Sandpipers on the Shore – Gulf Shores, AL

I promised you more sandpiper shots, and here they are.  These are such adorable little birds, I quickly became fascinated with them!

Rushing

One of the most amazing things about these little guys at sunset was how fast they moved across the sand!  At first, I thought it was because they were gathering food, but they didn’t seem to stop at peck at anything in the sand, so I ruled that out.  Maybe they just sensed the end of the day was quickly approaching, and wanted to get in the last bit of fun on the shore!

Into the Sunset

Here’s a little guy as he headed off down the beach toward the sun, perhaps in search of the perfect little pond in which to get one last soak of the day!

Evening Bath

Here’s another little one who decided this pond was the perfect depth for an evening bath!  He was very industrious in his bathing, too!  No leisurely soak for him, at least not yet!

March Forth

Just look at those little legs go!  I was quite surprised that I managed to capture them as clearly as I did in this image.  I do love the contrast in this image – the little bird rushing along seemed to match the rolling of the waves behind him.  And, the little pond he was going to pass was very calm and seemed to be trying to tell him to just chill.  Too busy to listen, I guess!

Enjoy!



Sunset on the Beach – Gulf Shores, AL

A friend told me that there could be some great sunrises and sunsets along the beach at Gulf Shores.  We didn’t manage to get up early enough for a sunrise, but we did take in this lovely sunset.

Colors of Beach at Sunset

This image has to be one of my favorites of a sunset on a beach.  The play of warmth and cool, and the transition from the sand to the water just make for a wonderful, peaceful abstract type flow.

Peace at the Beach

When I turned at looked inward from the beach, I saw these two palm trees up on the sandy bluff.  They created such a calm, peaceful feeling, I knew I had to capture it.  Don’t you just want to relax against that bluff and let your senses run wild?

Solitude

Here’s another calming view from just down the beach a bit.  I converted this one to a watercolor painting effect, and I think that adds just the perfect touch to this.  I can certainly see the appeal to a life on the beach with this image.

Left by the Waves

All along the shore, there were thousands of small seashells or parts of seashells.  In this image, you can see the tiny water trails left by the waves gently streaming back into the Gulf.  I love the feel of this image.  I can see it on a wall in a beach cottage.

Group Soak

I’ll share more images of these little sandpipers (I think) later, but I loved this image of them, enjoying the birdie version of a hot tub in a sunset reflection!

Pelicans over The Pier

And, of course, the pelicans were not to be outdone in terms of a great sunset image!  Here are a number of them as they flew over The Pier just as the sun was reaching its prettiest sunset showing.

The Pier at Sunset

I shot several images of The Pier as the sun was setting, and this one is my favorite.  You can see, it’s really a very long pier, and it was a   little tricky to catch both the entire pier and the sun in one image. I really like the combination of both cool and warmth in this image.  Standing out on the beach, tho, the cool was winning out!

End of Day

One last shot as we walked back to our Jeep.  You can see the sun just starting to slip behind some clouds, and the last of the warm rays of the day as they played on the puddles of water left on the beach.  Time to go – even the sandpipers are done soaking!

Enjoy!



Cotton Bayou Trail – Gulf Shores, AL

After a walk along The Pier, we thought we’d check out a bit of one of several trails in Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, AL.  There was no special reason we chose the Cotton Bayou Trail, but it certainly was a lovely trail.  No cotton plants, tho, that we could tell!

Side Trail off Cotton Bayou Trail

This trail appeared to be a side trail off the main trail, altho with the fence where it’s at, it clearly wasn’t open to exploration.  But, it certainly looked inviting, with its soft, sugar sand path!

Tiny Water Lily Pads

All around us, there were small ponds of water….or maybe that’s what is typical in a bayou!  In any event, I loved the color and shape of these, and the reflection of the trees in the water as background.  I hesitated to step too close or explore too closely, as we were always warned of the possibility of alligators throughout the park!

Touch of Red

I love the feel of this image – soft, spring green, with just a touch of red.  The soft focus around the red leaf helps it to gently stand out.

Bright Leaf

Here’s another brightly colored leaf hidden among the green.  I decided to do a bit of creative cropping for this image.

Backlit Palms

I’m not certain what type of palm plant this might be, but I tend to call it a fan palm, for obvious reasons.  I really love the way the sunlight is shining thru the leaves, don’t you?

Delicate Blooms

I feel like I should know what type of flower this is, but the name escapes me.  The blooms were so tiny and delicate, I almost felt that if I breathed too hard, I would knock them from their branches.

Palm Rays

I loved the angle that these fan palms were growing.  I think it gives a rather dramatic feel to this image. 

Enjoy!

 



 

On The Pier – Gulf Shores, AL

One morning while we were at Gulf Shores, AL, we took a walk down The Pier at Gulf Shores.  Altho there were several fishermen (and a woman or two) out there, they were actually not all that social, and most went out of their way not to make eye contact with us.  If we had been in the northeast, I would have thought that it was that New England stand-off-ish-ness that I’ve read about.  It seemed pretty clear, tho, that they had us pegged as touristas, and didn’t want to have much to do with us.  However, the pelicans on The Pier were certainly accommodating to having their photo taken, and had no problem making eye contact!

Pelican Perch

This first guy was more than willing to having his photo taken, and patiently posed for me as I walked around him to get at his best angle!

Pelican Profile

This guy seemed to be a bit of a ham!  He carefully posed, moving around (but not at all skittish of me) until he presented me with what he thought was his “best side”.  And, I agree – a great pose!

Sunning on The Pier

I never really thought about pelican varieties, but clearly, there are different ones.  This guy’s head was covered in pale yellow feathers.  Or, if not a different variety, perhaps this is a young pelican, not quite an adult?  I don’t know, but he, too, was more than happy to pose with a bit of the pier in the background so we know exactly where he was at!

Enjoy!



A Walk along the Beach – Gulf Shores, Alabama

As we made our way to Florida and our “official” first stop of this trip, we found we had an extra day and decided to spend a bit more time at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  So, it then became the first “official” stop of this trip!  We had a wonderful two days here, soaking up sun, blue skies and shoreline.  The first afternoon we were here, we strolled along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico…..

In Flight

There were seagulls all over the place along the beach – and they were more than willing to share space.  In addition, they were quite photogenic!  I love this image of some of them with wings spread, either coming or going!  The interesting thing is that they would fly away as you approached them, or even walked by them, and then would return to almost the same spot after you passed on by.

Strutting His Stuff

Of course, there’s always at least one ham in the group, and that was this guy, just strutting around in front of me until I took his photo.  He probably would have autographed it for me if I asked……using his feet or beak, I wonder!

Water is Fine

These two seemed to be encouraging us to take a dip.  But, let me tell you – the water was quite chilly here!  Will it warm up as we head further south?  Hope so!

Dipping Toes

I think this may be a sandpiper, just dipping his “toes” into the surf.  There weren’t as many of these little guys about – not nearly as many as there were seagulls – but they were willing to share the shore as well!

Gulls

I love this view of the gulls, some taking off and others still milling about on the ground.  Such a peaceful place, even tho it was full of activity!

Birds of a Feather

Here’s what it looked like as we simply walked down the shore and came too close to the seagulls.  They just sort of did a generalized lift off!

Gulf of Mexico

No seagulls or sandpipers in this shot!  But, I loved just watching the waves roll up on shore and thought I’d share that with you.

The Pier at Gulf Shores

This pier is a huge pier, and just sort of dominates the shoreline, if you are looking in the right direction!  When I shot this, it seemed to be begging to be processed as a black and white image, so I complied!  There will be more of this iconic view in blog posts to come, so stayed tuned!

Enjoy!



Digital Photo Art – Cadiz, Spain

There was lots of photographic inspiration in Cadiz, Spain, and I’ve taken advantage of it to create these digital photo art pieces.  They help to better capture the spirit of this lovely place…..

  Peaceful Morn

 

As we walked along the seawall surrounding, there were several small boats anchored close to the beach.  To accent the peaceful feeling of the image of this little dingy, I used some background paper I made (and then scanned into my PC) using CitraSolv and National Geographic magazine pages, and then used some bird brushes to complement the feel of this piece.

Sunday Afternoon in the Park

Along one part of the seawall, there’s a lovely city park.  It had such a light, airy feel to it, I decided to use a handwriting sampler as the background, and played with the opacity of my image to allow some of the handwriting to show thru.  I then added some flourish brushes to finish off the springtime feel.

The Banyan Tree

At a different part of the same city park, there were some beautiful banyan trees.  I found the curvature of the branches amazing and thought the handwriting of the vintage postcard was a good match for the tree, both because of the flowing nature of the handwriting and branches, and due to the age of both.  Various brushes were used to add more texture to the piece. 

View from Yesterday

There was an old castle along the seawall that looked out onto the cove where the small boats were anchored.  Altho the boats certainly weren’t old, they did sort of feel like they were from a time gone by.  As I stood looking out the window of the castle, I felt like it was a view from yesterday; hence, the name of this piece.  Interestingly, the background I used in this piece was an image of the rock wall of the Coliseum in Rome.

Waiting

The focus of this piece is another of the small boats in the cove.  This one, however, was on shore.  As I was searching for a background for this digital art piece, I came across another CitraSolv background piece I made, this one jumped out at me as being perfect for the piece.  The very faint image of a woman looking out, coupled with the vintage postcard spoke to me of someone waiting for someone to return to her.  He’s written, but she’s lonely, and the boat symbolizes her feelings of emptiness.

Enjoy!

 



Digital Photo Art – Alicante, Spain

Here are some pieces of digital photo art that I created based on images I shot while we were in Alicante, Spain, this past fall.  These images really just seemed to have a life outside of being photographic images, and so, they became part of this new art technique I’ve begun playing with.

                                                  The View                                               

We were wandering around an ancient castle up high on a bluff over the city, and this was the view from one of the walkways.  I wonder if whoever lived there truly appreciated the magnificent scenery that was at their beck and call…..or if they were too concerned with day to day life to notice.  We are so lucky to be living in the time we are, when we have the opportunity to appreciate this wonderful, yet simple slices of life.

Stairway

This stairway leads to……..where?  I don’t know the answer, and that’s part of what is so intriguing to me about the image that’s the focus of this piece.  It’s rather like the paths that we choose in life.  They may look interesting or like they lead to an adventure, but we don’t really know until we follow them. We choose them for what they seem to promise, and then make the best of what the reality turns out to be.

See the Light

I like the focal point of this piece – the image of the window with the light shining into a darkened interior.  It speaks to me of how promise always seems to be shining in my life.  It beckons us to believe in it and strive for it.  The red undertones remind me of energy – the energy that we feel when we first discover the promise of something new….an idea, a new love, a new chapter in our life.

Explore

The final piece of this series speaks to the wonder of exploration.  What lies beyond the doorway?  I always tend to think in the positive, so I imagine it to be a grand adventure of some sort.  I purposely chose the fancy script handwriting in the piece to offset the hardness of the stones in both the image and the background.  If you look very closely in the image, you just may be able to see strings of butterflies sprinkled throughout the piece.  They add a piece of lightness, again, focusing on the wonder of a new grand adventure!

Enjoy!