Photographers Paradise

Key West is truly a photographer's paradise. After you take the obligatory family photos, you can find so much to photograph that will allow you to unleash your creativity. The family would sleep in late every morning after a night on the town. But like all good photographers, I am up before sunrise. I would drive to take sunrise photos on the Northeast side of the Island and then come back and walk the streets looking for the interesting and unusual to photograph. Walking the streets one morning a rain shower forced me onto a residential front porch for cover. Since it is a tropical climate, the flowers are everywhere, and the colors just incredible. I took this handheld macro flower shot waiting out that storm .

Mallory Square is a complex of shops, restaurants, and open air markets. While walking through there a short light macro or close focusing lens can allow you to create some really great photographs. By tightly composing and using good camera techniques, you can come up with some really useful photos. I shot some of these photos either inside in a store or outside on a kiosk cart in the open air market. The great thing about digital cameras is the instant feedback in seeing the photo on the back of the camera. While I was doing some of these types of shots I had several people ask me what I was doing. When I showed them the shot on the back of my camera they loved it. When I walked away there were about 15 people trying to copy what I was doing. That is the fun part of photography. Helping others learn how to use their camera better and see more creatively. 

These types of photos look great in my notecards, and they make amazing large canvas prints if you want to decorate with that type of theme in mind. I take it as a compliment when everybody asks to see my vacation photos. I usually come back with things that do not resemble  typical family vacation photos. I am always trying to find a creative and artistic shots that would be useful for a variety of projects. 

                   Here is another interesting fact and photo to go along with the Key West week theme. Wild chickens are everywhere on the island. Many years ago domesticated chickens escaped from pens and started breeding in the wild.  Even though the island is now densely populated, the chickens are allowed to roam free. They are everywhere, and I even found this male and female strutting along the edge of the dock one morning. If you are sleeping with the windows open, those roosters can be annoying with that early morning crowing.