Florida Keys

Sarah from “Travel with Me” guest hosts the challenge this week.

I have to admit when I quickly read the title, I thought I was picking my favorite photos I had ever taken. But, “no” Sarah writes “I want to ask you all to join me in sharing three of what you consider to be among your very best shots.”

Timing for this challenge is ironic because just the other day one of my sisters-in-law asked me what my favorite photo was. As I thought about it, I explained, “Trying to pick my favorite photo is like trying to pick my favorite child. I can’t choose one over the other. They’re all so special.”

Goodness! This was a little difficult. But here it goes!

“Photography, is a way of feeling, of touching of loving. What you have captured on film is captured forever. It remembers little things long after you have forgotten everything.”
~Aaron Siskind

7 Mile Bridge – Key West, FL

Why this is my favorite? I love the black and white and how it captures the age of the bridge, it’s textures and the depth of field.

Why is this one of my best? It was shot in 35mm (color) film; limiting me to the number of shots I could take with the roll of film. If I’m really honest with myself on this one, I think I may have set the camera on “Depth of Field” setting. It was really early in my photography journey, and I had no clue about manual settings. Ironically, this is one of my best-selling digital pieces.

“The whole point about taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.”
~Elliott Erwitt

Red Tail Hawk

Why is this my favorite? If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know I love the wildlife in my backyard. I love the challenge of trying to photograph each and every detail. I must have snapped about a dozen photos of him before he took off.

Why is this one of my best? Quite honestly, a little bit of everything; the details of the hawk (his feet, his eyes, his coloring); the Bokeh and lighting; the overall composition of the photo. The end result was a little bit of “in the camera” and a little bit of “photoshop.”

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.”
~Ansel Adams

A Fall Walk in the Park

Why is this my favorite? It’s just a peaceful image and it could have been taken anywhere. I feel like I nailed the essence of early Fall in Atlanta.

Why is this one of my best? There’s a lot going on in this photo, but the elements draw you to water and its path from the front of the image backwards through the middle. The added bonus (to me) is that it almost looks like an oil painting.

It’s probably a good thing that Sarah gave us a limit with the number of photos and requiring us to also choose a different genre for each. I can think of about (at a minimum) 20 – 30 other images to include.

Many thanks to Sarah for this fun challenge! Up next week is my long-time photographer/blogger friend, Anne. Her theme is “What’s Your Groove?” Knowing Anne, this will be quite the challenge!

Until next time,

~donna

P.S. If you would like to participate in our weekly Lens-Artists Challenge, just click this link and join us on Saturdays at noon EST: Lens-Artist Challenge

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I remember the first time my husband took me to the Florida Keys. It was in the middle of July 1996 just before the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. We landed in West Palm Beach late in the evening, waking early the next morning to begin our drive to the Keys. It was our first “no map, no plans, no place to be” trip.

The Keys were everything I had expected and then some. I expected, beautiful waters. I expected a place of adventure. I expected palm trees and white sand. What I didn’t expect was getting sea sick the first time I went deep sea fishing (that’s a story in and of itself)!

But, for me one of the most amazing elements of the Keys was the 7 Mile Bridge. It’s a massive work of architecture which begins in Marathon, Florida (the middle) and ends in the lower keys at Little Duck Key. Architecturally curved to follow the earth’s surface and tall enough for vessels to pass through.

But, more impressive than the current bridge, are the remaining sections of the original bridge built by Henry Flagler as part of the Florida East Coast Railway (1909 – 1912).

Some sections are now used for running, walking and fishing. Others, are simply reminders of the early days of the industrial revolution. Days, when our country was young and the railroad was vital to connecting each corner together.

In many sections of the bridge, both old and new run parallel with each other. A constant reminder of the importance of the past and the present.

The original bridge was damaged by a hurricane on Labor Day in 1935. Eventually sold to the U.S. Government it was later transformed for automobile use. The remaining track rails were recycled and made into the guard rails. It’s also my understanding that some sections were “widened” to allow cars to pass each other. Although, from the stories I’ve heard it was a VERY narrow passage and not for the faint of heart.

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend making the entire length of the drive through the Keys. Stretching 113 miles, spanning across 42 bridges and leap frogging from Key to Key, it’s and incredible journey which ends at the Southernmost point of the United States……..“90 miles to Cuba.”