eye on the lighthouse so I could get my shot.  The sunset was was nice, so I climbed out on some rocks where I could get the silhouette of an old pier with the red sky behind it.  After the sun was gone I hopped in the car to drive home, and I saw a bear walking out of the woods!!  It crossed the road and disappeared into the woods on the other side.  So, why did the bear cross the road?  Apparently it was following the gator. 

I was down at St. Marks, and while I was there I tried a different technique for photographing those evil looking purple flowers.  Instead of using a regular lens and getting up close, I sat a few feet away and used a zoom lens.  The resulting image blurred out everything in the background to nothing but a green swirl.  It also gave sharp details of all the barbs that surround the flower.  And a little yellow moth was kind enough to stop by of a quick photo-op.

Two weeks ago Tallahassee, FL was knocked over by the hottest new band to hit the scene; The Spider Lilies.  If you missed either of their two shows, you missed out on a chance to be part of history.  You fool!!  But it's not too late.  They're gearing up for a tour, so keep an eye on their website www.spiderliliesmusic.com to find out when they'll be coming to a dark, dirty bar near you.  Front woman Stacy Campbell belts out searing vocals while "the Smiths" hold down the rhythm.  Get a sample at their myspace site.  Remember, it's just a matter of time before YOU too can see them in concert, so don't be no part time square!  Check them out!!

Taken at The Beta Bar, Tallahassee, FL

Taken at Club Jade, Tallahassee, FL

I did a few experimental shots with some new film last week.  I've been using Kodak since forever, but after consulting with one of America's top photographers www.myspace.com/jennifernervosa I decided to take her advice and try out Fuji's color film.  She also pointed me towards Ilford b&w, but in the rinky dink town of Tallahassee, Ilford inventory is in short supply, so I went with Kodak Professional Plus-X 125PX.

The first is my boss, Stephanie, who was kind enough to come over to the train station for some night shots.  I also played with a few different angles in the parking garage at Kleman Plaza.  Pretty sporty looking for a garage.  And lastly, I saw this cool looking flower down by the Gulf coast, and I stopped to take a picture of it.  A butterfly was kind enough to grace the flower with its presence just as I took the picture.

Of course, the highlight of the St. Pete Grand Prix was seeing The Charms open up Little Steven's Underground Garage festival.  Ellie and Wendy were kind enough to stop for autographs and photos after their set.  Check them out at www.myspace.com/charms or www.thecharms.net.  The festival included The Charms, The 45's, The Fleshtones and The Romantics.  If your name doesn't begin with "The" I don't believe your band will be invited along on the tour.  And if you aren't familiar with Little Steven Van Zant (the founder of the Underground Garage on Sirius Satellite Radio) you probably know him as Silvio on the Sopranos.  Or, maybe you've heard of a little band known as Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.

I took these the night before the St. Pete Grand Prix.  There is a tall round building in downtown Tampa.  I don't kwhat it's called, but somebody once referred to it as being shaped like a beercan, so as far as I know, it's the "beercan building."  I also threw in a shot from the University of Tampa.  The bright white towers look nice against the night sky.  I shot the skyline at 1/2 second.  If I was smarter I would have closed up the apperture a bit so that I could have used a full second.  If I'd done that, the blur from the travelling car would have stretched twice as far.  Oh well, I'll get it next time.

now