Floridiana Gloriana

'Americana' by Greg Turner | Micanopy | Creative Commons

Here's a wonderful shot by Greg Turner of the American Cafe in the beautiful little North Florida town of Micanopy (accent on the third syllable).  Micanopy is Florida's oldest inland settlement and---as the link will tell you---an excellent place to see alligators as well as to shop for antiques.   I particularly love the touches of color added by the umbrellas, the stained glass, and the flag....

'Americana' by Greg Turner |To see his other photographs, click here |  To see the full-sized photograph at Flickr, click here |

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it pursuant to a restricted Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or use it without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.  The license can be viewed here.

'The Florida Theater' by Craig O'Neal | Jacksonville | Creative Commons

Here is a beautiful night shot by Jacksonville photographer Craig O'Neal.

 

The Florida Theater by Craig O'Neal | Craig O'Neal does photography for Jacksonville.com.  To see more fabulous photographs, click here or take a look at his albums at Jacksonville.com! |  To see the full-sized version of this photograph, click here |

I do not own the rights to this Creative Commons photograph, but am using it in compliance with the terms of a restricted license.  Please don't save or use it without first consulting the terms of the applicable license (here).

'Lake Eola' by Don Jones | Orlando | Creative Commons

I realize that many people find cityscapes a bit monotonous.  But imagine the amazement of someone from the Victorian age:  they'd see nothing but fairy-tale palaces, and fairy-tale lights.  I'm not sure what it says about us that we prefer to build our cities out of steel and glass towers and are satisfied to have them all look rather similar to one another.  I'm just asking you to focus on this one scene, with its silver, platinum, and celadon reflected in Lake Eola, its satiny dark blue backdrop, and its glass towers dwarfing the trees.

By the way, this is the same photographer who does such wondrous photographs of derelict houses, rusting tin, and lost and abandoned property decaying gently into Florida's rural landscape.   

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'Lake Eola' by Don Jones |  To see his other photographs, click here |  To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here

I do not own the rights to this photograph.  It is subject to a restricted Creative Commons license, permitting certain limited noncommercial uses.  Before using or downloading it, consult the terms of the applicable license.  You may view it here.

"Downtown Lakeland" by Josh Hallett | Lakeland | Creative Commons

Since I love photographs of buildings against that indigo-tinted Florida sky, I was immediately drawn to this photograph by photographer Josh Hallett of a golden-colored building in downtown Lakeland.  From this angle, it is striking, monumental, like one of the pyramids.   

'Downtown Lakeland' by Josh Hallett |   To see other photographs in his Flickr photostream, click here |  Website:  Hyku | To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it compliance with a restricted Creative Commons license.  Please do not download or use it without first consulting the terms of the applicable license. The link to the license is here. 

'Tram stop (HDR)' by Yevgen Pogoryelov | Tampa | Creative Commons

Here's a color fantasia of a view of a Tampa street car terminal.  It looks like a futuristic toy train set.  I love the colors of this---the sunset pinks and purple in the background, the saturated spring-green of the trees and grass, that ice-blue glass like a giant aquamarine, and the glossy little orange train....

"The photographer writes:  "Finally I set my foot on the land of the North American continent :-)) I came here for a few days to attend the scientific conference in Tampa, Florida.  On the photo a fragment of the view from my room on the 22nd floor of the Marriott hotel.  It's a terminal stop of the tram, or as it is called here - street car."

'Tram Stop (HDR)' by Yevgen Pogoryelov  | To see other other photographs in his Flickr photostream, click here | other: See the collection of photographs he has selected as 'most interesting'  here |  Website:  Country of the Rising Sun     | To see the full-sized version of this photograph, click here

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it pursuant to a restricted Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or use it without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.  The license can be viewed here.

'St. Petersburg Police Station at Dusk' by Caleb | Creative Commons

Here is a remarkable photograph.  I could see from the various versions of this photograph---it was really hard to pick the best---and from other photographs in his photostream at flickr that he's as entranced as I am by that slanting late afternoon Florida light.  I love that golden-pink intensity gilding the front of this building against the much softer and quieter sky.

'St petersburg police station, Central Avenue, at Dusk' by Caleb | To see other photographs in his Flickr photostream, click here | website:  calebism; subtropicalnoir.com | To see the full-sized version of this photograph, click here

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a restricted Creative Commons license.  Do not save or use it without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.  The license is shown here.

In the next one, the numinous light is further intensified.  Look at how the sun shines off the sides of the buildings and in the flags, while the foreground and the ground are already dark.

'St Petersburg police station, Central Avenue, at Dusk' by Caleb | To see other photographs in his Flickr photostream, click here | website:  calebism; subtropicalnoir.com | To see the full-sized version of this photograph, click here

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it pursuant to a restricted Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or use it without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.  The license can be viewed here.
 

'Morning Commute' by Miz Shoes | Miami | Creative Commons

An amazing perspective.....The blue, platinum and silver cityscape, but with that unexpected flash of pure white and bright red in the background.  This is the photographer's  "[m]orning commute on the MetroRail. Entering downtown Miami."

 

Photograph by Miz Shoes | click here to see her other photos | website: Girly Shoes.  | Click here to go to Flickr for the larger version

I do not own the right to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a restricted Creative Commons license.  Please do not download or use it without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.  The license is shown here.
 

Light on the St. Johns | Jacksonville

This photograph was taken---I think by my late husband, Don, meaning pre-2000) from a water taxi on the St. Johns (<correct spelling!) River in Jacksonville in Duval County (along Jacksonville Landing).  I don't think there is a photograph in my personal collection that is more illustrative of how ordinary sights---the rather standardized urban landscape of the 21st century---can be transformed by the fall of the light.

'Boarded Blue Door & Windows' by TwoblueDay | Sanford | Creative Commons

Another brilliant piece by Florida photographer TwoblueDay.   This is also Florida.  There's art, or the potential, everywhere.   This is art.  It's also the side of a building somewhere in the charming Central Florida town of Sanford.

'Boarded Blue Door and Windows' by Twoblueday (Gerry) | To see his other photos (Flickr photostream), click here | website: Twoblueday | To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here.

I do not own the rights to this Creative Commons photograph, but am using it pursuant to a restricted Creative Commons license.  Do not save or use it without first consulting the terms of the license.  The license is shown here.

'Cement Library' by Vince (Kitsu) | Mount Dora | Creative Commons

"Books formed in cement at a closed bookstore in Mount Dora, Florida," the photographer explained.  I'm really grateful to the photographer for preserving this fascinating detail.  I would love a world in which commerce united with art in the external details of buildings, but I suppose it's not practicable.

 

"Cement Library" by Vince/Kitsu (website:[relax]). 

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Before saving or using it, please consult the terms of the applicable license. The license is here.