Mellow Sunset on a Hot Day

Fujifilm XT-20, Fuji 18-135mm lens at 25mm, f/10, 1/50sec., ISO 200

Sunset of Thursday, July 5th, 2018, while at the appropriately named Sunset Park in Indialantic, Florida.
We have had so much rain in Palm Bay this year.
In the late 1990s, when we first moved here, almost daily afternoon thunderstorms had long been the norm. I do mean thunderstorms too, a plain ol' rain shower without thunder is a seldom sight.
Between roughly 2000 - 2015, summers here were in almost drought conditions. Lots of forest fires during those years.
But in 2018, we've gotten back to the old way of doing things, weather-wise.
We have all that comes with all the rain; beautiful, intensely colored greenery and flowers, but also suffocating heat and humidity and BUGS.
Nonetheless, us intrepid amateur photographers around Brevard County itch to get out an do some shooting when carrying that lightning rod we call a "tripod" hopefully won't get us killed.
Yesterday I had that itch to get out, even if the photos were mundane.
I found a little bitty park in Indialantic, Florida, about fifteen minutes from my home, that I had never been to.  I had no idea it was there until I simply found it.
This park is along the barrier island that is known locally as "beachside," and it faced west, toward the mainland with the potential to have dramatic sunsets across the Indian River Lagoon.  (our section of the east coast's Intracoastal Waterway).
The photo above is one of many I took, and is as good representation of the colorful sunsets we get when the conditions are right.
I was the only person in this park, and had an hour or so, and the three park benches there, all to myself.

SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-15, 5:42am June 29, 2018

Fuji X-T20, Rokinon 10mm lens. 261seconds @ f/22. ISO 200

Taken at Exploration Tower in Port Canaveral, Florida.
My daughters and I got up, up, and away, way before sun up to see a night launch, more-or-less, of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket this morning. The sky was just beginning to lighten before sunrise, and, on top of that, the 4min 21sec photo gathered light to make that awesome deep, blue sky. (This is actually MUCH better than the dull, black background of a dark night launch.)
The launch was SpaceX's 15th International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission. SpaceX launched a Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Launch Complex 40. This Dragon spacecraft will deliver supplies, equipment and science investigations to the ISS.
The engine noise hits fast when you are this close to the launch site.  We live about forty miles south of here, and when we watch from our front yard, the noise hits us down there about two minutes into the launch.
Rocket launches never, ever get old! If they ever do, I'll move, knowing I NEED a different place to live.
This was my first second stab at making this photo look good. I'll try again and upload that if I can improve it. I have removed the original photo from this post, and replaced it with this much better adjustment job.
Truth is, an exposure that long that includes a lit-up, white building WILL have the building's exposure blown out.
This is where shooting RAW files helps.  In Lightroom and Photoshop I was able to pull back most of Exploration Tower's building details from what initially appeared to be blown-out highlights. Sweet.

Ryckman Park Sunset (probably about number 3000 by now)

At Ryckman Park, Melbourne Beach, Florida

(Photo Details: Fujifilm X-T10 with Rokinon 10mm (15mm 35eq), f/8, 1/various-s, ISO200, RAW, hdr of five images)
Chronic pain can sure rob a fella of the desire to get out and walk around in this beautiful world.
When I was young I dreamed of living near the beach, a big lake, some kind of "big" water.
Well, here I am near the Atlantic Ocean for the past twenty years or so.
Here in Palm Bay, in Brevard County, Florida, "big" water is easy to find.
Pain-free days, pretty much nonexistent.
So, when I can get the pain beat down a bit, the urge to be out with my camera comes on me very strong.
After several months of more-or-less being house bound, I've finally lately been up to getting out.
Photographically, I'm VERY rusty.
Fortunately camera operation is kinda like riding a bicycle, so, out I go.
Ryckman Park (pronounced RIKE-man park according to old-time locals I've met.) , about 20-25 minutes from my home, and located on the Indian River Lagoon in Melbourne Beach, Florida, is one of my very favorite go-to places.
Here, I can always get great sunsets if the sky provides, but even if the sunset is so-so, like this one, then, Hey!, who cares, it's still a gorgeous place and a gorgeous view.
There's no down side to going to Ryckman Park, even if I don't take a  single photograph.  The evening view is always balm for the troubled soul.

Falcon 9 Rocket Launch, 1:26AM 8/14/16

Nikon D750, Nikkor 18-35mm lens at 18mm, f/22 ,  352sec., ISO 100

My younger daughter leaves this week for graduate school in Sweden.
We went with her older sister to Cocoa Beach, Florida to watch one more night rocket launch together.
Having grown up here on the Space Coast, space shuttle and rocket launches have been a recurring part of their lives.
She knows it could possibly be years, if she's ever able to see another rocket launch.
They never get old.

Sunset Colors, Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida

I'm embarrassed at how long it has been since I posted on here.

Here's a relatively fresh one, taken on Thursday, July 14, 2016 at Sebastian Inlet State Park.

The colors in the sky in this telephoto shot were so crazy, I toned them down some in Lightroom, but they still look unreal. 

The colors really were this outrageous.

Living in Florida is tough...

Nikon D750, Nikkor 28-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/320sec., ISO 2500

Happy Thanksgiving! Thursday November 26, 2015

Nikon D750, Nikkor 28-300mm lens at 190mm, f/32, 1/20sec., ISO 100

It's Thanksgiving Day in America, so Happy Thanksgiving to you, reader.

This holiday was originally intended for us to give thanks to God for how he's blessed us.

Unfortunately, now most people forget the God part and just "feel thankful."

Thank you God for your blessings on all of us.

God, please call us to return to you and serve YOU once more.

Sunset Colors (taken 11/11/2015)

Nikon D750, Nikkor 28-300mm lens at 28mm, f/14, 1.6sec., ISO 100

After all these years in Florida, and thousands of sunsets, the colors can still amaze me.

This young man had just finished cleaning about six good-sized fish at Rykman Park in Melbourne Beach, Fla.