Floridiana Gloriana

'Navarre Beach' by Heather Rasley | Creative Commons

As I said, I don't know western Florida well and I don't know Navarre at all....but I am entranced by the slightly rosy cast of the sand under that sky and in that light; and by the translucent blue tint of the sky.   

'Navarre Beach' by Heather Rasley | To see her other photographs, click here | Websites: Heather is Watching; The H. Line | to see the largest version of this photograph at Flickr, 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 consulting the terms of the license (link shown here) 

'Pitts House East' by Don Jones | Marion County | Creative Commons

Here's another shot by photographer Don Jones----a complete contrast to the dream- city versions of Orlando here and here.  I live not too far from this very house and I've tried to photograph it myself, but I never managed to get anything this good (or even close). The dark green trees and the very blue sky---that crystalline shade I never have seen anywhere but here---give this melancholy abandoned house an almost cheerful, if endangered air.  After all: are the trees leaning in protectively in a sheltering fashion or is there an air of menace?  I'm guessing that the effect would depend in part on the time of year and the weather....

You could imagine someone returning home to it----I mean from this distance.  You can imagine someone living here. 

I share Don Jones' fascination for old buildings and he has photographed many-many-many (click the link above to see).  But this is one of my favorites.

'Pitts House East' 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.

Horseshoe Beach | c. 1998

I love this photograph from Horseshoe Beach (in Dixie County) because of the strange clarity with which the white buildings stand out against the sea.  That was a trick of the light rather than anything I achieved myself.  It's a scanned photograph from out of my files. 

I can't explain the big boat being built alongside those buildings.  I don't know what it was or is for.  I think I might have gone back and that it might have been a restaurant----but I really don't know!  I suppose I could find out if I wanted to research it, but I prefer to let it remain a mystery.  So much has happened since then....  I remember loving the place and thinking I'd never forget that day.  Alas---I've forgotten it all except my resolution not to forget. 

Lifeguard Huts by Natasja | Miami Beach | Creative Commons

Miami Beach, perfectly captured at two perfect moments.

 

'Lifeguard Hut'  by Natasja   | click here to see her other photos |  website:  Pixels and Photos | Click here to go to Flickr to see the full-sized version

I do not own the rights to this 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.

 

'Lifeguard Hut'  by Natasja   | click here to see her other photos |  website:  Pixels and Photos | Click here to go to Flickr to see the full-sized version

I do not own the rights to this 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.

Cedar Key: Some Scenes from the Past (c.1997)

These were all scanned from photographs of Cedar Key, circa 1997.  My late husband made most of them and I scanned the photographs into my computer.  Although some of the buildings have had face lifts or been painted, the town still looks very much the same now.  Furthermore, I think these photos, despite their imperfections, managed to capture the light and color of the town (which remain unchanged, despite surface tweakings).

This little building is still there, but last time I saw it it wasn't an ice cream stand anymore.  I was sad that it had been repainted.

This restaurant is still there and is still a great place to have a meal while sitting right over the Gulf.

And, of course, the Captain's Table---where you can watch the sunset sink into the Gulf---is still there.  It's one of my favorite places on earth.  The last couple of times I was there the pier was closed, but maybe that's changed by now....

A scene from Cedar Key's Main Street.  Despite the (very cool) old cars, it was actually only 10 years ago!

Canal | Suwannee | c. 1997

Yet another scanned photograph from my private collection:  one of my personal favorites.  I don't know where this was taken.  I say Suwannee, but it's really just a guess.  I know it's a canal somewhere in western Florida, but it could have been some other place.  I love the untidiness of the reflections due to all the stilts everywhere.  It has that bygone feeling you know I love---and from my standpoint, really IS bygone.  I love the blue of the water and the greenness and fluffiness of the bush in the right-hand corner.

Bonus:  There are some lovely photographs of Suwannee here.
 

Purple clouds---afternoon in Cedar Key circa 1995.

 

My late husband Don, who died at the end of 2000, snapped this photograph one afternoon as we were walking round the town.  This was one of his favorite photographs and I've always loved it.  It shows Cedar Key for what it is---slightly untidy, rusty in places, but incapable of being anything but beautiful. 

Cedar Key---The waterfront & the surrounding islands

I've put off writing about Cedar Key or posting many pictures from Cedar Key because---I now realize it---I am afraid of saying either too much or too little about this little North Florida nature coast town. 

Everyone has a place to which they feel an intense connection.  For me, it's Cedar Key.  You may never have heard of it.  If so, please see the site linked in the previous sentence.  I quote:

Cedar Key is a quiet island community nestled among many tiny keys on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Long admired for its natural beauty and abundant supply of seafood, it is a tranquil village, rich with the almost forgotten history of old Florida.

When I take visitors around the island, they either get it or they don't.  Don got it;  Rumcove got it; Frannie got it; and Nick gets it.  It's almost a test for me, whether or not people feel the charm of this little island town.  Walking around the main part of the town, you see an authentic remnant of Old Florida in all its chaotic disorder and mysterious beauty.  The same scene that looks starkly unattractive in the perpendicular noon light is suffused with mysterious radiance in the early light of dawn or right before the Gulf Cost sunset---an image of which you can see at the top of this page. 

This is the Cedar Key waterfront as it looked at one point not too long time ago.  It looks different in all my photographs of it, of which I have many.  I think Nick may have taken this one, making it circa 2001. 

I like the blue and the red against the---in this photo---bronzy/greeny/weathered waterfront buildings. 

Cedar Key is a town of seafood restaurants, artists, fishermen (male and female, naturally), and pelicans.  It's on the Gulf.  In the town, the water is normally a silvery grey-green, not the radiant bluegreen that you see further down the coast.  But if you take a boat out to any of the nearby keys---and you can rent one right there in the town---you see the authentic Gulf Coast color.  This picture was taken one December afternoon; and I used it as my Christmas card photo.  "Florida white Christmas" I called it.  In the enlarged version of this photograph, you can see the town in the background.

For me, the town of Cedar Key is irrefutable proof of the existence of God.  Furthermore, I'd feel just the same if---God forbid---it suffered the fate of New Orleans or Biloxi. 

The Gazebo at Lake Lochloosa in the Green Summertime | Lake Lochloosa

This is my final photograph of Lochloosa. It's another green summertime shot. I am pretty sure, after looking back through my files, that this photo wasLochlooseasummer22_3 taken on a third trip. It looks different from the previous shot: the lake is much stiller and the violet cast of the water and the haziness of the treeline in the background make me think that it was later in the summer. Judging by the way the light falls on the trees, it appears to be the same time of day. I'm really not sure. I think we went there three times, but I never dated the photographs except by year. But Don did love photographing this gazebo! I have other photographs of it in my files, but the ones I've posted here are the best. I like the 'dimensional' effect of having the trees in the foreground. The contrast between foreground--middle distance---background gives it a certain depth.

The gazebo in Winter | Lake Lochloosa

  This is another photograph taken on the same day a the previous one, or at least I'm pretty sure it was the same day. It's extraordinary how much the look and feel of the two differ. For both of them we were using a not-good/not-terrible camera that really did all of the work and made all the decisions for us.Nevertheless, through serendipity I guess, we did get a few shots that really captured the feel of that afternoon. This is one of Don's that he felt really nailed it. I love it because it has the look and feel of a Japanese print. The gazebo looks very fragile and delicate here, which is certainly not the case in the previous one.Photography has made me aware of how much the world out there changes from day to day and moment to moment. Heraclitus was right: You can never step into the same stream twice. Regardless of how much you might try to recapture an experience, it's never going to be the same again.