Random

Brooksville Rock Processing Haikyo

the view from the back

While in the west-central Florida countryside town of Brooksville looking for trails to hike on in the Withlacoochee State Forest, I had an eye open for any possible haikyo in the area.  On the way into the state forest proper we (me, Aya & Kiki) had driven right past the above haikyo because my eyes were searching more for trail heads rather than teetering silos.  Even on the way back this one was hard to see from the road as the front was largely blocked by trees.  Once past that obstacle, however, there was a curving, and thus hidden, driveway to park on and an open door right inside!

I will definitely go back to this haikyo for a follow-up as I only had my 50mm and 105mm lenses with me and Aya and Kiki waiting patiently outside.

maybe a hurricane knocked this structure down?

the ladder on the silo may be in good enough condition to climb still

not much was left inside

I swear I head someone playing an arcade game from up on this structure

I didn't even take any time to play with these controls

Treasure Island reflection shot critiqued by Scott Bourne!!

I was browsing PhotoFocus.com from my iPhone which I do at least once daily, and to my great surprise I saw one of my own images right on the front page! It was quite a jolt of surprise and soon excitement!

Listen to Scott's critique:

Listen!

Others on flickr offered their critiques and versions of the photo:

flickr users versions

A while back I submitted the above pictured photograph to the flickr group scottcritiques. I am honored that Scott chose to critique it as he is my favorite photographer and whose photography knowledge and advice I trust the most. We have actually been in communication before via personal e-mail and Twitter also, though most likely only I remember those exchanges. Back when he was running twipphoto.com I offered a few suggestions on how to better implement WordPress comments and suggested adding gravatar support. Both suggestions he implemented! He holds a winter bird photography workshop nearby in the Ft. Myers area that I hope to attend some day. I own his book "88 Secrets to Selling and Publishing Your Photography." I respect his blunt opinions on all photography matters. I use and love Nik's Silver Efex Pro for making black and white images because of his praise for the app, and I will be buying a Drobo as soon as I can work it into my photography budget.

About the above photograph, before Scott's critique it dawned on me to crop out the crooked, gray sky.  I just never put the updated version onto flickr.  I will take all the other suggestions into consideration and post an updated version soon.

Thanks again to Scott Bourne and everyone else who took the time to post their versions of the photo.  The above image is one of my personal top 3 photographs I have ever made.