Trees at Ryckman Park, Re-do

Fujifilm XT-20, Fujinon 18-135mm lens at 18mm, f/18, 1/80sec @ ISO 200

A few days back I posted a bright, vividly colored version of this photo.
I tried to give that photo the old "thick" look of slide film (which I shot for many years).
And although I liked the color version very much, I knew when I made the photograph that the heavy contrast in the scene would probably make this a good looking B&W image as well.
So, here ya go!
I need to work on my B&W processing in Lightroom and Photoshop. 
I can mostly get the look I want in color photo manipulation, but my B&W shots seem to leave me with a vague sense of having missed the mark in some way.
It's like getting ready and leaving to go to, say, a birthday party, repeatedly double-checking myself, but leaving feeling like I forgot something like forgetting the gift.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Fuji XT-20, Fuji 18-135mm lens at 135mm, f/13, 1/10sec, ISO 200

Riverside Park (Indialantic, Fla.) Sunset panorama #3,488,526,330. But Who's Counting?
Sunrises and sunsets here may often be blocked by clouds. This summer alone I think the clouds have blocked more "big orange ball o' sun touching the horizon" sunsets than all our years here combined.
But, hey, us photographer types are already out there, so, we snap away.
Sometimes magic happens anyway, like orange-y sky on the left sharply divided with blue/pink sky on the right. ...Lemonade.
It's like the way a gambler is addicted to THIS TIME I'M GONNA WIN BIG feeling, that prompts photographers to go out looking for a big payoff.
Sometimes that sunset, as this one was, is one heck of a consolation prize.
I really wish I could convey the warm air, the smell, the sound of water lapping in a 2D photograph.  I try. I seriously try to make my photos force the viewer to have the total sensory stimulation I had when there watching this.

At Melbourne Harbor Marina, Melbourne, Florida

Fujifilm X-T20, Fuji 18-135mm lens at 18mm, f/18, 1/125sec., ISO 200

Fujifilm X-T20, Fuji 18-135mm lens at 70mm, f/18, 1/125sec., ISO 200

The light was gorgeous.
The temperature was hot enough to make a super-fit triathlete swoon.
Suffering for art, and sweating out some impurities.
The heat affects me, but strangely, doesn't bother me as much as it did when I were younger.

Rare Sunrise

Fujifilm X-T20, Fuji 18-135mm lens at 44mm, f/11, 1/4000sec., ISO 200

Fujifilm X-T10, Pano/HDR w/Rokinon 10mm lens, f/8, 1/600sec., ISO 200

No, sunrises aren't rare.
Me being there to see one, IS rare.
I am by nature a night person and am often deathly allergic to mornings.
Sometimes though, I wake up early AND inspired and take off with my camera bag and tripod.
Though here, true to form, I was actually late for the sun rising above the horizon.
Not a morning person; check.  Chronically late; check.
At least I didn't miss all the beauty happening over the bay, called Palm Bay, where Turkey Creek meets the Indian River Lagoon.  (And presumably where the city behind my back while taking these photographs got it's name)
Is it just me, or does the boat there look a lot like the S.S. Minnow?

Set Up for Sunset

Fujifilm XT-10, Rokinon 10mm lens, f/8, 1/320sec., ISO 200

A week ago, I made the drive to Sebastian Inlet State Park, hoping for an amazing sunset.
As has happened many times this summer there was a distant line of clouds up to about ten degrees above the horizon that killed any Big-Solar-Orb-Touching-The-Earth type sunsets.  I did, however, get some nice shots with the sun above lowest clouds and above the center of the bridge.
I got a few other shots that I like, of fishermen and whatnot, but I liked this photo too.
I don't remember taking one with my other camera of my Fuji XT-20 and lens on the tripod.  I had taken one like it with my phone to send to my wife to show here where/how I was set and ready, and texted that to her.
Anyhoo, if nothing else, it's a personal documentary shot, with some beauty in it as well.
It does vaguely disturb me that I took this shot without remembering and had it be a surprise to me when I saw it on the computer when downloaded later.

Boat Wreck, Sebastian, Florida

Panorama shot with Fujifilm XT-20, Fuji 18-135mm lens at 18mm, f/22, 1/125sec., ISO 200

I would have thought that, since any boat is expensive, people wouldn't abandon them to the elements.
Boy, was I wrong. I guess I've seen a lot of abandoned cars in my life too, but seeing a boat end up this way is even sadder.
In the years we've been in Florida, I have seen many washed up boats.
Some on the Atlantic Ocean beach nearby, but more so in the Indian River Lagoon.
The Lagoon is a natural protective area for smaller boats, but with most years sending at least a sizeable tropical storm over us, there's always a boat or five that get shaken loose from their mooring and end up derelict on the Indian Rivers Lagoon's shore somewhere.
Recently Number One Daughter and I went out for some early morning photography and as we were on our way back, we passed this sad sight.
I had to get out and take a few shots.
That was once a brand-new boat, no doubt bought to carry someone's hopes and dreams of lots of sailing the seas in it.
It ends up like this until whatever county it is in can afford to have someone who gets rid of such large trash come and take it away. I think we were back in Brevard County at this point, so I reckon someone will try to track the owner and put the responsibility on their shoulders to take care of it.
The length of time these boats stay like this leads me to believe that owners are rarely found and get right on to getting their mess cleaned away.
I have no idea where these things are taken when finally removed.
I guess the boating world must have their equivalent of tow trucks and scrap yards.
Somewhere.

Trees at Ryckman Park, Melbourne Beach

Fujifilm XT-20, Fuji 18-135mm lens at 18mm, f/5, 1/200sec., ISO 200

Not much to say here about the subject matter.  Shadows, color, contrast in the evening Florida sun..
I was actually on my way to the restroom at the park when I turned to look behind me and was wowed by the shadows of the trees.
If I go out photographing with others, I soon get left behind because I stop, turn around, and scan for interesting scenes while others ramble on. 
Stopping and turning to look behind me when I'm out with my camera was something I learned from reading a western novel when I was young.
In the novel, an old-timer told a young greenhorn that as he proceeded through any territory, to take a minute every few minutes to look behind and study the land in case he had to backtrack.  The traveler should then be better able to retrace his steps if necessary. It may save his life.
As a budding young amateur photographer at the time, I considered this sage advice for a wandering photographer, and adopted this survival wisdom from, in theory, the old west.
I have, for decades now, made it a habit to scan the land behind me as I walk with my camera.  There's often a great picture there I would miss by never turning to study what is behind me.
Even if I get left behind.
That long-ingrained habit paid off with this one.
It was my best shot that day.
I'm most often out alone, so my habit usually doesn't bother anyone, and I know how to get safely back to my car.