South Florida Shoot Location Suggestions

[anne_kerr]

<p>So I'm trying to practice some, but I don't know a whole lot of places to go. <br>

I've gone to an abandoned train that I found by my job, an abandoned hospital that was supposed to be turned into an old folks home...I also went to the zoo and some parks. I'm getting bored of the same ol' places and I wondered if somewhere there is a place I could go that's different. I guess I wouldn't mind driving a few hours if the place is worth it...</p>

<p>The kinds of things I had in mind was maybe a landscape, some interesting place to explore (like an old train or building) or a ghost town. I would say I like animals, but I already went to the zoo and in Florida I imagine that the only wild thing to photograph has scales or feathers. <br>

Thanks for any help</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Vast numbers of tourists go to Florida, even south Florida, every year to take pictures as well as do other things. I think you need to ramp up your imagination. Even very flat and boring places like central (not Southern) Illinois have picture opportunities if you make them.</p>

<p>We all get bored from time to time with our local "subjects", even my polyspheroid water tower, but the thing to do is to try some projects, even buy one of Tom Ang's books (e.g., <em>Digital Photography Master Class</em>) or Jim Krause's <em>photo idea index </em>(a book with projects to shoot).</p>

<p>There are always people to photograph, and what the heck is wrong with scales and feathers?</p>

<p> </p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Are you any place close to Sanibel Island and the Ding Darling wildlife refuge there? That's a place that professional wildlife/nature photographers head to every year for bird pictures. South Beach in Miami Beach is great for pictures of the Art Deco hotels -- take a polarizer to pump up the colors. Same with some of the colorful lifeguard shacks on the beach. Boats/docks/nautical scenes always have lots of possibilities. Alligator farms. If you like trains, google "tourist railroads" for restore steam locomotives and other older trains that are very photogenic, or there's also an annual directory of tourist railroads published by Trains magazine.</p>

[leslie_cheung]

<p>Anne, I'd concentrate on the specific field of photography of your interest. If you want to shoot PJ abroad, shoot PJ at home, in the US. Work on your people skills, essay structure, forming narratives etc...</p>

[wayne_crider4]

<p> Florida is a big place; Where you at or heading?</p>

[nsfbr]

Often, it is not the location, but the time of day that needs changing. How about trying the same place, but shooting

around dawn and dusk (by around I mean starting before and ending after)?

 

How about imposing constraints on yourself? For example, within a range of elevation angles, say with the camera

pointed 30 degrees downward or or more, or the reverse? For me, when I am looking to shake off stagnation as a

photographer I will often give myself a box like that to narrow my focus. Another example of this would be when I'm

wandering around a good city to photograph in, say Philadelphia. I might limit myself to shooting just above the first floor,

or to not include anything above the first floor. I've even done it where I won't include any building at all. Or I have to limit

myself to the top floor and up. Why? To see what I can see when I pare it down. It is an approach, not the only

approach, but it does help me when I feel in a rut and often, I wind up learning a great deal about the most important thing

(for me, at this point) which is getting to the next level in composition.

[sarah_fox]

<p>In Florida? I'd start by photograph the mating rituals and territorial displays of the elusive <em>Homo sapiens.</em> One may observe this species' lekking behavior this time of year along sandy coastal habitats in the northern hemisphere. Florida has this sort of habitat in great abundance! Use a long lens; you don't want to be too intrusive, lest you precipitate a charge from one of the males.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>For those who might be puzzled by Sarah's biological reference to "lekking" - see<br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lek_mating</p>

<p>And it is true that you need to watch out for rogue males.<br>

Sarah: Very good, excellent, in fact :)</p>

[anne_kerr]

<p><strong>Craig</strong>, Sanibel Island is not terribly far away. I'll have a trip over there soon! I was kind of bored of birds, but I would enjoy going there, I think. Lifeguard shacks are a good idea, too. <br>

I just googled trains in Florida and I didn't get a whole lot, but then again, I wasn't trying too hard either. I'll look that up soon when I have more time. Good ideas! Thanks.<br>

<strong>Joel</strong>, that's a good idea. I'll try giving myself homework and challenge myself int hat way when I have no way to find something new to entertain me. I'm just tired of doing the same ol' stuff. Maybe I get bored easy or don't have enough experience to know how to be playful with the camera...<br>

<strong>Sarah</strong>, I may try to go to the beach to practice photographing peple. I haven't done it yet because I feel like a weirdo. I've tried taking a friend and pretending to photograph him to make people not notice me, but I still feel like I'm stalking people or something. I should be less shy!<br>

Thanks for all the ideas so far!</p>

 

[joe_willmore]

<p>First, give yourself assignments. Let me give you just two examples. Take that abandoned train...and then shoot a story with it...treat it like a photojournalism assignment. Next, shoot 30 different perspectives of that train (without using photoshop or filters or gels). <br>

Next, not to beat up on you but...South Florida has a wide range diversity and you're just not seeing it right now. It may not be NYC (in terms of people or architecture). But you've got a lot of nature and with tourism a wide range of people. You also don't have winter limiting your outside activities for 4-7 months of the year. It's familiar to you so thus boring and nothing new. You need to train yourself to see differently--that's something great photographers do. As Dorothea Lange once said: "A camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." You need to teach yourself to see the possibilities around you.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>"<em>I'm getting bored of the same ol' places and I wondered if somewhere there is a place I could go that's different. I guess I wouldn't mind driving a few hours if the place is worth it</em>..."</p>

<p>Forget all that cliche stuff, abandoned buildings, old school buses, zoos parks etc. You can find these in any state. What does that say about the state of Florida ? big fat ZERO ! Try visiting down-town Miami. Participate in some of the events that are on going down there. Avoid being the passive observer, GET INVOLVED. </p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>Think out of the box. Try something new. Get an underwater film camera like a Nikonos (about $100)and go snorkling or scuba diving. Florida is great for that. Tell a story. Here's photo story I did of scuba-ing Fort Lauderdale and Key Largo back awhile.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/sets/72157625526207614/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/sets/72157625526207614/</a></p>

<p>Same photos in story video with music.</p>

<p><a href="

<p> </p>

[anne_kerr]

<p><strong>Alan, </strong><br>

In the future I will purchase an underwater camera. I saw one on sale once and I was going to get it, but I read reviews for it online and I got the impression that the more waterproof the camera is, the worse the picture quality will be. Do you find this to be true?</p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>Anne: I have no experience with digital underwater cameras, only the Nikonos 35mm film. It's lens is sharp as a tack. With the 35mm lens, you can shoot out of the water as well as in the water with no distortion. Another advantage is that you can use it in rain, on the beach, in rapids, in snow, dirty dusty areas, without having to worry about damaging it. If you get one, make sure the seals are new and follow instructions carefully to avoid flooding. There's lots of good instruction for underwater shooting on the web and in publications. Pick up Skin Diver Magazine to see what's being done.</p>

<p>However, in thinking about it, if you're into digital, and not film, you might want to get a digital underwater camera. On the other hand, a film camera might give you what you're looking for. Something different that you can explore using. I always found that shooting film bumps up the quality of the photos I shoot over digital because film slows me down to think and compose. Well, anyway, good luck in whatever you decide to do. Feel free to ask questions about underwater photography. I'd be glad to answer.</p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>All the above and below water pictures I took on the links above were with a Nikonos IVa with 35mm lens. Many of the underwater shots also had a strobe light.</p>

[dan_mccarty1]

<p>My photography addiction started in South FLA. I had a decent SLR and a 50mm and 24mm lenses that I think were a F1.8 and F2.8 respectively. I bought a cheap Velbro tripod and remote release to photograph sunrises and sunsets. I still have that cheap banged up Velbro that I use for other things. The nice things about FLA is that it is flat and you can get out to the water management areas aka the Everglades and get sunset photos. Sunrise photos on the beach of course.</p>

<p>I tried to get bird shots up in Loxahatchee but the only "long" lens I could afford was a POS Quantarry 70-200 or some such. If I lived in South FLA today, I would be renting at least a 300mm/F4 and heading to the birding sites including Loxahatchee. There are sooo many birding sites in FLA compared to where I live now.</p>

<p>A big bang for the photographic dollar is a micro lens to take photos of bugs and flowers. I would guess for most of the 90's and 2000s, most of the photos were taken with a 105mm/F2.8 lens. There can be many "small" things right around you and that require no travel what so ever. </p>

<p>When there are thunderstorms you can go after the big clouds at the end of the day.</p>

<p>Lots of things to keep one busy with a camera in South FLA. Not sure which is more dangerous though, the gator in the duck weed at Loxahatchee trying to catch birds or the extremely abundant male homo sapiens trying to catch birds on the beach....</p>

<p>Later,<br>

Dan</p>