Sunset at Fred Howard Park

  Saturday I attended at picnic at Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs.  I arrived late as it seemed to be raining off and on there all day and it is a 45 minute drive for me. Its a nice drive through past farm land, horses and cows. The park itself is one of my favorites. There is the 'mainland' park and then there is a road/causeway that takes to out to a mini island with a beautiful beach which is a wonderful place to watch the sun set.
  The shot above was actually taken from the mainland. It is a view I have tried to capture every time I go but this is the first time I have been happy with the results. The clouds and the time of day gave me a beautiful quality of light.

  This photo was taken on the mini island as I call it. I love this life guard stand!  I have photographed models at this park before, but this was my first chance to get some nice photos of the place at sunset. I am going to have to just go back and spend a day for fun when the weather cools a bit it is beautiful!

I love this shot. It takes something every day, this clump of grass and turns it into something special. I used a bit of HDR toning in Photo Shop here. I like that you also see the ocean and the people walking on the beach.   It also just shows you how important composition is, not matter what you are taking a photo of.

  I am really starting to like shooting silos like this. A simple grouping of 3 palm trees yet this photo has such a wonderful mood to it!

  Earlier it really didn't look like the sunset would be all that spectacular due to the cloud cover but then just as the sun was about to fully descend for the evening a beautiful strip colors appeared between the ocean and the clouds and I was able to capture this image!  If I lived closer to the coast I think I would be checking out the sunset over the ocean every night!

Stephanie