Assignment: St. Petersburg » Photo Opportunity

Surreal Parade

Bob Horn — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:49:09 +0000

Yesterday morning, I took a break from the ‘work’ part of my job and opted to check out the Surreal Parade that was taking place to celebrate the official move from the original Dali Museum in its old warehouse building to the shiny, beautiful new $36 million dollar masterpiece on the waterfront next to Mahaffey Theater. I thought that I might catch an interesting photo or two for this blog, and I did. And, although some of my other photos are certainly more surreal by design, this shot was my favorite of the parade. As this formerly calm and peaceful horse walked down Third Street with Spanish Royalty riding in the carriage behind, it was suddenly spooked by some movement in the parade ahead, and it opted to register its concern with a couple of unplanned moves! After the jumping, there was a momentary, very sudden burst of forward speed, and then the driver was able to calm the horse down and resume a normal pace. But for a few seconds, it was pretty exciting to see! The small size of the photo here doesn’t do it justice, but if you click on it, you’ll get a larger image.

Anyway, there were hundreds of people who came out to watch the parade of Dali-esque beings who made the journey from old home to new. I’m not going to write about the details of the new museum – much better for you to get your information straight from the source, at the Dali Museum website. Rather, I’ve chosen to show you another parade image or two, as well as a shot of the front of the new Dali. It looks absolutely spectacular – I’m very excited to make my first visit!

Pelican Enjoying the Sunrise

Bob Horn — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:30:56 +0000

I know, pictures of pelicans in St. Petersburg are a dime a dozen… And you certainly can’t hang out near the Pier or the Marina downtown without seeing plenty of them. But when I was downtown last Saturday, trying to catch a perfect sunrise, this particular pelican stood out – or, rather, stood still. He was completely unperturbed by my presence, and even as I stepped to within two feet of him he just continued to watch me. Maybe a bit warily, but he did not budge. For that, he gets to be published! (For a larger image, please click on the picture.)

September Dawn

Bob Horn — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:26:03 +0000

So, I got up early this morning with the specific purpose of heading downtown to try to catch a gorgeous sunrise over Tampa Bay. By the time our beautiful sun actually rose, the sky was surprisingly boring, so I am opting to skip it. Instead, I give you an HDR composition of five photographs taken just a few minutes before the sun came up. The five shots were snapped within a two second period, capturing the low lights and the mid tones and the high lights and presenting colors that I saw with my eyes but that aren’t so easy to capture with a camera. This was our September dawn this morning, as seen from Vinoy Park, looking out across Tampa Bay. It was stunning to see! (Please click on the photograph for a larger, higher resolution image.)

Regata del Sol al Sol

Bob Horn — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:38:15 +0000

This morning, at about 10 AM off the east end of The Pier, something like 30 beautiful sailboats set sail for Mexico! It was the start of the “Regata del Sol al Sol”, which translates, approximately, to ’Boat Race from the Sun to the Sun”.

As I keep on saying, St. Petersburg is full of fun things to do and fun things to see! This is a great example. Hosted here by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, the regatta will be sailing from Tampa Bay to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, an island about eight miles from Cancun. The race has happened every April for the past 41 years.

If you’d like to take a shot at it, there is a $100 first prize and $50 second prize for the people that guess the closest to the actual amount of time it takes to complete the race. For more information, visit this link.

To see the pictures below as full size images, please click on each photo.

Nobility Crew Ready for the Race to Mexico

The Regatta Begins...

The Sunshine City

Bob Horn — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:18:48 +0000

We don’t hear it so much these days, but St. Petersburg has been known as “The Sunshine City” since the early 1900′s. There was a great desire to grow the city back in those days, to add both residents and tourism. Because our fantastic weather has always been one of the big selling points of our city, and because we have sunshine almost every day of the year, the city fathers decided to adopt the slogan of “The Sunshine City”. Back then, we had two newspapers in town – the morning paper, which was the St. Petersburg Times, and an evening paper, independently owned and not in any way affiliated with the Times. It was called the St. Petersburg Independent and, later, The Evening Independent. The owner of that newspaper made a public pledge, printed in the paper, that if there was ever a day where the sun did not shine here at all for the entire day, the next day’s newspaper would be free! For the 76 year life of the newspaper, a total of 296 editions were given away – not bad for 76 years! (In the 1960′s, the Independent was purchased by the St. Petersburg Times, then finally shut down in 1986.)

This public art sculpture, situated outside of the St. Petersburg Museum of History, celebrates the “Sunshine City” name, as well as our famous green benches, and even the pledge for free newspapers if the sun didn’t shine. With the Sunscreen film festival in town this weekend, it just seemed an appropriate opportunity to salute our sunshine!

Kapok Tree in Bloom

Bob Horn — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:48:15 +0000

Yet another sure sign of Springtime in St. Petersburg is the crimson show of color put on by the Kapok tress around the city. This is not one of those trees that you see on every block, but there are several of them located throughout St. Petersburg, and if you live or travel in an area that has one, you’ve surely seen these beauties at their best. I just couldn’t resist posting this one, located on the grounds of the Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St. Pete. (please click on the photo for a larger view)

Osprey Flying High

Bob Horn — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 15:18:33 +0000

Although almost all of my posts are about St. Petersburg life, I actually do leave the city limits sometimes! And if there’s something nearby, something that I can get to without too long a drive, then it’s worth telling you about it, because you can, too.

Yesterday, I went to Honeymoon Island, just west of Dunedin, for an all-day Photography class and Photowalk. The title of the class was ‘Flight School’, and the goal was to teach us how to better photograph birds in flight.

I had a great time, and this shot of an Osprey in flight is just one example of the sorts of sights that abound on Honeymoon Island. In addition to lots of gorgeous beaches, there are also great nature walks, and that’s where I caught this beautiful shot. We saw Eagles, Ospreys, a Catbird, Ibises, and more.

If anyone wonders, as did I, why it’s called Honeymoon Island, here’ s the lowdown: It was originally called Hog Island, but in 1939, a New York developer bought some land on it, built 50 palm-thatched bungalows, and marketed them to honeymooners as a little paradise getaway. (Please click on the photo to see a full sized view of it.)

Osprey in Flight

Azaleas Everywhere!

Bob Horn — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:20:42 +0000

One of the surest (and most beautiful) signs of Springtime in St. Petersburg is the sudden burst of Azaleas blooming everywhere you look! These two photos were taken in the Allendale area of St. Petersburg yesterday, but these gorgeous flowers can be found in just about every corner of the city at this time of year. Please click on the photos to open a new window with a full-sized image…

St. Petersburg Honda Grand Prix

Bob Horn — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:21:54 +0000

The big race of the Grand Prix was rescheduled Sunday afternoon when lightning and heavy rain made conditions too dangerous for both drivers and spectators. The race took place Monday morning, and I had a great view from the 27th floor of the Bayfront Tower condominium building. There were dozens of residents and guests standing along the balcony railings, watching all of the action. And other buildings nearby had similar excellent views, including Signature Place, right across the street.

The first photo below shows several cars rounding a curve with great caution as another car that had hit the wall moments before is prepared to be towed away. You can see the brave soul in orange who is waving down the drivers to make sure they’re aware of the accident. In the photo, the first car visible in this group is number 12, driven by Will Power, who eventually won the morning’s race. (Click on the photo to see a full-sized, higher resolution image.)

The second photo below is just a larger view to show how much of the track one could see from my vantage point. The cars were coming towards me on the right, rounding a few curves, then heading back away from me on the left, along the waterfront, eventually reaching the runways at Albert Whitted Airport before heading back on the right once again.

It was a beautiful morning to watch the race, and a great place from which to watch it!

Caution Rounding the Curve

I Love a Parade!

Bob Horn — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 01:39:26 +0000

Last night, we went downtown to see the Illuminated Night Parade. It didn’t seem as illuminated as usual, but that’s because of Daylight Saving Time. It just wasn’t all that dark out! But, still, it was fun to sit back at the end of a long day, enjoy the breeze as the sun prepared to set, and watch the parade pass by in front of us. All of the usual suspects – beads, candy, music, clowns, and more. This year, the parade route headed east on Central Avenue and then north on Beach Drive. Below, you can see a couple of shots – the Banner Bearers for the parade, and then the always popular Indianapolis Police Motorcycle Drill Team. The parade and other festivities of the day are harbingers of things to come: a very busy, very active Grand Prix weekend in the streets of downtown St. Petersburg. I hope to get a few shots of one of the races, and if I get something good, I’ll post it. If you love watching races, I’m sure you’re already planning to be down there. But even if you aren’t a race fan, you might be surprised at how easy it is to get caught up in the excitement of it all. Head downtown and check it out!