November 2009 Calendar Photo and Sunset Extravaganza

All during last month, many days, I went out at sunset to a different location and took photographs. Now with over 1000 pictures to choose from, it is difficult to pick the best for the calendar, and with limited space on this page, I was forced to choose only the very best to share with you. What they all have in common is that they were taken at sunset.

The calendar and these photographs, taken at location (D) on the satellite map below, were where the retirement community of River Isles met the Braden River at a golf course and clubhouse. It is the only place I've ever come across where such a large expanse of the native mangrove trees were "mowed" to provide this stunning view.

To get these photographs, I parked my truck on the street which runs along the river, and stood in the bed to gain the extra height I needed to show the tops of the clipped trees. It was interesting to stand there for 30 minutes snapping pictures and visiting with the residents that came by on foot or driving their golf carts. To a person they were all friendly and encouraging of my efforts.

I was delighted when I saw this little blue heron approaching. I took my zoom out to maximum as I tracked it, and when it touched down, snapped my photo and got lucky!

Photo Shoot Locations:

This is my most ambitious photo-project to date and took me out most days at sunset to locations all over my own and neighboring counties to the north and south. Each of the locations featured on this page is noted by a letter on this satellite map of the region.

Background Tile Photo:

One day the cloud cover at sunset was just spectacular and I took a picture just of the opalescent sky without any foreground or background at all. It is this photograph I used to make the tile which stands behind everything else on this page.

Tarpon Point, Bradenton:

These photos were taken, at a location, (A) on the satellite map, only 100 yards from my home, back in mid June when the sun set at its north-most point. It shown almost directly down the river and crossed all of Bradenton's bridges.

In the left photo below, you can see the entire arc of the nearest bridge, DeSoto. When I was in my 20s and in training for an upcoming mountain hike, I ran back and forth across the bridge because it was the closest thing we had to a hill.

When I saw the boat directly across the river I snapped the second photo. Those homes are just HUGE, and in a gated community built on fill from a dolomite mine and a mangrove swamp where I used to boat and play when I was in high school. When we were going there, the mine had been abandoned and the pits filled with clear filtered water that seeped in from the river. We would camp and dive off the rock cliffs into deep water that glowed green at night from micro-organisms that would show trails from anything that disturbed them.

Skyway Bridge North Welcome Center, St. Petersburg:

For decades, before it was co-opted to become part of I-275, the the causeway leading from St. Petersburg out to the north end of the Skyway bridge, (K) on the satellite map, was a strip of public land where people would gather for parties and could camp for weeks at a time without charge. People would come with RVs and small boats to enjoy the bay and watch the wildlife and each other.

North DeSoto Bridge Park, Palmetto:

At this time of year, the view from the park at the north end of the DeSoto bridge, (B) on the satellite map, shows the sun setting across the CSX railroad trestle and Green bridge beyond. This day there was a low line of dark purple clouds just above the horizon and a wide expanse of thinner clouds that made these photographs special. On the way home, Jack took one last photo as we crossed the DeSoto bridge which gave a great view of both the railroad and Green bridges.

Myakka Valley Watershed, Sarasota:

Since I live on the west coast of Florida, almost all the open vistas, good for showing off the setting sun, involve water. My quest to find a land-only location took me farthest from my home to the Myakka Valley Watershed, (P) on the satellite map, to the south and east. The large photo was taken using my flash to fill the foreground as the sun sank below the horizon. Earlier in the shoot, the sun went through a phase where the sky took on a distinct pink cast. I suspect that some amount of light was reflecting off of the gulf, far to the west, and combining with the direct light to shift the spectrum.

Palma Sola Causeway, Bradenton:

The road connecting Bradenton to Anna Maria Island crosses Palma Sola Bay on a narrow strip of land, (E) on the satellite map, with public beaches along each side. The bay is almost always fairly calm, great for skiing and boat racing. These beaches are the only ones in the area where dogs are welcome. It was difficult to find a good location for the shoot because of signage and picnic pavilions along the road. I noticed that the very top of the tree was all bare branches, but the reason only became clear as darkness fell. As you can see in the right set of images, over a period of 20 minutes, crows gathered until the branches were crowded. It felt like a scene from Hitchcock's "The Birds."

Small Harbor Dock, Ruskin:

Because Small Harbor is under construction, the small private dock, (M) on the satellite map, was difficult to find, but offered an unobstructed view of Tampa Bay. In the large photo you can see a great distance right across the bay to the St. Petersburg skyline. I did a second shoot at Small Harbor, which will appear below, when I heard about a small open beach. This sunset at the dock was notable because it literally met the definition of a "painted sky." You really can almost see the brush strokes.

Evers Reservoir, Bradenton

These pictures were taken on the east shore of the Evers Reservoir, (H) on the satellite map, at a place which used to be called Jig's Landing. Originally Ward Lake, the Braden river was dammed in the 1940s to supply Bradenton with water. On June 19, 1972 Hurricane Agnes came up the coast of Florida and the winds and tides conspired to flood all our barrier islands and send a surge of water which traveled some 18 miles upstream and actually broke the dam backward forcing millions of gallons of salt water into the city's fresh supply. The dam was rebuilt and it is now a gentle fresh lake and river in which I have been fishing and boating many times.

Cockroach Bay Boat Ramp, Ruskin

When Carolyn and I drove up to the boat ramp on Cockroach Bay, (L) on the satellite map, we were hoping for a wide view of Tampa Bay. Instead we got a channel and a narrow pass. Still, as the sun set, I managed to get a few shots looking out into the bay. While she waited for me, Carolyn saw a manatee just off the dock by the boat ramp but I didn't get a shot of it. At one point, she looked up at the clouds and said, "Look, there's a flaming buffalo!" I snapped a picture but it looks more like a Balrog (flaming devil)

Emerson Point Observation Tower, Palmetto

There were so many great shots and spectacular views that I returned to the observation tower at Emerson Point, (F) on the satellite map, two days in a row. I returned to Emerson Point a third time to take some sunset shots from the water's edge, but they will be in another section. The photos in this section were are all taken from a 25 foot tower built atop an old Native American shell midden and accessed by a long plank walkway across the marsh. This is a big section and I hope you enjoy all the pictures.

Regatta Pointe Marina, Green Bridge North, Palmetto

At the north end of the new Green Bridge, (C) on the satellite map, Palmetto maintains a park and a portion of the old bridge as a pier. Just to the west of this is a restaurant on an island and the marina in the photographs. I got there in plenty of time to take my pictures, set up my tripod and got all set just as an elderly gentleman arrived and asked if he could use the bench. As I looked at all my equipment strewn over the bench and tried to muster patience, he explained that for many years he and his wife had watched the sunset from that bench every day and, now that she had passed, he still came every day because it was when he felt closest to her. With a lump in my throat I quickly agreed and moved to another location. The pictures may not have been quite as nice, but they sure felt better!

Small Harbor Beach, Ruskin

Since Jack and I had to travel to Sun City Center to visit Carolyn who was in the hospital for a few days, we decided to go to the beach at Small Harbor, (N) on the satellite map, to take some sunset photos. The incredible pastel skies made us both glad we made the effort. When I picked up Carolyn from the hospital a couple of days later, we returned to this beautiful location to have a picnic lunch to celebrate.

Fort Hamer, Parish

Fort Hamer, (J) on the satellite map, served as the eastern end of a military road established in 1836 and as a federal fort during the Third Seminole War of 1858. The fort long gone, for my entire life it has been a boat ramp and dock located just at the place where the Manatee River transitions from salt to fresh water. The wide expanse of calm water has long been a favorite for water sports and fishermen. In the last decade, the rural areas on both sides of the river have exploded with housing developments and now the county commissioners have decided to build a bridge. While the bridge is sorely needed to support the tens of thousands of new residents, the lonely outpost will never be the same.

Emerson Point Beach, Palmetto

The beach at Emerson Point, (G) on the satellite map, was the subject of a last month's calendar, October 2009, but not at sunset. This pristine beach, at the mouth of the Manatee River, looks out over the mouth of Tampa Bay where the sun sets beyond Anna Maria Island where all of our gulf beaches are located.

Upper Manatee River, Bethany

These photographs were taken from the McLeod Memorial Bridge, (O) on the satellite map, where the Upper Manatee River crosses Verna-Bethany Road. The dam which forms the county reservoir, Lake Manatee, is about five miles downstream.

Bishop Harbor, Rubonia

Bishop Harbor, (I) on the satellite map, is very near where I lived for over 10 years. It is near enough to Tampa Bay that the Sunshine Skyway can be seen just above the trees at extreme magnification. The harbor has recently been part of a huge project to return a large part of the coast to a more natural state.

... and that pretty sunset concludes this extravaganza. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did preparing all these pictures. This took me, literally, a month to complete and I doubt I will ever do another spread as extensive. As said the Duke in Amadeus, "Too many notes." LOL