JUPITER ISLAND FLORIDA – We flew down to West Palm Beach yesterday and drove to the next big island North, Jupiter Island, which is not much more than a sandbar – typically 100 yards wide but about 20 miles long. Maximum elevation is 10 feet. It’s listed by Wikipedia as the second most wealthy populated area in the United States. From the air it looks like an elongated cluster of large houses; from the ground we refer to it as the “Land of Enchanted Hedges”. There are some really, really tall ones. All nicely maintained. The local hedge guy with the largest cherry picker must make a fortune.
We’re here for a wedding – a daughter of a friend of very long standing. For some reason I’m not achieving much here from a photographic point of view. My eye doesn’t seem to connect well with the tropics. Perhaps it’s my Utah upbringing; my resonance is with the desert. For some reason Manhattan works but Florida doesn’t. So I’ll post what I have but I don’t expect you to stand up and cheer about it. The wedding was today but I didn’t get anything good enough to post. The grim-looking overcast does’t help.
GASPARILLA ISLAND FLORIDA – Some days are better than others. This is one of the better days. I walked around what is now pretty familiar territory getting closer to some of the local landscape. Seaside is always a challenge, because in a very fundamental way it all looks the same. I was productive enough that I thought that today warrants a mini gallery. Maybe it’s just an editing failure on my part. All images with my Leica Monochrom with 18mm Super Elmar lens. The first image is three frames stitched.
Big Mother TreeGardenRange light IRange light IIRange light IIIOdd pipesNantucket in FloridaPorch
TOBAGO CAYS – We chartered a fast boat for the the day to take us down to Tobago Cays where we snorkeled and had a picnic lunch. The trip back and forth was exceptionally rough. Altogether a fund day. Images with my Leica S.
GrenadinesLife on board
MUSTIQUE ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES – I spent a good part of the day walking around with my Leica S and a 120mm Leica macro lens capturing details. I’m getting the hang of operating the camera, but for me visual epiphanies using anything by wide angle lenses are few and far between.
seascapeDebris
On this day last year: Newark. Another tedious image from a travel day.
SANTA MONICA CALIFORNIA – I spent the afternoon bicycling on the beach in Santa Monica and Venice. Here’s an image toward sunset taken with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm Summilux lens.
Santa Monica Beach
FISHERS ISLAND NEW YORK – Fishers Island is 7 miles or so off the Connecticut coast in Long Island Sound, opposite Mystic and Stonington. Here it is:
Politically Fishers is in New York State. There is no local government – it’s part of Southold, a town on the north fork of Long Island. Geologically its an extension of the north fork – the golf courses, like those at the east end of Long Island, are classic links courses. Architecturally its part Central Park and part Newport: about half of the island is a planned community (very, very low density) designed by Frederic Law Olmsted; houses are shingle style, heavily influenced by Stamford White. Socially, it’s high wasp: The screen writers for the first season of Mad Men placed Campbell’s family summer house in Fishers, demonstrating a nuanced understanding of our local social morays. A lovely place to get away to.
Here are some images from the beach taken with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens. The first is stitched from three frames. As you see there is beach grass and beach rocks.
Beach GrassBeach Rocks
On our return from the beach there was some drama. We brought Basil, our Norwich Terrier, to Fishers but left him in the house while we went to the beach. I don’t know whether I’ve mentioned that Basil is an evil genius when it comes to food, but he is. He broke into our hosts’ supply of Greenies and ate all 40 of them. 40 of these disgusting things. He threw up 13 messy green piles all over the house. Here’s the cleanup crew, looking unamused.
BOCA GRANDE FLORIDA – A sad morning. We’re packing to go back to New York. We took a pre-breakfast walk down to the beach. We’re on the Gulf of Mexico facing West, so phnotography is better in the evening here than in the morning. This is what I got at the beach club with my Sony Nex-7.
Gasparilla Inn Beach Club
