Olde Tyme

Olde Tyme

December 16, 2011. Olde Tyme. Bright lights glow out of Tedi's Olde Tyme Ice Cream onto a dark road on St George Street in Saint Augustine.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/60. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

One of Everything

One of Everything

December 16, 2011. One of Everything. You can't go wrong at Claude's Chocolates in Saint Augustine, Florida. Not just a tourist trap, Claude's has some of the best chocolates in America.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/8.0. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Materialistic Vespa

Materialistic Vespa.

December 16, 2011. Materialistic Vespa. I can't resist a classic Vespa shot, even when it has been relegated to being the window display at a hipster outfitter like Materialistic in Saint Augustine, Florida.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/125. f/4.0. ISO 800. LR 2.

Chaperone

Chaperone

December 16, 2011. Chaperone. A couple +1 walk hand-in-hand down Cuna Street in St. Augustine, Florida.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/15. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

V-Rod

V-Rod

December 16, 2011. V-Rod. Central Florida has a year-long motorcycle riding season and a strong biker culture, as seen by this $16,000 Harley Davidson parked proudly in a puddle.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/125. f/8. ISO 400. LR 2.

Irony

Irony.

December 16, 2011. Irony. St Augustine can be a peculiar city with its own little way of doing things. Like putting a "No Loitering" sign right next to a public bench. Really.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/4. ISO 800. LR 2.

Gates

Gates

December 16, 2011. Gates. The old city gates of St. Augustine, right across from the Castillo de San Marcos, were part of a defensive structure built around 1704 following a 1702 siege by the English during Queen Anne's War.

The small remains of the old wall are brightly lit by a busy nearby road and tourist attractions.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/8. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Stuck in Traffic

Stuck in Traffic

December 16, 2011. Stuck in Traffic. A horse-drawn carriage driver gives up on finding paying passengers for the day and starts fighting through modern traffic at the intersection of Granada Street and King Street in St. Augustine, Florida.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Praying on Tourists

Praying on Tourists

December 16, 2011. Praying on Tourists. Pseudo-historical colonial re-enactors prepare to capitalize on tourists going on the late walking tour through the streets of St. Augustine, Florida.

St. Augustine, between Daytona and Jacksonville, is the oldest city in the United States. It dates back to 1565. The next several blog posts will focus on this beautiful treasure of a city, which is part gem and part tourist trap.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Through the Looking Glass

Through the Looking Glass.

September 16, 2011. Through the Looking Glass. A different world awaits through the glass door of Sanford, Florida's Willow Tree Cafe German Restaurant, as the band PolkaTime fires up the accordion, cowbells, and chicken baster for another evening performance.

You have to check out this video of PolkaTimer Jimmy Horzen playing with his 12 year old son. Very talented young musician.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Cartoon Reality

Cartoon Reality.

September 16, 2011. Cartoon Reality. Even in Sanford, Florida, on the far end of Orlando from Walt Disney World, Central Florida can have a bit of a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" Toontown sort of feel to it. A lifesize cartoon cutout of a server beckons patrons into the Magnolia Square Market for some German beer and deli meats.

I had to take the shot without a flash. He blinked the first time.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 100. LR 2.

Table for One

Table for One.

September 16, 2011. Table for One. A waiter rushes with a table in tow, ready to set up another spot on a sidewalk cafe in Sanford, Florida.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 200. LR 2.

The Con

The Con

September 5, 2011. The Con. As my wife was looking at some Vera Bradley handbags in the Partridge Tree Gift Shop in Winter Park, Florida, I was looking for my camera.

Outside, an upscale Rollins College student wearing jeans and flip flops smoked a cigarette at a sidewalk cafe. A slightly crazy man with a beard danced a drunken tango in the middle of the brick road in front of the Fiat in the background, and then he pulled up a chair and asked the student to light his cigar.

The slightly crazy man started his best Al Pacino imitation, putting all his soul and experience into selling some idea or story unheard through the glass. His sideburned, venture capitalist audience of one listened like he was about to cut a check.

As styrofoam heads and prematurely displayed Halloween skeletons stared at the strange couple, I fumbled in vain for my camera, finding only my mobile phone instead.

The real lesson here, if there is one, is that composition, story, and serendipity are more important for decent photography than a good lens or a big sensor.

HTC EVO 4G (PC36100). 4.92 mm. ISO 110. LR 2.

P.S. - Something about watching this interchange for 15 minutes reminded me of Sting's inspiration for the album title "Nothing Like the Sun."

"One night I was walking on Highgate Hill when a drunk accosted me and kept asking, 'How beautiful is the moon' I replied, 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun...' He said that was a good answer, and lurched off. Shakespeare works quite well with drunks, I've found."

Having found myself more than a few times in my travels just a few inches from the whiskey smelling end of an angry drunk, I can tell you that Mr. Sting was right. Responding in Shakespeare quotes makes them think that you're even crazier than they are.

Ten Years

Ten Years

November 28, 2011. Ten Years. A candid shot of my best friend and beautiful wife of ten years aboard the Emerald Princess out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/15. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Ten Cent Poetry

Ten Cent Poetry

November 26, 2011. Ten Cent Poetry playing live at Orlando Brewing's intimate venue. Check out this talented Asheville, NC based acoustic folk group's original music for free on their website.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/4.0. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Steel Drum Swoosh

Steel Drum Swoosh

December 3, 2011. Steel Drum Swoosh. Along the way to the Seven Sisters Falls in the Grand Etang National Park in Grenada, I caught this quick shot through the van window of some ladies walking by the colorful mural outside the New Dimension School Steel Drum Band.

Note: This shot is not taken in Orlando. It's fair game, though, based on my About page.

Central Florida has a strong Caribbean community, with immigrants from each island bringing a bit of their home with them. To understand Orlando is to understand the people who move here.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/1000. f/8. ISO 400. LR 2.

Lighthouse of Solitude

Lighthouse of Solitude

December 5, 2011. Lighthouse of Solitude. I find watching the people on most cruise ships far more interesting than watching the shows. Having just finished a book on Caribbean lighthouse restorations, I was struck by how much this spotlight's texture in the ship's theatre reminded me of the penetrating beam from a Fresnel lens. A beacon inside the ship's belly distracting its cargo instead of directing its crew, glowing off the shoulders of a thousand people together yet strangely alone got me thinking about the isolating power of technology for the rest of the evening.

I still don't know what the show was about.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/8. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Old Romance

Old Romance

September 16, 2011. Old Romance. A miniature lighthouse is reflected in the front window of the Rivership Romance office in Sanford, Florida.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/2000. f/2.8. ISO 100. LR 2.

Settling Up

Settling Up

October 3, 2011. A lone patron at Orlando Brewing is silhouetted by the refrigerator case behind him as he settles his tab for the evening.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/15. f/5. ISO 800. LR 2.

Southern Hospitality

Southern Hospitality

October 9, 2011. A bulldog butler statue in front of a trailer in Maitland, Florida gives a not-so-subtle welcome message.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/1000. f/2.8. ISO 100. LR 2.

A Rose for Mommy

A Rose for Mommy

November 5, 2011. A young boy looks for a rose for his mother in the Nelson Rose Garden at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/125. f/2.8. ISO 400. LR 2.

Banyan Tree

Banyan Tree

October 28, 2011. An ancient Banyan Tree in the Cypress Gardens section of Legoland, Florida, creates a maze of vegetation as it drops roots from its branches.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/3.5. ISO 100. LR 2.

Shadow Riders

Shadow Riders

October 15, 2011. Shadows cast by irregular street lighting outside Orlando Brewing during the 2011 Orlando Scooter Society Rally make second shadows of Adam and Dave from Vespa Orlando appear to ride the vintage Vespa 150 parked by the fence.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Long Monday, Followed By a Wet Ride Home

Long Monday, Followed By a Wet Ride Home

September 19, 2011. After working late one Monday at i/oTrak's E-Z Photo Scan division in Altamonte Springs, Florida, I came out to a pouring rainstorm and a very wet but happy Vespa ride home.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/400. f/2.8. ISO 100. LR 2.

The New Morning Paper

The New Morning Paper

October 2, 2011. A woman reads the news on her Kindle e-Reader at the Casselberry Breakfast Club just moments before breakfast is served.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/40. f/2.8. ISO 400. LR 2.

Sibling Rivalry

Sibling Rivalry

September 16, 2011. Two young girls dance away to the sounds of a polka band at Hollerbach's Willow Tree Cafe German restaurant in Sanford, Florida.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Colors

Colors

September 16, 2011. Art watches pedestrians through the window at the Jeanine Taylor Folk Art Gallery in Sanford, Florida.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1250. LR 2.

Firehouse

Firehouse

October 15, 2011. Looks can be deceiving. The light from the FireHouse BBQ food truck in the parking lot of Orlando Brewing for the 2011 Orlando Scooter Society rally creates a sinister backlight behind a friendly biker.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Haitians

Haitians

October 22, 2011. A noble elderly Haitian couple could be the new American Gothic. Orlando has a thriving Haitian community, speaking both Haitian Creole and French. Haitians are to Florida today what Irish and Italian immigrants were to the New York area 100 years ago.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/15. f/6.3. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Next Stop

Next Stop...

October 6, 2011. Candid portrait of my wife, Marsha Mealo, planning her next dining move during the monthly Apopka Food Truck Roundup at Kit Land Nelson Park.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Brisket

Brisket

October 6, 2011. As a father pays for his meal from the C&S Brisket Bus during the monthly Apopka Food Truck Roundup at Kit Land Nelson Park, his daughter tries to swing from the hatch door.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/9.0. ISO 400. LR 2.

Drinks Alone

Drinks Alone

October 9, 2011. A lone Eastern European patron drinks a glass of wine at Hannibal's in Winter Park, Florida, as light casts up through the granite bar.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.