Peacocks!

There are 3 peacocks that have taken up residence in my neighborhood. According to a nice gal that lives nearby they even have some chicks. It is thought that these birds escaped from the Sarasota Jungle Gardens which is just a few blocks from where I live.

My boyfriend and I first spotted the birds a few evenings ago while we took Ghost out for a walk. The next evening I grabbed my trusty camera and headed out to see if I could find them again. Sure enough I did.

I stalked them through the neighborhood, often kneeling in dirt and crawling in grass. I love doing stuff like this and always serves to revitalize my passion for wildlife photography. The birds let me get pretty close which was a thrill.

Shooting these birds also made me realize that it's time to upgrade my telephoto lens. 

Tube Dude

Tube Dude of Sarasota, Florida. His show room is awesome.

http://www.tube-dude.com/

On Art and Censorship

Renowned graffiti artist, MTO painted this mural recently in Sarasota, Florida. The mural which is done only with spray paint is located in an area of town that suffers from high crime rates and rampant drug use. Compared to the rest of Sarasota, which is affluent, rich, and white, this area of town is often sneered at and dismissively referred to. As soon as the mural was completed the public cried out against its use of gang imagery.

According to a recent TV report, the model for the hands and the tattoos is a surfer from California living in Sarasota. 'Fast Life', he stated on the report, has nothing to do with gangs. Critics of the piece are stating that it is exactly that phrase, as well as the position of the fingers (the inspiration stated that the hands and fingers are positioned that way for aesthetic purposes) is offensive to the area and it's residents.

I'm not sure which section of Sarasota, which neighborhood, or which tax bracket has the loudest voice in opposing the piece. To me, I think the majority of the problem is because people simply hate having an issue that they would rather forget shoved in their face.

And what better way to shove an issue in your face than a huge mural?

Which is why the mural was scheduled to be painted over.

I took these shots on the day of the paint over but luckily the mural was saved last minute. The owner of the Tube Dude business, where the mural is located, said he would wait for one month to assess public opinion on the mural. If opinion is still negative after that time the piece is getting painted over.

Myself,  I love the mural. I think it's a fantastic piece of art expertly done. It's striking and powerful, and as all good art ought to do, inspire debate.

Occupy Sarasota

Crypt Keepers

Day 2 of my new 365! I headed out to Rosemary Cemetery to snap a photo of this one site with a very tattered and weather beaten Bible. I was not pleased with how that photo came out but luckily I took a photo of the lawn care crew.

What was supposed to be a quick trot down to Planned Parenthood turned out to be a 3 hour photo walk with a stop along Centennial Park where I took some pretty awesome photos of some birds which I will be posting later along with a discovery of a really neat little alley.

Faces in the Crowd

My main reason for going to the World Trade Center Memorial ceremony was a chance to take candid photographs of strangers.

Sand Hill Crane

Storm Troopers

I can not tell you how incredibly awesome and bad ass this is! I saw these two guys at the Memorial Parade in downtown Sarasota. They are AWESOME! 

ps. I'm a huge Star Wars geek.

Memorial Day Parade Spectators

Memorial Day Parade #2

Memorial Day Parade #1

Parking Meters for Downtown Sarasota

The city has outfitted downtown Sarasota with parking meters. There are two types, the single space meter and this type which is a little more advanced. Being fairly new a lot of people are still having trouble figuring out how to use the parking meters. 

I say, just bus it and walk around but that's just me.

My First Paid Gig

I answered a Craigslist ad for an artist that wanted someone to snap a few photos of his art work on display in Sarasota. It was a piece at the Embracing Our Differences exhibit (photos of the exhibit were featured on the earlier post). The artist wanted a few photos of his work for his website and offered fifty bucks for the whole deal. Figured I'ld see what I could do and if he liked what I produced. So, I went down to Island Park and took some photos.

The work is 'Mandala' from Eric Carson. His other works are pretty cool featuring religion, politics, and other similar subject matter. His site  is here: http://ericcarson.com/

While I neglected to ask about being given credit for the photos I suppose it doesn't really matter since I did get paid (that is important). Next time I'll know that I will need to ask about credit out right. So, I got to take some photos, got some cash, and learned a lesson. It was a good day.

A Woman in a Bandana

Lawn Chairs at Five Points Park

Barbara and the Man with the Foot Injury

Barbara, concerned by her friend's injury, tries to convince him to go to the hospital. "Remember what happened to ____?" she asks. "He had to loose his foot because he didn't go to the hospital."

The People I Met at Selby Five Points Park

I met a few people at Five Points Park yesterday while snapping pictures of the lawn chair protest.

Barbara and Chris

Chris and his dog

Fly doggie fly!

Joe

Clint

The Man on the Bench at an Extreme Angle

Sarasota Homeless, March 2011