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Post by htmb on Jul 5, 2013 11:01:53 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 5, 2013 11:10:29 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 5, 2013 11:34:48 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Jul 5, 2013 15:29:39 GMT
Wonderful Htmb! You captured the fireworks brilliantly. I was wondering what that haze was in the one photo of the beach - heat or wind blowing the sand?
Is the hotel the one you were staying at or just having a day out with lunch thrown in?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 5, 2013 17:02:20 GMT
Drop dead FABULOUS photo spread, Htmb. Each picture is stand-alone photographically perfect in composition, color, & mood. The whole essay has a dreamlike quality not usually featured in sequences about the 4th. I gnash my teeth in envy at your fireworks pictures. If forced to pick a favorite, I guess I am most knocked out by #7, but would really waffle over others. Really, this is a perfect spread.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2013 18:09:15 GMT
It looks like there may have been a change of weather somewhere along the line...  |
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Post by htmb on Jul 5, 2013 18:30:28 GMT
Thanks! Sorry there has been no written description, but photos were more suited for last night. The fireworks photos were taken from my motel balcony. I hadn't planned on viewing fireworks, but since they were everywhere I went and got my camera. It was my first real attempt at capturing fireworks and I was fascinated by the different levels of explosion you can see in a series of pictures. I only posted a few of the shots.
I tried taking a few photos on the beach, but with the little kids around (and my big kids, too) I was afraid my camera would get more sand on it then was good. Maybe I will take a few more later.
The motel we are in is not pictured, I don't think. It's pretty old, but was refurbished a few years ago. If I had to choose a place this wouldn't be it, but it was all that was available at the last minute in our price range. I really don't like staying where you are allowed to drive on the beach, but so far it has not been too bad and the people running the place are laid back and nice.
The dark clouds were inland and stayed that way. We've had very sunny weather here. What you see in the beach pictures, Tod, is the wind blowing moisture and sand. A bit like a fog. Not something you really notice when you are in the middle of it, because it's all so fine.
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Post by htmb on Jul 5, 2013 20:23:31 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 5, 2013 20:34:25 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 5, 2013 22:22:25 GMT
Ah, there's more!  Please don't apologize for the lack of text, Htmb. I think it's wonderful how this works as a pure photographic essay. Totally love that last shot in #8. |
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Post by htmb on Jul 5, 2013 23:09:43 GMT
That's my favorite, too, Bixa, though I am sure you see the one item I'd love to photoshop out.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2013 4:53:50 GMT
Beach photos with people in them always fascinate me, because people 'live' differently on beaches than they do at home (well, at least most of them). It's also interesting to see which people 'just came to the beach' and which ones made it a major expedition with a half dozen beach towels, cooler containing half of the items from their refrigerator, etc.
I almost mentioned my dismay about the cars on the beach but then I refrained. I will confess that I drove on the beach one time in Daytona just because the concept seemed so weird to me that I had to try it.
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Post by lugg on Jul 6, 2013 5:49:59 GMT
I imagine you and your family are having great fun in this lively place. Super pics.
I was slightly perplexed cos the beach ( well the water) looks so different to my limited experience of Florida beaches then realised you were on the opposite side of Florida to those I had visited.
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Post by htmb on Jul 6, 2013 13:06:19 GMT
In some of the photos you see what looks like brown sand along the edge of the water. That's actually finely crushed coquina shell that clouds the water a bit, too. The shell, which was used as a building material by the Spanish hundreds of years ago, helps create a stable surface allowing for cars on the beach.
At this beach there was a very strong undertow, which is another one of the reasons we really would rather go to the Gulf of Mexico beaches. This was just more convenient for the timing.
It's been interesting to "people watch" here. In one of my photos you can see some people even brought a charcoal grill with them. I also saw two different older men each walk out into the water in regular socks.
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Post by htmb on Jul 6, 2013 20:50:06 GMT
Last evening a fellow and his wife set up a tripod and a (dinky little) camera next to the motel pool, with the camera aimed at the ocean. I couldn't understand the fascination, but not kick myself for not asking. About fifteen minutes later, which would have been time enough to go get my camera, five powered paragliders like this came sailing by. |
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Post by bjd on Jul 7, 2013 11:56:33 GMT
I too was surprised to see cars parked on the beach. People leaving the backs open make me think they are sitting or lying right nearby too. Very strange.
And I learned a new expression -- "rip tides". Right now I'm at the beach (not as close as htmb) in southwestern France and here those dangerous currents are called "baïnes". They form when sandbars parallel to the beach create currents that drag you out to the water. Here the swimming area supervised by lifeguards is quite small. I didn't see any flags marking off swimming areas in the photos above.
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Post by htmb on Jul 7, 2013 13:13:44 GMT
Bjd, if you look at the sign on the lifeguard's chair in reply #1 it describes the same thing you describe.
The area watched by the lifeguards is small, but they also patrol the beaches in their vehicles and tell people to stay out of the water if there is a shark migration or an abundance of stinging jelly fish, etc. They require all vehicles to exit the beach area at a certain time in the evening and I watched as they supervised each day.
I'm not one to swim in ocean water above my waist. My children also stayed in fairly close to the shore. Even when they took the four and six year old girls out they always kept ahold of at least one hand.
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Post by bjd on Jul 8, 2013 6:24:03 GMT
Yes, htmb -- that's where I learned the expression "rip tide".  |
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Post by htmb on Jul 8, 2013 8:18:12 GMT
A report in today's local paper details the rescue of dozens of swimmers over the past few days, with one drowning, all due to rip tides at Ormond Beach.
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Post by htmb on Jul 10, 2013 13:54:40 GMT
Though it's been several weeks since the shark migration up the east coast of Florida, my son waited until our beach vacation was over to show this news report to his sisters:
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Post by lugg on Jul 13, 2013 6:23:13 GMT
What an amazing (and encouraging) sight.
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