experimenting with filters…
I was looking through photos for a post and began playing with the different filters available in Photoscape…while this isn’t an extensive software it does offer a few interesting filters…the original photo is below, then in order, water painting, two different swirl filters, reflection filter, embossing filter, with colour added and one of my favourite filters the reverse black & white
duval street & a rooster
Duval Street is always busy, more so when cruise ships are in, which is almost every day…I think this year there was only one day out of seven without a ship…that makes for lots of people scurrying around trying to see everything in a few hours…below is Duval Street facing north, not terribly busy when I took this…the second one is facing south…
anyone who has been to Key West knows there are chickens & roosters everywhere…not usually on Duval Street as it is too busy but, on most side streets you will find them…I think the fellow below is a resident of Truman Annex…he isn’t as colourful or shiny as some I’ve seen, but attractive just the same…not the friendliest fellow though…he let me take a few photos, never looking at me…then decided that was enough and let me know…
sunrise…sunset!
for the most part I don’t see the sunrise…I don’t have a clear view so I don’t bother…besides, for the most part I’m not up then! this sunrise was captured through the vehicle window as we were driving home…between Windsor & London…I rather like the silhouette of the trees…
the next two are sunsets from Key West…a bit dark…I had trouble with the first one in particular…couldn’t get it right! 
this one is somewhat better…
full moon rising…
the sky was beautiful last night…crystal clear, no clouds that I could see and a huge bright, full moon…I took a few photos from my yard, at dusk, as the moon was rising, before it got dark. while these aren’t great photos they are ok…better than my first attempt at shooting the moon a couple of months ago…I deleted those ones!
I did the one below in grey scale for something different
I also tried it out in reverse black & white…
a gift to myself…
I love flowers, I usually have a bouquet of some kind in the house all the time, I love white flowers almost as much as I do shades of purple, while I enjoy all colours of flowers I prefer to stay with white for in the house, and ad accents, such as mauve & purple, or lime green, love lime green with white…I find those colours soothing to look at…I had a large bouquet this time so I put four in a tall bud vase…I know some would say there should be three or five, but four worked for me that day…
this isn’t were they generally sit but I was trying to find a good light…this was the best I came up with at that time of the day, I see if I have time to experiment with the light before these flowers wilt. this wasn’t the right angle either for the vase but that’s fine for now…I know something is wrong with brightness of this one as well but not sure what to do to change it, is missing something??? hmmm…not my favourite photo
again a different background and different light…I also used the bloom setting on this one, which I’ve not used before…gives an interesting look.
fishing…
fishing used to be a favourite thing to do at one time…not anymore…I spotted these people on Cocoa Beach…enjoying the sun, and a day of fishing! doesn’t this look relaxing?
that same day I spotted a number of small birds…not sure what they are…they wouldn’t let me get close enough to them to get a good close up, there were a couple of different types…they never flew away just ran…it was rather funny to watch their tiny legs go…
this photo was taken on the way to Key West…I didn’t like the colour so I did it in grey scale not sure what they were fishing for…most likely just doing manoeuvres…7 mile bridge…
some of you will know Key West is a place where I like to spend some time in the winter. to get there you have to travel the Overseas Highway U.S.1 from Homestead, Florida, through the individual Keys…an amazing drive. I love being so close to the water on the highway…of course I’ve been fortunate to travel during good weather…I don’t know if I would enjoy it as much in rainy/windy weather. the old Seven Mile Bridge was considered one of the 7 wonders of the world back in 1912…
this bridge links Marathon, Florida, Middle Keys to Little Duck Key, Lower Keys…beginning at mile marker 47 on U.S. 1. the original bridge was closed to traffic in 1982… locals & travellers us it now to fish from, bike ride, or simply walk along it, which I’ve done.
the old and the new…
it was originally used as a rail road…after the hurricane in 1935 it was widened and the tracks were cemented over…it became part of the Overseas Highway U.S. 1 in 1938
the old bridge is in need of repairs…in order to continue to allow it to be used in the same manner work will have to done on it in the coming years…
it truly was an amazing display of architecture for the time!
oranges & grapefruit…
my mother has a huge grapefruit tree and a much smaller orange tree on her property in Florida, she has enjoyed an abundance of grapefruit in the last 7 years. the orange tree is only a couple of years old so not much fruit from it, 9 oranges I think she said…
I don’t eat grapefruit, but apparently these are delicious! she gives them away by the bag full every year…
below is the lovely flower on the tree along with the tiny green grapefruit…
below are the tiny new oranges…it is interesting when they are this tiny they look exactly like the grapefruit…even the flowers do!
land & ocean…
this fellow is in a bush (approx. 5.5feet high) on my Mother’s property were she lives in Florida for 6 months of the year…we spotted him scurrying along the ground to get under the tree where he obviously felt safe to observe us on the patio, from the top of the tree…it has rather funny as it appeared he was watching us…he stayed there for about 15 min…
the fellow below we saw from a dock on Lake Dora, he didn’t move…just enjoyed sunning himself…as u can see he was considerably larger than the fellow above…
I’ve never seen a Manatee before so this was rather cool for me…he was at the Marina in Key West…he/she seemed very docile until someone attempted to get its attention then he swam away…
cactus & sunrise…
when I was a way I liked to take a walk every morning…I spotted this gigantic cactus plant on my first walk…it is huge…Marco Island
it was so spread out I the photo above is the left side and below is the right…
this photo was taken on Sunday, the last day of the drive home…between Windsor, Ontario and London, Ontario…a nice beginning to the day…again taken through the windshield of my vehicle.
flowers, fruit & a rooster…
taken on the grounds of the house we stayed in…Marco Island…
don’t know what the fruit is but the tree was weighed down with them…Marco Island
this is at “Blue Heaven Restaurant” Key West…it is and out door restaurant and as you can see they have Roosters who I think live there… as I’ve never been to the restaurant with out seeing these fellows…this time there were moms and their chicks as well…I’ll post photos of them later…this wouldn’t fly here in Canada…
home…
well…I’m home…so I will be back posting and visiting again regularly! I took many photos, some I like and some I don’t, but for today I’m going to show you three of one of my favourite things to capture…”naked trees” as I like to call them. they are beautiful with their leaves, but there is so much more detail and character to them, when they are scraggly looking, bent in some of the most interesting ways…
love this scene…as you can see it was a rather dreary looking day, but warm, which cancels out the dreary! on the ride home somewhere in Kentucky…
same day and drive… but I’m fine with the colours…
I don’t mind a dreary day once in a while, especially if it is warm…
PS…all photos were taken from my moving vehicle, on the drive home from Florida…
I’m using my camera as much as possible while I’m away…taking photos of everything that catches my eye…trying to figure it out as I go…
this little fellow is very tiny, I don’t think he would be any larger than an inch…he just sat there while I snapped away, I zoomed in as much as I could…taken in Leesburg, Florida
the pilot and crew managed to find a parking spot so the could go for lunch…taken in Traveres, Florida
there actually were about seven of these fellows, but they wouldn’t cooperate so I could get them all at once…taken in Marco Island, Florida
visions from my walks…
while I’m away I’ve gotten back into my walks…had to stop for awhile at home due to the terribly cold weather…here are three lovely flowers, unfortunately I don’t know their names…if anyone does please let me know! a blogging friend of mine who takes many gorgeous photos of flowers said the first is a bougainville, the the 2nd, and 3rd are hibiscus…
Heather Cote... 