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Fort de Soto Beach Boardwalk

Fort de Soto is a must see destination on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Located in the southwestern portion of Pinellas county it stretches along the coast, beautiful undeveloped beaches, white sand, mostly clear waters (some days it can get cloudy based on tides and storms).

This was my back to nature recluse spot while living in St Pete. Never once did I visit Fort de Soto, which was just a short drive from downtown St Pete, and I have a bad experience.

If you are looking for a natural beach, you will find it here, along with a little history.

Avoid the crowds and the commercialism.

Dali Museum at Night

Here is a photograph of the Dali Museum at night. It is located on the waterfront in downtown St Pete. This was not my first attempt at a night photograph of this located, but it is my best.

The benefit of living in downtown St Pete afforded me the opportunity to revisit places like this over and over again to practice and improve.

Also having great places like this cool architecture to practice on is great too!

I missed living in such a target rich area like St Pete/ Tampa.

Demens Landing at Night

St Pete sits on Tampa Bay, which affords a lot of waterfront photography. And with the illuminated city skyline in the background at night you can get some really good shots. I love long exposure shots, especially with water. I also love converging lines like the docks and marina boat launch at Demens Landing, which is in the heart of downtown St Petersburg Florida.

This was right where I live so I was able to make multiple attempts at this shot, year over year. This is my best result of all those attempts.

Corkscrew Swamp Cypress Boardwalk

Hidden in southeast Florida lies one of the last remaining old growth Cypress stands. I call it the south’s version of the Redwood Forest.

As you walk amongst these giant trees a sense of awe overcomes you. Somehow these trees were spared the lumber mill, and now preserved by the Audubon society located between Naples and Fort Myers, a short hop off I-75.

A must visit for anyone traveling up the west coast of Florida.

I took this shot on the boardwalk trail, with the sunlight managing to peek through the trees creating this

Hillsborough River Footbridge

Here is a photo taken while at the Hillsborough River State Park outside of Tampa Florida.

It was a short drive from St Pete for me. One of the only places to go in Florida where there is some semblance of a significant river flowing over rocks. A great place to start practicing for my eventual move to northern Colorado where capturing the Big Thompson or Cache la Poudre rivers during spring thaw has become one of my favorite things to photograph.

At the park there are a couple of bridges where the trail crosses the river, here is my capture of one of those.

Coachman Park Sunset

Here is one of my early, successful attempts at capturing a sunset using long-exposure photography. Armed with neutral density filters and a sturdy tripod, I waited for the magic to happen. If you live anywhere along Florida’s Gulf Coast, you know that these brilliantly colored sunsets are a regular occurrence—but being in the right place at the right time to capture one is the real trick. Living in St. Petersburg and commuting to Clearwater (where this shot was taken) gave me the perfect excuse to keep practicing until I finally got it right.