pier – Revenge of the JPEG

Long Exposure Naples Pier

One of the great things about living on the Gulf Coast of Florida was the regular brilliant sunsets and the multitude of places to photograph them from.

Almost every city or town on the gulf coast of Florida has a pier or some type of structure to put in your sunset photographs, the addition of water plays well with long exposures.

And for some time, that was my weekend staycation strategy.

Work my way up and down the coast, with folding chair, camera on a tripod with an nd filter and wait for the precise moment that occurs when the setting sun reaches a certain position near or below the horizon.

Here was the pier in Naples Florida, at sunset. One of those exact moments that many people take for granted every day, captured.

Ghost Pier

Here is a black and white photograph of the old pier in downtown St Petersburg Florida. It was taken shortly before its demolition began.

When I moved to St Pete in the early 2000’s one of my favorite things to do was walk to the pier and hang out. There were still shops and restaurants, people fishing, boating, the old wooden sailing ship from the movie “The Bounty”.

It was to me a representation of the Florida people came to visit while on vacation.

Even though I lived in downtown St Pete, it gave me the feeling I was on vacation every time I visited.

I have never visited the new pier, having moved to Colorado in 2018. Someday maybe, or not.

The memories of the old pier will always stay with me as one of the bright spots of my time there, and this image condenses my feelings of missing that in one image.

Fort Myers Pier at Sunset

Fort Myers is just a short drive south of St Petersburg where I lived. Which made it easy for a weekend staycation, overnight stay, and yet another pier on the Gulf Coast of Florida that allowed me to practice my long exposure sunset photography.

Here is a capture from one of those visits. The gulf coast of Florida consistently produces some colorful sunsets, slightly changing my environment allowed to to not limit myself to a portfolio full of the same piers. I think over the years I was able to visit almost every pier in southwest Florida and get at least one keeper!